In Memoriam, Russell Frank Weigley, PhD

IN MEMORIAM RUSSELL FRANK WEIGLEY, PH.D. I t is with deep regret that we acknowledge the death on 3 March 2004, at his home in Philadelphia, of Russell F. Weigley. He was a member of The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania since 1971, on the Board of Directors since 1988, a Vice President since 2001, and Chairman of the Publications Committee since 2003. Dr. Weigley, according to a colleague, was “by consensus the most distinguished military historian in the United States and arguably throughout the world.” Born on 2 July 1930 in Reading, Pennsylvania, the son of Frank F. and Meta (Rohrbach) Weigley, he graduated from Albright College with a bachelor’s degree in history in 1952 and earned a master’s degree (1953) and doctorate (1956), both also in history, from the University of Pennsylvania. He taught history at the University of Pennsylvania, 1956—58, Drexel University, 1958—62 and Temple University from 1962 until his retirement in 1998 as a Distinguished University Professor. He was visiting professor of history at Dartmouth College (1967—68) and visiting professor of military history at the US Army War College (1973—74). Dr. Weigley wrote or edited ten widely respected books including The American Way of War, which he considered his most influential book; A Great Civil War: A Military and Political History, 1861—1865 that in 2001 won the Lincoln Prize, awarded for the best book relating to Lincoln, the Civil War, or a related subject; and The Age of Battles: The Quest for Decisive Warfare from Breitenfeld to Waterloo, which won a Distinguished Book Award from the Society of Military History in 1992. In 1982 he edited a nonmilitary local best seller, Philadelphia: A 300-Year History, which historians have called the most useful book on the city’s past. When he reluctantly accepted the Chairmanship of the Society’s Publication Committee about a year ago, he said it would have to be only temporary since his reason for retiring from teaching was to have time to write another book that he was, thus far, not finding the time to do. Dr. Weigley was President of the Pennsylvania History Association from 1975 to 1978 and he served as Vice Chairman of The Historical Society of Pennsylvania from 1989 to 1992 and as an HSP Councilor 1983—89, 1992—98 and Councilor Emeritus 1998 until his death. He was also a member of the American Philosophical Society. On 27 July 1963, he married the former Emma E. Seifrit, who survives him. In addition, he is survived by a son, Jared, of Manhattan, New York, and a daughter, Catherine, of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine Vol. 43 (2004) FInal copy 31 January, 2010 199