Francis Paul Prucha

Infobox Person
name = Francis Paul Prucha

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image_size =
caption = Father Francis Paul Prucha
birth_date = January 4, 1921
birth_place = River Falls, Wisconsin
death_date =
death_place =
nationality = American
alma_maters = University of Wisconsin-River Falls, University of Minnesota, Harvard, and St. Louis University
occupation = Priest, Professor, Historian
religion = Roman Catholic (Society of Jesus)

Francis Paul Prucha (born January 4, 1921) is an American Jesuit, historian, and professor emeritus of history at Marquette University. [University, Marquette. Faculty Activities Report. Faculty Report, Milwaukee, WI: Marquette University Press, 2002.] His work The Great Father was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, and is regarded as a classic among professional historians.

Biography

Prucha was born in River Falls, Wisconsin on, January 4, 1921. He was educated at Wisconsin State Teachers College, at River Falls, which awarded him a Bachelors of Science degree in 1941. After a year and a half of high school teaching and then three and a half of service in the United States Army Air Force, he enrolled in the University of Minnesota and received an M.A. degree in 1947. Harvard University awarded him a Ph.D. degree in history in 1950. [Bureau, Marquette University News. University Press Release. Press Release, Milwaukee, WI: Marquette University, 1960.]

Prucha joined the Society of Jesus in 1950 and was ordained in 1957 after studying at Saint Louis University and Saint Mary's College in St. Marys, Kansas. Three years later he began teaching at Marquette and is remembered by generations of alumni as a model of the teacher-scholar. When the editor of Marquette Magazine recently asked readers to write about their greatest teachers, Father Prucha was identified among a group of classroom legends."Of all the teachers I've had," wrote Richard Hryniewicki (A&S '61, MA '63), "Father Prucha did the most to instill a love of learning, a quest for knowledge, and practicing work ethic."McInerny, Paul M. "Historical Base for Indian Policy." Marquette Magazine, Spring 1988: 5-6.]

In the late 1960s, while studying under a Guggeheim Fellowship, Prucha began work on a comprehensive history of U.S. Indian policy. His research culminated with the two-volume . The book was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in history in 1985 and is regarded as a classic among professional historians. [ [http://www.pulitzer.org/finalists/1985 The Pulitzer Prizes | Finalists ] ] The Great Father was awarded the Billington Prize by the Organization of American Historians in 1985. The recipient of six honorary degrees, Prucha was awarded his emeritus appointment in 1988.

Father Prucha is also the author or editor of 25 other books of numerous articles , and scores of book reviews. He is known internationally for his expertise on the American West and United States policy towards Native Americans. Prucha also helped to establish Marquette’s rich research collections documenting Catholicism among Native Americans. As a tribute to Prucha, Marquette University's Archives and Special Collection's reading room in its newly constructed Raynor Library was named in his honor. [ [http://www.marquette.edu/library/collections/archives/News/prucha.html News - Archives - Marquette University ] ] Father Prucha was also inducted into the Milwaukee Central Library’s Wisconsin Writers Wall of Fame. [Jesuit News. "Fr. Prucha named to Wade Chair." National Jesuit News, June 1990: 1.]

Prucha currently resides in the Jesuit Residence on Marquette University's campus.

Honorary Degrees

*Doctor of Humane Letters, Le Moyne College, 1974.
*Doctor of Humane Letters, Creighton University, 1978.
*Doctor of Laws, Merrimack College, 1985.
*Doctor of Letters, Marquette University, 1988.
*Doctor of Humane Letters, Loyola University Chicago, 1992.
*Doctor of Humane Letters, College of the Holy Cross, 1992.

Books

*The Great Father ISBN 9780803287129
*The Churches and the Indian Schools ISBN 0803236573
*American Indian Treaties: The History of a Political Anomaly ISBN 9780520085312
*Indian Peace Medals in American History ISBN 9780806132181
*Broadax and Bayonet: The Role of the United States Army in the Development of the Northwest, 1815-1860 ISBN 9780803251519
*Documents of United States Indian Policy: Third Edition ISBN 9780803237285
*The Sword of the Republic: The United States Army on the Frontier 1783-1846 ISBN 9780803236769

Archival collections

Francis Paul Prucha Papers, Marquette University [http://www.marquette.edu/library/collections/archives/SuperC/C-1-7s2fpp.html]

Fr. Prucha was instrumental in acquiring for Marquette University the records of the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions. There is also a collection purely that relates only to Fr. Prucha and his work. The archival collections of Francis Paul Prucha includes his correspondence, books (1950-2002), articles, book reviews (1942-2002), public talks and lectures (1956-1998), courses taught (1952-1987), awards and honors (1971-2003), professional activities, research fellowships and grants (1954-2003), personal papers (1927-1993), and research materials (1955-2003). [ [http://www.marquette.edu/library/collections/archives/SuperC/C-1-7s2fpp.html History Department, Francis Paul Prucha, S.J. Papers - Archives - Marquette University ] ]

References

See also

*Advisory Council on California Indian Policy
*Marquette University
*Marquette University Special Collections and University Archives