查理一世. Clough Millennium Professor of History Emeritus James 奥图尔, a scholar of Boston history and an expert on American religion and American Catholicism, has been appointed University Historian of 电子游戏软件.
这是第三个担任这个职位的人, 这是2012年以来的第一次, 奥图尔 joins a distinguished legacy of University Historians: Thomas H. 奥康纳的49, MA ’50, H ’93, a professor of history considered the “dean of Boston historians,和查尔斯·F. 多诺万,年代.J. ’33, who was founding dean of BC’s School of Education and served in other key administrative positions in the University, 包括学术副校长.
詹姆斯·奥图尔(加里·韦恩·吉尔伯特饰)
奥图尔, who earned a bachelor’s degree and doctorate from 电子游戏软件, is a former archivist for the Archdiocese of Boston and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. After 12 years as director of the University of Massachusetts-Boston M.A. 历史与档案课程, he joined the History Department faculty in 1998 and in 2006 became the inaugural Clough Professor; he retired after this past academic year.
"Jim O'Toole has been a part of the 电子游戏软件 community for nearly 50 years, 带来了经验, 智慧, 以及他作为大学历史学家的地位,大学校长William P. 莱希,年代.J. "His skill as a historian and commitment to 电子游戏软件 make him ideally suited to serve in this new role."
“I’m very happy to maintain my relationship with 电子游戏软件,” he said. “我喜欢这里的人，也喜欢待在校园里. It’s also a tremendous honor to be serving in a position held by Tom O’Connor, who was a mentor to me when I was a student as well as a faculty member. No one will ever fill his shoes, but I look forward to helping tell the story of 电子游戏软件.”
Each previous University Historian put his individual stamp on the position. Fr. 多诺万发表 The History of 电子游戏软件: From the Beginnings to 1990, 这是牛津大学自1947年以来的第一本编年史, 并发表了一系列较短的“临时论文”." O’Connor issued a shorter, updated book on BC history in 2009, Ascending the Heights: A Brief History of 电子游戏软件 from Its Founding to 2008, and was involved in a project to put historical markers at select locations on Main 校园.
尽管他的职责将被“松散地定义”,奥图尔说, he plans to publish a new history of the University next year and create public programming that include lectures and walking tours of campus—the latter he organized while a faculty member.
Examining 电子游戏软件’s history requires a large lens, 奥图尔 said. “它与波士顿的历史密切相关, as well as the Catholic community and the immigrant community. 虽然他们的细节不同, 当然, 并随着时间的推移而改变, 这些机构都是相互交织的.
“历史学家关注的是变化, 还有连续性, 因为在这种连续性中，我们看到了更大的, 定义主要机构的总体主题.”
为了他设想的书, 奥图尔 said he seeks to “reimagine the story of BC” by looking at less-explored topics: “The curriculum. 教室里发生了什么事. 核心需求. BC大学学术部门的发展. 教师的专业化. 学生的电子游戏正规平台. These are the things which give a university its distinctiveness.
“我也在努力关注个人, such as the students from BC’s early years: Which of them were immigrants? 是第二代? 他们的家庭来自哪里? I’m hoping this will provide for a broader social history of BC.”
奥图尔 has researched and written on the history of Catholicism in the United States, using as a focal point not only major figures like Boston Archbishop Cardinal William O’Connell—the subject of his book Militant and Triumphant William Henry O’Connell and the Catholic Church in Boston—but also the lives of everyday Catholics seeking, 并逐渐获得, acceptance in a country that often viewed them with suspicion and prejudice.
In 《忠实:美国天主教徒的历史, 奥图尔 documented the experience of lay Catholics in the New World, beginning with the first settlements in the original 13 colonies. 美国天主教徒, 他指出, had complicated relationships with both the Catholic Church leadership in Rome and their own nation. 检查祈祷, 仪式, 以及俗人对信仰的其他表达, 奥图尔 recounted the gradual arrival of Catholics into the American mainstream, 以及他们对危机的反应, 包括最近的神职人员性侵丑闻.
The presence of racial as well as religious prejudice in America formed the backdrop for another 奥图尔 book. Passing for White: Race, Religion and the Healy Family, 1820-1920 chronicled the lives of the children of a multiracial couple from Georgia who were sent to the north in the hopes of concealing their racial identity and affording them a chance for a better life. 他们家的三个儿子都当了牧师, including one who was appointed rector of Boston’s Cathedral of the Holy Cross.
O 'Toole还担任过 Habits of Devotion: Catholic Religious Practices in Twentieth Century America, which traces the causes and development of some significant changes in religious practices in the American Catholic Church between 1925 and 1975.
技术的进步, 比如电子游戏正规平台资料的数字化, give 奥图尔 capabilities his predecessors could scarcely have imagined. “I was recently browsing through the online resources in the University Archives via my home computer, looking for a particular item in a BC catalog from the 1950s, 这花了我几分钟的时间. 在这之前, 我就得钻进我的车里, 开车去学校, go to Burns Library and then spend time combing the archives until I found what I needed. 那可能要花我半天时间，甚至更多.”
奥图尔 lauds the Burns Library staff for their digitization program, which during the University’s sesquicentennial celebration in 2012-2013 made original sources for understanding BC history more widely available.
“科技让事情变得更容易，这是很了不起的. 当然, you still have to have a good idea of what it is you want to find out, 以及它对你所做的工作的重要性. 这方面的历史没有改变.”
Sean Smith | University Communications | September 2020