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An elusive presence: The discovery of John H. Finley and his America
Book by GETTLEMAN, Marvin E.
274 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1979
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July 26, 2024
What a wonderful biography of a little-known Illinois hero! And Finley was born in 1863 in my hometown of 600 people, so the book was especially interesting to me. I am thankful that Gettleman chose Finley for the subject of his history PhD dissertation, but sadly, the biographer's major professor and committee didn't accept the manuscript for his degree program. Gettleman continued to research and write about Finley for many years and tells a couple of great stories about Finley's involvement in his family members' lives. I found one of Gettleman's daughters on LinkedIn, which made the story even more alive for me. I also found one of John Finley's descendants and wrote to him, too.
Since Gettleman was an accomplished historian, and he lived in NYC so he could easily access the archives in the NYC library, City College of NY, Princeton, Johns Hopkins University, and the New York Department of Education, this biography is filled with rich insights about an incredibly creative, energetic, and dedicated educator amd humanitarian in the late 1800's and first part of the 20th century.
Throughout the book, Gettleman shared some of his personal perspectives on Finley, which lends breadth and depth to the book became Gettleman was opposite of Finley in many ways as a socialist, while Finley matured in the era of extensive capitalistic growth. Gettleman does provide important insights about society's influence on Finley's perspectives and actions. I appreciated these rich insights.
I realize that a book has to come to an end, but I wish Gettleman had spent more time revealing Finley's years as Editor of the NY Times. Also, Finley was such a curious person that there are some warm memorabilia about Finley that wasn't covered much in the book. One artifact is the American Georgraphical Society's Fliers' and Explorer's Globe signed by 85 explorers that was started by Finley. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel...
If you enjoy learning about education, turn of the 20th century humanitarian efforts, writing, history, and walking, I highly recommend this biography of John H. Finley.
Since Gettleman was an accomplished historian, and he lived in NYC so he could easily access the archives in the NYC library, City College of NY, Princeton, Johns Hopkins University, and the New York Department of Education, this biography is filled with rich insights about an incredibly creative, energetic, and dedicated educator amd humanitarian in the late 1800's and first part of the 20th century.
Throughout the book, Gettleman shared some of his personal perspectives on Finley, which lends breadth and depth to the book became Gettleman was opposite of Finley in many ways as a socialist, while Finley matured in the era of extensive capitalistic growth. Gettleman does provide important insights about society's influence on Finley's perspectives and actions. I appreciated these rich insights.
I realize that a book has to come to an end, but I wish Gettleman had spent more time revealing Finley's years as Editor of the NY Times. Also, Finley was such a curious person that there are some warm memorabilia about Finley that wasn't covered much in the book. One artifact is the American Georgraphical Society's Fliers' and Explorer's Globe signed by 85 explorers that was started by Finley. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel...
If you enjoy learning about education, turn of the 20th century humanitarian efforts, writing, history, and walking, I highly recommend this biography of John H. Finley.
Displaying 1 of 1 review