John Frederick Schwaller Explained

John Frederick Schwaller is an American historian of Latin America, specializing in colonial Mexico, religion, and indigenous peoples. He has written monographs on religion in Mexico, edited scholarly editions of important colonial Mexican texts, and has coordinated and edited anthologies of articles on religion. His administrative service includes being President of State University of New York at Potsdam from 2006 to 2013 and Director of the Academy of American Franciscan History, 1993–95. He is currently professor of history at University of Albany, State University of New York.

Education and career

Schwaller was born and brought up in Hays, Kansas, but he spent considerable time in Mexico as a youth, travelling with his parents. He attended Grinnell College, graduating with a B.A. in history. He attended graduate school in Spanish at University of Kansas, in Lawrence, earning an M.A. in Spanish, and went on to Indiana University in Bloomington, earning a doctorate in history. As a graduate student he spent two years doing research in Mexico and Spain, supported by fellowships.

He taught at Florida Atlantic University from 1979 to 1993, with a joint appointment in History and Languages & Linguistics. He went on to serve as an administrator and faculty member at University of Montana, and University of Minnesota, Morris, and in 2006 became President of SUNY Potsdam. In 2013, he stepped down from administration and returned to full-time teaching at SUNY Albany.

He has been active in promoting connections between scholars through the H-Net listservs for Latin America (H-LATAM)^[1] and Nahuatl (H-Nahuatl).^[2] He serves on the editorial boards of The Americas and Estudios de Cultura Náhuatl.

Works

Monographs

• 2019 The Fifteenth Month Aztec History in the Rituals of Panquetzaliztli. University of Oklahoma Press.
• 2011 The History of the Catholic Church in Latin America. New York University Press.
• 1990 Origenes de la riqueza de la Iglesia en México. Fondo de Cultura Económica.
• 1987 The Church and Clergy in Sixteenth-Century Mexico. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.
• 1985 Origins of Church Wealth in Mexico: Ecclesiastical Finances and Church Revenues, 1523-1600. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.
• 1981 Partidos y párrocos bajo la real corona en la Nueva España, siglo XVI. Mexico: Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia.

Scholarly editions

• 2014 The First Letter from New Spain: The Lost Petition of Cortés and His Company, June 20, 1519, with Helen Nader, University of Texas Press.
• 1999 A Guide to Confession Large and Small in the Mexican Language (1634). Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. With Barry Sell.

Edited works

• 2005 Francis in the Americas: Essays on the Franciscan Family in North and South America. Berkeley: Academy of American Franciscan History (editor)
• 2003 Sahagún at 500: Essays on the Quincentenary of the Birth of Fr. Bernardino de Sahagún, OFM. Berkeley: Academy of American Franciscan History (editor and contributor).
• 2000 The Church in Colonial Hispanic America: A Reader. Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources (editor).

Reference works

• 2001 Nahuatl Manuscripts in Repositories in the United States. Berkeley: Academy of American Franciscan History.

Honors

• Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa – Grinnell College, 2009^{[3] [4]}

External links

• Biography
• Curriculum Vitae
• Editor H-LATAM
• Editor H-Nahuatl
• Member, Editorial board, The Americas
• Member, Editorial board, ‘’Estudios de Cultura Náhuatl

Notes and References

1. Web site: H-LatAm | H-Net. Networks.h-net.org. 5 March 2022.
2. Web site: H-Nahuatl | H-Net. Networks.h-net.org.
3. Web site: John F. Schwaller '69, Doctor of Humane Letters | Grinnell College. Grinnell.edu.
4. Web site: SUNY Potsdam President and son to receive degrees at Grinnell ceremony | SUNY Potsdam . 2018-05-18 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180519032657/http://www.potsdam.edu/newsandevents/409_grinnell . 2018-05-19 . dead .