William Thomas Walsh

William Thomas Walsh (11 September 1891 – 22 January 1949), was an American historian, educator, poet and biographer; he was also an accomplished violinist.

Biography

Walsh was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, the son of William Thomas and Elizabeth Josephine (née Bligh). His educational background included a B.A. from Yale University (1913) and an honorary Litt.D. from Fordham University. In 1914, he married Helen Gerard Sherwood, and they had six children.

Initially a journalist during World War I, he entered the teaching career firstly at Hartford Public High School, then at Roxbury School. In 1933, he was appointed professor of English literature at the College of the Sacred Heart in Lower Manhattan. He was also the noted biographer of Spanish personalities. He wrote Isabella of Spain which was a real success, translated into French, Spanish. The same year he published a life of Philip II which was translated into Spanish, as was his other work Characters of the Inquisition (1940).

Walsh condidered writing a biography of Alexander VI for a time, but this idea did not last. He dedicated a study to the pedagogical work in the Granadan Schools of Ave Maria by Father Andrés Manjón and published Lyric Poems (1939), representing the author’s selection from the poetic output of twenty-five years.

With Life of Teresa of Avila (1942) Walsh specialized in religious subjects. His book was a great success; it was one of the best, if not the best, lives of Teresa of Ávila in English. A short story, Out of the Whirlwind, also addresses a Catholic theme, as does his play on the Carmelite martyrs of Compiègne. He also published several verse plays. Shortly before his death (1949) he published a work on St Peter the Apostle (1948) and a play, Citizens of Heaven (1948).

Walsh's works were translated into several languages. The most successful was Our Lady of Fatima (1947; 12th edition in 7 years). The events of Fatima had then gradually fell into indifference. Walsh's book awakened public attention. Following the story told with a spirit of faith of which he did not blush, he added an epilogue recounting his interview with a surviving witness, Sister Maria Lúcia, at the convent of Saint Dorothy in Vilar. Walsh was convinced that a response to the Virgin's call for the consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart, by the pope and bishops united, could have unsuspected consequences.

Walsh was awarded the Cross of a Commander of the Order of Alfonso X for his three monumental Spanish biographies, particularly Saint Teresa of Avila. He also received the Laetare Medal by the University of Notre Dame in 1941 and the Catholic Literary Award in 1944.

William Thomas Walsh died in White Plains, New York at the age of fifty seven. After his death, his private library, some 1,644 volumes, was donated as a gift to Georgetown University.

Works

Biographies

• Isabella of Spain (1930)
• Philip II (1937)
• Saint Teresa of Ávila (1943)
• Saint Peter, the Apostle (1948)

Theater

• Silver Shekels (1929; unpublished blank-verse Passion Play)
• Thirty Pieces of Silver (a play in verse)
• The Carmelites of Compiègne (a play in verse)

Miscellania

• Lyric Poems (1939)
• Characters of the Inquisition (1940)
• Babies, not Bullets! (1940; booklet)
• La actual situación de España (booklet, 1944)
• El casa crucial de España (booklet, 1946)
• Our Lady of Fátima (Doubleday, 1947)

Novels

• The Mirage of the Many (1910)
• Out of the Whirlwind (1935)

Short Stories

• "Christmas Eve in Hades," America, Vol. XXXVIII, No. 11 (1927)
• "A Connecticut Christmas," The Catholic World, Vol. CXXX, No. 777 (1929)
• "Gold," The Catholic World, Vol. CXXXI, No. 785 (1930)
• "Brother Juniper to Mrs. Murphy," The Catholic World, Vol. CXL, No. 838 (1935)
• "Canaria: The Dog Metropolis," The Catholic World, Vol. CXLV (1937)
• "Sabotage on Parnasus," America, Vol. LXI, No. 4 (1939)
• "Husband Emeritus," The Catholic World, Vol. CLI, No. 906 (1940)

Articles

• "A New Recipe for Wealth," America, Vol. XXXIX, No. 1 (1928)
• "What Is Behind Prohibition?," America, Vol. XLI, No. 15 (1929)
• "On Rereading Prescott, the Historian," America, Vol. XLIV, No. 23 (1931)
• "The Alleged Lack of Catholic Masterpieces," America, Vol. XLV, No. 24 (1931)
• "What Does 'Modern' Mean?," The Catholic World, Vol. CXXXII, No. 788 (1930)
• "Where Are the Geniuses of Yesteryear?," America, Vol. LII, No. 4 (1934)
• "Is Communism Dangerous?," The Commonweal, Vol. XXI, No. 15 (1935)
• "Aristotle in Park Row," The Commonweal, Vol. XXII, No. 19 (1935)
• "Propaganda Literature," The Sign, Vol. XIV, No. 7 (1935)
• "Manicheism in Our Time," America, Vol. LIII, No. 18 (1935)
• "Our Regimented Mind," The Catholic World, Vol. CXLI, No. 843 (1935)
• "Some Precedents for the Borah Resolution," The Catholic World, Vol. CXLI, No. 845 (1935)
• "Usury Rampant in Civilized America," America, Vol. LVI, No. 19 (1937)
• "What Causes Persecutions?," The Catholic Mind, Vol. XXXVI, No. 858 (1938)
• "Philip II and Spain," The Commonweal, Vol. XXVII, No. 24 (1938)
• "Babies, Not Bullets, Will Conquer the World," The Catholic World, Vol. CXLIX (1939)
• "In Our Neutrality Our Strenght," The Sign, Vol. XVIII, No. 9 (1939)
• "This Word 'Democracy'," The Sign, Vol. XIX, No. 3 (1939)
• "From Luther to Hitler," The Sign, Vol. XIX, No. 7 (1940)
• "The Grain of Mustard Seed," The Catholic World, Vol. CLI, No. 901 (1940)
• "The New South is a Challenge to Zeal," America, Vol. LXVII, No. 21 (1942)
• "Catholic Progress in the Carolinas," America, Vol. LXVII, No. 25 (1942)
• "Some Recollections of E. A. Robinson, Part I" The Catholic World, Vol. CLV, No. 929 (1942)
• "Some Recollections of E. A. Robinson, Part II" The Catholic World, Vol. CLV, No. 930 (1942)
• "Hoffman-Haines on the War's Origins," The Catholic World, Vol. CLVIII, No. 943 (1943)
• "Why Spain and Argentina?," The Catholic World, Vol. CLXI, No. 961 (1945)
• "What Are Saints?," The Catholic World, Vol. CLXVII, No. 4 (1948)

References

• Burnham, Philip (1938). "Spain's Great Century," The Commonweal, Vol. XXVII, No. 14, pp. 378–81.
• Shields, W. Eugene (1949). "William Thomas Walsh (1891-1949)," Revista de Historia de América, No. 28, pp. 407–409.
• Walsh, Elizabeth P. (1949). "A Connecticut Yankee of Our Lady's Court," The Catholic World, Vol. CLXIX, No. 2, pp. 91–97.

External links

• Works by William Thomas Walsh at Unz.com
• Works by William Thomas Walsh at Hathi Trust
• Works by William Thomas Walsh at Open Library
• William Thomas Walsh at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database