Timeline – 1915 – Snapshot in 1915

The Department of History had twelve faculty members (including two instructors) in 1915. They were all white, male, and quite likely Protestant. Historians who were women, African American, Jewish, or Catholic were generally not hired by the top tier of universities until after World War II (in the case of women and African Americans, not until the 1970s).

The Department offered the BA, MA, and PhD degrees in History, with areas of specialization confined to European and U.S. history. From 1905-1906, however, the scope of graduate studies expanded somewhat to encompass aspects of East Asian, South Asian, Ottoman, and African history, although squarely within the framework of European imperial history.

On the social composition of the discipline of history, see Peter Novick, That Noble Dream: The ‘Objectivity Question’ and the American Historical Profession (1988), 364-368.

Sources: UW Course Catalog, 1905-1906 (pdf), 121-122; UW Course Catalog, 1915-1916 (pdf), 160-161.