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Michael W. Whalon Research Collection, 1960-1983

Full finding aid (pdf)

Collection Scope and Content

The contents of this collection reflect a life’s work in academic scholarship in the history of American politics and the Civil War. Whalon’s academic work spanned from his undergraduate years at Bowdoin College, through graduate work at the University of Illinois and the University of Nebraska. The collection includes a range of material types, including research notes typed or taken in Whalon’s own hand. Whalon kept copious research notes and citations from dozens of primary and secondary sources, which are all reflected in the collection. Research notes indicate that Whalon visited over a dozen major archives and repositories throughout the country. Series one contains research for the dissertation, completed in 1968.  The second series, on General Philip H. Sheridan, contains correspondence with publishers about tentative dates for the publication of that work, along with photocopies of letters that reflect Sheridan’s correspondence throughout his career. This material is unpublished. Series three contains academic papers and some biographical information, as well as his early student research at Bowdoin College. This series also contains the manuscript Consistent Majorities, the Republican Party of Maine during the Civil War Era. This series highlights the significant academic relationships Whalon maintained across several institutions.

Biographical/Historical Note

Michael W. Whalon was born on November 4, 1941 in Pepperell, Massachusetts. Whalon completed his undergraduate education at Bowdoin College in 1963. He received his master’s degree in 1964 from the University of Illinois, finishing his doctoral degree at the University of Nebraska in 1968. He completed his dissertation, Maine Republicans, 1854-1866: A Study in Growth and Political Power, Entailing the Birth and Inner Workings of the Republican Party in Maine, in 1968.

From 1968-1976, Whalon was an Assistant Professor of History at the University of Tulsa, achieving the rank of Associate Professor in 1976. During the academic year of 1977-78, Whalon took a sabbatical to travel and collect research on Civil War General Philip H. Sheridan for a book that he was planning to write. In 1981, he became the Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Tulsa, a position he held until 1983, when he moved into the position of Vice Provost. Whalon became Associate Director at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center in 1989. Whalon published many scholarly papers and received funding for his research, including work on General Philip H. Sheridan, which can be found in this collection.  He wrote Consistent Majorities, the Republican Party of Maine during the Civil War Era after completing his doctoral thesis.  He was on the membership committee for the Southern Historical Association from 1980-1981, and was a national judge for the American History Scholarship Award given by the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution in 1981 and 1982. He served as an academic trustee in the Oklahoma Foundation for the Humanities from 1984 until his death on June 29th, 1990.

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