Willard, James F. (James Field), 1876-1935

James Field Willard was born on December 30, 1876 in Philadelphia. He attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he received his B.S. in 1898 and Ph.D. in 1902. He worked briefly as an instructor of history at Northwestern University (1902-1904), and then as a Harrison Research fellow at the University of Pennsylvania (1904-1906) before coming to the University of Colorado as an assistant professor of history. In 1907, Willard was appointed professor and made head of the CU history department. He held both posts until his death in 1935.

Willard’s primary field of research and teaching was English medieval history. He was a leading authority in this area, and internationally known and honored. His work on medieval English taxation was published extensively in scholarly journals, including English Historical Review and Speculum – a Journal of Medieval Studies . He was a member of the History Association of England, a fellow of the American Medieval Academy, a vice-president of the Medieval Academy of America, and a principal organizer and chairman of the committee on the Dictionary of Late Medieval Latin. Willard was also the only American to be an honorary vice-president of the Royal Historical Society. His works published on English medieval history include The Royal Authority and Early English Universities (1902) and Parliamentary Taxes on Personal Property, 1290-1334 (1933). With a grant from the American Council of Learned Societies, Willard was in charge of a cooperative study, “The English Government at Work, 1327-1336,” during part of his 1930-1932 sabbatical leave.

Upon Willard’s death in 1935, Professor Johnstone (University of London) wrote that Willard “delighted in the Middle Ages, and sought them by every possible avenue of approach – not merely by work among books and archives, but through friendships, discussion, travel with its rich opportunities.” It is by this active approach to history that more than just medieval English research was done during Willard’s sabbaticals. During his time abroad, Willard accumulated a wide variety of primary materials (from travel brochures to analyses of international relations) that are of interest to researchers of pre- and post-World War I Europe.

Willard also contributed a great deal to the research and preservation of Colorado history. He organized the Conference on Western History (or the Conference on the History of the Trans-Mississippi West), held at CU in June 1929. This conference prompted the publication of The Trans-Mississippi West, a book containing transcripts of papers read at the conference, which Willard edited with professor of history (and Willard’s former student), Colin B. Goodykoontz.

Willard’s research in Colorado history focused on the colonies of Colorado. He was the editor of The Union Colony at Greeley (1918) and (with Goodykoontz again) also edited Experiments in Colorado Colonization, 1869-1872 (1926). Willard contributed to the American Historical Review, the Mississippi Valley Historical Review, and the Colorado Magazine . He was a member of the Colorado State Historical Society and the American Historical Association. Willard also received an honorary LL.D. from Colorado College in 1930 and was a chairman of the history section of the Colorado-Wyoming Academy of Sciences

During World War I, Willard was appointed Director of the War Records Project for Colorado, an undertaking that preserved correspondence, individual war records, and other war related documents. These documents are in “Colorado in World War I”, a separate collection in the Archives.

Willard was also active in the community of Boulder, serving as director of the first National Bank of Boulder, and was affiliated with Boulder National Bank.

An article by Willard appeared in the Annual Reports of the American Historical Association for 1911, entitled “Report on the Public Archives of Colorado”. Willard’s interest and activism in preserving primary historical materials led to the creation of the Western Historical Collections, a collection which grew to become the Archives at the University of Colorado at Boulder Libraries. The richness of Willard’s own collection is an indication of how immense our debt is to him.

Willard was also active in the community of Boulder, serving as director of the first National Bank of Boulder, and was affiliated with Boulder National Bank.

Willard died in 1935, in Boulder. His wife, Margaret Willard, died in 1955.

From the guide to the James F. Willard Collection, 1868-1937, (University of Colorado at Boulder Libraries. Archives Dept.)