NEW ENGLAND ASSOCIATION MEETING.
The annual spring meeting of the New England Association was held in Boston on Saturday, April 16, 1910, in the lecture hall of the Boston Public Library. The morning session was devoted to Roman history and to the report of the Committee on Historical Material. The opening address was by Professor Henry A. Sill, of Cornell University, who spoke on “Some New Points of View in Roman History.” Just one hundred years ago Niebuhr began the epoch of modern critical historiography, and for the first time applied the test of modern criticism to the mass of tradition which passed current as Roman history. Forty years later Mommsen took up the task, and in 1854 published his first volume. The works of both writers were rapid and bold, but they were works of genius and of intuition. The speaker then considered certain characteristics of Mommsen’s work, among others specifying his comprehensiveness, his thorough use of the sources, and especially his modern tone. Mommsen did not make direct references to modern politics, but through indirect references sought to make the Romans step down from their pedestals and become real. We owe it to Mommsen’s history that Rome does not seem a land of fancy.
Although Mommsen made over one thousand contributions with a total of more than twenty thousand pages, he did not speak the final word. Recently several attempts have been made to sum up the result of the numerous special investigations which have been made since Mommsen’s time, the speaker making mention of Pais, Ferrero, and especially of Edouard Meyer, whom he termed the master of all. Of American writers Professor Botsford has made a notable contribution in his “Roman Assemblies.” Among the periods of Roman history which are being rewritten are the Foreign Wars, the history to the fourth century B.C., and the Revolution. Among the new points of view, Professor Sill enumerated the influence of imperialism, war and its effects on domestic policy, sea-power, international arbitration, capitalism, and added that we might even have a pathological view of Roman history! In conclusion, he cautioned against pushing analogy too far.
Professor Sill’s paper was discussed briefly by Professor H. B. Wright, of Yale University, and Professor W. S. Ferguson, of Harvard University, the latter citing an interesting dissertation by a Roumanian teacher on the nationality of the business men of Rome and the light it threw on certain problems of Roman history.
Historical Material.
An extensive exhibit of historical material, comprising maps, charts, pictures, casts, atlases and models had been procured and displayed by a committee of the Association consisting of Prof. Arthur I. Andrews, of Simmons College, chairman; Prof. W. S. Ferguson, Miss Ellen S. Davison, Mr. L. R. Wells, Miss Mabelle Moses and Mr. W. H. Cushing. In his brief report Professor Andrews acknowledged the debt due Teachers’ College both for the idea and for many models and pictures loaned for this exhibition. The watchword of the committee has been: “Show the attainable.” We have aimed, said Professor Andrews, to place on exhibition articles and samples of articles that can, at a reasonable expense, be introduced into any class-room. In addition to the loans from Teachers’ College, much was imported for the exhibition by Messrs. G. Stechert & Co.; other articles were loaned by the publishers, and some were bought outright by the Association. A special feature of the exhibit was the large number of the Hensell and Rausch models, probably the largest collection ever displayed in this country. As at the Teachers’ College exhibition, one of the most helpful features was the collection of mounted pictures illustrative of various phases of life and conditions, showing the possibilities in this line where the expense is trifling. It is the intention of the committee to prepare lists of typical collections of maps, charts and models costing twenty-five, fifty, one hundred, two hundred and five hundred dollars. After referring to the cost of various portions of the exhibit, Professor Andrews summed up as follows: “It will be seen, then, that two things are fairly clear; first, that a collection of the best material, up-to-date in every way and including samples of the best models, the best series of maps, the latest charts, and the best pictures of every kind, could be got together by this Association at a very moderate cost; secondly, such a collection, showing the exact cost of each article, would be valuable to the teacher who has a limited appropriation and who needs to see for herself in the easiest possible way just what she wants and just what she can pay for.”
The enthusiasm of your committee has been aroused by the contemplation of great ideas as to the permanency of this collection. We hope to arrange for the proper housing of these exhibits, making it accessible to teachers and classes visiting Boston, and we also hope to arrange for transporting it to other parts of New England where it may be on exhibition in connection with educational meetings. Undoubtedly it will be a feature of the forthcoming meeting of the N. E. A. in Boston in July.
Miss Ellen Scott Davison, of Bradford Academy, spoke briefly on some practical uses of pictures, and told of the practices in German schools which she visited last summer.
The guest of the Association at its luncheon was General Edward Anderson, who spoke most entertainingly of his recollections of Lincoln, Grant, Sherman, John Brown and other leaders and incidents of the Civil War period. As President Evans characterized it, it was the genuine source method of instruction by an accomplished speaker.
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