In Memoriam: John P. Spielman

John P. Spielman Jr., 78, of Haverford died on April 25 at the Quadrangle. Dr. Spielman was a professor of history at Haverford College for over 35 years.

Born in Anaconda, Montana, he received his B.A. at the University of Montana and his M.A. and Ph.D. in history at the University of Wisconsin. An expert in Habsburg history, he published several books on the topic, including The City and the Crown: Vienna and the Imperial Court, 1600-1740 and Leopold I of Austria, which were researched during sabbaticals in Vienna. He also translated The Adventures of Simplicissimus, the first important German novel of the 17th century, and co-authored (with Samuel J.T. Miller) Cristobal Rojas y Spinola, cameralist and irenicist, 1626-1695. In addition, he co-edited several books for advanced language students in French and German. Among them: Quellen und Darstellungen aus deutscher Geschichte (co-edited by George Salamon) and Sources et reflets de l'histoire de France (co- edited by Madelyn Gutwirth and Marcel M. Gutwirth).

Spielman served as Dean of Haverford for a time during the 1960s and as clerk of the faculty for many years, and was honored with a Distinguished Teaching fellowship from the Christian and Mary Lindback Foundation in 1982. He was the first John and Audrey Dusseau Memorial Professor in the Humanities at Haverford, holding that chair from 1984 to 1997.

Spielman was also one of the founders of Haverford's innovative "Seminar on Evidence," which was a requirement for history majors for more than 30 years. Students in the course were handed objects the first week of class and were put to work identifying them and analyzing their history. They also had to produce a scholarly edition of an unpublished manuscript. The idea was "to turn students from passive listeners into active researchers," said Spielman in a 1992 Philadelphia Inquirer article about the class.“If this course had a motto,” he once wrote,“it would be: Beware of the experts!”

Several family members are numbered among alumni of Haverford: his brother-in-law, Chris Hansen '50; his nephew, Jonathen Hansen '84; and his niece, Alexandra Warren '91. A beloved professor, colleague, and uncle, he and his wife, the late Danila Cole Spielman, welcomed students, family and friends into their home in Haverford and cabin in the Montana Rockies.

“Who hasn't had a trout for breakfast, fished that very morning, as a guest of John and Dani in their cabin in the woods of Montana, hasn't lived. Not properly, that is,” said Marcel Gutwirth, emeritus professor of French.“John Spielman, was, with Dani at his side, an attentive and munificent host—as he was, unfailingly , a gracious and appreciative guest. He was a man for all seasons—friend, scholar, teacher, administrator and woodsman, who carried it all off with smiling modesty. Who else, by the way, could have taken the post left by [professor of history] Wallace MacCaffrey and led, without a hitch, a department with its full freight of strong personalities? We who knew him shall miss him sorely.”

“Certainly his books live on and through them his spirit,” said Susan Stuard, emeritus professor of history.“Like his lectures for the history survey and his classes on the early modern world, the dizzying intricacies of Habsburg politics, dynastic marriage, and war never deterred John from folding it all into a lively and revelatory narrative. The public and the private were so carefully interwoven into his interpretations that they appear seamless to the reader.”

“John was, and remains, an inspiration to many of us, a great problem solver, and one of the best-natured history department chairs I have ever known,” said Stuard.“He could even achieve consensus as clerk of the faculty and his dedication to Haverford College amounts to a legend all by itself. It will be a painful task to imagine the Haverford community without John.”

A memorial service was held on Saturday, May 9 at the Church of the Redeemer in Bryn Mawr, where he was a longstanding member and a recent vestryman. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Haverford College. A campus memorial service will take place on September 26 at 11 a.m. in the Haverford Friends Meeting House.