Herman Vandenburg Ames

Herman Vandenburg Ames
Herman Ames, circa 1900
Born(1865-08-07)August 7, 1865
DiedFebruary 7, 1935(1935-02-07) (aged 69)
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)Historian, educator
Years active1897–1933
TitleProfessor
Board member ofOrder of the Founders and Patriots of America (Governor-General)
Public Archives Commission of the American Historical Association (President)
Parent(s)Marcus Ames
Jane Angeline Ames (née Vandenburg)
AwardsJustin Winsor Prize (1897)
Litt.D. (hon), Pennsylvania (1925)
LL.D. (hon), La Salle (1927)
Academic background
EducationAmherst College (AB)
Harvard University (AM, PhD)
ThesisThe Proposed Amendments to the Constitution of the United States[1] (1891)
Doctoral advisorAlbert Bushnell Hart
Academic work
DisciplineHistory
Sub-disciplineLegal history
InstitutionsUniversity of Michigan
Ohio State University
University of Pennsylvania
Doctoral studentsHerbert Eugene Bolton
Arthur Charles Cole
John Musser
Notable studentsEzra Pound
Main interestsHistory of the U.S. Constitution
Notable worksThe Proposed Amendments to the Constitution of the United States During the First Century of Its History (1896)
Signature
signature of Herman Ames, 1918

Herman Vandenburg Ames (/mz/; August 7, 1865 – February 7, 1935) was an American legal historian, archivist, and professor of United States constitutional history at the University of Pennsylvania and, from 1907 to 1928, dean of its graduate school. His 1897 monograph, The Proposed Amendments to the Constitution of the United States During the First Century of Its History, was a landmark work in American constitutional history. Other works by Ames included John C. Calhoun and the Secession Movement of 1850, Slavery and the Union 1845–1861, and The X.Y.Z. Letters, the latter of which he authored with John Bach McMaster. Among his notable students were Ezra Pound, John Musser, and Herbert Eugene Bolton.

A member of the Ames family, Herman Ames was born in Massachusetts and educated at Amherst College. He received his doctorate from Harvard University, where he was the Ozias Goodwin Memorial Fellow in Constitutional and International Law, and studied under Albert Bushnell Hart. Like Hart, Ames spent time in Europe learning German historical methodology and was influenced in his own research by its approach. He was a driving force behind the establishment of the Pennsylvania State Archives and helped guide the widespread establishment of government archives throughout the United States. His papers are housed at the University of Pennsylvania's University Archives.

  1. ^ "The Proposed Amendments to the Constitution of the United States". Harvard Library. Harvard University. Retrieved January 29, 2018.

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