JAMES FOSDICK BALDWIN
1871 - 1950
James Fosdick Baldwin was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts,
in 1871. He died in Poughkeepsie, New York, on Thurs-
day, October the fifth, 1950. During forty-four of the
seventy-nine intervening years, he was a member of the
Vassar College faculty in the department of history.
Hence it is to a fellow gildsman of long service that we
now pay respect and honor.
As Mr. Baldwin, setting about his most recent task of
writing a history of the college in its modern era,
sifted with trained eye and hand the boxes and volumes
that constitute the college archives, - Presidents' cor-
respondence, faculty minutes, committee reports, reports
of departmental chairmen, and old files of the Miscellan
News that recounted gala skits of Founder's Day, He must
often have run across his own name and his own handwriting,
for he had a zest for life and was ever an active partic-
ipant in all that was going on about him. His courses in
English history introduced him to large numbers of stu-
dents and his circle of friends and acquaintances among
alumnae was wide. His interest in every part of the col-
lege was marked, - one could mention for instance certain
of our library treasures, rare for a college of this size
that are here because of his scholarly discernment and
his initiative.
Engrossing as was the campus to him, however, Mr. Baldwin
did not forget that there were pleasures and obligations
outside of it, that he was a resident of the town of
Poughkeepsie, a citizen of Dutchess County and of his
state and nation. He took a lively interest in public
affairs to which his approach was that of a humanitarian
and a liberal. Better also than some of us, he was able
to transfer the field of his specialized interests to the
scene at hand. Hence the student of constitutional
origins in a distant age and place found ways of making
Dutchess County origins exciting to his friends and fel-
low townsmen. He held office repeatedly in the Dutchess
County Historical Society, and in 1942 was offically
honored with the title, Dutchess County Historian. Other
community activities enlisted his support. His lifelong
interest in music, found expression in his work as an
organist in one of Poughkeepsie's churches, a post which
he filled for years. After his retirement many of these
interests were continued. Indeed, there was true
gallantry in the way Jmnes Baldwin set about to explore
28
JAMES FOSDICK BALDWIN (Continued)
the resources within himself in order to make his
retirement a period both useful and happy. And it was
a source of pleasure to his friends that neither old_
age nor adversity dulled his salty wit nor dimmed the
twinkle in his eye.
But beyond these memories left with friends and assoc-
iates, James Fosdick Baldwin in his early manhood
created a more lasting memorial through his contribu-
tion to historical scholarship in a highly selective
field, that of the English Medieval Constitution. His
book on the Kin 's Council in England During the Middle
Ages published in Oxford in 1913 was hailed by scholarly
journals on both sides of the Atlantic as charting new
ground and superseding previous treatments of the sub-
ject. It led to his election at once to membership in
the Royal Historical Society, and gave him a place
among the best scholars in the field in his own country.
Even now after almost forty years it still remains a
recognized authority. Hence, as Poughkeepsie notes the
passing of a good citizen and neighbor, and Vassar Col-
lege a friend and colleague, medieval historians in both
Europe and America record the passing of a respected
member of their fraternity, the author of The King's
Council.
Charles Griffin
John Miller
Mildred Campbell
XIII - 143