University of Chicago Library Guide to the Jean Bethke Elshtain Papers 1935-2017 © 2017 University of Chicago Library Table of Contents Acknowledgments 3 Descriptive Summary 3 Information on Use 3 Access 3 Restrictions on Use 3 Citation 4 Biographical Note 4 Scope Note 6 Related Resources 9 Subject Headings 10 INVENTORY 10 Series I: Personal 10 Subseries 1: General Personal Ephemera 10 Subseries 2: Education 14 Subseries 3: Curriculum Vitae, Calendars, and Itineraries 19 Series II: Correspondence 22 Series III: Subject Files 48 Series IV: Writings by Others 67 Series V: Writings 84 Subseries 1: Articles and Essays 84 Subseries 2: Speaking Engagements 158 Subseries 3: Books 242 Series VI: Teaching 256 Series VII: Professional Organizations 279 Series VIII: Honors and Awards 291 Series IX: Audiovisual 292 Series X: Oversize 298 Series XI: Restricted 299 Descriptive Summary Identifier ICU.SPCL.ELSHTAINJB Title Elshtain, Jean Bethke. Papers Date 1935-2017 Size 124 linear feet (237 boxes) Repository Special Collections Research Center University of Chicago Library 1100 East 57th Street Chicago, Illinois 60637 U.S.A. Abstract Jean Bethke Elshtain (1941-2013) was a political theorist, ethicist, author, and public intellectual. She was the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Professor of Social and Political Ethics with joint appointments at the Divinity School, the Department of Political Science, and the Committee on International Relations at the University of Chicago. The collection includes personal ephemera; correspondence; subject files; materials related to her writings and speaking engagements; university administrative and teaching materials; records documenting Elshtain's activities in professional, nonprofit, and governmental organizations; awards; photographs; audio and video recordings; and posters. Materials date between 1935 and 2017, with the bulk of the material dating between 1950 and 2013. The papers primarily document Elshtain's career in academia as a political theorist, and her activities as a public intellectual called upon to address issues related to feminism, war, and political ethics. Acknowledgments The Jean Bethke Elshtain Papers were processed and preserved with generous support from the McDonald Agape Foundation. Information on Use Access This collection is open for research, with the exception of material in Series XI, Restricted. Records in Box 228 are restricted for thirty years from date of record creation. Records in Boxes 229-232 are restricted for fifty years from date of record creation. Records in Boxes 233-236 are restricted for eighty years from date of record creation. Records in Box 237 are restricted indefinitely. Restrictions on Use 3 Series IX, Audiovisual, does not include access copies for the audio and video recordings. Researchers will need to consult with staff before requesting these items. Citation When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Elshtain, Jean Bethke. Papers, [Box #, Folder #], Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library. Biographical Note Jean Bethke Elshtain was born on January 6, 1941 to Paul and Helen Bethke in Windsor, Colorado. She grew up in Tinmath, Colorado, a small farming community north of Denver. She was the eldest of five children, and was active in the local 4-H Club and Future Homemakers of America. At the age of 10, Jean contracted polio and was moved to Denver for treatment. Her mother obtained a job at the hospital in order to be near to her daughter, and eventually Jean was brought home to recuperate and learn to walk again. She graduated from Cache La Poudre High School in 1959. Jean went on to earn an A.B. in history at Colorado State University in 1963, and an M.A. in history at the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1964. She was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow from 1963 to 1964, and earned a second M.A. in history at the University of Colorado in 1965. She married Errol L. Elshtain on September 5, 1965. They raised five children: Sheri, Heidi, Jenny, Eric, and Bobby (three from an earlier marriage, and one a grandchild). In 1973, Elshtain received her Ph.D. in Political Science at Brandeis University. Elshtain taught as an instructor in history at Colorado State University (1965-1966), and was a lecturer in political science at Northeastern University, Boston while working on her dissertation (1972-1973), "Women and Politics: A Theoretical Analysis." Elshtain joined the faculty of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1973 as an instructor, and worked her way up to assistant professor (1973-1976), associate professor (1976-1982), and then professor of political science (1982-1988). She left the University of Massachusetts in 1988 to become the first woman to hold an endowed professorship at Vanderbilt University. She joined Vanderbilt University as Centennial Professor of Political Science and was appointed as professor of philosophy in 1989. While there, she directed the Center for Social and Political Thought from 1991 to 1994, and led seminars at the Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities. After a visiting professorship at Harvard University in 1994, Elshtain was appointed in 1995 as the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Professor of Social and Political Ethics in the Divinity School at the University of Chicago. She later held joint appointments in the Department of Political 4 Science and the Committee on International Relations. Elshtain remained on the faculty at the University of Chicago until her death in 2013. Throughout her career, Elshtain was a visiting professor at numerous institutions, including Smith College, Yale University, Oberlin College, Harvard University, Baylor University, and Georgetown University. In addition to her active teaching career, Elshtain was a prolific writer and public speaker. She published more than 500 scholarly articles, occasional and opinion pieces, and reviews in a wide range of periodicals and books. Elshtain authored more than a dozen books, including Public Man, Private Woman: Women in Social and Political Thought (1981); Women and War (1987); Democracy on Trial (1993); Augustine and the Limits of Politics (1996); Who Are We? Critical Reflections and Hopeful Possibilities. Politics and Ethical Discourse (2000); Jane Addams and the Dream of American Democracy (2002); Just War against Terror: The Burden of American Power in a Violent World (2003); and Sovereignty: God, State, Self (2008). She maintained a rigorous public speaking schedule and was invited to lecture or comment upon topics related to feminism, bioethics, political ethics, the place of religion in modern society and in democracy, and war. A devout Christian, Elshtain was unafraid to incorporate theology and the history of religion into her discussions of contemporary events and politics. Following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, her writings on St. Augustine and the Just War doctrine prompted the George W. Bush administration to include her among a group of scholars and religious figures invited to the White House to meet with the President. The Just War doctrine was later used to support the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and Elshtain was a public supporter of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Additionally, Elshtain was appointed to the Council of the National Endowment for the Humanities (2006-2013) and to the President's Council on Bioethics (2008). She also served on the board of the National Humanities Center (1996-2013), the board of the National Endowment for Democracy (2003-2011), and the Scholars Council of the Library of Congress (2001-2013). Elshtain received many prestigious appointments, fellowships, and awards throughout her lifetime, including nine honorary degrees. She co-directed the PEW Forum on Religious and Public Life (2001-2004), and was on the boards of the Institute for Advanced Study (1994-1996) and the Institute for American Values (1994-2008). She was a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1996), and a Guggenheim Fellow (1991-1992). She held the Cary and Ann Maguire Chair in Ethics and American History at the Library of Congress (2003), and was a Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar (1997-1998). In 2002 Elshtain was given the Frank J. Goodnow Award by the American Political Science Association, the highest honor bestowed by that organization. She delivered the esteemed Gifford Lectures at the University of Edinburgh in 2005-2006, which led to her final major work, Sovereignty: God, State, and Self. 5 Jean Bethke Elshtain died in Nashville, Tennessee on August 11, 2013. Scope Note The Jean Bethke Elshtain Papers are organized into eleven series: Series I: Personal Subseries 1: General Personal Ephemera Subseries 2: Education Subseries 3: Curriculum Vitae, Calendars, and Itineraries Series II: Correspondence Series III: Subject Files Series IV: Writings by Others Series V: Writings Subseries 1: Articles and Essays Subseries 2: Speaking Engagements Subseries 3: Books Series VI: Teaching Series VII: Professional Organizations Series VIII: Honors and Awards Series IX: Audiovisual Series X: Oversize Series XI: Restricted The collection includes personal ephemera; material documenting Elshtain's education; calendars and itineraries; correspondence; subject files; writings by others given to or collected by Elshtain; writings about Elshtain; writings quoting or citing Elshtain; materials related to the creation and publication of her articles and books; materials related to her extensive speaking engagements; 6 administrative and teaching