John Y. Simon
There were two professors at Southern Illinois University whose classes I took every chance I got. One was Senator Paul Simon. The other was John Y. Simon, who died yesterday.
I already knew who John Y. Simon was when I started classes at Carbondale thanks to my mom dragging me to civil war battlefields on family vacations. What made his courses so appealing was that, besides being a nationally recognized historian, he was an amazing storyteller. He gave the most entertaining lectures of any class I took.
I adopted many of the stories from his Illinois History class as my own and still entertain or bore friends with them during road trips through the state. One of my favorites was about the nation's first serial killers, the Harp Brothers, and the sordid history of Cave-in-Rock. He made the grim story exciting and somehow funny at the same time.
The first time I took one of his courses I wore a Fort Sumter t-shirt during the second week of class. It was a vacation souvenir. He was walking around the classroom as he lectured and stopped mid sentence when he noticed my shirt and shouted, "Fort Sumter! I love Fort Sumter. That's a wonderful t-shirt!" He spent the next 10 minutes on a tangent about Fort Sumter. For the rest of the semester he referred to me as Fort Sumter, long after he knew my real name, and would randomly comment on how much he liked the historic site.
I talked with him a few times after college. I heard him speak at Fort Donelson where he remarked that Kentucky seems to have the attitude that they joined the confederacy retroactively under the leadership of Colonel Sanders. He always had a joke and a smile.
I managed to get an A in all of his classes which made me like him even more. He always made me glad I went to school at SIUC. For the last few years I thought of stopping by his office in Carbondale to pick his brain about re-evaluating Grant's unpopular Presidency from a civil rights perspective considering that it took federal action nearly 100 years later to finish the job of guaranteeing equal rights. Maybe Grant's reconstruction policies were stopped prematurely. I waited too long to ask.
Comments
Will,
I just posted about Dr. Simon this morning only to find out you had beat me to it by about a day with a much better post.
I really enjoyed the one class of his I took while at SIU. A very smart and very entertaining man has passed.
Posted by: Dave | July 10, 2008 8:50 AM
I too knew John Y. Simon, and I enjoyed reading your recollections.("Fort Sumter! I love Fort Sumter. That's a wonderful t-shirt!" called forth the distinctive sound of that one and only voice.)
He was a scholar and a gentleman.
Posted by: Sheila Ryan | July 10, 2008 6:14 PM
I am so glad to read your memories of Mr. Simon. He was my boss at the USGA for over 5 years, my MA and doctoral mentor, and my lifetime friend for over 30 years. There will be a memorial for him at 1:00 pm Sun. Aug. 24, 2008 at Shyrock Auditorium at SIU-C, and I hope you will be there and introduce yourselves to me. He was an amazing man who enjoyed every single student, and learned from them as well. I heard of your Ft. Sumter T-Shirt from him...he was so jazzed! I was with him and his wife, Harriet, the first time we saw Sumter, many years ago, and I assure you, we prowled every inch. Over the years, we fired reenactor's guns, inspected hand-carved shoes and lectured on every battlefield available...as well as learning from the reenactors. I remember standing at the High Watermark of the Confederacy at Gettysburg with him early one morning and complaining about the neon lights of the Hardee's and Wendy's fast food joints in our eyes. Mr. Simon told me to turn around, and I looked at the Victorian Rococo Corps, Army and Division memorials on the field, and he said, "that's the 19th Century version of our 20th century neon. Just as bad, isn't it?" He always cracked me up.
Thanks to him, I always took my students at Georgetown to picnic at Bloody Angle, to tiptoe through the overgrown quiet at Cold Harbor, and to plan trips around the incredible weekend reenactments at Petersburg; or better, to do Harper's Ferry, Antietam and Gettysburg in a single day, missing nothing. Before forcing my 14 year-old son to traipse through Paducah, Donelson, Shiloh and Vicksburg, we stopped to attend a Civil War class of Mr. Simon's, and my son decided then that college wouldn't be so bad after all. I owe Mr. Simon a lot. By the way, I'm dropping my son off at college on the way to Mr. Simon's memorial service, and my son's name is Grant. He is upset he can't attend, but JYS would want him to go to college.
See you!! Tam Smith
Posted by: Tamara Smith | July 23, 2008 1:32 AM
Tam, thanks for leaving your message and letting me know about the memorial. Its funny that he even talked to other people about the t-shirt.
Posted by: Will | July 28, 2008 2:11 PM
Will, it is really not strange that he remembered your T-Shirt. The thing was, he remembered YOU,for wearing it. That was just another reason to meet a new friend. We are all in this together. JYS taught us that whether we are professors, reeninactors, buffs, or just interested in the Civil War, we can learn more if we work together. Pete Long proved that there are over 10,000 Battles, Skirmishes and Actions in the Civil War, and John Simon taught us that there is no need to pretend that any one person could understand them all. We all learn by collaborating. His lack of pretension, despite his academic hallmark, is what made him special. He taught me to treasure all those who can help make the truth clear. I will be glad to help you at anytime. Thanks, Tamara drts@aol.com
Posted by: Tamara Smith | August 5, 2008 4:45 AM