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PUBLIC PAPERS OF THE PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES: LYNDON B. JOHNSON. Two Volumes. (Washing- ton, D.C.: Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Service, General Services Administration, 1968. Vol. 1: January 1 to June 30, 1967, lix + 670p. + A-78p., index, $8.75; Vol. II: July 1 to December 31, 1967, liii + p.671-1228 + A-78p., index,
$8.00.) In 1957, acting on a recommendation of the National Historical Publications Com- mission, the Office of the Federal Register began work on a uniform, systematic series of the Presidents' public papers, compar- able to the Congressional Record for Con- gress or the United States Supreme Court Reports for
the judiciary. This project is now well advanced. Working both forward and backward from the year 1957, Warren Reid and his assistants have provided not only an annual compilation of papers since then, but also appropriate volumes for the first Eisenhower and the Truman adminis- trations. The next step into the past, in view of the general adequacy of the Rosen- man series on Roosevelt, will be a set of badly needed volumes covering the Hoover period. The work under review is the latest fruit of this project. Compiled chiefly from White House press releases and transcripts, it contains, along with ceremonial items, all of the important Presidential addresses, messages, press conferences, and public let- ters for the year 1967. Reflected in them are the major concerns of a difficult and crucial twelve months, a period when Johnson's hopes for victory in Vietnam and lasting solutions to domestic problems dissolved in disillusionment, and when the President himself became increasingly petu- lant and defensive. Some of the documents, |
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viewed from the perspective of only two years later, make fascinating reading. While the arrangement is strictly chrono- logical, there is an excellent subject index, enabling the reader to pursue a given topic through the year. As a reference tool the work maintains the same high standards set by earlier volumes. There is no evi- dence of arbitrary or politically oriented selection or omission. Texts are faithfully reproduced; special appendices list the items from which selections were made; and the only major omissions are the proclama- tions, executive orders, and similar docu- ments that are required by law to appear in the Federal Register or the Code of Fed- eral Regulations. One does wish, at times, for more extensive and more interpretive notes, along with an occasional Presiden- tial comment, fuller cross references, or a set of brief introductions to put the docu- ments in context and perspective. But this is really a quarrel with established edi- torial policy, not with the making of this particular publication. Those who planned the project early decided to hold such edi- torial devices to a minimum. The public utterances of Lyndon John- son, even when composed with the aid of professional speechwriters, will probably never be regarded as either great literature or stylistic models. They will not rank with those of Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, or John F. Kennedy. But in a system that centers power and policy mak- ing in the Presidency, they are certainly of great significance. And these volumes, like their companions in the over-all series, will undoubtedly become valuable research tools for the historian, biographer, social theo- rist, and interested layman. ELLIS W. HAWLEY University of Iowa |
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THE RECORDS OF A NATION; THEIR MANAGEMENT, PRESERVA- TION, AND USE. By H. G. Jones, with an introduction by Wayne C. Grover. (New York: Atheneum Publishers, 1969. xviii ?? 309 p.; illustrations, bibliogra- phy, appendix, and index. $12.95.) Archives is an unfamiliar term
to the majority of citizens; some think of it mere- ly as a musty storage place for unused rec- ords. Many concerned citizens, historians, government officials, and genealogists, how- ever, recognize the vital role of archival institutions. Because of the records it holds and the leadership it must give, none other is so vital as the National Archives. Yet, unfamiliarity and indifference burden that institution, too, as is shown in this report by Dr. Jones, Director of the North Caro- lina Department of Archives and History and president of tile Society of American Archivists. A joint committee of the American His- torical Association, the Organization of American Historians, and the Society of American Archivists was
established in 1967 "to investigate and report upon the status of the National Archives in the Fed- eral Government, particularly with refer- ence to the question whether it should exist as an independent agency." Jones, secre- tary of the committee, was asked to write the report and this book is a revision of his study. The book contains both a his- tory of the National Archives and an analy- sis of its operations, which make it of in- terest to the lay public and the historian alike. Included as an appendix is the re- port of the joint committee and a dissent- ing statement by the committee's chairman, Dr. Julian Boyd. Jones begins by sketching the early at- tempts to preserve the nation's records and the successful establishment of the Na- tional Archives as an independent agency in 1934. Fortunate in its early leadership, the archives quickly became a world lead- er. In 1949, however, the Hoover Commis- sion Report prompted demotion of the agency to bureau status within the new General Services Administration. Jones as- serts the move was "illogical" and "poten- tially dangerous" and calls for the re- establishment of an independent agency to perform the same functions as the pres- ent National Archives and Records Service. The author argues that the department is unique, serving all branches of government while also serving the cultural needs of the nation. As such, it should not be buried |
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in the housekeeping division of the execu- tive branch. The argument usually advanced to de- fend the present organization is that NARS must have the protection of the larger GSA to secure appropriations. Jones counters this by showing that the increases of the past eighteen years primarily reflect the added responsibilities of records manage- ment, Federal Records Centers, Presiden- tial Libraries, the Federal Register, and the publication of documentary sources. While NARS has not benefited in appro- priations, it has suffered in loss of pres- tige, recognition, and the authority it needs to fulfill its responsibilities. Further, the appointment of a competent archivist and the smooth functioning of NARS is de- pendent upon the appointment of a capa- ble and interested administrator of GSA. Jones points out that, while undesirable, the present arrangement has not been fatal. He does not condemn, but rather com- mends GSA. The future is of much con- cern, however, for in a period of increas- ingly greater and more complex records, the Archivist of the United States is sub- merged in the government hierarchy, lack- ing prestige, authority, or a proper forum for his and the nation's needs. GERALD G. NEWBORG Ohio Historical Society LEWIS TAPPAN AND THE EVANGELI CAL WAR AGAINST SLAVERY. By Bertram Wyatt-Brown. (Cleveland: Press of Case Western Reserve
University, 1969. xix ?? 376p.; notes, bibliographical essay, and index. $8.95.) Based on extensive research in scores of manuscript collections, antebellum
news- papers, and other primary sources and am- ply documented by notes and a critical bibliographical essay, this biography author- itatively appraises a long career of service to evangelical abolitionism. The first life of Lewis Tappan to be published, it sup- ports the sympathetic interpretation of the abolitionists generated in recent years by historians inclined to view slavery as a moral issue. Professor Wyatt-Brown argues that abolitionism's "leaders ought to be re- membered not solely for their various im- perfections but for their acuteness of moral perception as well . . . . They gave the coun- |
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try a higher conception of what American nationality was supposed to stand for than most of the statesmen of their day" (p. xiv). Wyatt-Brown takes issue with the views that the Civil War resulted from the aboli- tionists' extremism
(he implies at several points the inevitability of a violent end for an institution born and perpetuated in violence), that American society lacked adequate institutional channels for reform, and that abolitionists were motivated sub- consciously by either psychological mal- adjustments or a crisis in their socio-eco- nomic status. He shows that for Tappan abolitionism was predicated on the expecta- tion of converting the enemy, that extrem- ism and violence were more characteristic of slave-owners and their apologists in the North and the South than of the reformers, and that Tappan's church-oriented aboli- tionism could
and did find institutional outlets. A very durable and healthy per- sonality is described, and the author con- tends that his subject's New England heri- tage of Edwardsean Calvinism, rather than threatened or declining social status, con- tained the "seeds of a humanitarian faith." Though
biography somewhat inhibits Wyatt-Brown's confrontation of such is- sues in contemporary scholarship on aboli- tionism, he displays sensitivity to the impli- cations of recent historiographical trends for his topic. The author is particularly adept at elucidating differences of ideology and program within abolitionism. He goes beyond
traditional distinctions
between evangelicals and Garrisonians and between moral agitators and political abolitionists by demonstrating that shifts in perspective and complex personal ties, cutting across such categories, characterized Tappan's career. Identified primarily with a distinctively evangelical abolitionism, Tappan, nonethe- less, had much in common with Garrison, including a penchant for agitation and propagation and a rejection of Negro in- feriority. Though first and foremost a moral reformer committed to the tactics of per- suasion, he drifted into political abolition- ism via the Liberty party of 1844. Considerable attention is given also to Tappan's business activities. His partner- ship with his brother Arthur, who intro- duced him to abolitionist circles and re- ceives almost equal attention in the first half of the book, and his formation of the Mercantile Agency (later Dun and Brad- street), are fully treated. JACOB H. DORN Wright State University |
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FROM EVANGELICALISM TO PRO- GRESSIVISM AT OBERLIN COL- LEGE, 1866-1917. By John Barnard. (Co- lumbus: Ohio State University Press, 1969. 171p.; bibliography and index. $7.50.) The development of Oberlin College has been shaped by urgent social and religious concern. After its establishment in 1833, Oberlin was influenced strongly by the evangelical thrust of the abolition crusade, and it pioneered in admission of Negro and female students. The college was the evangelistic training center for ministerial candidates under the tutelage of revivalist Charles G. Finney, professor after 1837 and president from 1851 to 1865. Oberlin's transition from the evangelism of the era of President Finney to the progressivism of the first decades of the twentieth cen- tury is examined in this well-documented volume by Professor Barnard and is a wel- come supplement to Robert Fletcher, A History of Oberlin College from its Found- ation Through the Civil War. Scholars of current campus unrest will be interested in the historical perspective pro- vided by Dr. Barnard's findings which re- veal that students, along with alumni on the faculty and board of trustees, were the principal agents transforming the Oberlin environment and curriculum. The tradi- tional Oberlin valued religious atmosphere and conviction more than intellectual ac- complishment; revivals were periodic, mis- sionary zeal was pervasive, and a largely Oberlin-educated faculty followed a classi- cal and religious curriculum. Barnard fo- cuses upon the demands for change that were expressed by liberal students in the school newspaper, in diaries and letters, and in presentations before literary so- cieties. Students and a few faculty and board members urged not only that Ober- lin follow the lead of the great universities in raising academic standards and broad- ening course
offerings but also demanded that Oberlin teach the ideas and skills that could help ensure that its graduates would be social activists in the new industrial age. Administrators such as James H. Fair- child, president from 1866 to 1889, yielded slowly to reform. The elective course sys- tem was initiated, and science and social science curricula were expanded. Academic qualifications, rather than religious creden- tials, increasingly became the prime factor in hiring new faculty. Of the twenty fac- ulty members in 1902, sixteen held earned degrees (seven Ph.D.'s) and only two had |
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been educated entirely at Oberlin. Progres- sive leaders invited to speak on the campus, such as Washington Gladden, Walter Rauschenbusch, B. Fay Mills, Jacob Riis, Jane Addams, Henry George, Samuel Gom- pers, Lincoln Steffens, and Robert La- Follette, exposed students to new dimen- sions of social reform. As the academic and progressive con- cerns of Oberlin increased, the number and rigidity of its religious restrictions up- on its students decreased. Oberlin emerged by 1917 bearing the distinct mark of its founders' social commitment welded to a desire for academic excellence, both of which were necessary to insure the school's survival in an age of mounting educational demands and social problems. Oberlin alumni will appreciate Mr. Barn- ard's biographical sketches of outstanding students, faculty, and presidents. He leaves but one troubling question unanswered. What was the attitude and action, if any, of antislavery Oberlin toward segregation and wanton lynching of Negroes between 1866 and 1917? DONALD E. PITZER Indiana State University, Evansville WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN: PRO- GRESSIVE POLITICIAN AND MOR- AL STATESMEN, 1909-1915. Volume II. By Paolo E. Coletta. (Lincoln: Uni- versity of Nebraska Press, 1969. viii ?? 380p.; essay on sources and index. $8.95.) This is the second of Paolo Coletta's projected three volume biography of Wil- liam Jennings Bryan. Meticulously re- searched, Part II briefly recounts Bryan's stand, between 1909 and 1912, on such is- sues as the tariff, anti-trust legislation, and prohibition. Coletta then analyzes the role Bryan played in the fight between New Jersey Governor Woodrow Wilson and Speaker of the House Champ Clark for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1912. Without early tipping his hand to the public, Bryan favored Wilson, knowing that he, far more than Clark, would press for legislation on the progressive matters so dear to the Nebraskan's heart. Bryan's happiness in seeing Wilson nominated and then elected was genuine; progressive vic- tory outweighed his disappointment at seeing another Democrat capture the of- fice which he had three times before so eagerly sought for himself. He always in- sisted that he expected nothing in return, |
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but Wilson wisely rewarded Bryan, as much for his following in the Democratic party as for himself, with the senior position in the cabinet. It is to Bryan as Secretary of State that the bulk of this volume is devoted. He served from March 1913 until June 1915, when he resigned rather than sign Wilson's second Lusitania note to the German gov- ernment, holding her to strict accountabil- ity for the sinking of unarmed merchant ships. To Bryan, Wilson's forceful policy risked war, and the Secretary could not countenance American military involve- ment. His differences with the President, however, were over methods rather than objectives. Both men ardently desired a peaceful solution to this conflict over American neutrality rights. But Bryan's pacifism was so idealistic as to be some- times naive, and he failed to understand what Arthur S. Link has called Wilson's "higher realism," his insistence that wan- ton destruction of human lives and inter- ference with American national honor must not go unchallenged, even at the risk of war. One hesitates to say that Coletta has gone no further than to agree with other historians who argue that Bryan was a better Secretary, given his lack of expe- rience in diplomacy, than might have been expected. And yet, that may be the fairest way of describing this biographer's analysis, despite his effort at pointing out Bryan's many virtues. Bryan saw most problems, whether they were the German submarine controversy or Japanese demands on China, in simple moral terms. His favorite diplo- matic precept, which he sought to embody in some thirty "cooling-off" treaties, was that "nothing is final between friends."
Co- letta may insist that Bryan advised the President fully, even gratuitously, but he does not deny that Wilson's closest con- fidants, men like Colonel Edward M. House and Ambassador to Great Britain Walter Hines Page, often bypassed the Secretary in their reports, and were probably en- couraged by the President to do so. When Bryan's resignation came, the di- lemma was not conflicting interpretations of international law, where he was ad- mittedly weak, but, ironically, a problem of human rights and morality, something on which both Bryan and the President were authorities. In retrospect, Bryan's brand of exhortation seemed most effective when he was out on the Chautauqua cir- cuit, away from the responsibility of policy making. His official capacity somehow frus- |
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trated his natural ability to lead--whereas public office only enhanced Wilson's lead- ership qualities. Admirers of Bryan, as well as his de- tractors, will seek out Coletta's judgments eagerly. This biography is the best indica- tion yet that Bryan is finding perspective in a historical literature which has often underestimated him. NEIL THORBURN Russell Sage College THE LOG CABIN IN AMERICA. By C. A. Weslager (New Brunswick, N. J.: Rut- gers University Press, 1969. xxv ?? 382p.; illustrations,
appendix, and index. $12.50.) The log cabin has become one of the most important symbols connotating "pio- neer" or "frontier." As Mr. Weslager
points out, this symbolism was given credence and national acceptance during the Harrison presidential campaign of 1840, when indi- vidual freedom and self-sufficiency became unifying factors for diverse political fac- tions in the newly settled West-- a "log cabin society" allied against the urban East. Even by 1840 the log cabin had ac- quired a touch of nostalgia: a physical re- minder of youth, virgin land, and "great expectations" for a great number of mid- dleaged Americans. The aura of the log cabin caught the imagination of society in general, and the theme was applied and reapplied to men of national, not to say local, importance. From Lincoln on it be- came de rigueur for public officials to have been born in a log cabin. An old tradition is that the Pilgrims at Plymouth built log cabins; popular art still perpetuates the myth. This misconception was effectively dispelled by Harold R. Shurtleff in the now scarce, posthumously published book, The Log Cabin Myth (1939). Mr. Weslager's book can be con- sidered a logical extension of Shurtleff's research, but on a much wider geographic base. Using seventeenth century documents, the author credits the introduction of log housing to the Swedes and Finns in the Delaware Bay area about 1640, with the Germans contributing their own version of building with logs some forty years later. The great expansion of log building, in his opinion, resulted from the vigor and enterprise of the Germans and the Scotch- Irish in their rapid and wide settlement of the eastern United States. Mr. Weslager's approach to the study of log building is |
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sociological, though technologies of con- struction stemming from cultural and na- tional traditions are mentioned when evi- dence is available. A few minor errors were noted, most oc- curring in the first of three sections in the book. An example, repeated as often as the "Pilgrims' cabins," is the following:
"Until the latter part of the nineteenth century, nails were hand-wrought by American blacksmiths, . . ." (page 8). Machine-cut nails were common even in Ohio shortly after 1800; Rufus Putnam could order cut- nails in 1796 for his house in Marietta. Also, one reference to the Moravian vil- lage of Schoenbrunn places it ". . . on the banks of the Muskingum . . ." (page 61) instead of the Tuscarawas River; however, Zeisberger makes this same statement in his diary (1776), undoubtedly meaning the Muskingum watershed. The Log Cabin in America is a well written and highly informative book dis- playing sound documentation and on-site research. It is a welcome addition to an otherwise meagre literature devoted to log construction. DONALD A. HUTSLAR Ohio Historical Society MEMORABLE NEGROES IN CLEVE- LAND'S PAST. By Russell H. Davis. (Cleveland: Western Reserve Historical Society, 1969. 58p.; preface and fore- word. $3.00 hard cover, $2.00 soft cover.) Responding to the present interest in the history of black America, Russell H. Davis, a retired Cleveland educator and local historian, has prepared an attractive little book containing twenty-eight bio- graphical sketches of historically notable black men and women who have lived in the Cleveland area. Unfortunately, these brief descriptions are studiously uncritical and thus are of little use to the profes- sional scholar except for factual data. Clearly, however, the author intended to address himself to the general reader. Even within this framework, the sketches go a long way toward illuminating some ne- glected Negro experiences in the less segre- gated, but not unprejudiced, environment of a northern city. From the first sketch to the last, from "Black Joe" Hodge, a western New York trapper and scout who accompanied the Moses Cleaveland expedition in the late |
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1790's, to Dr. Charles Garvin, an associate professor of urology at Western Reserve University Medical School and leading com- munity figure until his death in 1968, one finds an impressive array of business, pro- fessional, and artistic talents. These ac- complishments may surprise those unfa- miliar with the resourcefulness and re- silience of the Negro middle class. In the group chosen for study are several men who gained national reputations in their lifetimes, such as John P. Green, the first Negro to be elected to the upper house of a northern state legislature; Charles W. Chesnutt, whose short stories and novels of life along the color line won critical |
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acclaim throughout the United States and Europe; and Harry C. Smith, for almost sixty years the militant editor of the Cleve- land Gazette and an articulate critic of Booker T. Washington. Though only five of the subjects are women, their appear- ance in this volume marks a recognition of the unique and impressive role black wom- en have played in the history of the race. The common themes
are personal achievement and service, and the lives of the Negroes presented are an inspiring testimony of dignity and courage. DAVID A. GERBER Princeton University |