John Ramsey was a scholar, historian, patriot, writer, world traveler, classical music devotee, gourmet cook, avid sports fan, and an educator whose dedication and compassion influenced the lives of untold numbers of students.
John Fraser Ramsey was born December 17, 1907, in Lawrence, Kansas, as the only child of Joseph Reeves Ramsey and Della Frazer Ramsey. At the age of 8, his family moved to Glendale, California and at the age of 12 to Long Beach, California, where he graduated from Long Beach Polytechnic High School in 1927. While in high school, he was editor of the “Caerulea” (school yearbook), president of the Glee Club and school orchestra, a member of “High Life” (school newspaper), and a prominent debater on the debate team.
Following high school he attended the University of California at Berkeley, where he majored in European history and minored in political science. He received his bachelor’s degree with honors in history in 1931 and his master’s degree in history in 1932. While pursuing his Ph.D., he worked as a teaching assistant from 1932 to 1935 and spent 6 months in Paris and London in 1934 doing research on his dissertation. He received a Ph.D. in modern European history in 1935 from the University of California at Berkley.
While at the University of California, John was initiated at the California Gamma chapter of Phi Kappa Psi in 1928. John’s father, Joseph R. Ramsey (Kansas Alpha 1901) was present at both the pledging and initiation of his son. In his senior year, John served as president of California Gamma. John’s mother also had greek ties as a member of Kappa Alpha Theta.
John was responsible for the successful establishment of the Alabama Alpha Chapter of Phi Kappa Psi, which was chartered at The University of Alabama on February 29, 1964. He served as chapter and faculty advisor to the Alabama Chapter from its inception as a colony in the spring of 1962 until 1975.
John Ramsey came to The University of Alabama as a history instructor in 1935 and, except for 3 years during World War II, he remained a member of the faculty for 42 years, being promoted to full professor in 1947. During World War II, he served his country as civilian head of the Department of Maps and Charts, Santa Anna Army Air Base, 1942-1943; Assistant Coordinator of War Training Programs, Washington State University 1943-1944; and Senior Historian for Air Staff Intelligence at the Pentagon, 1944-45.
John Ramsey’s honors and accomplishments at Alabama include:
Chairman of the Department of History, 1971-1975
Chairman of the American Studies Committee, 1959-1962
Chairman of the President’s Committee on Academic Activities, 1963
Chairman of the Committee on the Honors Program, 1959-1969
Chairman of the President’s Committee on the Foreign Student, 1964-1967
Chairman of the Arts and Sciences Committee on Instruction, 1970-1972
Chairman of the University Committee on Student Awards, 1974-1976
Chairman of the Arts and Sciences of Committee on Student Academic Affairs, 1973-1975
Member of the Athletic Committee, 1953-1958
Member of University Graduate Council, 1967-1970
Member of the President’s Advisory Committee on Graduate Studies, 1969-1970
Member of the Arts and Sciences Committee on the Humanities, 1974-1976
He also served as the President of the Alabama Council for the Social Studies, 1960-1962; the Arts & Sciences Faculty Senate, 1968-1969; and the Alabama Association of Historians, which has named its Annual Award “The John F. Ramsey Award of Merit” in recognition of his service as founder of the association. John Ramsey’s dedication to the advancement of education is further reflected by his publications, which include “Anglo-French Relations 1763-1770; A Study of Choiseul’s Foreign Policy.” John traveled and studied extensively in Spain during the summer of 1962 and later authored a book, “Spain: The Rise of the First World Power.”
John Ramsey held memberships in the American Historical Association, the American Association of the University Professors, the Alabama Association of Historians, Phi Beta Kappa (academic), Phi Alpha Theta (history), Pi Sigma Delta (Spanish), Omicron Delta Kappa (service), Phi Kappa Psi (social, being founder of the Alabama Chapter in 1964), Jasons (senior men’s honorary) honored him at his retirement by inducting him into the organization for the second time, the only person inducted twice, the Alabama “A” Club (honorary), and Phi Eta Sigma (honorary).
He has been honored as the recipient of many distinguished University of Alabama awards including: the Algernon Sidney Sullivan Award for service to the University, and the Carlton K. Butler Award for service to the University. He was honored by students as the first recipient of the Alabama Residence Halls Council Distinguished Professor Award, and later in his career received the award a second time. He was the first recipient of the Omicron Delta Kappa Walter Guyton Award. He received the National Alumni Association of The University of Alabama’s Outstanding Commitment to Teaching award. He brought national honor to himself, the College of Arts & Sciences, and to The University of Alabama as a member of the Health, Education, and Welfare State-based Committee on the Humanities and Public Policy.
Serving in the classroom at every academic level from instructor to full professor, he won the respect and admiration of the entire University community. In May 1977, UA celebrated his accomplishments by conferring upon John Ramsey the highest award The University of Alabama can bestow, the Doctor of Humane Letters degree. This marked the first time a retiring professor of the University had been so honored. When the question of the precedent was raised concerning the award, Dr. Richard Thigpen, then acting President of the University, said, “There is really no problem of precedent because there is only one John Ramsey.”
At his retirement in 1977, several hundred of his friends and associates gathered in Tuscaloosa to pay tribute to this great man who had been an inspiration to the students and faculty at the University for 42 years. At his retirement banquet, his legacy of students and many friends gave thanks to John Ramsey for the assistance, both emotional and financial, that he had provided while they were in school at the University. Although everyone at the banquet told of John Ramsey’s countless good deeds, there was a touch of sadness in the air, for we all knew that “Mr. Faculty” was stepping down and that the University would never be quite the same.
In noting John Ramsey’s retirement, the faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences adopted a Resolution to honor him.
Following his retirement, many friends and admirers established the first University endowed scholarship in his honor to be known as the John Fraser Ramsey Award. The initial Ramsey Award was a $1,000 cash award. The award is presented annually at Honors Day to an outstanding junior at the University who has an exemplary academic record and is a person with broad humanistic interests, and who has demonstrated selfless leadership and has served as a positive role model for his or her contemporaries. Since 1994, the award has also offered each recipient an opportunity to supplement their academic education through an international travel experience. This facet of the award was named the “John Ramsey Great Ideas Tour” to commemorate a two-semester senior level inter-disciplinary course that John was noted for at the University entitled “Great Ideas of Western Civilization,” the first inter-disciplinary course taught at the University.
Following his retirement, John continued to stay active serving as president of the University Retired Faculty Association and was a frequent guest lecturer at the University. Due to declining health and at the urging of his friends, John agreed to move to the home of Bill and Rachael Cadenhead in Florence, Alabama. All of John Ramsey’s friends and admirers owe the Cadenheads a great debt of gratitude for caring for our friend during his last years.
The Cadenheads brought John, although he was in very poor health, to Tuscaloosa for one last visit on January 29, 1983, to celebrate Founders Day of Phi Kappa Psi. A champagne reception was held at the newly restored fraternity house and the house was dedicated in honor of John Ramsey, who had founded the Alabama Alpha Chapter. Phi Kappa Psi National President John K. Boyd, III, Executive Director Gary B. Angstadt, and Past National President John R. Donnell, Jr., were in attendance as were hundreds of Phi Psi alumni, University faculty, staff, and friends.
Less than 3 weeks following Founders Day, John passed away quietly from heart failure, following his noontime Bloody Mary, on February 16, 1983, at the age of 75.
In April, following his death, a memorial service was held on The Mound, located on the University quadrangle, where John had presented so many student awards, and, as he requested, his ashes were spread on The Mound and on the lawn at the Phi Kappa Psi house. Prior to the memorial service, the fraternity burial ritual was conducted on the fraternity lawn.
The Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama noted the death of John Ramsey through Senator Howell Heflin who entered into the Congressional Record on March 10, 1983 “A Tribute to Dr. John F. Ramsey.”
In reflecting on the life of John Ramsey, many individuals who knew him well described the life of John Ramsey and his impact on their lives.
College of Arts and Sciences Resolution 1977
In noting John Ramsey’s retirement, the faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences adopted a resolution that reads as follows:
During these 42 years, Professor Ramsey had a profound influence on the University. To the classroom, he brought a wide range of professional knowledge, a grace and a wit that was peculiarly his own, and at the same time, a demand for a high standard of academic performance from his students. Those who attended his lectures found to their surprise and sometimes to their dismay, that John Ramsey’s version of history included art, music, literature, and philosophy. Professor Ramsey insisted that his students, his colleagues in the History Department, and the University at large pursue the highest standards of academic excellence, and in the many capacities in which he served as member of almost every important committee, as a public lecturer, and as Chairman of the History Department, he never lost sight of this objective. Although his position as Chairman of the History Department was as close as Professor Ramsey ever came to crossing over to the administrative side, no one commanded more attention or respect from the officials of the University, who constantly sought his advice and counsel. His circle of friends and admirers is so wide and varied as to defy description. They are of all ages and from all walks for life, and they know him as a counselor, a master teller of tales, and a gourmet cook. He is tolerant of their intellectual and moral infirmities while at the same time maintaining his own rigorous moral and ethical code. Though he would consider it invidious to be compared to the Apostle Paul, nevertheless, it may be said of Professor Ramsey, that “he has fought the good fight, he has finished the course, and he has kept the faith.”
A Tribute to Dr. John F. Ramsey
The Board of Trustees of The University of Alabama noted the death of John Ramsey through Senator Howell Heflin who entered into the Congressional Record on March 10, 1983 “A Tribute to Dr. John F. Ramsey.” The tribute read as follows:
“Mr. President, on February 16, 1983, Alabama lost one of its most outstanding citizens when Dr. John Ramsey passed away.
Dr. Ramsey first came to Alabama as a history instructor at The University of Alabama in 1935. Except for three years when he served as a senior historian of the United States Air Force, he would remain a member of the faculty at the University for 42 years until his retirement in 1977.
His career at the University was certainly a distinguished one. During his tenure, Dr. Ramsey served as Chairman of the Department of History, the American Studies Committee, the President’s Committee on Academic Activities of the University, the Committee on the Honors Program, the Arts and Sciences Faculty Senate, the Arts and Sciences Committee on Instruction, the University Committee on Student Awards, and the Arts and Sciences Committee on Student Academic Affairs. He has also served as President of the Alabama Council for the Social Studies and the Alabama Association of Historians, which has named its annual award “the John F. Ramsey Award of Merit,” in recognition of his outstanding service in founding the association.
To fully realize the depth and dimension of this dedicated teacher, one must look beyond a mere listing of his honors and awards, even when they are as impressive as these are.
The true essence of Dr. Ramsey was a teacher. His life was shaped around his love of history, his students, and The University of Alabama. He was a scholar, and had several scholarly works published, but I believe his own measure of success was not in these personal, material accomplishments, but was in conveying an enthusiasm for the study of man to many generations of students. My son Tom was one of his students, and I have heard him speak at length about his respect and devotion of his friend and teacher.
Professor Ramsey was truly fond of his students, thinking of them not as impersonal numbers or mere faces in a large lecture room, but as human beings. He was widely known among the student body for his wit and humor, his integrity, and his leadership, but no more so than for his ability and willingness to listen and advise.
During his years at the University, John Ramsey was not only a professor, but an example, a counselor, and a friend. He earned, many times over, the respect and admiration of all who knew him, both inside and outside of the University community.
In 1977, the year of this retirement, two distinctive honors were bestowed on Dr. Ramsey which perhaps best indicate the attitude which the University has toward him. The first of these honors came when he was given the highest award which The University of Alabama can bestow, the Doctor of Humane Letters degree.
Second, his friends endowed, in Dr. Ramsey’s name, the first University-wide endowed scholarship. This $1000 scholarship is now presented annually, encouraging students to follow in the path of John Ramsey’s high standards of excellence.
Mr. President, Professor John Fraser Ramsey was a truly great educator and citizen. I only wish that my words today could convey the esteem in which he was held as clearly and succinctly as did a professor of law in Illinois, who said, “When I think of the value of liberal education, I think of John Ramsey. When my students say I am a good teacher, I think: I knew one. If I could be more like him, you would know what a good teacher is.”
Upon his death, friends and colleagues described John Ramsey as the “ideal professor.” Dr. Joab Thomas, President of the University of Alabama, referred to John Ramsey as “Mr. Faculty,” and cited his death as a great loss to the academic community and to the teaching profession. Douglas E. Jones, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said,
“I think John Ramsey probably represents in the eyes of many students the ideal professor, in that he expressed enormous concern about their intellectual well-being and was such a very caring person. He probably had as close a relationship with students as anybody I have ever known.”
Citing his death as a “very great loss,” Dr. Charles Summersell, professor emeritus of history at the Capstone said, “He was an outstanding teacher, but he did more than just teach a subject. He influenced lives. By his close personal interest and concern, he formed an endless chain of influence on individuals particularly students.” Dr. William Barnard, Chairman of the University History Department, described John as “an extraordinary human being. He was one of the most beloved historians in the State. I think in the end he will be remembered for the untold number of students he aided financially, most often without it being known. His unselfish dedication to his students and to the University of Alabama should serve as a model for us all.”
Reflections on the Life of John Ramsey
In reflecting on the life of John Ramsey, the following observations were made by individuals who knew him well.
A State University President
His manner of address was splendidly positive (he was always positive, never negative), his voice was melodious, and his pronunciation and enunciation were both perfect (in the deep south this was no mean accomplishment). John Ramsey always appeared to be “extremely rich.” Naturally, I do not reference measurable elements of wealth, but, in an age of great depression he was able to give the impression of a man who was to the manor born and yet one who was also servant to all!
A Florida Educator
Doc can exchange recipes in the kitchen, talk football in the den, or debate philosophy in the living room with the same avid interest and expertise.
A Faculty Member, The University of Alabama
I suppose the number of students he has befriended is legion. On their part, students have respected this man who carried his learning lightly, and they have voted him into a number of advisory posts, which I have good reason to believe John regarded not merely as an honor, but as a deep responsibility. Students have an unerring good sense in detecting what is phony; John is the embodiment of what is genuine and unpretentious.
A Missouri Businessman, and his Wife
Dr. Ramsey made his first impact upon both our lives as our teacher. He gave us deep feeling for history and the value of our cultural heritage. He then became a friend. In this friendship his intellect continues to be an influence in our lives but more importantly, we know him, love him, and enjoy him as a member of our family.
A Formal Doctoral Student
John Ramsey is a very social being. He is an asset at any social gathering. He is a gifted raconteur and conversationalist. He seems never to have forgotten anything he has ever read or done. The “universal man,” many think, disappeared after the eighteenth century. If so, John Ramsey is an anachronism—he is a “universal man.”
A University of Houston Professor
The camaraderie and good fellowship you infused into the lives of all of us graduate students in the department during the middle fifties imparted to me the realization that the link between professor and student should extend beyond the boundaries of the classroom.
A Professor at Auburn University
Your professional scholarly achievements stand proudly before the world for all to see. Your personal contribution cannot be so displayed, for it rests in the hearts and lives of those of us who have known and worked with you.
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