Simon has spent decades studying Lincoln, Grant

Ulysses S. Grant had an awful lot to say – so much that SIUC professor John Y. Simon has been busy listening for decades.

“We had no idea that Grant had written that much,” said Simon, a history professor who began compiling the works of Ulysses S. Grant 42 years ago and still has quite a few words to sift through. “We’ve gone through anything that’s personal or reflects his intellect. There’s a lot of it.”

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After publishing 26 volumes of “Papers of Ulysses S. Grant,” Simon, executive director of the Ulysses S. Grant Association at Morris Library, received what many call long-overdue recognition for his work from the Lincoln Forum, a non-profit organization he helped found that is dedicated to increasing scholarly activity involving the 16th president.

At a ceremony in Gettysburg, Penn., last month that coincided with the anniversary of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, Simon was awarded the Richard N. Current Award of Achievement, an achievement bestowed annually to a person who contributes to the Abraham Lincoln legacy through scholarly work.

In past years, the award, which has been given nine times, has gone to such figures as actor Sam Waterston and former Sen. Paul Simon, who was the director of SIUC’s Public Policy Institute until his death in December 2003.

Frank J. Williams, chairman of the Lincoln Forum and chief justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court, said Simon’s work on the Grant papers and his breadth of knowledge about Lincoln’s life made him a natural choice for this year’s award.

“He’s a great teacher, and he’s very committed to his work,” Williams said. “He doesn’t receive enough credit for what he does.”

Simon, who received his master’s and doctorate degrees from Harvard, was teaching three classes a day at Ohio State University when a friend suggested he edit Grant’s papers in 1962. Simon moved on to SIUC in 1964, bringing along the project and gaining enthusiastic support from then-SIU President Delyte Morris. In the more than 40 years that have passed, Simon has edited 26 volumes of Grant’s work and now expects to edit eight more works.

Harold Holzer, vice chairman of the Lincoln Forum and vice president for communications and marketing at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, said Simon’s academic pursuits are something that have been overlooked for too long.

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“He’s one of the last great scholars,” said Holzer, who has written numerous books on the Civil War era and has co-edited two Lincoln Forum books with Simon. “He’s been very much in the Lincoln world over the years, and he waited longer than he should have to get recognition.”

Simon said Grant’s writings, which range from military to presidential to personal, stretch the entire range of his life. A graduate of West Point, Grant served with little notice in the Mexican War and married in 1848. For 15 years he tried his hand at a wide range of businesses, usually failing, and battled famously with alcoholism. At the beginning of the Civil War, he was made a brigadier general in the Union army and won acclaim for his leadership in the war’s western theater, notably for his victory at Vicksburg, Miss., in 1863.

After that triumph, he was put in command of the army’s eastern forces, which over two year’s time he led to victory over Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. Three years later, he won the presidency on the Republican ticket and served for two terms, eventually retiring to tour Europe and pen his memoirs. Once again left penniless from more bad business moves, Grant fell into depression at the end of his life, but his family’s fortunes were restored by the posthumous publication of his memoirs.

Simon said Grant’s legacy has been tarnished over time, mostly because of the politics of his own era.

“Southerners never forgave him for using force against them,” Simon said. “It was the whole lost cause idea. Normally, he’s rated one of the less-successful presidents. I’d put him in the middle of the pack.”

Stephen Hansen, an SIUE professor who teaches a Lincoln class with Simon through the distance learning network, said Simon is as knowledgeable about Lincoln, as he is Grant, and brings a unique presence to his classroom lectures.

“Teaching with John is like having a tiger by the tail,” Hansen said. “I’m just along for the ride as he goes through the wealth of knowledge he has to share.”

In terms of gaining recent recognition from the Lincoln Forum, Simon said it is a humbling honor and something that validates the work he has spent so long doing.

“I’m delighted with it,” Simon said. “It’s a significant honor.”