InMemoriam:

E. Baur
John

E. BAUR,Professor ofHis-
toryatCalifornia StateUniversity,
JOHN Northridge, died on September
25, 1993 at a Chatsworth convalescent
hospital.He wasseventy-one.
JohnBaurwas bornin Chicago,
Illinois,on February 19, 1922. He
movedwithhisfamily toLos Angeles
inthelate1920swherehe residedfor
therestofhislife.After attending Los AngelesCityCollegeinthe
early 1940s he transferredtoUCLA wherehe receivedhisB.A.in
1945.He receivedhis M.A. in 1947and his Ph.D. in historyat
UCLAin1951underthementorship ofJohnCaughey. Aftera short
stintat theHuntington Libraryintheearly1950s,he joinedthe
staffoftheLos AngelesCountyMuseumwherehe workedfor
someyearsinthehistorydivisionas a tourguide,researcherand
author. He joinedCSUN'shistory department in1964andtaughtat
theuniversity fortwenty-nine yearsuntilillnessforcedhimtotake
a medicalleaveofabsenceinSpring1993.
A specialistin California,WesternAmericanand Caribbean
history Professor Baurcompiledan impressive publishingrecord.
He wrotefourbooks(andchapters forsixothers),thirty-eightarti-
cles, and over ninetybook reviews. An worker,
indefatigable he
completed last
his professional review less thanthreeweeks before
his death.His mostacclaimedpublication, TheHealthSeekersof
Southern California,1870-1900,is considereda classicinthefield
ofCalifornia history.His firstarticle,"MulattoMachiavelli:Jean
PierreBoyerandtheHaitiofHis Day,"JournalofNegroHistory,
XXXIIGuly1947),wontheFredericBancroft Prizein 1947.Atthe
timeofhisdeathhe was working on a socialhistory ofCalifornia.
As partofhisprofessional contributions, JohnservedontheBoard
ofEditorsoftheSouthern California Quarterly foroverthirtyyears.

3
Southern
California
Quarterly

CSUN students recognized himas a masterteacher.His teach-

ingstylewastoinundate students witha massiveamountofmateri-
al sprinkledwithinteresting anecdotesaboutcolorfulhistorical
figures.Studentsoverthreedecades respectedandadmiredthe
encyclopedic natureofhis mind,hisgraspofthehistorical subject
matter, andhisvoluminous filingsystemonhistorical sources.For
thestudentresearcher, an introduction toProfessor Baur'sbiblio-
graphicfilingsystem was like striking a veinof pureCalifornia
In ofhis
gold. recognition teaching John
abilities, receivedtheUni-
versity'sDistinguishedTeachingAwardin 1971,and a special
awardfrom thestudent History Clubin1992.
ProfessorBaur was an integralpartofthe CSUN history
department's WP.Whitsett Endowment Committee fromitsestab-
lishment in 1986.He wrotethetwenty-two pagepamphlet biogra-
phyofWilliamPaul Whitsett(includedin thisissue), worked
tirelesslyon WhitsettCommitteeprojects,and providedsage
adviceon allcommittee matters. Neartheendofhislife,he donat-
ed hisvaluablepersonallibrary on California andWestern Ameri-
canhistory totheWhitsett RoomontheCSUNcampus.
JohnBaur'steachingskills,scholarly publicationsandeditorial
contributions createda permanent legacy tothefieldofCalifornia
andWestern American history. Hisunselfishness, manner
friendly
and sense ofhumorwillbe sorelymissedbyhis colleaguesand
friends.JohnBaurwastruly a uniqueandremarkable man.
Itwasveryconsistent withJohn'scareerandvaluesforhimto
establishinhiswilltheBaurEndowment inmemory ofhismother
and father,Louise and EdwardBaur.The BaurEndowment will
for
providescholarships deservingundergraduate graduate and
historymajorsat CSUN. DonationstotheBaurEndowment may
be made outto the CSUN Trust Fund and sentto the History
Department atCaliforniaStateUniversity, Northridge,CA 91330-
8250.