Dr. James W. Bell was born in Strafort in 1855. He attended the University of Toronto (BA), and the University of Leipzig (MA & PhD). Bell received the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Leipzig. He wrote his dissertation on emigration and was the first recipient of a PhD degree to serve at the University of Colorado. He was chairman of Political Economy and History at the University of Colorado Boulder from 1883 to 1888. In 1888, Bell took a year to study and recuperate from illness in Germany and Italy. In his time there he wrote numerous articles about the things he observed such as Geneva’s Carnival and “A Day in Venice.” Bell also wrote and published articles on his political observations of Bismark and the Socialists. He returned to CU to teach Greek, History and Psychology. He died in 1890 at the age of 34 leaving behind four children and a wife, Delphine Paradis Bell, who later headed the French Department at CU.
The University of Colorado Boulder Libraries will celebrate the centennial anniversary of the Archives on June 6, 2018. This is story #38 in our series: 100 Stories for 100 Years from the Archives!