Guide to the Historical Seminary of Leland Stanford Junior University Records
Daniel Hartwig
Stanford University. Libraries.
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
February 2011
Copyright © 2015 The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All rights reserved.
Note
This encoded finding aid is compliant with Stanford EAD Best Practice Guidelines, Version 1.0.
Overview
Call Number: SC0693
Creator:
Stanford University
Title: Historical Seminary of Leland Stanford Junior University records
Dates: 1891-1901
Physical Description:
1.75 Linear feet
Summary: The records consist of minutes from weekly meetings with outlines of reports presented. The topics included issues in political
and legal history, international relations, historical figures, slavery, abolition, American Indian policies, railroad history,
American expansion, and historical methods. Although the United States and Europe were the primary focus, some meetings focused
on Africa, India, Russia, and Latin America.
Language(s): The materials are in English.
Repository:
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Green Library
557 Escondido Mall
Stanford, CA 94305-6064
Email: specialcollections@stanford.edu
Phone: (650) 725-1022
URL: http://library.stanford.edu/spc
Administrative Information
Information about Access
The materials are open for research use.
Cite As
Historical Seminary of Leland Stanford Junior University Records (SC0693). Department of Special Collections, Stanford University
Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
Biographical/Historical note
The Historical Seminary was an upper level class offered by the Department of History to "afford a practical training in methods
of historical research through the use of original materials" [from the Annual Register]. Weekly sessions included the presentation
and discussion of papers, reports, book reviews and other independent research.
Scope and Contents note
The records consist of minutes from weekly meetings with outlines of reports presented. The topics included issues in political
and legal history, international relations, historical figures, slavery, abolition, American Indian policies, railroad history,
American expansion, and historical methods. Although the United States and Europe were the primary focus, some meetings focused
on Africa, India, Russia, and Latin America. Professors associated with the Seminary included George Elliott Howard, Mary
Sheldon Barnes, Clyde Augustus Duniway, Arley Barthlow Show, and David Ellsworth Spencer. Of particular note to Stanford's
history is an 1898 report on Mary Sheldon Barnes and the rise of the "source-method" in secondary schools.
Access Terms
Barnes, Mary Sheldon, 1850-1898
Duniway, C. A., (Clyde Augustus), 1866-1944.
Howard, George Elliott, 1849-1928.
Show, Arley Barthlow, 1856-1920.
Spencer, David Ellsworth.
Stanford University. Department of History.
History--Study and teaching.
Box 1, Folder 1
Meetings
1891 Nov-Dec
Scope and Content Note
Founding minutes; outlines of reports on Arthur Young's travels in France, Bacon's Rebellion, the "Spoils System," feudal
court in France, Seeley's expansion in England, and the manor in America.
Box 1, Folder 2
Meetings
1892 Jan-Feb
Scope and Content Note
Minutes; outlines of reports on The Village Community in New England, Mirabeau in the Constituent Assembly, Fidermann's Unwritten
Constitution of the US, the Puritan Commonwealth, Township Organization in Canada, Quaker Invasion of Massachusetts, and the
Royal Family in the [French] Revolution.
Box 1, Folder 3
Meetings
1892 Mar-Apr
Scope and Content Note
Minutes; outlines of reports on the New England Indian Policy, Rousseau's Educational Ideas, the Elections of 1789 in France,
Phases of the French Revolution, the Women of the French Revolution, and the Character and Policy of Robespierre.
Box 1, Folder 4
Meetings
1892 May-June
Scope and Content Note
Minutes; outlines of reports on the Character and Policy of Robespierre (cont.), the Place of Danton in the French Revolution,
the French Constitution (several presenters), Jacobin Conquest, Relations between France and America and France and England
during the French Revolution, Development of the Legislative Department of Massachusetts, Crime and Criminal Law in Massachusetts,
and the Influence of France on the American Revolution.
Box 1, Folder 5
Meetings
1892 Sept-Nov
Scope and Content Note
Minutes; outlines of reports on Anglo-Saxon Family Law, the Anglo-Saxon Woman, Anglo-Saxon Land Law, and the Merchant Guild
in England.
Box 1, Folder 6
Meetings
1893 Jan-Feb
Scope and Content Note
Minutes; outlines of reports on Trial by Combat in England, the Conquest of California and the Struggle for its Admission
into the Union, the Old English Manor, Trial by Compurgation and Ordeal, Evolution of English Municipal Institutions, and
Charter to the Citizens of London Granted by Henry I.
Box 1, Folder 7
Meetings
1893 Mar-May
Scope and Content Note
Minutes; outlines of reports on English Trade and Commerce Regulations of the Middle Ages, History of Taxation to 1485, Evolution
of English Municipal Institutions, the Struggle between President Johnson and Congress over Reconstruction, and Origin and
Development of Political Parties in the United States.
Box 1, Folder 8
Meetings
1894 Sep-Oct
Scope and Content Note
Minutes; outlines of reports on Seminary Method and Organization, Nature and Method of Historical Study: Select References,
Historical Serials, Historical Societies in the United States, An Outline of the Indian Policy of Government of the U.S.,
and Current Events in America.
Box 1, Folder 9
Meetings
1894 Nov-Dec
Scope and Content Note
Minutes; outlines of reports on Review of Recent Oriental Affairs, The Russian American Extradition Treaty, Recent European
History, An Investigation of the Principles of Method, Tariff Act of 1894, A Study in Local History (Sources of Information),
Notes on Land Holding in Russia, Agitation for Proportional Representation, and Direct Legislation by the Vote of the People:
The Initiative and Referendum.
Box 1, Folder 10
Meetings
1895 Jan-Feb
Scope and Content Note
Minutes; outlines of reports on The Gerrymander, Slavery in the District of Columbia, Recent Decisions of the Federal Courts
on Strikes, Spanish Archives in San Francisco, The Nicaragua Canal, Stevens' Sources of the Constitution, Oman's European
History, and Municipal Government and its Reform.
Box 1, Folder 11
Meetings
1895 Mar-May
Scope and Content Note
Minutes; outlines of reports on Social Experiments on the Pacific Slope, The English Social Revolt in 1381, Machiavelli as
a Political Thinker, The Dartmouth College Case in the Light of Earlier and Later Decisions.
Box 1, Folder 12
Meetings
1895 Sept-Oct
Scope and Content Note
Minutes; outlines of reports on historical method, expansion of Europe, sources of history with special reference to the Pacific
Slope, John C. Calhoun, the philosophy of history, work of Edward A. Freeman, and the relation of institutional history to
kulturgeschighte.
Box 1, Folder 13
Meetings
1895 Nov-Dec
Scope and Content Note
Minutes; outlines of reports on the uses of history, the archives of England, annual output of historical literature, historical
serials, and the expansion of Europe in America.
Box 1, Folder 14
Meetings
1896 Jan-Feb
Scope and Content Note
Minutes; outlines of reports on development of international law as to newly discovered territory, territorial divisions of
Africa, Mr. Cecil Rhodes, the British in East Africa, German claims in Africa, the colony of Sierra Leone, history of Liberia,
the Armenian question, and the self-government of India.
Box 1, Folder 15
Meetings
1896 March-May
Scope and Content Note
Minutes; outlines of reports on opium traffic, Indian competition in wheat production, railways of India, the great Siberian
railway, the land systems of India, education in India, education in Japan, imperial federation [Great Britain], present indications
of American imperialism, the Cuban revolution, Australian government and politics, Sir Henry Parkes, the social problem of
Constantinople, Spanish expansion in America, and Massachusetts colonial legislature.
Box 1, Folder 16
Meetings
1896 September
Scope and Content Note
Minutes with list of topics for Sep-Dec 1896 and list of major theses; outlines of reports on Herodotus and his method and
early mediaeval chroniclers.
Box 1, Folder 17
Meetings
1896 Oct-Dec
Scope and Content Note
Minutes; outlines of reports on Francis Parkman, Niebuhr, Leopold von Ranke as a historian, Henrich von Sybel as a historian,
Edward Augustus Freeman, George Bancroft, William Hickling Prescott, and Californian historians.
Box 2, Folder 1
Meetings
1897 Jan-Feb
Scope and Content Note
Minutes with list of topics for Jan-May, 1897; outlines of reports on Latin America (government, trade, transportation).
Box 2, Folder 2
Meetings
1897 Mar-May
Scope and Content Note
Minutes; outlines of reports on Latin America (transportation, education, Pan-American Conference, Cuba).
Box 2, Folder 3
Meetings
1897 Sep-Oct
Scope and Content Note
Minutes with list of programs on the topic of historical method as illustrated in the great historians for Sept-Dec., 1897;
outlines of reports on Leopold Van Ranke, John Froissart, Gregory of Tours, Jared Sparks, and S. R. Gardiner.
Box 2, Folder 4
Meetings
1897 Nov-Dec
Scope and Content Note
Minutes; outlines of reports on William H. Prescott, Juan de Mariana, Thomas B. Macauley, some writers of Virginia history,
and criticism of medieval authorities.
Box 2, Folder 5
Meetings
1898 Jan-Feb
Scope and Content Note
Minutes with list of topics for Jan-May 1898; outlines of reports on General Assembly of colonial Rhode Island, courtship
and marriage customs in colonial New England, Bacon's Rebellion, early development of the treasury department, and toleration
under James II.
Box 2, Folder 6
Meetings
1898 Mar-May
Scope and Content Note
Minutes; outlines of reports on municipal reform, Charles Sumner, George William Curtis, Atlantic fisheries, Australian Federation,
history of the Pacific railroads, and Wharton's Franklin.
Box 2, Folder 7
Meetings
1898 Sep-Oct
Scope and Content Note
Minutes with list of topics for Sept-Dec. 1898; outlines of reports on Herodotus, Gregory of Tours, Jared Sparks, Lamprecht's
theory of history, and Mary Sheldon Barnes and the rise of the "source-method" in secondary schools.
Box 2, Folder 8
Meetings
1898 Nov-Dec
Scope and Content Note
Minutes; outlines of reports on Justin Winsor, freedom of the press in Massachusetts, John Richard Green, and the history
of ancient libraries.
Box 2, Folder 9
Meetings
1899 Jan-Feb
Scope and Content Note
Minutes with list of topics for Jan-May; outlines of reports on public services of Thomas Paine, Hawaii's relations with U.
S., history work in California high schools, vigilance committees of Santa Clara County, conquest of California, expansion
policy, and international postal facilities in the U.S.
Box 2, Folder 10
Meetings
1899 Mar-May
Scope and Content Note
Minutes; outlines of reports on More's Utopia, Hudson Bay Company, comparison of Puritan and Quaker treatment of Indians,
French connection with American affairs 1763-1778, municipal reform in the U.S., influence of the U.S. on international law,
fur seal industries, and San Francisco's municipal history.
Box 3, Folder 1
Meetings
1899 Sep-Oct
Scope and Content Note
Minutes with list of topics for Sept-Dec.; outlines of reports on seminary organization and aims, Thucydides and his method,
history teaching in secondary schools and universities, and the inter-relations of history, economics and law.
Box 3, Folder 2
Meetings
1899 Nov-Dec
Scope and Content Note
Minutes; outlines of reports on Carlyle and his method, James Ford Rhodes, John Bach McMaster, James Schouler, Richard Hildreth,
Thomas Babington McCaulay, magazines of history and allied sciences, European historical magazines, Gibbon and his method,
and Lingard and his work.
Box 3, Folder 3
Meetings
1900 Jan-Feb
Scope and Content Note
Minutes with list of topics for Jan-May; outlines of reports on Henry VIII and the monasteries, income tax in American history,
assimilation, grievances leading to secession, journalism in California, and historical method in the social sciences.
Box 3, Folder 4
Meetings
1900 Mar-Apr
Scope and Content Note
Minutes; outlines of reports on the Monroe Doctrine, civil rights under the 14th Amendment, influence of the U.S. on international
law, immigration and the feasibility of restrictions, the U.S. as seen by English travelers, and Jefferson's political theories.
There is also a humorous outline for "Repast in the Historical Seminary."
Box 3, Folder 5
Meetings
1900 May-Oct
Scope and Content Note
Minutes with list of topics for Sept-Dec; outlines of reports on Catholic education in California, presidential administration
of John Tyler, English Parliamentary reform before 1832, study of history at the University of Leipzig, use of U.S. government
publications in historical research, inter-relations of law, economics and history, Lamprecht's theory of history, and the
value of historical methodology based on works of Bernheim and Lorenz.
Box 4, Folder 1
Meetings [bound volume]
1900 Oct 24-1901 May
Scope and Content Note
Minutes with list of topics for Jan-May 1901; outlines of reports in 1900 on Thucydides and his method, Roosevelt as historian,
Hume as historian, American historical societies, Froude as historian, American historical periodicals, Fur Seal conferences
and diplomacy, Richard Hildreth, Catholic education in California, the Abolition Movement, constitutional questions in the
history of American expansion, and political history of the U. S. courts. Records for the 1901 meetings are indentified as
"reports on theses" and include both students and faculty.