William G. Palmer: History departments went thru a dramatic phase of modernization
In the 1940s, the history department at Yale University seemed more like "a gentleman's club" than anything else, writes William G. Palmer, a professor of history at Marshall University. And like most history departments at the time, he says, the Yale faculty was all male, "extremely conservative," and "very WASPish." There were no blacks or Jews, and most faculty members had Yale degrees. The department was also "Anglocentric, with its greatest concentration of faculty in English history."
The next 40 years, says Mr. Palmer, saw the history department at Yale, as well as at most other institutions, evolve from a gentleman's club to a "body of serious professionals." Hierarchical traditions faded, as did cultural ones: "No longer could anyone enter its ranks on the basis of social position," writes Mr. Palmer. "And no longer could anyone receive a permanent place in it without surviving the most rigorous scrutiny."
Developments during the 1950s best explain the "academic modernization" that history departments experienced during the 20th century, says Mr. Palmer. The first was a new willingness to hire Jews. Though tough to imagine today, before the 1950s, he writes, "anti-Semitism was still a pervasive fact of American academic life." (It would take 20 more years, though, before women and blacks would begin to gain serious access to departments, he says.)...
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The next 40 years, says Mr. Palmer, saw the history department at Yale, as well as at most other institutions, evolve from a gentleman's club to a "body of serious professionals." Hierarchical traditions faded, as did cultural ones: "No longer could anyone enter its ranks on the basis of social position," writes Mr. Palmer. "And no longer could anyone receive a permanent place in it without surviving the most rigorous scrutiny."
Developments during the 1950s best explain the "academic modernization" that history departments experienced during the 20th century, says Mr. Palmer. The first was a new willingness to hire Jews. Though tough to imagine today, before the 1950s, he writes, "anti-Semitism was still a pervasive fact of American academic life." (It would take 20 more years, though, before women and blacks would begin to gain serious access to departments, he says.)...