New book focuses on early Delaware history

1:40 p.m., Aug. 26, 2004--The Philadelawareans and Other Essays Relating to Delaware by John A. Munroe, H. Rodney Sharp Professor Emeritus of History, is a potpourri of articles and talks by Munroe on different aspects of Delaware’s early history and, on a more personal note, the story of his career as a noted historian. The book is published by the University of Delaware Press.

The book’s cover features portraits of two leading colonial “Philadelawareans” who had strong ties with both Philadelphia and Delaware—John Dickinson, who had homes in both places, and Thomas McKean, who served simultaneously as a judge in Pennsylvania and as a congressman from Delaware during the American Revolution.

Each essay in the book has an introduction telling when and the circumstances under which Munroe wrote the essay or gave the lecture.

The lead essay, “The Philadelawareans,” is a study of the intertwined relationship between Delaware and Philadelphia in colonial times. Munroe writes: “The three counties perched beside their river found themselves inexorably drawn in the cultural, social and economic sphere of the river’s metropolis.” Today, according to Munroe, the “river highway” is less important, and other cities, such as Washington, D.C., and New York are equally influential in Delaware’s cultural and intellectual life.

Other essays explore such topics as “The Delaware Physician of 1800”; “Delaware and the Constitution,” a selection on Delaware maps, brief biographies of individual 18th- and early 19th-Century Delawareans and the history of African Americans in Delaware until the 1950s.

Munroe’s personal reminiscences add another dimension to the book. His prologue. “A Literary Autobiography,” tells of his own history beginning at Wilmington High school from 1928-32, to the start of his career as a high school teacher in 1936 to his retirement as a UD history professor in 1986, writing, “It seemed the best job in the world for me.”

Another chapter, “The Trip to Philadelphia,” describes boyhood trips to Philadelphia via the trolley, the train or his personal favorite—the Wilson Line boat, which took two and a half hours. Munroe also devotes a chapter to his forebears who came to America in the 19th Century, entitled “Three 19th-Century Immigrants.”

Munroe is well-known for his expertise and many books on Delaware history, including Federalist Delaware, 1775-1815; Louis McLane, Federalist and Jacksonian; Colonial Delaware; The University of Delaware: A History; and, with coauthor Carol Hoffecker, Books, Bricks and Bibliophiles: The University of Delaware Library. John Munroe Hall, which houses the anthropology and history departments, is named in his honor.

Article by Sue Moncure

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