Hugh M. Hamill

HAMILL, Hugh M. Hugh Maxwell Hamill, 76, of Mansfield Center, died Saturday (April 30, 2005). He was the beloved husband of Elizabeth Dwight Cole to whom he was married for 53 years. Hugh is survived by his daughters and sons-in-laws Sarah and Daniel Leavell of Granville, OH and Margaret and James Sheehan of Meriden, NH; a son and daughter-in-law Matthew Hamill and Stacey Arnesen of Rockville, MD and his son Samuel Hamill of Rutland, VT. There are nine grandchildren, Katharine, Maria and Rebecca Leavell; Benjamin, Elizabeth, Emily and William Sheehan; and Christopher and Andrew Hamill. Hugh was born in Philadelphia, PA in 1928 and was a graduate of the William Penn Charter School. He earned a B.A. Phi Beta Kappa from Amherst College in 1951 and a M.A. and a Ph.D. from Harvard University in Latin American History. He served in the Army from 1955-57. Hugh's first academic position was at Ohio Wesleyan University where he taught from 1957-1961. In 1961 he joined The University of Connecticut where he worked for 33 years as professor, Associate Dean in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and as a founder and Director of the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, a consortium that included the University of Massachusetts, Brown and Yale. Hugh served as the President of the New England Council of Latin American Studies. He was appointed to the editorial board of the Hispanic American Historical Review and was senior editor of The Americas. He earned a Doherty research fellowship along with Social Science Research Council and NEH grants. Hugh's book on the Hidalgo revolt is recognized as one of the major studies of this time period in Mexican history. In 1965 Hugh edited Dictatorship in Spanish America and in 1992 he edited Caudillos: Dictators in Spanish America. Hugh was an outstanding teacher as well as a fine scholar. He was devoted to those he taught and a number of his graduate students have gone on to distinguish themselves in the field of Latin American History. Hugh was very involved in the community. He organized the Historic District in Mansfield Center. He twice served as President of Joshua's Tract and he was a member of the Mansfield Democratic Committee. Hugh was on the Board of The Center for Learning in Retirement and he looked forward to having lunch with his friends at the Spanish Table. Hugh will be remembered as a loving husband, father, teacher and friend, an accomplished violinist, an avid fly fisherman and vegetable gardener, a fine athlete known for organizing multigenerational soccer games, a crusader for social justice and peace and as an extraordinarily gentle and kind man. A memorial service celebrating his life will be held on Saturday, May 7, 10 a.m. at The First Church of Christ in Mansfield Center. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the UConn Foundation (The Hugh M. Hamill Graduate Fellowship in Latin America), University of Connecticut, Department of History, 241 Glenbrook Road, Wood Hall-Unit 2103, Storrs, CT 06269-2103 or Joshua's Tract Conservation and Historic Trust, Inc., P.O. Box 4, Mansfield Center, CT 06250.