the john muir exhibit - uop conference 1996

John Muir in Historical Perspective

49th Annual California History Institute

Held April 18-21, 1996

---

The fourth in a series of John Muir conferences sponsored by the John Muir Center for Regional Studies, University of the Pacific

Held in Martinez and Stockton, California.

Sample Abstracts:

• Connie Bresnahan and James Butler: The Canadian Spirit of John Muir
• Ronald Eber: John Muir and the Pioneer Conservationists of the Pacific Northwest
• Richard Fleck: North by Northwest with John Muir
• J. Parker Huber: John Muir in New England
• Terry Gifford: John Muir's Reservations about John Ruskin Reviewed
• Stephen Mark: The Botanist's Last Journey: John Muir in South America and southern Africa, 1911-12.
• Steve Pauly: The Importance of John Muir's First Public Lecture, Sacramento, 1876
• Millie Stanley: The Heart Of John Muir's World
• Association for the Study of Literature and Environment (ASLE) panel presentation

CONFERENCE SUMMARY:

The 1996 California History Institute was entitled "John Muir in Historical Perspective" and was held April 18-21, 1996. The first two days of the conference was spent in Martinez, California, at the John Muir National Historic Site sessions. The first academic sessions were followed by tours of the Strentzel-Muir home and of the Muir Cemetery. The following two days, April 20-21, academic sessions were held on the campus of the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California.

Sessions included:

• Teaching Muir and the Environment in the Public Schools: A Panel Discussion
• Muir and His Religion
• Muir and Literature
• Muir in Canada, and the Pacific Northwest (Eber and Fleck)
• Muir in Wisconsin, the East, and Beyond,
• John Muir and Jed Smith in Southern California
• John Muir's Reservations About Ruskin
• Muir as Teacher, Critic, Ideologue
• Muir and his Friends
• Muir's Travels
• John Muir and Yosemite

A session devoted to graduate student presentation was presented, and a special exhibit of Muir books and artifacts was conducted by the Holt-Atherton Library, holder of the John Muir Papers. On Friday at the John Muir Historic Site, luncheon participants had the chance to visit with John Muir in person (or should we say impersonation).

The Conference proceedings have been published in:

Miller, Sally R., Editor, John Muir in Historical Perspective (New York: Peter Lang Publishing Inc., 1999)
Features the best presentations made at the California History Institute conference on John Muir at the University of the Pacific in 1996. Four chapters cover some of Muir's friends and traveling companions, including the Strentzel family, Jeanne C. Carr, John Swett, and C.D. Robinson. Three chapters feature literary themes, including Muir's religious environmentalism, his role in the American Romantic movement, and his views on Ruskin. Four chapters focus on the theme of Environment, including Muir's first summer in Yosemite, his views on the geological formation of the Sierra, his influence on pioneer conservationists in the Pacific Northwest, and his travels to South America and southern Africa. An epilogue relates the re-discovery of Muir's "Twenty-Hill Hollow." A scholarly work with valuable footnotes, the book includes a useful index.
A Book Jacket Summary, including a cover photo, and the Table of Contents is available.

Updated August 31, 2002

---

Home | Alphabetical Index | What's New | Message Board