Joseph O. Baylen

Joseph O. Baylen was a professor and an expert on Victorian and Edwardian Britain and Anglo-Russian relations, Baylen was the author of over 130 articles, chapters, and monographs. A favorite subject was British journalist and reformer W.T. Stead; he wrote 22 scholarly articles on Stead alone. Never a narrow specialist, however, Baylen’s publications included topics in Russian, American, French, and Latin American history.

Baylen was born in Chicago, Illinois on February 12, 1920, he earned a BA degree from Northern Illinois University in 1941.  He then entered the US Army just prior to Pearl Harbor and served on active duty in the cavalry, medical administration, intelligence, and the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) until he left active duty as a Captain in 1946.  He married Army Nurse Corp Second Lieutenant Louise Pharr of Atlanta, GA in 1943. 

After the War, he returned to graduate school and received an MA in history at Emory University (1947) and a PhD in history from the University of New Mexico (1949).  Between 1949 and 1982, when he retired as Regents Professor of history at Georgia State University, Professor Baylen taught at Highlands University in New Mexico, Delta State University, Mississippi State University, the University of Mississippi, and Georgia State.  He chaired the departments of history at Delta State, Mississippi, and Georgia State.  During his academic career, Professor Baylen received frequent honors and recognition and was regarded as an international expert on Victorian and Edwardian Britain.  He was awarded two Fulbright-Hays Lectureships; one to University College of Wales (1961-1962) and another to the University of York (1972-1973).  In 1958, he received the prestigious John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship for research in Anglo-Soviet relations (1958-1959).  He was a research fellow at the Princeton Institute for Advanced Studies in 1966-1967 where he worked with the renowned historian and diplomat, George Kennan.  In 1972, Baylen was elected to the Executive Council of the American Historical Association.  During his career, he published more than 130 articles, monographs, and chapters in scholarly publications and was co-editor of the Biographical Dictionary of Modern British Radicals, 3 volumes.  

Baylen died June 18, 2009 in Eastbourne. England.