Records, 1949-1993.

Format:

Other

Author/Creator:

University of Pennsylvania. Dept. of History.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

University of Pennsylvania--Faculty.

University of Pennsylvania.

University of Pennsylvania. Dept. of History--Administration.

History--Study and teaching (Higher)--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia.

History.

Penn Provenance:

Transferred from the Department of History, 1995-1997.

Physical Description:

10 cubic feet

Place of Publication:

1949-1993.

Biography/History:

The University Catalogue for 1893 is the first which described a Department of History as an administrative unit in the College. John Bach McMaster was the first Chairman of the Department. A faculty consisting of four professors and one instructor taught courses in American History, American Constitutional History, Economic and Financial History of the United States, Political History of the United States since the Civil War, European History, Renaissance and Reformation, Medieval History, and Roman History. The same faculty also taught advanced history courses in the Department of Philosophy, the forerunner of the Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania. In addition to major courses, a course in Church History was offered to graduate students taking history as a minor. The faculty awarded Penn's first Ph.D. in History in 1891. The faculty first appeared as a departmental administrative unit in the Department of Philosopy in 1897.

The range of interest of the History faculty has enormously expanded in the past two centuries as seen in the course offered by the Department. In the early years, history teaching was confined to American and English history. Gradually, the discipline was broadened to include European history, medieval history, Renaissance and reformation, architectural history, history of religion, and social, economic, cultural and intellectual histories. In recent decades, new fields or sub-fields have been added, among them early or colonial American history, world history, area and international relations studies, ethnic and racial studies, notably the Black history, history of science and medicine, and women studies. Today, history courses virtually cover all major world areas and on various aspects of human life from ancient time to the present and are available from introductory lectures to advanced graduate seminars. Currently, the size of the standing faculty of the Department is around forty.

Summary:

The collection includes the following major groups of files: Administrative files, 1968-1993; Faculty files, 1949-1993; Faculty Senate files, 1983-1984, Graduate Student files, 1937-1962; Senior Honors Theses, 1981-1993; Student Financial Aid files, 1979-1990; and Subcommittee on Transfer Admissions files, 1978-1980.

The Administrative files include course offerings of the Department, budgets, various programs, and the search committee files for the Meyerhoff Visiting Professorship, 1986-1992. The Faculty files consist of employment and appointment documents of faculty members. The Faculty Senate files include records of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee as well as general correspondence. The Graduate Student files consist of two parts--Ph. D. program, 1944-1960 and M.A. program, 1937-1962. Senior Honors Theses are papers done by students participating in the Senior Honors program from 1981 to 1993.

Finding Aid/Index:

Unpublished inventory available from the repository.

OCLC:

145429776

Access Restriction:

Personnel and student files closed for seventy-five years from date of creation. All other records closed for twenty-five years from date of creation.

Online:

Finding aids