Jim Zwick's Pages on the Philippine American War and other Philippine-related
topics
Feb. 11, 2008
I just heard that Jim passed away sometime in January of 2008. He closed his websites sometime in 2007 but many of his works are
now available in print.
I never met Jim in person but during the early years of the Philippine Internet (1994 or thereabouts), we were in contact with each other.
What a terrible loss.
There is still however, a Jim Zwick. net site that still exists listing his many works on American Imperialsim and American studies including Philippine-related materials.
Jim Zwick, 51, an American Studies scholar whose
specialties included Mark Twain, political history, and the
educational usages of the internet died Thursday (January 24, 2008)
at his home outside of Syracuse, New York. Zwick was the author of
numerous noted books and articles on Twain, anti-imperialism and
other topics. Major publications included the books Mark Twain's
Weapons of Satire, Inuit Entertainers in the United States, and
Confronting Imperialism: Essays on Mark Twain and the Anti-
Imperialist League. He was a frequent contributor to a wide range of
journals and anthologies. Zwick began creating websites in 1994. He
created and ran the Mark Twain site at About.com, later consolidating
his many writings into the widely cited Boondocksnet.com, which was
included in the reading list of Mark Twain courses at universities
worldwide. In 2000, he ran the author's posthumous online campaign
for the Presidency, MSNB's top-ranked campaign website. With his
unique perspective, he provided consultation and commentary for
documentary films including Ken Burns' Mark Twain. Living in Hong
Kong during the 1970's, his language skills allowed him to travel
extensively in the Peoples' Republic of China in 1979, long before
the current openness. He later traveled in the Philippines, and was
long active with The Friends of the Philipino People. Zwick also
served on the Executive Committee of the Mark Twain Circle. Zwick
received his BA at Earlham College in 1981 and his MA in Comparative
Politics and World History at Syracuse University where he continued
to do post-graduate work and teach for some time. He attended
Wethersfield High School and the Shanti School in Hartford. Zwick is
survived by his father and step-mother Frank and Lynn Zwick of Myrtle
Beach, SC, his sister Joan Zwick of Tolland, brothers David of Old
Saybrook, Douglas of Los Angeles, and their families. He is
predeceased by his mother Joan Jenkins Zwick, and sister, Susan
Laurie Zwick. Memorial contributions may be made to Human Rights
Watch, 350 5th Avenue, 34th Floor, New York, NY 10118 (www.hrw.org/
donations).
Published in the Hartford Courant on 1/30/2008.
Ken:
Here are the URLs for my pages and one from the Historical Text
Archive at Central Conn. State Univ. that I converted to HTML. The
ACSA article is actually on current events, not history. I've copied
them from my pages and left them in HTML format in case it's easier
for you to add the links.
- , about his opposition to the
Philippine-American War and his involvement with the Anti-Imperialist League
- <Anti-Imperialism
in the United States, 1898-1935, on the organizations formed to
oppose territorial and economic imperialism from the Spanish-American
War to the mid-1930s
- "The
White Man's Burden" and Its Critics, with Rudyard Kipling's classic
exhortation to empire and fifteen anti-imperialist responses
- U.S.
Bases by Another Name: ACSA in the Philippines, by Daniel B.
Schirmer, via the World History Archives, Central Connecticut State University
- I should also have an interesting exhibit up later this month
called The War From a Parlor: Stereoscopic Images of the
Philippine-American War and Soldiers' Letters Home. I have most of
this done but need to do some additional scanning once I've recovered
from the end of the semester. It will have around 25-30 stereoscopic
images (mostly pro-war, with captions like "Civilized Warfare" under
a picture of wounded Filipinos being treated in a U.S. army hospital)
and excerpts from a pamphlet of soldiers' letters that the
Anti-Imperialist League collected from local newspapers and published
in 1899 that talk about looting, killing prisoners, that they killed the
wounded in the field, talk of Filipinos as "niggers" or "Injuns," etc., etc.
It should make a powerful contrast, and will highlight the really
brutal and racist nature of the war. I'll let you know when I have this
online.
Best Wishes,
Jim Zwick
Jim has added another excellent history page to the list:
Sentenaryo/Centennial - a Collaborative Exploration of Cultural and Political Impacts of the Philippine Revolution and the Philippine-American War
For more Philippine-related history sites from Jim Zwick, go to BoondocksNet.com. This url has an index to all Jim's pages. You really must try to visit his
page. The URLs above are only a part of his collection on Philippine-related
historical events and their analysis. - Ken
Thanks Jim!
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