ELWYN B. ROBINSON DEPARTMENT OF SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
CHESTER FRITZ LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA
GRAND FORKS, NORTH DAKOTA 58202

JOSEPH KENNEDY PAPERS

COLLECTION: OGL #28

DATES: 1879-1936

SIZE: 2 linear feet

INTRODUCTION

ACQUISITION: The Joseph Kennedy Papers were deposited in the Orin G. Libby Manuscript Collection. The acquisition records are unavailable.

ACCESS: Available for inspection under the rules and regulations of the Department of Special Collections.

RELATED PUBLICATIONS:

Fundamentals in methods in elementary schools by Joseph Kennedy. New York:
Macmillan, 1915. Call Number: LB1025 .K36

Rural life and the rural school by Joseph Kennedy. New York: American Book Company, 1915.
Call Number: LB1567 .K4

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Dr. Joseph Kennedy was born on July 14, 1858, in Oshawa, Nicollet County, Minnesota, to Patrick and Elizabeth (Meaney) Kennedy. Patrick Kennedy had emigrated from Waterford in County Kilkenny, Ireland in 1849 and made his home in an agricultural region twenty miles north of Baltimore, Maryland, laboring as a farmer for eight years. It was in that part of the country that he married his wife, Elizabeth, also from Kilkenny County, and in 1857 the two went to Nicollet County, Minnesota, to claim 80 acres of government land.

The couple’s move to a rural community did not prevent their young son, Joseph, from developing intellectually. He attended rural schools and eventually found himself in a position as one of its teachers, beginning as early as 1876, preceding his enrollment to the University of Minnesota in the spring of 1878. He did not graduate from the University until 1886 with a Bachelor of Arts degree as he took absences during his matriculation to teach several terms in these rural schools. In 1901, he received a Master of Arts degree.

In September 1886, Kennedy came to North Dakota and became a principal of two city schools in Hillsboro, North Dakota, and remained in this position for two years. In the winter of 1886 he visited the campus of the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks and met with four pioneer educators, serving at the institution’s faculty, who so impressed Kennedy that he dubbed them “the four horsemen of the university apocalypse.” These four horsemen with saddle and lance were Dr. Henry Montgomery, Dr. Webster Merrifield, Dr. John Macnie, and Dr. H.B. Woodworth. After this visit, he returned to Hillsboro. A year later, Kennedy was elected the superintendent of schools in Traill County, North Dakota.

Serving four years in the capacity as superintendent, it was not until October 1, 1892 that his profession changed direction when he came to the young University of North Dakota to serve as Assistant Professor of Pedagogy and Principal of the Normal Department. But in this post he did not stay long, for only one year after his appointment, he became Head of the Department of Education. Following the retirement of Dr. Woodworth, he became a professor of philosophy and education. In 1901, he was made Dean of the Normal College, which later became the School of Education. He served as Dean until 1928 when he retired and became dean emeritus, an honor which he was first to receive in the university’s history.

Throughout his stay in North Dakota, Kennedy spent his summers either lecturing on education or conducting teachers’ institutes. His contribution to the educational system of North Dakota is illustrative in the appointments and committees he sat on. He was president of the North Dakota Education Association in 1895 and was a lifelong member. He was appointed by North Dakota Governor John Burke to both the State Law Codification Commission from 1909 to 1911 and the State Board of Examiners for the Certification of Teachers. In 1918, Dean Kennedy received an honorary degree of LL.D from the University of North Dakota. Inasmuch as Kennedy was committed to the project of Education for the state of North Dakota, he found time to devote his time to local affairs as a member of the Board of Park Commissioners in Grand Forks from 1907, when it was first organized, until 1928.

Kennedy authored the books Rural Life and the Rural School (1915) and Fundamentals in Methods in Elementary School (1915). Apart from his role as a writer, he was also the editor of the School of Education Record from 1915 to 1928.

He was married to Elizabeth Davis of Hillsboro on June 20, 1889, in Grand Forks, North Dakota. The couple had two sons, James and Lawrence. Dr. Joseph Kennedy died on April 1, 1937, in Grand Forks, and is buried in Calvary Cemetery.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

The Joseph Kennedy Papers date from 1879-1936, and consist primarily of Kennedy’s academic writings. Included are several book-length manuscripts, “Points of View in Education and Life,” “Introductory Ethics,” “Modern Logic,” and “Principles and Problems of Education.” Numerous manuscripts for journal articles, as well as the text for speeches are also included.

The collection also includes biographical material, correspondence, materials related to both the University of North Dakota and the North Dakota Education Association, and miscellaneous certificates and diplomas. Fifty-four photographs were separated and added to the Orin G. Libby Photograph Collection.

BOX AND FOLDER INVENTORY

Box 1
Folder

1. Correspondence with Vilhjalmur Stefansson: September 1901 - June 1930
2. Correspondence with Webster Merrifield: March 1892 - January 1916
3. General Correspondence: January 1879 - February 1909
4. General Correspondence: January 1910 - March 1930
5. Correspondence with Dr. James H. Hyslop: March 1905 - July 1923
6. Biographical Material, Reminiscences, and Newspaper Clippings
7. Correspondence and General Materials Regarding Philosophy: 1909 - 1919
8. Manuscripts:
   “The Irish Question,” Letter to the Editor, Grand Forks Herald, April 29, 1921
   “The Need for Educational Research,” Phi Delta Kappan, October 1924
   Untitled Article for the Phi Delta Kappa Newsletter, May 4, 1929
9. Speeches:
   “Taking Stock,” Northeastern Division of the State Teachers’ Association
   Grand Forks, October 13, 1922
   “The Open Mind,” 1916
   “The Spirit of the Model High,” undated
10. Publication: “Geography of North and South Dakota” Supplement to Frye’s Geography by Joseph Kennedy and Willis E. Johnson. Boston: Ginn and Co., 1906.
11. Miscellaneous Material Regarding Will Durant
12. Speeches:
    “Human Ups and Downs,” Fortnightly Club, December 1926 “Toleration,” Fortnightly Club, 1922
    “Religion—Art or Science?”, Fortnightly Club, January 4, 1904 (includes references)
    “Religion, Its Nature and Purpose,” Circa 1918 (includes references)
13. Manuscripts:
    “The Power of Suggestion,” undated;
    “The Subjective or Objective,” January 1931;
    “The Relation of Normal Schools to the College and University,” undated
14. Manuscripts:
    “Out of Joint,” Western Journal of Education, September, 1912;
    “A Page or Two,” January 6, 1932;
    “Outlines of Lectures on Education,” undated
    “Educational Progress,” 1914 or 1915
15. Speeches:
    “School Libraries,” Southeastern Education Association, Hillsboro, May 10, 1902
    “Educational Progress in North Dakota,” North Dakota Education Association, Bismarck, November 2, 1917
    “The School Superintendent in Territorial Days,” Phi Delta Kappa, April 3, 1930
    “Prohibition,” March 16, 1931
16. Speeches:
    “High Schools, Modern,” UND Faculty Meeting, April 9, 1908
    “Education in the Large,” North Dakota Education Association, Grand Forks, November 8, 1928
    “Teaching as a ?Fine Art’,” UND, April 5, 1929
    “Educational Perspective,” UND, June 15, 1914
    “The Professional School, Its Function,” Southeastern Teachers’ Association, Hillsboro, May 7, 1904
    “Certificating Teachers,” undated
17. Manuscripts:
    “Confusion Worse Confounded”
    “The Practical and the Cultural”
    “Ideals”
    “Human Products”
    “Good Citizenship”
18. Speeches:
    “Elementary Schools -Teachers For,” March 1904, Minnesota Educational Association
    “Education, Some Thoughts on,” February 1899 and November 1900
    “The Influence in the Community of the Teacher’s Ideals,” Northeast Division, State Teachers’ Association, Grand Forks, October 18, 1923
19. Miscellaneous Material Regarding Evolution
20. Miscellaneous Materials Including a Ledger Book Containing Articles by Kennedy: 1885-1901
21. Manuscript, “Points of View in Education and Life,” Sections 1-115: 1928
22. Manuscript, “Points of View in Education and Life,” Sections 116-185: 1928
23. Manuscript, “Flashes”: 1934
24. Manuscript, “Introductory Ethics,” Chapters 1-10: 1935
25. Manuscript, “Introductory Ethics,” Chapters 11-26: 1935
26. Manuscript, “Introductory Ethics,” Chapters 1-10: 1936
27. Manuscript, “Introductory Ethics,” Chapters 11-27: 1936
28. Manuscript, “Modern Logic,” Chapters 1-14: undated
29. Manuscript, “Modern Logic,” Chapters 15-28: undated
30. Manuscript, “Principles and Problems of Education,” Chapters 1-11: 1934
31. Manuscript, “Principles and Problems of Education,” Chapters 12-23: 1934

Box 2
Folder

1. Manuscripts and Publications:
   “The Nature of Democracy,” Quarterly Journal of the University of North Dakota: October 1920
   “The Power of Suggestion,” undated
   “Good and Evil; Right and Wrong,” Quarterly Journal of the University of North Dakota, July 1911
   “The Open Mind,” 1916
   “Toleration,” undated
   “Evolution,” undated
   “Philosophy and Democracy,” undated
   “Teachers and Standards,” Quarterly Journal of the University of North Dakota, undated
   “An Epoch Maker: William James,” Western Journal of Education, October 1911
2. Speeches:
   “What of Philosophy?”, UND Philosophy Club, May 1933
   “The Fundamental Conflict,” UND Philosophy Club, October 1919
   “Whither Bound?”, Fortnightly Club of Grand Forks, October 1931
   “Good Citizenship,” North Dakota Education Association, October 1929 “Human Ups and Downs,” Men’s Club of Gethsemane Cathedral, Fargo, February 1927
3. North Dakota Education Association--Miscellaneous
4. University of North Dakota—Miscellaneous
5. Miscellaneous Certificates and Diplomas

SEPARATIONS RECORD

54 photographs were separated and placed in the Orin G. Libby Photograph Collection.

Return to: Faculty Papers