The Life and Work of Francis Willey Kelsey: Archaeology, Antiquity, and the Arts by John Griffiths Pedley (review)

142 The Michigan Historical Review the population of Detroit’s Maltese and their descendants had grown to 49,000, but few had maintained any attachment to their ancestral land. The author should be commended for addressing an understudied topic. However, while the essay shows potential for scholarship it should not have been published in its present condition. First, there is no historiography and little analysis, and the primary source material is limited almost exclusively to the records of a single Detroit Maltese family. The writing is sometimes awkward and too often in the passive voice. Readers may benefit from one or more of the seven appendices on topics such as Maltese ethnic and social organizations, Maltese food, and Maltese in the 2000 Michigan census. Yet more than anything, perhaps, this essay’s topic needs more context. How is the Maltese experience in Michigan like or unlike the experiences of other ethnic groups in the state? What does the Maltese story of assimilation tell us about the role of minor European ethnic groups in America? Is it the case that the Maltese were “White on Arrival,” like Thomas Guglielmo’s Italians? These questions await future historians and extended study. Michael J. Douma University of Illinois-Springfield John Griffiths Pedley. The Life and Work of Francis Willey Kelsey: Archaeology, Antiquity, and the Arts. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2012. Pp. 468. Bibliography. Illustrations. Index. Notes. Cloth, $75.00. John Griffiths Pedley, emeritus professor of Classical Archaeology and Greek at the University of Michigan, creates a meticulously researched, yet accessible exploration of the multiple contributions of Francis Willey Kelsey: educator, archeologist, and advocate for the study of antiquity and the classical curriculum coupled with hands-on field experience. Born in 1858, Kelsey was a professor of Latin at the University of Michigan from 1889 until his death in 1927. He served as president of both the American Philological Association and the Archaeological Institute of America, and he lectured, presented at conferences, and published extensively on the merits of a liberal-arts education that actively and fully engaged the classical world. Drawn primarily from Kelsey’s expansive diaries, which are housed at the Bentley Historical Library at the University of Michigan Book Reviews 143 and detail his extensive travels to archaeological digs and museums, as well as his work with international scholars, this book reads like a travelogue. Although the level of detail is sometimes tedious, the reader cannot help but be transported back to this time period and seemingly experience firsthand the massive changes in transportation, technology, and communication that transformed higher education and the life of a scholar. Although it may seem that the study of Latin and Greek would remain constant regardless of such changes, Kelsey was a tireless advocate for integrating new ways to attract students and to invigorate the curriculum with pictures, artifacts, and collections drawn from numerous benefactors and the latest technologies. Kelsey’s scholarly life proceeded at an almost unimaginable pace and level of productivity. He was a relentless and insightful fundraiser. His translations of Cicero’s De Senectute and De Amicitia, Lucretius’s De Rerum Natura, and The Gallic Wars by Julius Caesar are still used today. However, Latin and Greek in American Education, with Symposia on the Value of Humanistic Studies was Kelsey’s greatest publication. He participated in archaeological expeditions to Pisidian Antioch in 1924 with Sir William Ramsay, led the Franco-American work at Carthage in 1924-1925, and began excavations at Karanis, Egypt, in 1925. Always attentive to innovations, Kelsey was an early proponent of underwater archaeology and aerial photography; he integrated the products and outcomes of every technology and experience back into the classroom as well. Pedley’s experience as past director of the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology has aided the production of this comprehensive biography that will appeal to enthusiasts of both Michigan and midwestern history, as Kelsey’s work and influence has deeply enriched both. Anyone interested in the study of classical Latin authors, archeology, or museums will also be impressed by Kelsey’s vision, values, work ethic, and enthusiasm. Those who are already convinced, or those who need convincing, that the study of the ancient world is...