Fahey, David M. 1937–

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Fahey, David M. 1937–

(David Michael Fahey)

PERSONAL: Born May 18, 1937, in Ossining, NY; son of Frederick J. (a railroad machinist) and Ester M. (an elementary school teacher; maiden name, Drach) Fahey; married Mary J. Fuller (a professor of English), February 8, 1988; children: Juliana. Ethnicity: "Irish and German." Education: Siena College, B.A., 1959; University of Notre Dame, M.A., 1961, Ph.D., 1964. Politics: Independent. Hobbies and other interests: Walking, computers.

ADDRESSES: Home—Oxford, OH. Office—Department of History, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056-1618; fax: 513-529-3224. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Assumption College, Worcester, MA, instructor, 1963–65, assistant professor of history, 1965–66; Indiana University Northeast, Gary, assistant professor of history, 1966–69; Miami University, Oxford, OH, associate professor, 1969–82, professor of history, 1982–. University of Notre Dame, lecturer, 1965.

MEMBER: North American Conference on British Studies, American Historical Association, World History Association, Alcohol and Drugs History Society (president, 1986–88), Ohio Academy of History (president, 2000–01).

AWARDS, HONORS: Distinguished Service Award, Ohio Academy of History, 2003; Senior Scholar Achievement Award, Alcohol and Drugs History Society, 2006.

WRITINGS:

(With others) The English Heritage (textbook), Forum Press (St. Louis, MO), 1978.

(Editor) The Collected Writings of Jessie Forsyth, 1847–1937: The Good Templars and Temperance Reform on Three Continents, Edwin Mellen Press (Lewiston, NY), 1988.

(Editor, with W.W. Browne) The Black Lodge in White America: "True Reformer" Browne and His Economic Strategy, Wright State University Press (Dayton, OH), 1994.

Temperance and Racism: John Bull, Johnny Reb, and the Good Templars, University Press of Kentucky (Lexington, KY), 1996.

(Editor, with Jack S. Blocker, Jr. and Ian R. Tyrrell) Alcohol and Temperance in Modern History: An International Encyclopedia, American Bibliographical Center-Clio Press (Santa Barbara, CA), 2003.

(Editor) Frank Merli, The Alabama, British Neutrality, and the American Civil War, Indiana University Press (Bloomington, IN), 2004.

Contributor to periodicals, including Historian. Editor in chief, Social History of Alcohol and Drugs: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 2003–04.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Drink: The English-Speaking World during the Era of Prohibition, 1851–1933; "Too Many Pubs": The Politics of Drink in England from Gladstone to Lloyd George; research on African-American fraternal societies and modern world history.

SIDELIGHTS: David M. Fahey is a writer and historian specializing in temperance and related issues. Notable among his publications is Temperance and Racism: John Bull, Johnny Reb, and the Good Templars, an analysis of temperance movements in England and the United States in the late nineteenth century. In this volume, Fahey relates the activities of the Independent Order of Good Templars, an organization that promoted abstention from alcohol. Unlike many fraternal orders of its day, the Good Templars opened their arms (in theory, at least) to almost anyone who shared their mission, including women, African Americans, Native Americans, and other frequently marginalized subgroups. In practice, however, racial issues caused great tension. Fahey examines the segregated Templars lodges in the post-Civil War South. John J. Guthrie, Jr., writing in the Florida Historical Quarterly, observed that Temperance and Racism "illuminates a fresh aspect of African American history—the study of the Black Templars." Guthrie added that "Fahey has revealed much about racial attitudes in the Anglo-American world of the late nineteenth century." To Bernard Aspinwall, in his assessment for History: Journal of the Historical Association, Temperance and Racism represents "a fascinating examination of a vibrant subculture." The author, Aspinwall observed, "has tapped a rich seam and … deserves our gratitude." Historian contributor William R. Glass seemed to find Fahey's focus on the political machinations of the Good Templars, particularly in regard to racial issues, overpowering in relation to other relevant topics of interest. At the same time Glass wrote: "Fahey paints a fascinating portrait of an overlooked group of leaders working to improve their community," especially in the post-Civil War South. Mary Ann Clawson, in a review for American Historical Review, wrote that "in his identification of this largely overlooked organization and his effective, well-researched demonstration of its significance, Fa-hey has produced not only a valuable addition to the history of nineteenth-century temperance but an original contribution to our understanding of post-Civil War race relations."

Fahey also published The Black Lodge in White America: "True Reformer" Browne and His Economic Strategy, which concerns the achievements of William Washington Browne, founder of the United Order of True Reformers, an organization designed to promote economic gains for African Americans. Historian reviewer Robert E. Weems, Jr., who described Browne as "a successful advocate of cooperatively-funded, African-American enterprise," deemed The Black Lodge in White America "an important contribution to African-American historiography."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Historical Review, June, 1998, Mary Ann Clawson, review of Temperance and Racism: John Bull, Johnny Reb, and the Good Templars, pp. 979-980.

Florida Historical Quarterly, summer, 1997, John J. Guthrie, Jr., review of Temperance and Racism, pp. 370-372.

Historian, summer, 1995, Robert E. Weems, Jr., review of The Black Lodge in White America: "True Reformer" Browne and His Economic Strategy, pp. 791-792; fall, 1998, William R. Glass, review of Temperance and Racism, p. 220.

History: Journal of the Historical Association, October, 1998, Bernard Aspinwall, review of Temperance and Racism, p. 669.