Ohio History Journal

414      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

introduce the speaker of the occasion, Dr. Benjamin

Franklin Shambaugh, and I will merely give you a few

of his titles, sufficient to enable you to judge of his ability

for this occasion: Superintendent of the State His-

torical Society of Iowa, Editor of the Iowa Journal of

History and Politics, Head of the Department of Po-

litical Science State University of Iowa, Editor of the

publications of the State Historical Society of Iowa,

and President of the American Political Science Asso-

ciation.

Dr. Shambaugh. (Applause.)

ADDRESS OF DR. BENJAMIN F. SHAMBAUGH*

Ladies and Gentlemen: You know from the remarks

of the introducing chairman and from my conversations

with Dr. Lindley and others I am not sure as to whether

this is a birthday or a revival or a resurrection or a re-

incarnation, but I understand it is something of that

sort and I suppose the real nature of the occasion in the

mind of each one of you will be determined by your

creed so that each one may call it whatever he desires.

But I understand that you are now engaged in an effort

to--shall I say revive or resurrect or re-incarnate or

give birth to a movement to do something more for state

and local history in Ohio than has been done in the past.

Now, a great deal, of course, has already been done.

I shall make my remarks not in the direction of an

address nor a speech but along the lines of what we will

call business, for I think that is what you are here for.

* Dr. Shambaugh's address and all the remarks and discussions were

entirely extempore, and this report is based upon the stenographic notes of

the official reporter.

Proceedings of the Ohio History Conference  415

I will take up the problems of a state historical society,

or let me broaden it, the problems of historical societies.

There are several types of historical societies, de-

pending upon the emphasis which is placed by the or-

ganization upon its activities. There are historical so-

cieties that may be referred to as museums because the

emphasis is placed upon the museum feature, a museum

of historical, archaeological and natural history mate-

rials. There is another type of historical society which is

largely library with the emphasis placed upon library and

you will find that the institution maintains and builds

up a very large library almost to the exclusion or the

neglect of the museum. Then there is a third type of

historical society, namely, the organization that devotes

itself to research and publication. Such an organiza-

tion devotes its funds and its energies to research work

for the compiling and writing of history and to the pub-

lication thereof.

Now, all of these activities, that is, the three activi-

ties, are proper for a historical society. It is rarely,

however, the case that any one organization emphasizes

all three of these lines to the same extent. The problems

of the state historical society might be briefly summed

up by saying the problem of collecting and maintaining

a museum, the problem of collecting and maintaining a

library of history, the problem of research and of pub-

lishing the results of research.

But I want to discuss the activities or the problems

of historical societies a little more in detail and perhaps

a little more intimately. Now, there are many problems

for at least a state historical society, although the one

underlying all others and the one determining really the

416      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

trend of the society, its activities and its functions, is

the problem of clearly defining its purpose and of def-

initely outlining its functions.

I take it that the purpose of a state historical society,

at least, is to reveal to the people of the present genera-

tion the history of the commonwealth. I am speaking

of state historical societies and activities within the

borders of the state. The greater purpose of a state his-

torical society is to reveal to the people of the present

generation the history of the commonwealth and to pass

that history on to future generations.

Now, the functions of a historical society, the ac-

tivities of a historical society in carrying out this pur-

pose may be indicated under some four or five heads.

And what I say relates not only to the state historical

society but to local historical societies as well. I want

you to know that I have in mind not only a state his-

torical society such as the Ohio State Archaeological and

Historical Society, but the local historical societies.

I say the first function of a society of this kind is to

search for, to discover the materials of state and local

history. So the first moment, so to speak, in the activi-

ties of a historical society is that of discovery.

Second, it is the function of a state historical society

and of a local historical society to collect and preserve

the materials of state and local history, so the second

moment in the activities of the State historical society

is that of collection and preservation.

The third function is that of research or, if I may

use language that is not so academic, the compilation,

the writing of state and local history.  So the third

moment in the activities of a state historical society is

Proceedings of the Ohio History Conference  417

that of research, of compilation, of writing state and

local history.

The fourth function is that of publication, of broad-

casting, so to speak, the results of research in the form

of publications, so the fourth moment is that of publi-

cation.

Then there is a fifth function or activity which has

to do with connecting, I may say, the work of a state

historical society with all other agencies that may be

used in connection with the performance of the four

functions that I have just mentioned.

Now, let's take up these functions a little more in

detail. First let us consider the matter of searching for,

of finding, of discovering the materials of state and local

history. This work can be done best perhaps by expert

collectors; in the field of archaeology, for example, which

is a part of the field, by expert researchers. But ob-

serve that while this is a field in which the expert may

operate to great advantage, it is a field in which the

layman, the person who is not an expert, the person

who does not call himself a scientific archaeologist or a

scientific historian, can do work as well, and very good

work, so that in one sense anybody who is interested

in state and local history can himself be a real, a genu-

ine, a very important discoverer of materials.

Anyone in any community, however humble, may as-

sist in the work of discovering papers, pamphlets, docu-

ments, archaeological materials and everything else that

goes to make up the mass of what we call the materials

of state and local history, and especially is it possible for

the local historical society, the historical society that

confines its activities to a particular community, to a

Vol. XXXIX--27.

418      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

county or a township or a city, especially is it possible

for such an organization to play a very important part

in the discovery of historical materials. And so, while

the state historical society may take the lead in this mat-

ter of discovering the materials of state and local his-

tory, local historical societies and individuals as well

may not only assist, they will become indeed the great

agencies through which the state historical society will

operate.

Now, someone may say, "Well, isn't it the business

of a state historical society to do all this work of discov-

ery?" They can't do it. It is absolutely impossible.

They do not know the local communities. They do not

know the individuals. They can't possibly inform them-

selves with regard to the sources of information, of data

to be collected. So that, as a matter of fact, the state

historical society must work with and to a very large

extent through local historical societies and individuals

who are interested in this work.

Second, with regard to collecting--here again, while

the state historical society may take the lead in col-

lecting archaeological material as you have done, for

example, here in Ohio most admirably, there is no rea-

son why every local historical society shouldn't make a

collection of this kind and there is no reason why the

local historical society as well as the state society should

not maintain a museum, a collection of such materials.

There is no reason why the local historical society should

not collect newspapers, books, pamphlets, documents,

letters and so forth and have a local collection. In fact,

it would be absolutely impossible for any one institution,

any one state institution to collect all the materials of

Proceedings of the Ohio History Conference  419

state and local history and bring them together in any

one place. So if you are going to really get all of the

sources, or as far as possible the sources of state and

local history together and preserve them, you must have

the combined activities of a state historical society, your

local historical societies and your individual collectors.

Let no one despise the work of the individual col-

lector. He may simply regard himself as a collector.

He will probably say he is not a historian, but some of

the most valuable work that has been done in the collec-

tion and preservation of materials of state and local so-

cieties has been done by individuals who have built up

individual private collections. I would not say to any-

one, "Do not build up a private collection but put every-

thing at once into the rooms of the state archaeological

society." Of course, I know full well what the ultimate

end is, the ultimate resting place of every local collection.

It is some larger collection like that of a state historical

society. But let the individual for the time being make

his collection, for ultimately it will find its way into a

larger library, into a larger museum, into a larger col-

lection.

Now, as to the third function, that of research, or,

to use more popular language, the function of writing

state and local history. Here again I think the state

historical society should take a lead. It should indicate

what should be done in the matter of research, what

should be compiled, what should be written, and it

should be very active in this field. But again I would

say that the local historical society may cooperate in

this work and may do a great deal. I know there are

highbrows who say, "What can some of these old duf-

420      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

fers do in the matter of writing history? They are not

really historians." Now, let me tell you that some of

the most valuable compilations that are made of state

and local history are made by members of local his-

torical societies or by individuals for the members of

local historical societies. They leave us their reminis-

cences, their recollections, they write articles for the

newspapers and so on and so forth.

Let not the worth of the local historical society in

compiling and writing local histories be overlooked and

let us not for a moment think that the writing of history

is to be done exclusively by the expert historians. You

know the expert historians to a very considerable extent

in the matters of state and local history rely upon the

work of individuals who do not call themselves his-

torians and upon the publications of local historical so-

cieties where they engage in such work. So I may con-

clude this particular point by saying, let no one despise

the work of the local historical society and of the indi-

vidual local historian, in the compilation of state and

local history.

Then finally let us consider the problem of publica-

tion. Of what value is it? Of what good is it for a

state historical society to build up a great library, to

collect archaeological materials and so on, and of what

value are all these researches that may be carried on on

the side if they are not published? The purpose of a

historical society is to disseminate history. That is the

ultimate goal, not simply to collect it in some one place

and to preserve it but to disseminate it as well to the

present generation and through publications, of course,

also to future generations.

Proceedings of the Ohio History Conference  421

Now the matter of publication is a work which

the local historical societies and individuals may take

part in. Some local historical societies issue small pam-

phlet publications. Others do a great deal of publish-

ing in the newspapers. If the articles that are written get

into the newspapers they will find their way to libraries

and collections and be used by the more ambitious his-

torians. The point I want to make is that to successfully

perform the functions of a state historical society, that

of discovering, of collecting, of preserving, of writing,

of publishing state and local history, there must be co-

operation between the state historical society and local

historical societies and individuals.

There are other contacts that should be made. There

are patriotic organizations, so-called, or hereditary or-

ganizations such as Sons of the American Revolution,

Daughters of the American Revolution, Colonial Dames,

all of which are interested in history. They do a great

deal. And their work should be encouraged, except

where they make a "black list," and they should be in-

vited to engage in the discovery, to engage in collection,

to engage in preservation and to engage in the publica-

tion of history.

There are other activities in which a state historical

society may very well engage. For example, the state

historical society may well make a survey of the his-

torical resources of the state, locate all of the arch-

aeological materials, locate the Indian mounds, locate his-

torical spots, locate private collections, locate libraries

in which there are materials, and make a survey of the

resources of the state and publish it.

The state historical society may take the lead in the

422      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

marking of historical sites. Here again the cooperation

of the local historical society, the cooperation of pa-

triotic organizations and the cooperation of individuals

is not only to be encouraged, it is really absolutely

necessary.

Again, the state historical society will naturally con-

nect up with the educational institutions, with universi-

ties and colleges in the state and with the public schools.

I will not go into the details of the program of coopera-

tion with the public schools. That would take too long.

But a very great deal may be done in the dissemination

of the facts of state and local history by cooperating

with the public schools.

Now, let me say a word about the cooperation with

colleges and universities. These are regarded as leaders

in education in the state. I am not referring, of course,

to any one state but to every state. There is every

reason in the world why these colleges and universities

should cooperate with the state historical society. There

is every reason in the world why the departments of his-

tory in these colleges and universities should cooperate

with the historical society. There is every reason in the

world why the graduate school of the state university,

for example, should cooperate with the state historical

society.

In this matter of the furtherance of state and local

history, in the matter of discovering materials, of col-

lecting them and preserving them, of writing history

and its publication, there is no place for jealousy among

institutions. If we may use the familiar language of

an admirable quotation from an Admiral, "There is

glory enough for all." There is glory enough for all.

Proceedings of the Ohio History Conference  423

And so there is no reason why one organization or in-

stitution should be jealous of the activities of another

but there is every reason, on the other hand, for coopera-

tion.

I may illustrate what I have said by some more or

less personal observations. I was not invited to come

here to tell you what to do and I am sure I was not in-

vited to come here to tell you what the State Historical

Society of Iowa is doing, but if I wish to illustrate, if I

should undertake to illustrate the various points that I

would, if the illustrations were to have any value and be

something more than pure theoretical illustrations, they

must be very naturally from one's own personal ex-

perience.

In the State of Iowa we have in the State Library a

very large historical library. It is put in that depart-

ment of the State Library which is known as the His-

torical Department of Iowa. This is at Des Moines.

The Historical Department in connection with the State

Library of Des Moines maintains a museum of archaeo-

logical materials, of historical records, of paintings of

distinguished men and women in the history of Iowa

and some natural history objects. At Iowa City the

State Historical Society is engaged largely in research

and publication. Now, you see here the functions are

somewhat divided. How they came to be divided in

Iowa could be easily explained historically, but it is

not necessary to go into. But these various organiza-

tions cooperate.  At Des Moines they maintain a

museum and a most complete collection of newspapers

and other material. At Iowa City the State Histori-

424      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

cal Society maintains a research library and carries

on research and publication.

In Iowa the local historical societies, they are not

very numerous, some twenty we will say, are auxiliary

members of the State Historical Society. We cooperate

with them; they cooperate with us. When a local his-

torical society has a meeting it usually sends to the State

Historical Society for a speaker. When the local his-

torical society wants advice with regard to the matter of

collecting or preserving or publishing it writes to the

State Historical Society. And from time to time a meet-

ing is held, a conference like this, where representatives

from local historical societies meet with the representa-

tives of the State Historical Society.

In the matter of collection, local historical societies

collect books, pamphlets and manuscripts and museum

material and usually these are housed in the public

library of the community and there is cooperation with

the public library. In a few instances the local historical

society issues a publication, a quarterly, or a publication

that is issued at irregular intervals. More often the

reminiscences and the recollections of the pioneers and

old settlers are published in the local newspapers and so

you see this work of cooperation in the field of state and

local history goes on.

I would like to emphasize particularly the matter of

publication. It is, of course, necessary to discover the

materials. It is necessary to collect them. It is neces-

sary to preserve them. But what is the use of building

up a great library or a great museum, a great collection,

unless it is made accessible to all the people of the com-

monwealth? Now, the only way that these collections

Proceedings of the Ohio History Conference  425

of history can be made accessible is through publication.

But, someone will say, "Well, if you have a museum

and a library, aren't the doors open to anyone who

wishes to come in?" Yes, but how many people can

come? Relatively few after all, relatively few. And

furthermore, how can any ordinary individual who is not

a research historian or is not a scientific archaeologist,

really find out anything when he enters the museum and

the library? They don't know anything about it. Oh,

they may see a few objects around; they may see a few

books on the shelf, but that doesn't mean very much.

Now, I submit the only way to get this material to

the masses of the people is through publication, such

publication for example as has been carried on here at

this institution. But I would suggest that an organiza-

tion like this could have a series of publications. The

State Historical Society of Iowa has a quarterly maga-

zine which is devoted for the most part to the briefer

monographs on Iowa history. I say monographs for

most of the contributions to the quarterly publication

are of a scientific character. The Iowa Journal History

of Politics, now in the 27th or 28th volume, I have for-

gotten which, is a great reservoir of scientific mono-

graphs in the field of Iowa history.

But we shouldn't stop there. There is no reason why

state and local history shouldn't be made as readable as

the Saturday Evening Post. And so the State Histori-

cal Society of Iowa has for five or six years been issuing

a monthly publication called Palimpsest, that contains

no footnote references, no documentation of the arti-

cles or anything of this sort, but it is filled with short

articles of Iowa history written in a popular style,

426      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

popular in the good sense of the work, readable, so

that anybody who can read would be interested in going

through the articles in this magazine.

Some say, "Well, you know this scientific work, it

can't be made popular, you have either got to be scien-

tific or, of course, if you want to be popular you cheapen

your work." Away with all such nonsense. There is

no reason why the history of a state or of the local com-

munity or of the nation or of the world shouldn't be put

in such form, written in such style that anybody and

everybody who can read at all will know what they are

writing about and will be interested in the publication,

and of course those of you who are expert historians and

who follow the trend of historical work know that just

at the present time even among the academic there is a

wave, if I may put it that way, or a movement back to

McCauley, if you please. So a monthly magazine de-

voted to Iowa history issued once a month is read.

You know, very few members of the State Historical

Society ever cut the leaves of our Quarterly. So re-

cently we have trimmed all edges so that no one can tell

whether it is being used or not. But I know from my

conversation with the members of the State Historical

Society, about 1400, very few of them ever cut the leaves

of the quarterly magazine and I wouldn't either if I

were in their position. Here is monographed, scientific

compilation of interest only to the, shall I say technical,

scientific historian; absolutely necessary, a great reser-

voir of more or less accurate history for the historians

of all time. But the Palimpsest, which is the title of

the monthly magazine, is read by everybody, every mem-

ber of the Historical Society. I have not yet found a

Proceedings of the Ohio History Conference  427

member of the Historical Society who doesn't read that

little monthly publication every month.

Now, we are really accomplishing something. We

are really carrying the history of the commonwealth and

of the local communities to the people of the state.

Those are only two of the publications. There is a

Biographical Series, a series of volumes devoted to the

biographies of the leading men and women in the history

of Iowa.

There is another series, the Iowa Economic His-

tory Series. A number of volumes are already pub-

lished, history of road legislation, taxation, all that sort

of thing, railroads and so on.

And then there is a Social History Series dealing

with the history of social problems of the commonwealth.

Then there is another series entitled "Applied His-

tory." It is devoted to the application of the factual

history to the solution of present day problems, political,

social and economic, chiefly political. And in that series

you will find such a volume as County Government and

Administration of Iowa. Just now we have in press

two volumes, Municipal Government and Administra-

tion of Iowa.--Applied history of present day problems.

Historians can't object to this. They can't say we

are getting outside our field because as a matter of fact,

if you will look into the class rooms of the historians in

your university here you will see that they are dealing

largely with contemporary history, governmental prob-

lems, political matters and that sort of thing. They are

simply in step with us or we in step with them, I don't

know which; it makes no difference, we are going along

together.

428      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

Another series is Chronicles of the World War.

Then still another series which will be called the

Miscellaneous Series, devoted to political history, vol-

umes of political history such as the History of Sena-

torial Elections in Iowa and then volumes along the line

of history of the religious groups such as the Quakers

in Iowa, and the Amana Community, which is a re-

ligious community, and we are just about to put to press

a volume on the Mormons in Iowa, and then there are

other volumes in this Miscellaneous Series along the

line of nationalities such as the history of the Hollanders

in Iowa, the history of the English in Iowa, etc.

In other words, the whole field of state and local his-

tory is mapped out and contributions in the way of pub-

lications are made to the various series as rapidly as

funds and other resources will admit.

I say the old time idea of simply having a collection

somewhere in a fine building is not sufficient today. Not

enough people can come and see or come and read. Now,

suppose someone comes. Suppose you have got right

here a library of a couple of hundred thousand volumes

on state and local history. Some man comes in from

Cincinnati. He wants to know something about the his-

tory of his county. How is he going to find that? He

can't find it. He is just simply lost.

It is for the organization to sift the most important

materials in these collections, put them into formal pub-

lication and then disseminate them throughout the state.

First of all a publication should go into every college

library in the state. Every public library in the state,

and I include among these the college and university

libraries, should be made an official society. In that way

Proceedings of the Ohio History Conference  429

you are building up a local community library of his-

tory in every town that has a public library and you

make it accessible to practically all of the people of the

state in that way. Anyone who has access to the public

library will have access to the publications of the his-

torical society.

Now, you see, to put all this in a nut shell, it is the

problem or the function of a state historical society in

cooperation with the local historical society, in coopera-

tion with libraries, in cooperation with the colleges and

universities, in cooperation with the patriotic organiza-

tions, to discover and collect the materials of history, to

sift the grain, the real valuable grain or facts from all

this material, put it in the form of publication, dissemi-

nate it throughout the state. Of course, one of the agen-

cies of dissemination will be the membership of the his-

torical society. Any individual who is interested enough

in history to want these publications should be able to

get them  through publications.  So much in a very

hasty and general way for the functions of historical

societies.

Now, there are other functions besides the activities

of an organization. There is the problem of the or-

ganization itself. There is no one standard form of

organization for a state historical society. And I sub-

mit that it depends not so much upon the form of or-

ganization as it does upon the men who govern and

administer the same.

Of course, in every historical society, like the one

you have here, you have a board of officers, or shall I

say a staff of officers, and a governing board of trustees

or whatever it may be called. Now, it is very important

430      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

that the officers and the trustees, if I may use the ex-

pression, it is very important that they understand and

know their place and their functions. It is the business

of the officers and the board to govern. It is the busi-

ness of the staff of the organization, the director,

the librarian, the curators, the heads of departments and

divisions, it is their business to administer. We should

all keep that in mind. I am not giving this as a criti-

cism or anything of that sort and I am simply speaking

from my own personal experience covering some thirty

years in connection with state historical society work.

The governing board should govern, not administer.

I recall some years ago a president of the State His-

torical Society of Iowa asked a distinguished citizen if

he would not allow himself to be elected to the governing

board. He said, "Well, what is there to do? What am

I to do as a member of the board?" He said, "You are

to come to the meetings and approve of the recommen-

dations of the superintendent." Well, that is right. And

when the governing board cannot approve of the recom-

mendations of a superintendent, or to put it this way,

when the governing board cannot follow the program

of the administrative staff, then they should change the

administrative staff. It is the business of the board and

officers to govern. It is the business of the director, of

the superintendent and the staff to administer and lay

before the board for their approval policies, budget, etc.

There are other problems of historical societies.

Perhaps because I have been interested in this myself, I

want to speak particularly of the cooperation between

the state historical society and the state university as

the most magnificent. I can't think of anything that

Proceedings of the Ohio History Conference  431

contains more promise for effective work than just that

sort of thing. But I know it isn't done.

I will just tell you a little something out of my own

experience. This illustrates the point. I know what the

whole situation is, irrespective. But in Iowa the State

Historical Society was organized in 1857 and the law

read, "Under the auspices of the state university."

Well, it wasn't very long, I mean after a few years, until

the university and historical society had a quarrel, with

the result that the historical society withdrew from the

buildings and the campus of the university and remained

off the campus for a number of years. There was no

cooperation between the department of history and the

State Historical Society covering a long period of years.

I remember when I was a student at the university and

I spoke to some of the men in the Department of His-

tory: "Oh, there is a sort of junk heap down here some-

where"; highbrow attitude, you know, as though it was

of no value whatever. And I spoke to the curators, that

is, members of the governing board of the historical so-

ciety: "Oh, well, there are a lot of highbrows over

there on the campus." Later on they came together,

not by law, but by agreement. That is cooperation.

The Historical Society occupies one of the university

buildings, that is, a part of one of the university build-

ings on the campus and members of the faculty cooper-

ate with the Historical Society; the Historical Society

cooperates with the faculty.

Only recently, for example, the graduate college ap-

propriated out of its funds for research work seven

thousand dollars to assist the Historical Society in the

compilation of this work to which I referred, County

432      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

Government and Administration in Iowa; seven thou-

sand dollars out of the funds of the graduate college of

the university to help out the research. Well, why not?

What is the graduate college for but for the purpose of

furthering research in the commonwealth of Iowa?

Why not do it along the lines of local history as well as

along the lines of national history?

Hook up two great organizations like the Ohio

Archaeological and Historical Society and the Ohio State

University and you have got a tremendous power for

history. And here is a great field for graduate students,

the field of state and local history. Why isn't it just as

important to write the monograph on a town in Ohio

as it is on a town in New England? Why isn't it just

as important to write up the history of elections, say

senatorial elections in Ohio as it is to write up the history

of some early election in a New England town? It is

just as important.

And this suggests another series of publications

which the Historical Society has just started, which we

call Iowa Monograph Series, a series in which mono-

graphs are published and I anticipate that most of the

monographs published in that series will be written as

doctors' dissertations in the graduate school of the State

University of Iowa. All the monographs will not come

from there. They will come from other colleges as well.

Cooperate with these men, these professors of his-

tory. Have them all come in and help in the work of

research and other activities. It is absolutely practical.

You don't have to have an organization. All you have

to have is just fellowship and sort of a gentleman's

agreement that you will work together.

Proceedings of the Ohio History Conference  433

This leads me to the conclusion. My conclusion is

rather an expression of feeling. You know, whenever

I come to a meeting of this kind where I see men and

women from the local communities interested in local

history and the officers of a state historical society meet-

ing together, I am stirred by feeling such as is stirred

at the sight of the headwaters of some mighty river, for

here, right here in the local communities are the real

sources of history.  The real sources of history are

right here in the local communities, not at Washing-

ton. Where is the nation?   Where is this nation of

ours? I don't know. But I tell you where I can put

my finger on something that is, a local community and

the individual. The nation is made up of these. It is

the sum total of all local communities in this country,

of all states, of all towns, of all townships, of all local

places like ours. These are the real sources of history.

Now, I hadn't intended to talk so long because I

wanted to leave plenty of time for the rest of the pro-

gram, whatever it may be, and for questions and dis-

cussions.

CHAIRMAN SHETRONE: Yes, we have a tentative

plan. We don't like for you to stop there. We would

like for you to keep on a while. (Applause.)

Dr. Shambaugh's presentation of the problems, func-

tions and possibilities of the historical society is so ad-

mirable that I intend leaving the voicing of the reaction,

which I know all of us feel, to one of our representatives

who is better fitted than I am to comment on it.

There is one thought that comes to my mind in the

nature of a change, a most gratifying one as I see it. A

few years ago I should have felt very much out of place

Vol. XXXIX--28.