Photographs of Giovanni Costigan, 1945-1988

Overview of the Collection

Title
Photographs of Giovanni Costigan
Dates
1945-1988 (inclusive)
Quantity
18 photographic prints (2 folders) ; sizes vary
Collection Number
PH1348
Summary
Photographs of Giovanni Costigan a Professor of History at the University of Washington
Repository
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu
Access Restrictions

Entire collection can be viewed on the Libraries' Digital Collections website. Permission of Visual Materials Curator is required to view originals. Contact Special Collections for more information.

Request at UW

Languages
English

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

Giovanni Marie Denis George Costigan was a history professor at the University of Washington, a staunch defender of human rights, and a leader in the peace movement.

He was born February 15, 1905 in England. His father was a poor Irish Catholic peasant farmer, the youngest child of 12, who married the daughter of his wealthy Anglo-Irish landlord. Costigan’s mother was the youngest daughter of a Protestant family, the Warrens, that had lived in Ireland for 300 years. Costigan’s parents eloped to England and settled in Brighton, assuming a middle-class life style. Giovanni was the youngest of their three children. Giovanni’s father died when he was 11. Costigan was educated at a Catholic boarding school in Sussex and at Oxford University. At the age of 22 he came to the U.S. for graduate study at the University of Wisconsin. After completing his doctorate in history in 1930, he spent the next four years teaching at the University of Idaho’s southern branch in Pocatello. While there he met and, in 1931, married Amne Johnson. During World War II Costigan served as an information officer in the U.S. Air Corps. He taught Irish and English history at the University of Washington beginning in 1934, became a full professor in 1948 and retired in 1975. In retirement, he continued to lecture and was a popular speaker until his death in 1990. Amne Costigan died in 1995.

A staunch defender of human rights and leader in the peace movement, Costigan was an outspoken critic of the Vietnam war and U.S. involvement in Central America. His books include Sir Robert Wilson: A Soldier of Fortune in the Napoleonic Wars , Sigmund Freud: A Short Biography , Makers of Modern England: The Force of Individual Genius in History and History of Modern Ireland: With a Sketch of Earlier Times.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

Photographs of Professor Giovanni Costigan.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

Restrictions may exist on reproduction, quotation, or publication. Contact Special Collections, University of Washington Libraries for details.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Processing Note

Processed by Leslie A. Meyer, 2015, processing completed August 2015.

These photographs were transferred from the Portrait File, 2015.

Related Materials

Also in the Repository: the

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

 

Container(s) Description Dates
Folder item
1 1 Giovanni Costigan in US Air Force uniform September 1945
1 2 Portrait of Giovanni Costigan
James O. Sneddon, University of Washington News and Information Service, S1398-A (photographer)
1953
1 3 Giovanni Costigan with two students looking at 4th annual AMS-AWS scholarhip banquet poster circa 1950s
1 4a Portrait of Giovanni Costigan
Tyee, 1966.
Color photograph
1966
box-folder:oversize
OS7 4b Enlargement of portrait of Giovanni Costigan
Tyee, 1966. Color photograph.
1966
Folder
1 5 Portrait of Giovanni Costigan
John A. Moore, University of Washington News and Information Service, M-8855-C (photographer)
circa 1960s
1 6 Portrait of Giovanni Costigan
James O. Sneddon, University of Washington News and Information Service, S-4045-A (photographer)
circa 1960s
1 7 Portrait of Giovanni Costigan
James O. Sneddon, University of Washington News and Information Service, 5-11846-16 (photographer)
circa 1960s
1 8 Giovanni Costigan at podium circa 1970s
1 9 Giovanni Costigan in audience at event circa 1970s
1 10 Giovanni Costigan at event circa 1970s
1 11 Giovanni Costigan speaking in classroom 1975
1 12 Giovanni Costigan
Written on verso: taken at time of retirement.
1975
1 13 Giovanni Costigan teaching Continuing Education Class
University of Washington News and Information Service, M16155-36 (photographer)
Written on verso: First Cont. Ed class
October 1975
1 14 Giovanni Costigan in office circa 1980s
1 15 Giovanni Costigan at Shoreline College
Roberta Britt (photographer)
September 30, 1981
1 16 Giovanni Costigan on boardThe Viking Skycruise ship, Bombay to London April 1986
1 17 Portrait of Giovanni Costigan
Rich Hansen, Seattle, WA (photographer)
1988

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • College teachers--Washington (State)--Seattle--Photographs
  • Retired military personnel--Photographs
  • Visual Materials Collections (University of Washington)

Personal Names

  • Costigan, Giovanni, 1905-1990--Photographs