James Horgan

James J. Horgan (July 14, 1940 – May 3, 1997) was an American historian, academic and author. He was a history professor at Saint Leo University in St. Leo, Florida for 35 years, a historical society president, a Florida Historical Society board member, a prolific author and an NAACP chapter founder. He is listed as a Great Floridian.^[1]

He was head of the history department at Saint Leo University from the 1960s through the mid 1990s until just before his death due to cancer. Horgan was a member of the Tampa chapter of Mensa.

Born in Springfield, Massachusetts, Horgan received his Ph.D. in history in 1965 from Saint Louis University. In 1968, he was a founding officer of the Pasco County, Florida chapter of the NAACP, and the same year received a distinguished service award from the Florida NAACP.^[1]

Horgan authored Pioneer College: The Centennial History of Saint Leo College, Saint Leo Abbey, and Holy Name Priory, chronicling the founding of Saint Leo in 1889 as a boys' preparatory school and its evolution over the following century to university status.

Legacy

The Florida Historical Society's James J. Horgan Award is named in his honor.^[2] Saint Leo University has a fund named in his honor, the James J. Horgan Heritage Society.^[3]

His "Great Floridian" plaque is installed at the James J. Horgan Home in San Antonio, Florida near Saint Leo University.^[1]

Books

• Florida Decades: A Sesquicentennial History, 1845-1995 with Lewis N. Wynne (1995)
• The Historic Places of Pasco County (1992)
• City of Flight: The History of Aviation in St. Louis
• Social Justice: Teachings of Catholics, Protestants, Jews, and Muslims with Lucy Fuchs and Jeanine Jacob (1992)
• Pioneer College: The Centennial History of Saint Leo College, Saint Leo Abbey, and Holy Name Priory (1989)
• The Reagan Years: Perspectives & Assessments with Joseph A. Cernik (1988)
• Samuel Pasco of Pasco County (1987)
• Hail the Passing, Guard the Tomb: Voter Literacy Tests (1982)

References