John William Ward Papers

Born in Boston in 1922, John William Ward was educated at Harvard University (A.B., 1945) and the University of Minnesota (M.A., 1950; Ph.D. 1953). He taught at Princeton University (1952-1964), where he started as a professor of English but later changed his primary intellectual interest to history. At Amherst College, Ward was professor of History and American Studies (1964-1971) and served as the 14th President of the College (1971-1979).

Perhaps more than anything, Ward's presidency at Amherst was marked by the introduction of coeducation. The Trustees of the College voted in favor of it in November 1974, the first female students were admitted in the fall of 1975, and the first women graduated in June 1976. Ward will also be remembered during his presidency for participating in a 1972 antiwar protest at Westover Air Force Base in Chicopee, Massachusetts, where he and 471 other protesters blocked traffic for more than thirty minutes. The protesters, including Ward, his wife Barbara, several Amherst faculty members and several hundred Amherst students, were arrested for disturbing the peace. Ward's participation stirred both approval and outrage, as well as a large volume of media coverage and commentary, related to the appropriateness of a college president's involvement in individual acts of civil disobedience.

Ward's publications include the books Andrew Jackson, Symbol for an Age (1955); Red, White, and Blue: Men, Books, and Ideas in American Culture (1969); "Tocqueville and the Meaning of Democracy," in: Tocqueville's America (1982).

From 1978 to 1980 Ward headed a special Massachusetts commission to investigate corruption and mismanagement in the construction of state and county buildings. The "Ward Commission" issued a report in 1980 that resulted in new state legislation to oversee public sector contracting. Ward also served as president of the American Council of Learned Societies from 1982 to 1985.

John William Ward died on August 3, 1985.