- Cornell University Department of History
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Cornell University Department of History College Arts and Sciences Department Chair Barry Strauss Location McGraw Hall, Ithaca, New York, USA Website http://www.arts.cornell.edu/history/ The Cornell University Department of History is an academic department in the College of Arts and Sciences at Cornell University that focuses on the study of history. Founded in 1868, it is one of Cornell's original departments. Its first faculty included university president Andrew Dickson White and English historian Goldwin Smith. In 1881, the department named Moses Coit Tyler the first professor of American history in the United States.[1] Three of Cornell's twelve presidents have been members of the department: White, Adams, and Rawlings. The longest teaching member of the faculty was Frederick Marcham who, upon completing his graduate work at Cornell in 1924, continued lecturing until a month before his death in 1992 – a total of 68 years.[2]
Contents
History
The department was founded in 1868 by President Andrew Dickson White as one of Cornell's original departments as the Department of History and Political Science. White had already earned a reputation as an up and coming historian, having taught at the University of Michigan as a Professor of History and English Literature from 1857 to 1863 and as a Lecturer of History from 1863 to 1867, while serving as a New York State Senator. Employing his reputation as a well-regarded historian in his own right, White attracted other notable historians and upcoming of the day to his department. He convinced Goldwin Smith to leave his comfortable post at Oxford and travel across the Atlantic to rural, up-state New York. When Smith realized just how lacking the new university's library was for historical study, he promptly had his entire 3,400 book collection shipped from England for donation to the Cornell University Library and made a $2,500 bequest for the purchase of more historical works.[1] From the College of Horace Mann (later known as Antioch College), White attracted their Department Chairman William Channing Russel.[3] Russel would later serve as the Department Chairman, Cornell's Vice President and acting President during White's long periods abroad.[3]
In 1881, the department notably hired the first, full-time chair of American history ever.[1] In the spring of 1872, non-resident professor George Washington Greene, grandson of American Revolutionary War General Nathanael Greene, offered a series of lectures on American history. Upon Russel's stepping down as the Department Chairman in 1881, the department attracted Moses Coit Tyler from the University of Michigan to take Russel's position. At Tyler's request, he exclusively taught American history .[1]
In 1884, the department founded the American Historical Review in a joint effort with Harvard's Department of History in the model of the English Historical Review and the French Revue Historique.[4] Also in 1884, Professors White and Charles Kendall Adams founded the American Historical Association with a handful of other leading historians of the day and both would later serve as its president, as well as later department faculty member Carl L. Becker.
In 1887, the Department was renamed the President White School of History and Political Science in honor of Andrew Dickson White's service to the university and the donation of his large personal library.[5] Over the summer, the board of trustees nominated White, who was no longer university president, to be Dean of the school and Honorary Lecturer on History and Political Science, but White declined the offer. Soon thereafter, president Charles Kendall Adams, White's protégé, sought a younger dean and interviewed Woodrow Wilson and Herbert Baxter Adams for the position. Adams notably did not interview the older Moses Coit Tyler, current department chairman, or Herbert Tuttle, an associate professor, to much annoyance of Taylor and the faculty in general. The trustees eventually overrode Adams and installed Tyler as Dean.[6]
On June 18, 1891, the Cornell Board of Trustees resolved that steps be taken to form a "Department of History, Political and Social Science, and General Jurisprudence" and the following year, the faculty of economics and finance and political and social institutions broke off into a single department separate from the White School.[1] As the history and government departments were moved around campus over the next few decades, the White School became a more informal grouping of the two departments.[7] In September 1932, Cornell revived the White School by moving the two disconnected departments to Boardman Hall, allocating space for three classrooms, administrative offices, and graduate student areas.[7]
Reputation
The US News and World Report's 2009 rankings of graduate programs places the department 12th overall in the United States.[8]
Many alumni and faculty members have won major awards for their work as historians. Alumnus Robert Fogel was the co-recipient of the 1993 Nobel Prize in Economics, in recognition of his quantitative historical analyses.[9] Walter LaFeber won the Bancroft Prize in 1996 and David Brion Davis won in 1976.[10] LaFeber also won the Beveridge Award in 1962 and Davis received it in 1975.[11] The French government awarded Steven Kaplan the Ordre national du Mérite and named Henry Guerlac Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur. Anthony Grafton won the Balzan Prize.
Numerous people associated with the department have won Pulitzer Prizes. Current faculty member Michael Kammen is the 1973 winner of the prize for History.[12] Former professor David Brion Davis won in the category of General Non-Fiction in 1969.[12] Alumna Sheryl WuDunn won the award for International Reporting in 1990.[12] Alumnus John Mott was the co-recipient of the 1946 Nobel Peace Prize for his work as the head of the YMCA.
Two buildings at Cornell's main campus are named in honor of history department professors. White Hall, one of the original three buildings on the Arts Quad, named after Andrew Dickson White, and Becker House, a residential college named after Carl L. Becker in recognition of his pedagogical contributions to the Cornell community.
Department in Popular Culture
The Onion, a parody newspaper, featured an article about fictional History Department professor Wallace Schroeder on September 9, 1997 titled, "Byzantine Empire Will Fall To Turks, Historian Warns".[13] In the The Office, salesman Andy Bernard minored in history at Cornell.[14]
Notable people
Alumni
Name Class year Degree Notability Reference Glenn C. Altschuler 1976 Ph.D. American History Historian, professor [15] Eric Alterman 1982 B.A. Liberal author and columnist [16] Leonard Andaya 1969, 1971 M.A., Ph.D. Southeast Asia Historian [17] George Lincoln Burr 1881 B.A. U.S. historian, diplomat, author, and educator [18] Stanley Chodorow 1968 Ph.D. Medieval historian; Academic administrator [19] Barber Conable 1942 B.A. Medieval History United States Congressman New York 37th District, 1965–73; 35th District, 1973–83; 30th District, 1983–85; President of the World Bank, 1986–91 [20] Ann Coulter 1984 B.A. Conservative author and political commentator [21] Eric Daniels 1973 B.A. CEO of Lloyds Banking Group [22] Ken Dryden 1968 B.A. Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender; Member of the Canadian Parliament [23] Frank Fetter 1892 Ph.M. Influential Austrian School economist [24][25] Robert Fogel 1948 B.A. Nobel Prize-winning economic historian [9][24] David Folkenflik 1991 B.A. Reporter at National Public Radio [26] Douglas Greenberg 1971, 1974 M.A., Ph.D. Historian, academic administrator Mark Kirk 1981 B.A. Congressman, Illinois 10th District, 2001–2010, Senator, Illinois 2010–present. [27] Stephen D. Krasner 1963 B.A. Former Director of Policy Planning at the United States Department of State, professor at Stanford University [28] Hendrik Willem van Loon 1905 B.A. Author of the first book to be awarded the Newbery Medal for an outstanding contribution to children's literature, historian, educator Bill Maher 1978 B.A. Political pundit, host of Real Time with Bill Maher [29] Linda Mason 1976 B.A. Co-Founder and President of Bright Horizons Family Solutions [30] L. Arthur Minnich ? Ph.D. Eisenhower White House staff and historian John R. Mott 1888 B.A. Nobel Peace Prize recipient (1946), YMCA and World Student Christian Federation leader [31] William H. McNeill 1947 Ph.D. Historian, professor, author of The Rise of the West: A History of the Human Community [32] Vicente L. Rafael 1984 Ph.D. Professor of history at University of Washington [33] Matt Urban 1941 B.A. The most decorated American serviceman, according to the Guinness Book of World Records [34] Sheryl WuDunn 1981 B.A. European History Journalist at The New York Times, co-winner in 1990 of the Pulitzer Prize for her coverage on the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, winner of the George Polk Award in 1989, and winner of the Overseas Press Club in 1990. [35] David K. Wyatt 1966 Ph.D. Southeast Asian History Historian, professor, authority on Thai [36] Former faculty
Name Title(s) Field of study Year joined Year left/retired Reference Felix Adler Professor of Hebrew and Oriental Literature and History Hebrew and Chinese Literature 1874 1876 [24] Charles Kendall Adams Professor of History, University President Europe 1885 1889 [1] Daniel A. Baugh Associate Professor of History Modern England, Maritime 1969 ? [37] Carl L. Becker John Wendell Anderson Professor of History The Enlightenment 1917 1941 [38] Knight Biggerstaff Professor of History, Department Chairman (1956–1963) China 1938, 1946 1944, 1972 [39] George Lincoln Burr '1881 John Stambaugh Professor of History Middle Ages 1888 1923 [18] David Brion Davis Ernest I. White Professor of History Slavery 1955 1969 [40] Frank Fetter '1892 Instructor, Professor in Political Economy (and Finance) Political Economy, Finance 1895 1911 [24][25][41] Paul Wallace Gates John Stambaugh Professor of History , Department Chairman (1946–56) United States public land policy 1936 1971 [42] Anthony Grafton Instructor in History Renaissance 1974 1975 [43] George Washington Greene Non-resident Professor United States 1871 1875 [1] Henry Guerlac Goldwin Smith Professor of the History of Science Science 1946 1977 [44] Jeremiah Jenks Professor of Political Economy and Politics Political Economy 1891 1912 [25][41] Donald Kagan Professor of History Classics 1960 1969 [45] Walter LaFeber Andrew H. and James S. Tisch Distinguished University Professor, Department Chairman United States foreign policy, Cold War 1959 2006 [46] Max Ludwig Wolfram Laistner John Stambaugh Professor of History, Department Chairman Middle Ages 1925 1941 [18] H. Morse Stephens Professor of Modern European History Modern Europe 1894 1903 [47] Jason Sokol Visiting Assistant Professor American Civil Rights Movement (1896–1954) 2007 2008 [48] Goldwin Smith Professor of English and General Constitutional History England 1868 1871 [1] Preserved Smith Professor in History Protestant Reformation 1923 1941 [24] Carl Stephenson Professor in History Middle Ages 1931 1941 [24] Herbert Tuttle Professor of Modern European History Modern Europe 1890 1894 [47] Moses Coit Tyler Professor of American History, Department Chairman (1881–?1887), White School Dean (1887-?) United States 1881 1900 [1][24] Andrew Dickson White Professor, Department Chairman (1868–1881), University President Science, Warfare, Religion 1868 1887 [1][25] Walter Francis Willcox Professor of Political Economy and Statistics, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences (1901–1907) Political Economy, Statistics 1891 1931 [24][25][41] L. Pearce Williams '1948 John Stambaugh Professor of the History of Science, Department Chairman Political Economy, Statistics 1960 ? [49] David K. Wyatt '1966 John Stambaugh Professor of History and Asian Studies, Department Chairman Southeast Asia 1969 2002 [36] Current faculty
Name Title Field of study Year joined department Reference Isabel Virginia Hull John Stambaugh Professor of History Sexuality, Germany 1977 [50][51] Michael Kammen Newton C. Farr Professor of American History and Culture American culture 1965 [52][53] Steven Kaplan Goldwin Smith Professor of History France, bread 1969 [54][55] J. Victor Koschmann Professor, Department Chairman (?-2009) Japan [56] Dominick LaCapra '61 Bryce and Edith M. Bowmar Professor of Humanistic Studies Intellectual history 1969 [57] Mary Beth Norton Mary Donlon Alger Professor of American History United States 1971 [58] Richard Polenberg Marie Underhill Noll Professor of American History, Former Goldwin Smith Professor of American History, Former Department Chairman (1977–1980) United States constitutional law 1966 [59] William Provine Andrew H. and James S. Tisch Distinguished University Professor, Charles A. Alexander Professor Science 1969 [60] Hunter Rawlings Professor of Classics and History, President Emeritus Classics [61] Barry S. Strauss Professor of History and Department Chair Classics 1979 [62] Rachel Weil Associate Professor Gender and culture in 17th and 18th century England [63] References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Selkreg, John H. (1894). Landmarks of Tompkins County, New York. Ithaca, N.Y.: D. Mason & Co..
- ^ "Frederick Marcham, Cornell Professor, 94", New York Times, December 19, 1992
- ^ a b "OBITUARY RECORD", New York Times, February 25, 1896
- ^ "CORNELL'S HISTORICAL DEPARTMENT; Part Taken by It in the Founding of a New Magazine.", New York Times, April 14, 1895
- ^ Poole, Murray Edward, A Story Historical of Cornell University: With Biographies of Distinguished Cornellians, The Cayuga Press, Ithaca, NY, 1916
- ^ Morris Bishop. A History of Cornell. p. 263.
- ^ a b "History Courses Get New Home: Boardman to be Rearranged to House Departments of History, Government". Cornell Daily Sun. June 17, 1932. p. 6. http://cdsun-test.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/newscornell?a=d&d=CDS19320617.2.6.3&e=--------20--21----%22WHITE+SCHOOL+OF+HISTORY+AND+POLITICAL+SCIENCE%22-all. Retrieved May 12, 2009.
- ^ U.S. News and World Report. "Rankings - History". http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-history-schools/rankings. Retrieved 2010-04-17.
- ^ a b "The Nobel Prize in Economics 1993". Nobel Foundation. http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economics/laureates/1993/index.html. Retrieved 2009-03-17.
- ^ Columbia University. "The Bancroft Prizes: Previous Awards". http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/eguides/amerihist/bancroftlist.html. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ American Historical Association. "The Albert J. Beveridge Award". http://www.historians.org/prizes/AWARDED/BeveridgeWinner.htm. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ a b c Corey Earle. "Cornell University Database – Pulitzer Prize Winners". http://www.people.cornell.edu/pages/cre8/cudb/pulitzer.html. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ The Onion. "Byzantine Empire Will Fall To Turks, Historian Warns". http://www.theonion.com/content/node/30079. Retrieved 2008-04-17.
- ^ The Job (The Office). "Should not be a problem; I minored in history at the Ivy League school that I attended"
- ^ "Glenn C. Altschuler : Cornell Continuing Education and Summer Sessions". http://www.sce.cornell.edu/sce/altschuler.php. Retrieved 2008-04-09.
- ^ "Eric Alterman – Home". http://www.ericalterman.com/. Retrieved 2007-11-20.
- ^ "Leonard Andaya – Department of History". http://manoa.hawaii.edu/history/node/50. Retrieved 2011-05-19.
- ^ a b c "Cornucopia – Medieval Studies at Cornell". Cornell University Department of Medieval Studies. http://www.arts.cornell.edu/medieval/People/notable.htm. Retrieved 2007-11-20.
- ^ "HEIA People: Stanley Chodorow". University of Pennsylvania. http://www.upenn.edu/heia/people/bio/chodorow.html. Retrieved 2009-04-29.
- ^ "Barber Conable". NNDB. http://www.nndb.com/people/007/000057833/. Retrieved 2007-11-20.
- ^ Horowitz, David. "Ann Coulter at Cornell". FrontPageMag.com. May 21, 2001. Retrieved on July 10, 2006.
- ^ Walsh, Dominic (2008-02-23). "Business big shot: Eric Daniels". London: The Times. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/movers_and_shakers/article3419903.ece. Retrieved 2010-08-04.
- ^ "Biography -- Rt. Hon. Ken Dryden". Wordpress. http://kendryden.wordpress.com/biography/. Retrieved 2009-04-29.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Corey Earle. "Cornell University Database – Cornell University Faculty and Staff". http://www.people.cornell.edu/pages/cre8/cudb/facultystaff.html. Retrieved 2007-11-20.
- ^ a b c d e Member of the President White School of History and Political Science
- ^ "David Folkenflik, NPR Biography". National Public Radio. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4459112. Retrieved 2009-04-29.
- ^ "'Emerging Leader in Congress' Mark Kirk '81 will speak Nov. 8 at Cornell on 'The Rise of China'". Cornell News. http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/Oct04/Kirk.LaFeber.sfm.html. Retrieved 2007-11-20.
- ^ "'CV of Stephen Krasner'". Stanford University. http://polisci.stanfol. Retrieved 2008-02-11.
- ^ "Transcripts". CNN.com. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0802/04/lkl.01.html. Retrieved 2008-02-10. "I was a history major. I have studied history."
- ^ "Worksite child-care executive named CU's Entrepreneur of the Year". Cornell Chronicle. http://www.news.cornell.edu/Chronicle/97/4.3.97/entrepreneur.html. Retrieved 2009-04-29.
- ^ "John R. Mott". Norwegian Nobel Institute. http://nobelpeaceprize.org/en_GB/laureates/laureates-1946/mott-bio/. Retrieved 2010-08-04.
- ^ "Department of History – People". University of Chicago. http://history.uchicago.edu/people/. Retrieved 2008-05-13.[dead link]
- ^ "Curriculum Vitae". http://faculty.washington.edu/vrafael/cv.pdf. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
- ^ "Matt Urban – UXL Newsmakers". findarticles.com. 2005. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_gx5221/is_2005/ai_n19141821. Retrieved 2008-02-11.
- ^ "Cornell News: Cornell Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) workplace colloquium webpage". Cornell News. http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/Feb04/Workplace.colloq.04.lm.html. Retrieved 2007-11-20.
- ^ a b "David K. Wyatt, Authority on Thailand, Is Dead at 69", Douglas Martin, New York Times, November 17, 2006
- ^ Cornell University Department of History. "Emeriti Faculty". http://www.arts.cornell.edu/falcon/history/faculty-emeriti.php. Retrieved 2008-05-24.
- ^ Dr Robert A. Hatch. "HISTORIOGRAPHY - CARL BECKER". University of Florida. http://web.clas.ufl.edu/users/rhatch/pages/02-TeachingResources/historiography/carl-becker.htm. Retrieved 2007-11-21.
- ^ "Guide to the Knight Biggerstaff Papers, 1923-2000". Cornell University Library, Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections. http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/EAD/htmldocs/RMA00629.html. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ "David Brion Davis". History News Network. http://hnn.us/roundup/entries/25840.html. Retrieved 2007-11-21.
- ^ a b c The Register. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University. 1906., page 139
- ^ "In Memoriam: Paul Wallace Gates". American Historical Association. http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:Vu7e1DzD5e4J:www.historians.org/Perspectives/issues/1999/9905/9905mem4.cfm+%22Paul+Wallace+Gates%22+Cornell&hl=en&gl=us&strip=1.
- ^ "Anthony Grafton (USA)". Fondazione Internazionale Premio Balzan. http://www.balzan.it/premiati.aspx?lang=it&Codice=125&from=119&show=1.
- ^ "Guide to the Henry Guerlac Papers". Cornell University Library Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections. http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/EAD/htmldocs/RMA02354.html#s1.
- ^ "Yale History Faculty: Donald Kagan". Yale University Department of History. http://www.yale.edu/history/faculty/kagan.html.
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- ^ a b Poole, Murray Edward (1916). A Story Historical of Cornell University: With Biographies of Distinguished Cornellians. Ithaca, N.Y.: The Cayuga Press.
- ^ Cornell University Department of History. "Visiting Faculty". Cornell University. http://www.arts.cornell.edu/history/faculty-visiting.php.
- ^ "The History of Science at Cornell University". The History Teacher. http://www.jstor.org/stable/491677. Retrieved 2009-09-29.
- ^ "Cornell University Department of History – Isabel V. Hull". Cornell University Department of History. http://www.arts.cornell.edu/history/faculty-department-hull.php. Retrieved 2007-11-21.
- ^ "Isabel Hull – The Mershon Center for International Security Studies". The Ohio State University. Archived from the original on 2007-08-15. http://web.archive.org/web/20070815214610/http://mershoncenter.osu.edu/events/may/hull.htm. Retrieved 2007-11-27.
- ^ "Cornell University Department of History – Michael Kammen". Cornell University Department of History. http://www.arts.cornell.edu/history/faculty-department-kammen.php. Retrieved 2007-11-21.
- ^ "Vintage Catalog – Visual Shock by Michael Kammen". Vintage Catalog. http://www.randomhouse.com/vintage/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9781400034642. Retrieved 2007-11-27.
- ^ "Cornell University Department of History – Steven Kaplan". Cornell University Department of History. http://www.arts.cornell.edu/history/faculty-department-kaplan.php. Retrieved 2007-11-24.
- ^ Roger Lowenstein. "Cornell University Department of History – Steven Kaplan". Cornell Alumni Magazine Online. http://cornell-magazine.cornell.edu/Archive/2006novdec/depts/LtrFromIthaca.asp. Retrieved 2007-11-27.
- ^ "Cornell University Department of History – J. Victor Koshmann". Cornell University Department of History. http://www.arts.cornell.edu/history/faculty-department-koschmann.php. Retrieved 2007-11-25.
- ^ "Dominick LaCapra". http://www.people.cornell.edu/pages/dcl3/. Retrieved 2007-11-28.
- ^ Roger Adelson. "Interview with Mary Beth Norton.(Interview)". The Historian. http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-20150892.html. Retrieved 2007-11-28.
- ^ "Weiss Fellows". Cornell Chronicle. http://www.news.cornell.edu/chronicle/03/3.13.03/Weiss_fellows.html. Retrieved 2007-11-28.
- ^ William Provine. "William Provine". http://www.eeb.cornell.edu/provine/provineworks.html. Retrieved 2007-11-28.
- ^ Cornell University Department of History. "Cornell University Department of History – Hunter Rawlings". http://www.arts.cornell.edu/history/faculty-department-rawlings.php. Retrieved 2007-11-28.
- ^ "Barry Strauss". http://www.arts.cornell.edu/falcon/history/faculty-department-strauss.php. Retrieved 2010-12-08.
- ^ Cornell University Department of History. "Cornell University Department of History – Rachel Weil". http://www.arts.cornell.edu/history/faculty-department-weil.php. Retrieved 2007-11-28.
External links and further reading
- The department homepage
- Landmarks of Tompkins County, New York, a history of the department
- [1] A Cornell Daily Sun article from October 19, 1887 regarding the founding of the President White School of History and Political Science.
- Another extensive history of the first 40 years of the department
Categories:- Cornell University
- Cornell University Department of History faculty
- University departments in the United States
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