The ADE is saddened to learn of the loss of John C. A. Stagg on October 31.
John Stagg was hired as editor-in-chief of the Papers of James Madison at the University of Virginia in 1987. As the author of Mr. Madison’s War: Politics, Diplomacy, and Warfare in the Early American Republic, 1783-1830 (1983), he was an expert on Madison’s presidency. He went on to edit six volumes of the Presidential Series of Madison’s papers, while overseeing two other series (Secretary of State and Retirement), keeping the project staffed and solvent, representing the Madison Papers nationwide, teaching in the UVA history department, and publishing numerous articles and two more books: Borderlines in Borderlands: James Madison and the Spanish-American Frontier, 1776-1821 (2009); and The War of 1812: Conflict for a Continent (2012). He retired in 2024.
Under John’s leadership, the staff of the Papers of James Madison strove to create a record of Madison’s life and thought that was as comprehensive as possible within the confines of a documentary edition. Equally influential for John’s colleagues was his pursuit of sound scholarship by implementing the ADE’s best practices for historical editing. His brilliance, wit, and commitment to the ideals of the American founding will never be forgotten, and twenty-nine volumes of the edition bear witness to his belief in the power of history.
You can read more about his life at https://www.hillandwood.com/obituaries/John-Charles-Anderson-Stagg?obId=50054166.
Contributor: Angela Kreider, Editor in Chief, The Papers of James Madison
