Papers of historian James Ralston Scobie (1929-1981), an author, educator, and scholar of Latin American history. The bulk of the collection consists of research files and publication materials relating to his study of the the social and economic development of major Argentine cities, including extensive data in the form of census documents, notes, photographs, maps, and bibliographies.
James Scobie Papers, 1948-1981 (MSS 29)
OFF-SITE STORAGE: COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. ALLOW TWO TO THREE (2-3) WEEKS FOR RETRIEVAL OF MATERIALS.
Restrictions: Original sound recordings are restricted. Listening copies may be available for researchers.
Extent: 21.5 Linear feet (29 archives boxes, 7 records carton boxes, 6 card file boxes, 4 map case folders, and 1 flat box)
James Ralston Scobie was born in Valparaiso, Chile, in 1929. He graduated from Princeton University in 1950, and fulfilled both his Master's (1951) and Ph.D. (1954) of history at Harvard University. Scobie spent three years in the U.S. Army Intelligence Corps in Germany and was a part-time instructor in the University of Maryland's overseas program before joining the faculty at the University of California, Berkeley, 1957 to 1964. He then joined the department of history at Indiana University, Bloomington, serving as director of the Latin American Studies Program from 1964-1967, and as chairman of the history department from 1970-1974. In 1967 Scobie married historian Ingrid Winthur. He also was a visiting scholar of Latin American studies at Columbia University (1963-1963) and at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton University (1974-1975). In 1977, he moved from Indiana to the UC San Diego department of history, where he remained until his sudden death in 1981.
A leading scholar in the field of Latin American urban history, Scobie published a substantial body of fundamental work on Argentine history. He is best known for his field research on the emergence of Buenos Aires as a major Latin American and world metropolis. His major publications include Argentina: A City and a Nation (1964), Revolution on the Pampas: A Social History of Argentine Wheat (1964) and Buenos Aires, Plaza to Suburb, 1870-1910 (1988). Scobie received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities in 1974-1976 for a comparative research project studying the urban development patterns of smaller cities. His research formed the basis for the book Secondary Cities of Argentina: The Social History of Corrientes, Salta, and Mendoza, 1850-1910 (1988), which was compiled and edited posthumously by Samuel L. Baily. Scobie was also noted for his early studies of Bartolomé Mitre, President of Argentina from 1862-1868. He was the recipient of numerous awards, including two Social Science Research Council fellowships, a Guggenheim fellowship, and the Argentine prize "Todo es Historia" as outstanding historian of 1976.
References cited:
"In Memoriam: James Scobie." Latin American Research Review, Volume 17, No. 1, p. 276, 1981.
"James R. Scobie." Hispanic American Historical Review, 62(1), p. 123-124, 1982.
Papers of historian James Ralston Scobie, an author, educator, and scholar of Latin American history. The bulk of the collection consists of research files and publication materials relating to his study of the the social and economic development of major Argentine cities, including extensive data in the form of census documents, notes, photographs, maps, and bibliographies.
Arranged in seven series: 1) WRITINGS BY SCOBIE, 2) RESEARCH MATERIALS, 3) TEACHING MATERIALS, 4) LECTURES BY SCOBIE, 5) CONFERENCE MATERIALS, 6) GRANT AND FELLOWSHIP MATERIALS, and 7) BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS.
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