Ferdinand Aloys Hermens

An inventory of the Ferdinand Aloys Hermens Papers at The American Catholic History Research Center and University Archives

Mailing Address: The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. 20064

Telephone: 202-319-5065

Email: archives@mail.lib.cua.edu

URL: http://libraries.cua.edu/achrcua/index.html

Biographical Note

Dr. Ferdinand A. Hermens spent his life researching, writing, and educating others about the interrelationship of political and economic institutions, the political consequences of constitutional forms, and the various models of proportional representation. Ferdinand Aloys Hermens was born on December 20, 1906 in Nieheim, Germany. He began his studies in Political and Economic Science in 1925 and studied at the Universities of Muenster, Freiburg, Berlin, and Bonn. He was awarded a degree in Economics from the University Bonn in 1928 (Summa Cum Laude). Two years later he completed his PhD in Economics at the University of Bonn. He continued to study economic theory at the Faculte de Droit in Paris, France, and The Kiel Institute of World Economics at The University of Kiel, Germany until 1932. In 1932, as he was preparing to accept a full time faculty position in the Economics Department at the University of Bonn, the National Socialist Party (Nazi Party) blocked his appointment and suggested he leave Germany. The Party had identified him as a dissident because of his writings concerning political sociology, representative institutions, and research into anti-parliamentary forms of government.

Realizing that his career in Germany was finished as long as the Nazi Party was in power, he moved first to London where he spent a year as a research fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and than emigrated to the United States. In 1935, Dr. Hermens accepted a position as an Assistant Professor of Politics at The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, where he stayed until 1938. In 1938, Dr. Hermens accepted an Associate Professor position at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, IN, where he was ultimately elevated to the position of Professor of Political Science in 1945.

In 1959, Dr. Hermens left Notre Dame to become a Professor of Political Science, Director of Seminars on Political Science, and Director of the Research Institute for Political Science and European Questions at the University of Cologne, Germany, where he remained until 1972. Upon his retirement from the University of Cologne, he accepted a one year fellowship at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. He continued his educational career as a Research Professor at American University in Washington, DC, from 1977 to 1989 and returned to The Catholic University of America as a visiting Professor from 1989 to 1998. He continued his research and writing up until his death in Rockville, MD, on February 2, 1998.

Throughout his career Dr. Hermens work was widely published in various prestigious scholarly and popular journals and periodicals. His opinions and research into political and economic thought and practice was held in high esteem by professional and governmental authorities. His works began to be circulated in Germany during the 1930s and continued to be published in several different languages worldwide up until his death in 1998. They were published in many different journals and periodicals: Wirtchaft und Arbeit (Economy and Labor), Zeitschrift fur Politik (Journal of Politics), Der Osterreichische Volkswirt (The Austrian Economist), Social Research, Review of Politics, Social Science, American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Catholic World, Social Justice Review, America, The Economist, Current History, Journal of Politics, The Irish Times, and The New York Times.

He published over a dozen books, in several different languages, discussing the role of government in society. Dr. Hermens also developed chapters for political science textbooks that were widely used by political science undergraduate students in the 1960s. He prepared scores of articles, short papers, and essays on a variety of topics for a wide variety of national/international publications and forums. Dr. Hermens' work and views were sought as an "expert opinion" by US Congressional Committees held on "The Nomination and Election of President and Vice-President" and "Divided Powers and Economic Policy." He participated on important post-war advisory councils created in Germany to help foster Democratic Government during the years 1951-1954 and acted as a Government Advisor to the Trinidad and Tobago Government when that Country was in the process of constructing a new constitution in the late 1970s. He was awarded the GroBes Verdienstkreuz der Bundesrepublik (Great Order of Merit of the Federal Republic) by the German Government in 1972 and was recognized for his fifty years as an educator by the University of Bonn in 1981.

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Scope and Contents

The collection is divided into two series. The first series is composed of materials related to Hermens' family and health. There are files containing correspondence between Dr. Hermens and his family, correspondence with personal friends, correspondence with health professionals, an unpublished autobiographical memoir, and several of his diplomas. This series is closed because of the personal nature of the materials.

The second series contains materials related to Dr. Hermens' professional work on a variety of topics related to his research into political science, economics, and forms of government. The majority of these materials are open to use by researchers with the only exceptions being works by and correspondence to his students from his nearly fifty years as an educator.

The first sub-series in the Ferdinand A. Hermens Papers consists of materials related to his role as a teacher. His notes and lectures, in both English and German, provide insight into the wide range of topics he covered during his long and distinguished career as an educator (1938-1998). The notes are arranged chronologically, and when available, the notes are accompanied by a syllabus that describes the larger theme and context of the lectures. There are also examples of the more than thirty Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertation projects which he was a director/advisor for, papers written by students, and some correspondence between Dr. Hermens and his students. The portion of this sub-series that contains works by students is closed to researchers.

The second sub-series contains several different variations of published materials written by Dr. Hermens. His publications are represented in many different forms; clippings from publications, photocopies of published works, original manuscripts, and working/corrected drafts. Whenever possible, the drafts have been placed with the finished product. There are short papers and essays on a wide range of topics, speeches made before various organizations, professional papers that were presented to various organizations, examples of his work as editor of several journal series, his work as director of seminars, and drafts/manuscripts of several books (both published and unpublished) written throughout his career.

The third sub-series contains materials related to his involvement as a member of some of the professional organizations which he belonged to (American Political Science Association, American Academy of Political Science, International Political Science Association, et al). Along with copies of papers and speeches he presented to various organizations, there are also copies of several professional papers not authored by Hermens which he deemed valuable enough to hang onto during his career.

The fourth sub-series consists of professional correspondence between Dr. Hermens and an impressive variety of professional contemporaries, journalists, political figures, and publications from around the world. He was fluent in German, French, Italian, Spanish, and English, and this is evident in his correspondence which encompasses over 50 years (1920-1998). Wherever it was evident, correspondence to and from the same individual have been placed together. The fifth sub-series consists of six reels of 8mm film and one audio cassette. The films contain images taken of seminars which he led and some family vacations. The audio tape contains Dr. Hermens speaking about the elections of the 1920s, which led to the Nazi takeover of Germany.

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Arrangement

The Papers of Ferdinand Aloys Hermens consists of two series:

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Restrictions

Restrictions on Access

Personal Series and Student Works: Restricted

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Administrative Information

Acquisition Information

The Ferdinand Aloys Hermens Papers were donated to The Catholic University of America Department of Archives, Manuscripts, and Museum Collections (now the American Catholic History Research Center and University Archives) in three installments between the years 1998 and 1999. All materials were donated by Dr. Hermens' wife, Mary Ruth Roberts Hermens. Mrs. Hermens also donated many volumes from her husband's personal library to Mullen Library at The Catholic University of America.

Processing Information

Processing completed in November 2003 by Patrick Cullom. EAD markup completed in March 2005 by Washington Research Library Consortium. Additional EAD markup completed in October 2005 by Jordan Patty.

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Significant Subject Topics

Persons:

Subjects:

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Testimony Before US Congressional Committees

Nomination and Election of President and Vice President

Hearings before a sub-committee of the Committee on the Judiciary. 1949

Nomination and Election of President and Vice President

Hearings before a sub-committee of the Committee on the Judiciary. 1955

Political Economy and Constitutional Reform, Divided Powers and Economic Policies, Foreign Experience and Constitutional Reform

Hearings before the Joint Economic Committee 1983

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Selected Bibliography of Publications Authored by Dr. Hermens

(listed in chronological order)

Series Editor:

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Detailed Description of the Collection

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Descriptive Summary

Biographical Note

Scope and Contents

Arrangement

Restrictions

Administrative Information

Significant Subject Topics

Testimony Before US Congressional Committees

Selected Bibliography of Publications Authored by Dr. Hermens

Detailed Description of the Collection

Series 1: Ferdinand Aloys Hermens Personal Papers, 1915 (1925-1993) 1997

Series 2: Ferdinand Aloys Hermens Professional Papers, 1920-1998