From 1917 to 1920, Baldwin worked in a variety of factories. He also worked in a hammer shop as a book keeper, where he solved a reoccurring issue of hammer shop helpers striking. From 1920-1922, he worked as a paper hanger.[2]
Baldwin taught at Miltonvale College during the academic year from 1922 to 1924. There he taught American and Modern History, as well as English Literature. In his second year he coached their athletic teams. From 1924 to 1926 he taught at Har-brack High School in Pennsylvania, and from 1926 to 1931 he taught at Crafton High School also in Pennsylvania. In 1932 he returned to Ann Arbor to focus on completing his doctorate.[2]
In 1940 he became the acting librarian of the University of Pittsburgh.[4] While librarian, he attempted to streamline the library and procure greater funding. He left his position to enlist in the military.
While deployed, he met Elliot Roosevelt, Thornton Wilder, Lauris Norstad, John Higham, and Bernard Berenson. Baldwin continued to maintain steady correspondence with Berenson for years after the war. He also penned an unpublished 280 page memoir on the war titled Staff Captains Never Die. Among other details, Staff Captains Never Die describes the logistics of Operation Strangle and Baldwin's knowledge of the atomic bomb long before its use.[2] He retired from active duty on January 5, 1946.
Writing career
History
In 1937, Baldwin released his first book, Pittsburgh: The Story of a City, as a part of the Western Pennsylvania Historical Survey. It described in-depth the history of Pittsburgh, with a focus on Pittsburgh's history prior to the American Civil War. The book covers the full history of Pittsburgh and its land, speaking of the many "growing pains" the city faced.[8]
Baldwin wrote and published his second book, Whiskey Rebels: The Story of a Frontier Uprising, in 1939. The book tells the story of the Whiskey rebellion. The University of Pittsburgh alumni review stated "This book is written to be read. It's history told the way it should be told, if it’s to be interesting to a larger group than the professional historians."[9]
In 1941, Baldwin published The Keelboat Age on Western Waters. It was the last of ten books published with the Western Pennsylvania Historical Survey. It focuses on boating in the West prior to the steamboat.[10]
Baldwin published The Story of the Americas in 1943. Designed for popular consumption, rather than for historians, the book used "unorthodox vocabulary" to describe many events "selected for interest rather than importance."[11]
In 1944, Baldwin, inspired by his time in Europe throughout the war, wrote God's Englishman: The Evolution of Anglo-Saxon Spirit. Baldwin posits that the success of the British Empire is due to The English Conscience, which developed as result of a variety of factors, including English isolation, philosophy, and The Common Law.[12]
Baldwin's 1948 work Best Hope of Earth: A Grammar of Democracy traces the routes of democracy to Ancient Greece and Rome. Baldwin attempted to examine the role of democracy in the contemporary world, and concluded that "democracy is a positive political process for working toward liberty, equality, and fraternity... though it bears in itself the means of improvement, it can never lay claim to perfection without destroying its essential nature."[2]
In 1952, Baldwin published The Stream of American History, an American history textbook. At its peak, the book was used in at least 92 universities and colleges. He published a second edition in 1957, a third edition in 1965, and a fourth in 1969.[2]
In 1954, Baldwin published a book designed as a "more detailed treatment of twentieth century events", Recent American History. A year later, in 1955, Baldwin published The Meaning of America: Essays Towards an Understanding of the American Spirit. Designed as a companion to The Stream of American History, it examined the American economic and political systems, providing a strength/weakness analysis in connection with the history of the United States.[2]
In 1971, Baldwin published Reframing the Constitution: An Imperative for Modern America, in which he argued for a complete re-writing of the United States Constitution. His suggestions included making Congress unicameral and re-dividing the nation into 14 distinct states: Alleghenia, Appalachia, California, Chicago, Detroit, Erie, Mississippi, Missouri, New England, New York, Oregon, Savanna, Sierra, and Texas.[2]
In 1981, The American Quest for the City of God was released shortly after Baldwin's death. In it, he expressed disillusionment with the American invasion of Vietnam.'[2]
Historical novels
In 1939, Baldwin published his sole novel, The Delectable Country. It was set in the trans-Appalachian West during the 1790s, and focused on many elements of Western Pennsylvanian History including the Whiskey Rebellion. It briefly reached several best-seller lists.[13]James Branch Cabell described it as "as good as Gone with the Wind."[14]
In the 1970s, he planned a 5-book novel series known as the Penburne Quintet, which would have featured The Delectable Country as its third entry. The other intended entries included The Fourteenth Fire, The Drums Draw Near, Greenbay or the Rivers, and A Gentleman of No Consequence. He only successfully published The Delectable Country.[14]
^ abBrown, Courtney (Spring 2014). "Leland Baldwin". Pennsylvania Center for the Book. Archived from the original on December 3, 2022. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
^"Leland Baldwin, historian". The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. March 7, 1981. p. 8. Archived from the original on December 7, 2022. Retrieved December 7, 2022.