MINUTES OF
THE OHIO ACADEMY OF HISTORY
Deshler-Wallick Hotel
Columbus, Ohio
April 8, 1949
The Ohio Academy of History met in
Columbus, April 8, 1949,
in connection with the Ohio College
Association. More than one
hundred persons attended the several
sessions. The morning ses-
sion, at 10 A.M., was devoted to a panel
discussion on the subject
"American Cultural History as a
Field of Specialization in the
College and the Graduate School."
Members of the panel were Lyon
N. Richardson, chief librarian, Western
Reserve University, pre-
siding; William Charvat, English
department, Ohio State Univer-
sity; Lowell W. Coolidge, history
department, College of Wooster;
Louis Filler, history department,
Antioch College; G. Harrison
Orians, English department, University
of Toledo; and John Hall
Stewart, history department, Western
Reserve University.
Some ninety members attended the
luncheon session at 12:30,
presided over by George F. Howe,
Historical Division, Department
of the Army, president of the academy.
Speaker at this session was
John Miller, Jr., Historical Division,
Department of the Army, who
spoke on "The Strategic Background
of the Northern Solomons
Campaign." Major General Robert S.
Beightler, commander of the
37th Division, was a guest at the
luncheon and spoke briefly of
personal experiences in this campaign.
At the afternoon session,
C. William Vogel, history department,
University of Cincinnati,
gave "A Progress Report on the
British Colonial Development
and Welfare Program."
Approximately seventy-five members
gathered for the annual
business meeting of the academy at 3:30.
The committee on
awards, composed of William J. McNiff,
Lawrence F. Hill, and C.
William Vogel, announced as the winner
of the third annual acad-
332
OHIO ACADEMY OF HISTORY 333
emy award of distinction, Howard
Robinson of Oberlin College for
his History of the British Post
Office (Princeton, Princeton Univer-
sity Press, 1948). Dr. McNiff presented
the certificate of award
for the academy. Benjamin H. Pershing,
for the committee on
membership (Harvey Wish, chairman,
Hastings Eells, and Dr. Per-
shing), reported that a list of history
teachers in Ohio colleges
and universities and a list of
historical societies in the state would
appear in the April issue of the Ohio
State Archaeological and
Historical Quarterly. The survey by the committee disclosed that
there were 235 history teachers in the
fifty-one colleges and uni-
versities which reported. Membership in
the academy outside of
college and university faculties now is
comprised chiefly of officials
of the Ohio State Archaeological and
Historical Society, the His-
torical and Philosophical Society of
Ohio, the Historical Society
of Northwestern Ohio, the librarian and
archivist of the Firestone
Tire and Rubber Company, and the
director of research of the
Hayes Memorial Library and Museum. A
motion by Harold J.
Grimm that the executive committee
consider the possibility of
publishing this report was passed.
The committee on nominations (Harold J.
Grimm, chairman,
Randolph C. Downes, and William D.
Overman) presented the fol-
lowing nominations:
President--Stanton L. Davis, Case
Institute of Technology
Vice President--William J. McNiff, Miami
University
Secretary-Treasurer--James H. Rodabaugh,
Ohio State Ar-
chaeological and Historical Society.
On motion of A. Sellew Roberts the
secretary was instructed to
cast a unanimous ballot for the
nominees.
The report of the committee on
publications (Eugene H. Rose-
boom, chairman, Carl Gustavson,
Virginius Hall, and the secretary)
was presented by Dr. Roseboom (report
published on p. 335). Frank
L. Esterquest, chairman of the committee
on the teaching of history
(the other members were Robert L. Jones
and Everett Walters),
presented an extensive mimeographed
report prepared from a survey
of history courses in Ohio colleges
(report published on p. 336).
334
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
On motion of Francis P. Weisenburger the
academy voted its thanks
to the committee for "its elaborate
and excellent report." On motion
of Dr. Weisenburger amended by Robert S.
Fletcher, the academy
instructed the executive committee to
consider means of publication
of the report, a copy of the report to
be sent to each Ohio college
department of history with request that
it be called to the attention
of the faculty.
Dr. Davis opened a discussion on the
desirability of an
historical atlas. By a show of hands the
members of the academy
declared themselves as desirous of such
a work for their classroom
use. William E. Smith brought up the
problem of history teaching
in the high schools, pointing especially
to the inadequate training
in history of many called upon to teach
that subject. The academy
passed a motion by Dr. Smith authorizing
the appointment of a
committee of the academy to study the
teaching of history in Ohio
high schools, to make recommendations
for the improvement of
such teaching, and to confer with the
state director of education
concerning such recommendations.
A motion by Dr. McNiff requesting the
secretary to ask the
officers of the Ohio State Archaeological
and Historical Society for
permission to carry the proceedings of
this meeting in the Quarterly
was passed.
Clayton Ellsworth, chairman of the
program committee, ex-
pressed his thanks to the other members
of his committee, John
Hall Stewart and Joseph Holliday, and to
those who presented
papers and took part in the morning's
panel discussion. He pointed
out that the academy had drawn upon
members of English depart-
ments to join it in the discussion of
American cultural history as
a course for college study. Robert S.
Fletcher presented the follow-
ing resolution which was passed:
"Resolved, That the members of
the Ohio Academy of History extend a
vote of thanks to the pro-
gram committee, the president, and the
secretary for the splendid
program."
Respectfully submitted,
JAMES H. RODABAUGH,
Secretary
OHIO ACADEMY OF HISTORY 335
Report of the Committee on Publications
The Committee on Publications decided
that the only feasible method of
securing from the members reports of
their publications was by a circular
requesting such information. Members
were asked to call the attention of
eligible non-members to the circular
since many newcomers to history depart-
ments and the staffs of historical
museums might wish to become affiliated at
the next meeting. For reasons that will
be given later no attempt was made
to include historical publications of
Ohioans whose primary interests were
outside the field of history. Except in
a very few instances where information
was available from other sources, the
committee has relied upon the returns
from the members. If any have been
overlooked or have not reported their
publications, they are requested to turn
them in as soon as possible.
Our tabulation reveals that seven books
were published during the year,
four in American history, three in
European history. Twenty-nine persons
reported that they had contributed
articles, essays and pamphlets to various
types of publications. These were more
difficult to classify but 41 were appar-
ently articles in periodicals, one was a
bibliography, two were pamphlets, two
were contributions to encyclopedias (not
listed as separate articles), one was
a series of brief articles in a monthly
museum information sheet, one an essay
in a cooperative work. Sometimes it was
difficult to discover the nature of
the publication from the information
supplied.
American history was the primary
interest of the great majority. So
far as classification was possible, it
was found that 38 contributions were in
the American history field (including
one in Latin American history and one
dealing with Liberia); three were in
European; one seemed to be in both
fields; one group of encyclopedia
articles dealt with the Far East; the other
contributions were general in character
or could not be classified. Thirteen
of the American history articles dealt
with Ohio history primarily, though
several of these had broader
implications.
Thirty periodicals contained articles by
members of the Ohio Academy
of History. Nearly half of these
articles were in periodicals that were not
primarily historical in character. This
should make it quite clear why it was
not feasible to compile a list of
publications other than by a questionnaire
to the members. The other approach would
have involved an examination of
all American periodicals for 1948 with
the membership list of the Ohio
Academy (some two hundred names) at hand
to be checked for Ohio authors,
a task too great for the committee.
As to the idea that the list of
publications should not be confined to
members but should include all Ohioans
who have written historical articles,
the answer is that no committee would
have time to compile such a list. Our
capable secretary published a
bibliography of publications in Ohio history,
archaeology and natural history for the
period August, 1947 to July, 1948.
336
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
The list filled thirty-two printed pages
of the Ohio State Archaeological and
Historical Quarterly. Perhaps
three-fourths of the titles could be classed as
historical and the great majority of
these were by Ohioans. If a committee
should undertake to cover all the fields
of history to which Ohioans have
contributed, it would have to list
hundreds of titles and the resulting bibliog-
raphy, even if it could be completed,
would be of dubious value.
Consequently your committee has confined
itself to the membership of
the Academy, broadly construed. The
list, subject to additions and revisions,
can be mimeographed and sent to the
members, if they so desire and our
treasury will permit. This will enable
them to see what types of historical
research and writing are being done by
the guild of Ohio historians.
Eugene H. Roseboom, Chairman
Virginius C Hall
Carl Gustavson
James H. Rodabaugh
Report of the Committee on the Teaching
of History in
Ohio Colleges
THIS REPORT IS BASED ON THE ANSWERS TO A
QUESTION-
NAIRE SENT TO THE 225 HISTORY TEACHERS
IN THE 50 OHIO
COLLEGES. ANSWERS WERE RECEIVED FROM 82
TEACHERS. AL-
THOUGH THIS IS ONLY A 36% RESPONSE, IT
PROBABLY REPRE-
SENTS FAIRLY WELL THE PROFESSION IN
OHIO, SINCE REPLIES
WERE RECEIVED FROM 41 OF THE 50 SCHOOLS
AND IN MANY
CASES ONE FILLED-IN QUESTIONNAIRE WAS
THE RESULT OF THE
COMBINED EFFORTS OF SEVERAL MEMBERS OF
THE DEPARTMENT.
THIS WAS FREQUENTLY NOTED BY THE PERSON
FILLING OUT THE
QUESTIONNAIRE.
Each of the three members of the
committee assumed responsibility for
one section of the questionnaire,
analyzing and summarizing the data and
drafting the report for that section.
The committee met and criticized the
conclusions drawn by each other and made
suggestions. Thus this report is
the work of the whole committee,
although for each section one member is
primarily responsible.
In the report the material which the
committee feels is the most signifi-
cant on each section is in capitals.
This material may be in the nature of a
summary. The details which follow either
expand the material in capitals
or indicate practices which are
divergent.
I. ORGANIZATION OF HISTORY DEPARTMENTS
AND RELATION-
SHIP WITH OTHER DEPARTMENTS
In this section the material is complete
as far as coverage of Ohio col-
leges is concerned. Catalogues were used
to get material on those colleges
OHIO ACADEMY OF HISTORY 337
from which no or incomplete
questionnaires were returned. Since two of the
colleges were specialized schools and
their data did not fit with that of other
schools, the material covers 48
colleges.
A. IN THIRTY-FOUR OF THE FORTY-EIGHT
SCHOOLS, THE HIS-
TORY DEPARTMENT IS INDEPENDENT. In
twelve other schools it is
united with the political science
department. In one it is united with the
economics department and in one school
all the social sciences make up a
single department.
Since the department is usually
independent and since the subject matter
touches and even crosses an arbitrary
line into almost all other depart-
ments, it is necessary that cooperation
and adjustment take place.
B. THE NEED FOR COOPERATION IS ALMOST
UNANIMOUSLY REC-
OGNIZED. MANY OF THE HISTORY FACULTY
MEMBERS BE-
LIEVE THAT THE PROBLEM IS NOT SOLVED IN
THEIR SCHOOL
SATISFACTORILY. MANY INSTANCES AND KINDS
OF COOPER-
ATION LISTED ARE UNIQUE AND WORTHY OF
EMULATION
BY OTHER HISTORY FACULTIES. IN GENERAL,
INDIVIDUALLY
DEVELOPED METHODS OF COOPERATION ARE
MORE EFFEC-
TIVE THAN FORMAL INTER-DEPARTMENTAL
ORGANIZATION.
Fewer blanks were left in the section of
the questionnaire dealing with
cooperation than in any other part. Only
19 left the item blank. Three
others either felt the problem did not
exist or was unimportant. The other
sixty showed considerable concern. Many
felt that little progress toward
cooperation had been made at their
school. Such comments as "not solved,"
"only trading proctoring at
exams" were common.
Some schools have social science
division meetings regularly. Others
have correlation committees and
inter-department conference arrangements.
The general consensus is that most of
these formal organization devices be-
came static and were artificial. An
exception is a faculty workshop in teaching
methods at one college.
More successful are the individually
developed cooperation methods
such as,
a. the interchange of material, maps,
charts, all sorts of teaching aids;
b. joint assignment and direction of
term papers;
c. exchange of classes by members of
different departments to cover
work which crosses over into the other
field. Exchanges of classes
were noted with the departments of art,
classics, English, political
science, public speaking, religion,
science, sociology, and Spanish. No
adverse comment toward this form of
cooperation was made by any
of those filling in questionnaires;
338
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
d. sharing of speakers and guest
experts;
e. delegating students to get
information from other classes when
possible.
Several cooperative courses have been
developed. These have involved
the departments of classics (ancient and
medieval history), Spanish (Latin
American history), economics (economic
history), and political science (inter-
national relations and diplomatic
history).
Cooperation through student programming
was frequently mentioned.
C. THE INTEGRATED COURSE INVOLVING ALL
OR SEVERAL SO-
CIAL SCIENCE DEPARTMENTS HAS BEEN
ADOPTED BY AT
LEAST FOURTEEN SCHOOLS. (Thirty have no
such course and in-
formation from four was uncertain.) THE
HISTORY FACULTY AT
SCHOOLS WITH INTEGRATED
COURSES ARE ALMOST 100%
DISILLUSIONED AND OPPOSED TO IT.
Usually the course involves all the
social sciences but it may include
only political science or political
science and sociology in addition to history.
One school has a history-art course, and
one gives a history-science course to
non-science majors and a
history-philosophy course to science majors.
Exactly half the fourteen courses are
required of all students (a few
exceptions are sometimes made). Eight of
the fourteen are given at the
freshman level and these are usually
required.
Of the history men teaching at schools
with these courses, only two gave
unqualified approval to the course, and
a colleague of one of these men gave
it unqualified disapproval. Three others
saw some advantages in the course,
but tended to emphasize the
disadvantages. Three others might be in favor
of the course in theory, because they
did not comment on the course itself
but said that the administration of the
course and the problem of coordinating
the work of several departments made the
work unsatisfactory.
More frequent, more definite and usually
much more violent were the
notations of the disadvantages of the
courses. Such comments as "no advan-
tages, disadvantages very
numerous," "no solid foundation," "become a bull-
session type of panel discussion,"
and "becomes indoctrination" were common.
In general there was agreement that the
courses were unbalanced, were too
broad to be worthwhile, and were so
generalized as to lose all meaning. There
was also agreement that history usually
disappears from the course-"has no
history except incidentally,"
"becomes indoctrination, violating the premise of
history," "actually a
beginning course in sociology."
That on paper the idea of an integrated
course looks good to us who in
teaching realize the artificiality of
department lines probably is the reason for
OHIO ACADEMY OF HISTORY 339
the more favorable comments on such a course which came from those
teaching
at schools where no such course is given.
D. HISTORY COURSES ARE REGULARLY TAUGHT BY OTHER DE-
PARTMENTS. OVER FIFTY-SEVEN HISTORY COURSES ARE
GIVEN BY OTHER DEPARTMENTS IN THE FORTY-EIGHT COL-
LEGES. ECONOMIC HISTORY IS TAUGHT MORE OFTEN BY NON-
HISTORY FACULTY THAN BY HISTORY. OTHER COURSES ARE
ALSO TAUGHT BY OTHER DEPARTMENTS ESPECIALLY CONSTI-
TUTIONAL HISTORY, DIPLOMATIC HISTORY, AND ANCIENT
HISTORY.
These figures are not complete as far as the teaching by other depart-
ments is concerned. In checking a few catalogues for other data several
omissions on the questionnaire were noted. It would seem that all
history men
are not informed about all the history courses taught in their school.
The
minimum figures on courses in history taught by other departments are as
follows:
Economic history by economics, geography, or business depart-
ments ................................................. 21
Diplomatic history by political science............................... 9
Constitutional history by
political science ..
................................. 9
Ancient history by classics................................. .........
.. 10
Far Eastern history by political science or religion .............. 3
Russian history by political science ................. ............... 1
Church history by
religion ......................... ...... . ........... . 2
Early Oriental history by religion
.................................................. 3
Historical geography by geography.................................................. 1
Political science departments give 22 history courses and economics de-
partments give 19 history courses.
Data on non-history courses taught by history departments seems unre-
liable. Only 13 much instances were reported.
E. IN ALMOST HALF THE SCHOOLS (22 OF 48) HISTORY IS SPE-
CIFICALLY REQUIRED FOR GRADUATION. IN THESE SCHOOLS
A SPECIFIC COURSE IS NOT ALWAYS NAMED, BUT IN PRAC-
TICE IT BECOMES THE INTRODUCTORY COURSE IN WORLD OR
EUROPEAN HISTORY, AS IS USUALLY THE CASE WHEN IT IS
SPECIFICALLY NAMED. TWO SCHOOLS REQUIRE TWO HIS-
TORY COURSES, ALTHOUGH ONE PERMITS THE SUBSTITUTION
OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT.
History is most often required in schools with three to five persons on
the history staff (56% as compared with 30% for larger schools and 38%
for
smaller schools). One school specifies United States history, nine name
Euro-
340 OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
pean or Western civilization, and twelve
give the history requirement in the
form of number of hours. In the other 26
schools, the usual requirement
affecting history is one or two courses
from the social science group.
F. HISTORY COURSES TAUGHT.
SIXTY DIFFERENT HISTORY COURSES OR
FIELDS OF HIS-
TORY ARE TAUGHT IN OHIO. THERE IS
SURPRISINGLY LITTLE
DIFFERENCE AS TO THE RANGE OF COURSES
OFFERED BY
LARGE AND SMALL SCHOOLS. THE FOUR
SCHOOLS WITH OVER
TEN HISTORY FACULTY TEACH 46 DIFFERENT
COURSES, THE
SIX WITH 6-9 MEMBERS TEACH 45, THE
TWENTY-FIVE WITH 3-5
MEMBERS TEACH 48, AND THE THIRTEEN WITH
1 OR 2
TEACH 36.
GENERAL AMERICAN HISTORY IS THE ONLY
COURSE
GIVEN IN ALL 48 SCHOOLS. EUROPE SINCE
1500 IS THE MOST
COMMON INTRODUCTORY COURSE.
WHEN EUROPEAN HISTORY IS BROKEN DOWN FOR
AD-
VANCED COURSES, THE DIVISION IS SELDOM
BY TOPICS (24
courses offered in all schools) AS IS
THE CASE WITH AMERICAN
HISTORY (86 courses). INSTEAD,
CHRONOLOGICAL OR NATIONAL
COURSES ARE GIVEN.
AFTER GENERAL AMERICAN HISTORY, ENGLISH
AND LATIN
AMERICAN HISTORY IS MOST COMMONLY GIVEN.
(THREE
TYPES OF GENERAL EUROPEAN HISTORY
COURSES--EUROPE
SINCE 476, EUROPE SINCE 1500, AND
WESTERN CIVILIZATION-
ACCOUNT FOR THE FACT THAT NO ONE OF
THESE IS GIVEN
IN MORE THAN 31 SCHOOLS.) RECENT HISTORY
COURSES ARE
VERY COMMON. PROBABLY CURRENT INTEREST
ACCOUNTS
FOR THE HIGH POSITION OF FAR EASTERN AND
RUSSIAN HIS-
TORY. THE MIDDLE AGES AND FRENCH
REVOLUTION ARE
HIGH ON THE LIST.
THE VERY WIDE OFFERINGS IN SCHOOLS OF
ALL SIZES
SHOULD HAVE SIGNIFICANCE TO GRADUATE
SCHOOLS AND TO
GRADUATE STUDENTS WHO MIGHT BE TEMPTED
TO SPECIAL-
IZE TOO SOON.
The following tables indicate the number
of times each course was listed
on the questionnaire or found in
catalogues.
OHIO ACADEMY OF HISTORY 341
Number of Times Individual Courses are given in 48
Schools
By History By
Other
Department Department Total
Introductory ......................
.............. ................ 66 66
General Civilization ....................................... 18 18
Europe, 476
...................................................17 17
Europe, 1500 ................. ....................... 31 31
Europe Chronological courses
.............................. 166 10 176
Ancient
.............................................................. 25 10 35
Middle Ages ..................................... 32 32
Renaissance and Reformation.......................... 9 9
French Revolution Period............................... 26 26
Industrial Revolution ................................. 1 1
19th Century ..................... ............... 34 34
20th
Century ....... .......................... ........ 33 33
World War II ...... ............................ 6 6
European Topical courses ................. ......24 1 25
Church ......................
.............. ... 7 1 8
Intellectual ................................. 6 6
Economic ........
...................... 4 4
Expansion
.......................... ............. 3 3
Military and Naval ....................... . 2 2
History of Science ............................. 1 1
Revolutionary Movements . ........... ........... 1 11
European National History....................
............ 93 1 94
English ......................... ....... .......... 40 40
English Constitutional ...................................... 7 7
Victorian England
.............................................. 1 1
British Empire ............................ ........ 5 5
Canada .............................................................. 3 3
India ..................
........... . ...... . . .. 1 1
Russia ............................
.... 21 1 22
German ...................
.... ............. ..... ... 6 6
French .....
................. ... ......... ... 5 5
Balkan ....................................... 4 4
General United States .................. ............ 48 48
United States by Chronology
..................................... 78 78
Colonial ................... .............
............... 19 19
Revolution .............
............. ..... ........ 6 6
M iddle
Period..................................... ............ 13 13
Civil War and Reconstruction ......................... 3 3
Recent .
.............. ............... 33 33
Current Affairs .................................... 3 3
United States and World War II......................
1 1
342 OHIO
ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
By History By
Other
Department Department Total
United States by
Topics................................. 86 40 126
Diplomatic .......... .............. ..... 19 9 28
Economic
...... ................................ 14 21 35
Social ............. ......... .............. 17 17
Constitutional
.. ....... ....... .... ...... 15 9 24
Intellectual .
... ........... . ................. . 13 13
Immigration .......................... ....... 2 2
Imperialism .. .................... ...... 2 2
Negro
.................................. ...... 1 1
Political Parties
................................. 1 1 2
Literary . ...
......... ........................... 1 1
United States and United Nations.................. 1 1
United States by
Sections
.......................... . 33 33
West ....................
.................. 17 17
Ohio .. ..................................... .... 10 10
South ........
.................................. 4 4
Northwest ......................................... 1 1
Pennsylvania ... ....... 1 1
Other Courses ........ ...............................
74 3 77
Latin America .. ...........
......................... 38 38
Far East ....................................... 29 3 32
Near East ...................................... 6 6
Caribbean
............................... 1
Others
................................................................. .. 56 56
Methodology ...............................
......... 41 41
Biography ......................
........... .... .............. 9
Bibliography ............................................ 5 5
Historical Geography
....................................
1 1
Number of Schools Offering History Courses (10 or more)
Additional by
Other Depts.
General United
States .................... ............... 48
English History ............................... 40
Latin America ....
..... .... .......... ............. 38
19th Century Europe .............. ...................
. 34
20th Century Europe .............. .............. .
...... 33
U. S.
Recent
................................... ...... 33
Middle Ages ............................. ..... . 32
Europe after
1500 ........ ........... ........... .
... ....... 31
Far East ................. ....................... 29 3
French Revolution .....................................
........... 26
Ancient .......................................... 25 10
OHIO ACADEMY
OF HISTORY 343
Russia .. ... ......... ... ............................ .... 21 1
U. S.
Diplomatic ................ ...................... 19 9
U. S. Colonial
.............................................. 19
General
Civilization ........................................ 18
United States
West ................................. ....... .... 17
United States
Social ..................................... 17
Europe after
476 ........................ .................... 17
U. S.
Constitutional ................ ........................ 15 9
U. S. Economic
.............................................. 14 21
U. S. Middle
Period ....................................... 13
U. S.
Intellectual ............................................... 13
Ohio
............................................................... .....
........ 10
Renaissance
and Reform. ....................... ............. 9
Biography ...........................................
................... . .............. 9
Church History
........ ......................................... ........ 7 2
English
Constitutional ...
............................ 7
World War II
.......................................... .. 6
Intellectual
Europe .......................................... 6
German History
........................................... 6
U. S.
Revolution ............................ 6
The U. S.
South ................................. ........... 6
Near East
....
............................... .. ............... ............ 6
British Empire
...... ............................... ....... . 5
French History
..................................... ........ 5
Bibliography
.............................................. 5
Economic
History, Europe ...................................... 4
Balkan History
............................................................. 4
European Expansion
..................................... .................... 3
Canada ....................................................
.................... 3
Civil War
& Recon. ......................................... 3
U. S. Current
Affairs ............................ 3
Military and
Naval ......................................... 2
U. S.
Immigration ............
............... ......... ............. . 2
U. S.
Imperialism ...................................... 2
Industrial
Revolution, Science, Revolutionary Movements, Victorian
England,
India, U. S. & World War II, Negro, U. S. Political Parties, U. S.
Literature, U.
S. and U. N., Old Northwest, Pennsylvania and Caribbean--
1 each.
II. THE
HISTORY CLASSROOM
A. TRADITIONAL
TEACHING METHODS ARE FAVORED, ALTHOUGH
SEVERAL
UNUSUAL METHODS WHICH WERE REPORTED MERIT
ATTENTION.
344
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
LECTURE AND CLASS DISCUSSION CONTINUE TO
BE THE
MOST POPULAR HISTORY TEACHING METHODS IN
OHIO COL-
LEGES AND UNIVERSITIES. Class discussion
apparently is the most
commonly employed. Sixty-nine Ohio teachers reported use of
this
method. Twenty-six indicated that they
favored it over other methods.
Of the 50 instructors who use the
lecture, 39 prefer it to all other
methods. Thirty-one employ other devices
in addition. Some teachers
commented that they had been forced to
lecture during the postwar years
because of large classes.
Thirty-three teachers stated that they
required the use of source
materials.
Forty-one instructors required term
papers as part of their courses
and 33 asked students to become familiar
with source materials. Twenty
indicated use of reference aids.
Five teachers reported use of the
seminar, mostly in advanced
courses.
Other teaching methods used by several
instructors merit attention:
1. Students required to hand in
comprehensive reports on all
class transactions.
2. Students required to present several
oral book reviews each
term.
3. Students seeking grades better than
"C", required to do
additional work: book reviews for
"B" and a term paper
for "A".
4. Students required to read "Great
Books." Short written
reports presented at seminar.
5. Students required to sit at U-shaped
table for easier dis-
cussion.
6. Students required to hand in work
books.
B. TEACHING AIDS ARE NOT GENERALLY MADE
USE OF. MAPS
AND CHARTS ARE EXCEPTIONS.
FIFTY TEACHERS REPORTED THAT THEY DID
NOT SHOW
MOTION PICTURES WHILE FOURTEEN DID. The
majority appar-
ently believed that motion pictures were
too expensive and too difficult to
obtain. Of those who used them seven
showed them only occasionally.
SOURCES FOR THESE FILMS WERE THE COLLEGE
FILM
COMPANY, CHICAGO; The Cornell Film Co.,
Ithaca; The Eastman Co.,
Rochester; The American Film Service,
Chicago; The Ohio State Depart-
ment of Education, Columbus; The Indiana
State Department of Educa-
tion, Indianapolis; and The March of
Time, New York.
OHIO ACADEMY OF HISTORY 345
TWO TEACHERS CONSIDERED THE USE OF FILMS
AS OF
GREAT VALUE WHILE ONE BELIEVED THEM OF
ONLY FAIR
VALUE.
SEVERAL COMMENTED THAT THE CHIEF DEFECT
EXPE-
RIENCED IN THE USE OF FILMS IS THEIR
ELEMENTARY LEVEL.
OPAQUE PROJECTORS WERE USED BY SEVEN
TEACHERS
AND SLIDES BY FIVE. Only five reported
the use of the radio, six
the use of mounted pictures, two the use
of wire recorders and two the
use of recordings.
III. INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM
INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM SEEMS TO BE NO
PROBLEM AMONG
OHIO HISTORY TEACHERS.
The vast majority reported that they
attempted to present controversial
subjects in an impartial and objective
manner. Their students apparently
were free to draw their own conclusions.
Typical comments included:
"I do not avoid controversial
subjects. I try to present both sides as I
see them."
"I seek to present all sides as
objectively as possible."
"I attempt to show both sides of
the problem."
Nine teachers were moved to comment that
at their respective institu-
tions there was no feeling of
"being told what to say." Several reported
"enlightened administrations."
Only three indicated that they were somewhat
chary about discussions involving
Communism.
Reading the answers on the
questionnaires, one feels that history instruc-
tors believe they have intellectual
freedom, perhaps because of the nature
of their subject, involuving as it does
impartial presentation of fact and the
avoiding of indoctrination.
IV. HIGH SCHOOL RELATIONSHIPS
THE POOR HIGH SCHOOL PREPARATION OF
STUDENTS, NOT
ONLY IN HISTORY BUT ALSO IN GEOGRAPHY,
AND ESPECIALLY
IN ENGLISH AND READING AND STUDY SKILLS,
REQUIRES CON-
SIDERABLE ADJUSTMENT IN TEACHING. LITTLE
HAS BEEN DONE
TO CORRECT THIS SITUATION BY
ESTABLISHING CONTACT WITH
HIGH SCHOOLS, BUT MANY COLLEGE HISTORY
TEACHERS FEEL
SOMETHING SHOULD BE DONE AND SEVERAL
SUGGESTIONS WERE
MADE.
Most teachers of college history who
feel competent to offer an opinion
on the subject of the academic
qualifications of entering students today as
346
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
compared with those of entering students
of a decade ago appear to think
that there has been a retrogression. Of
46 who gave their opinion, only 3
thought the students were now better
prepared; 20 thought they were about
the same; and 23 thought they were
definitely worse.
It would perhaps be natural to assume
that college history teachers would
be most critical of the preparation of
students in their own field, but such an
assumption is not borne out by the
results of the questionnaire. It is true
that, of the 56 persons answering this
part of the questionnaire, 11 found that
the students were deficient in European
history and 11 found that they were
deficient in American history, but 11
also noted they were deficient in an
elementary knowledge of geography.
However, 32 noted that they were
most notably deficient in the use of
English (especially spelling and elemen-
tary grammar), and 26 in reading skills
or study habits and technique.
It is quite apparent that the defective
preparation of entering students
has made necessary considerable
adjustment on the part of college history
teachers. It is reported by 19 of the 52
answering this part of the question-
naire that they have had to resort to
coaching or special counselling, by 6
that they have referred students to
classes in remedial reading, and by 12
that they just assume the students have
learned little or nothing in high-
school history and teach their courses de
novo. While 27 state that they make
no special adjustment to the situation,
the committee feels that probably most
of the 27 would agree that there is of
necessity something of a lowering of
their standards.
Liaison between college history teachers
and high-school groups has been
almost non-existent. Of 40 colleges
represented in this part of the question-
naire, 31 have had no contacts whatever,
4 have contacts through their
departments of education, and 5 rather
informal ones through community
groups such as the AAUW or through their
own graduates.
Various Suggestions were made, by those
who answered the questionnaire,
in connection with the improvement of
preparation of students in high school.
The most popular suggestion was that
stricter qualifications should be re-
quired of high-school teachers of
history, and especially that history should not
be taught by the athletic coach in his
otherwise unoccupied time. The next
most popular suggestions were that high
schools should devote more time
to inculcating adequate study habits in
pupils and less to developing their
personalities; that they should make an
effort to improve the teaching of
geography, and especially of English;
and that the use of the objective or
"new-type" examination should
be drastically curtailed, or, preferably, elim-
inated entirely. The violent antipathy
of a good many college history teachers
to the use of the objective examination
in high schools is truly remarkable.
It appears that the objective
examination is charged with being a major
contributor to the incapacity of
entering college freshmen to frame their
thoughts in clear and coherent English.
OHIO ACADEMY OF HISTORY 347
V. EXTRA-CURRICULAR ORGANIZATIONS
THREE QUARTERS OF THE HISTORY
DEPARTMENTS HAVE
SOME CLUB SPONSORED BY THE DEPARTMENT.
Of 40 colleges or universities
represented in the answers to the question-
naire, 30 had one or more clubs of the
kinds usually associated with history
departments. There were 6 with chapters
of Phi Alpha Theta, 6 with history
clubs (in 2 cases with other names), 17
with international relations clubs
under the sponsorship of the history
department, and 5 with international
relations clubs under the sponsorship of
the political science department or
the institution as a whole.
VI. FIELD TRIPS
THE GENERAL REACTION IN THE ANSWERS TO
THE QUES-
TIONNAIRE IN CONNECTION WITH FIELD TRIPS
WAS NEGATIVE.
Only 11 of the institutions have made
much use of them, and these were
nearly all to museums in nearby large
cities. A few others had field trips on
a purely voluntary basis to such eastern
points of interest as Lake Success and
Washington. Of the 60 persons answering
this part of the questionnaire,
only 14 thought highly of field trips;
11 were positively opposed to them;
and 35 made qualified answers, which
were in the main negative. The chief
objections to field trips were that they
are of questionable value to any class
not concerned with local or Ohio
history; that they are expensive; that where
many students work outside class, only a
few can participate in them; and
that they disrupt school administration
and the work of other teachers. The
opposition to field trips in general was
even more emphatically expressed
in connection with a round-the-state
field trip.
VII. SUGGESTED PROJECTS TO BE UNDERTAKEN
BY THE
OHIO ACADEMY OF HISTORY
A LARGE NUMBER OF THOSE ANSWERING THE
QUESTION-
NAIRE MADE SUGGESTIONS AS TO DESIRABLE
PROJECTS OR AC-
TIVITIES FOR THE ACADEMY. Some of these
are outside the province
of this committee, but because the
individual members of the committee
felt that many were very worthwhile, and
in order that they may be brought
before the Academy, they are here
presented:
1. The Academy should do something about
a new historical atlas.
2. Could the Academy put out a map or a
chart of places of historical
interest in Ohio?
3. What possibility is there of lecture
exchange for international rela-
tions clubs and similar organizations?
4. Could a list (perhaps with
evaluations) of worthwhile films for
college history classes be compiled?
348
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
5. Would conferences or celebrations of
historical anniversaries be
desirable?
6. Would it be desirable to contact the
English faculty committee which
has been studying the problem of
improving high school English?
7. Would it be desirable for history
majors to present prepared topics
to nearby community groups?
8. Would it be advisable to have more
history student radio programs
presented on the radio?
9. Would student term papers on Ohio
local history be of broad state
value?
10. In what form could teaching methods
which are unique and worth-
while be made available to other members
of the profession?
Frank L. Esterquest, Chairman
Everett Walters
Robert L. Jones