17 August
Toward the Study of History Departments and Organizations:
“For while you would think that historians, of all people, would take an interest in the history of their own institutions — in the history of the departments in which they practice, in the preservation and interpretation of that history, and in such matters as the traditions that form and sustain their collective approach to preparing others — they rarely do so.” James M. Banner, Jr., “The Almost Nonexistent History of Academic Departments,” Historically Speaking, September 2013
“Change in higher education is a complex subject. Academics are notoriously uncomfortable with it and prefer that their curricula, research agendas, and value systems stay as fixed and immutable as the institutional stone of the campus buildings. But time pushes forward, devotion to custom and tradition recedes, and new generations arrive on campus with energy and vision, impatient with calcified ways of their elders.” William Palmer, From Gentleman’s Club to Professional Body: The Evolution of the History Department in the United States, 1940-1980 (William Palmer, 2008).
“The history of historical societies illustrates that historical organizations can be dynamic institutions which are responsive to trends within the discipline of history. They do not necessarily respond to these changes in the exact same way and at the exact same rate, however. The movement toward public inclusion, for example, has provided historical societies with new challenges as they seek to juggle sometimes competing priorities of preservation and liberal access policies.” Sara Lawrence, “History of Historical Societies in the U.S.,” www.publichistory.org, 2003