As UW enrollments soared in the 1960s, amidst campus demonstrations and strikes, two European History professors became legendary.*
European historian George L. Mosse, a German refugee who received his PhD from Harvard in 1946, came to the UW in 1955 and is remembered as a mesmerizing lecturer. He specialized in modern European history, especially German fascism, and later in the history of sexuality and masculinity. His bequest to the UW supports the George L. Mosse Program in History, which provides vital support for our students in European cultural, modern Jewish, and LGBTQ+ history.
French historian Harvey Goldberg, also a wildly popular lecturer, did his BA (1943) and PhD (1951) at the UW and returned to the UW to teach in 1963. He saw himself as equal parts historian and political activist and lectured with an intensity that enthralled students. His legacy at the UW is reflected in the wide-ranging activities of the Harvey Goldberg Center.
* Both were necessarily men, since the department had not yet hired a woman faculty member.
Sources: Mosse, George Lachmann 1918-1999,” Historical Essay, WHS; Legacy, Harvey Goldberg Center.
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