22 November
William Osgood Aydelotte was pioneer in the development of social sciences history in the United States. Publishing initially in the field of narrative diplomatic history,” as Allan Bogue and Gilbert White write, “he emerged as the most innovative investigator of legislative behavior of his era in the history profession.”
Aydelotte was born September 1, 1910, in Bloomington, Indiana, the only child of Maria Jeannette Osgood and Franklin Ridgeway Aydelotte. His father pursued graduate work in English literature at Harvard University and as a Rhodes fellow at Oxford University, working as a professor of English before becoming the first non-Quaker President of Swarthmore College in 1921. He served in that capacity until 1940. William remembered his childhood home fondly as a place frequented by his father’s university colleagues, and his parents as always supportive of his academic education.
As a child, Aydelotte struggled with athletics and had trouble making friends. He found comfort in reading works of nineteenth-and twentieth-century American and European literature. At the age of 15, Aydelotte enrolled in William Penn Charter School in Germantown, Pennsylvania, where he spent much of his last two pre-college years studying in the library. He went on to major in classics at Harvard University, graduating from the college in 1931. He received his doctoral degree in history from Cambridge University in 1934, where he studied European diplomatic history and British parliamentary politics. Afterwards, he worked for two years in the office of the chairman of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board in Washington, D.C., before beginning his career as a college and university teacher.
After a decade of teaching, with appointments at Trinity College, Smith College, and Princeton University, Aydelotte joined the State University of Iowa in 1947 as Assistant Professor of History. He arrived at a time of departmental instability and, in a “Revolution carried out by newcomers,” he became elected interim chairman in that first year. He went on to serve as chair from 1947 – 1959 and 1965 – 1968, where he enjoyed the support of his colleagues as he carried out the formidable task of rebuilding the department after years of mismanagement.
On top of his considerable administrative responsibilities, Aydelotte was a pioneering and prolific scholar in the field of quantitative history. His first book, Bismarck and British Colonial Policy: The Problem of South West Africa, 1883 – 1885, was published in 1937. His most significant scholarly contribution came in 1971 with his publication of Quantification in History, which discussed the virtues of statistical inquiry in historical methodology. He served as a member of the Quantitative Data Committee of the American Historical Association (1968-72), held the position of chairman of the mid-western section of the Committee of Selection for Marshall Scholarships (1955-60), was a member of the Committee of Selection for Woodrow Wilson Dissertation Fellowships (1962-68), and was a fellow at both the Center for Advanced Study (1945-47) and the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (1976-77). In 1974, the members of the National Academy of Sciences elected him to membership— the first historian ever elected to that esteemed body. There, he served on the National Research Council’s Panel on Privacy and Confidentiality as Factors in Survey Response. For his significant contributions to the field of history, he was appointed Carver Professor of History in 1976 until his retirement in ’78. He remained active in his retirement, becoming president of the Social Science History Association in 1980.
In June 1956, Dr. Aydelotte married Dr. Myrtle Kitchell, who became as the first director of the College of Nursing in September 1949. They had two daughters together, Marie and Jeannette. William O. Aydelotte died in Iowa City on 1996 at the age of 85.
Guide to the Papers of William Osgood Aydelotte, Special Collections, University of Iowa Libraries
Allan Bogue and Gilbert White, “William Osgood Aydelotte, September 1, 1910-January 17, 1996,” Biographical Memoirs: Volume 73 (National Academy of Sciences, 1998)
Aydelotte, “Quantification in History,” AHR, July 1966
Aydelotte to Successor Chair 1959
Aydelotte Excerpt from Journal 1949
The Ballad of Billy Aydelotte, 1990
Memories of Bill Aydelotte