Family Historians and Herbert Baxter Adams

Every family that wishes to carry down their history needs a family historian, a story gatherer, a story teller, a story writer, at least one each generation, ideally several.

My father's mother's father's father's brother was a historian, a pioneering historian in America who after earning his PhD in Heidelberg Germany in the late 19th century (1876), returned to the US to Johns Hopkins in its first year, to teach. (He may have started as a fellow before teaching. Easily checkable online.) Herbert Baxter Adams was his name. He has many accomplishments, writings, one of the founders of the American Historical Association (AHA), pioneering the seminar format in America, and books. We have many fine photography portraits of him. (He's in Wikipedia. And in a less than esteemed portrait, in Britannica. There is a prestigious award in his name given every other year from the AHA. )

"A Johns Hopkins postdoc, Herbert Baxter Adams, brought the seminar method from Germany, where he earned a PhD in 1876. The idea: Students would learn more by doing than by listening to lectures and taking exams.That spirit of inquiry, of challenging the way things are done, lives on today in our nine academic divisions, all of which offer full-time graduate programs." (Johns Hopkins Website Source)

On a side note. Personal life.

Herbert Baxter Adams never married. That interests me because usually we note when women don't marry, not so much with men. (Surprising to me, some geneology sites are still using the word spinster for single women, a word I thought died out with the 20th century, or at least half way through!)

Burial.

Herbert Baxter Adams is buried with the Sutherland-Adams family plot at Wildwood Cemetery in Amherst, Massachusetts. He has a beautiful tall memorial befitting a renowned status as a professor and historian at an esteemed university.

Herbert Baxter is the youngest of three sons of Nathanial Dickinson Adams and Harriet Hastings:

Charles Dickinson Adams. 1839 - 1889
Henry Martyn Adams
Herbert Baxter Adams 1851-1901

Both Charles and Herbert died young, around the age of 50. Each of the siblings was an outstanding student, graduating valedictorian from at least one university. (Why were they so driven? What do we know about Nathaniel Dickinson Adams their father, or Harriet Hastings Adams their mother?)

Charles. Valedictorian at Amherst College. Completed Columbia Law School's 2 year course in 1 year.

Henry. Valedictorian at West Point Academy.

Herbert. Philips Exeter Academy. Amherst College - valedictorian. University of Heidelberg.

Herbert, Historian Herbert as we could call him, wrote many books, some independently published, some published by the university, and from what can be read in the index of his papers at Johns Hopkins, many writings and speeches were not published. (Action: Opportunity there. Use of the papers is unrestricted, though publishing requires university approval.)

Two books jump out for the family historian in me, both are in the papers inherited by Peter Adams Sutherland, and in possession of his wife, my mother:

Tracing the Adams Lineage
The History of the Thomas Adams and Thomas Hastings Families of New England (Action: Both titles need verification and correction.)

Photographs
Getty Images seems to have the reproduction rights for JHU's photos related to Herbert Baxter Adams. Enjoy the images here.   (Action: Go to JHU and take pictures of the pictures and the wall sculpture. Access the writings.)