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Akxie L. Millkr, Editor.
Officers of the State Federation of Woman's Club.
President. Mm. It. M. Stouteaborougb. Plattemoath.
Vice presidtnt, Mrs. E. M. Cobb, Yoik.
Secret!?. Mm. Henrietta Smith, Oawha.
Treasurer. Mr. M. V. Nichoks Heat rice.
Auditor. Mm. Ella S.Lirsb, Nebraska City.
Librarian, Mm. G. M. Lambertson, Lincoln.
CLUB WOKEN AND CLUB WORK.
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Aa address by Mm. A. C. BickeUa
of Lincoln delivered to the woman of
the Denver Biennial:
It hardly seems necessary at first
thought to insist upon the iraport
aaee ef the study of history to an
audience ef clnb women. But when
the majority of clnb women were ia
aches!, history was so indifferently
taught if taught at all, that it was
not a medium of the highest culture.
-Tweaty-ffve year ago the merest out
Hae ia history was all that waa
taught or necessary to aa academic
dojjitc in our beat institutions. It
only between 1870 and 1885 that
af -history atndy were estab-
at .Harvard, Tale, Columbia,
Cornell and at v the state universities
ef Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsyl-
Even then the subject was not
ef sufficient importance to
require the attention of a special pro
fessor. The lectures were usually
given bjr the professors of some other
department. The university of Penn
sylvania led off and elected the histo
rian, John Bach 3f cMasters, professor
ef Watery. Other institutions soon
feHewed this example, and I am hap
py to aay'that-there has been a great
'change ia recent years. Instead of
the elaaaics.claiming a raonoply of all
'knowledge and all mental discipline
-they have been relegated to their
.place ia the college CHrricu-
i P
Watery as taught when I was in
aeheal waa a memorizing of Ander
sen's general history. A mere cob
paad.ef events and dates, which we
taaaplrttd ia eae term. No discussion
Jamirag the students; no explanations
from the iaetraeter; simply stand up
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I have great sympathy with the hey
whe .ww heiag examined ia history
:iaWcec days. -He had ao heattaacy
in putting down dates. He had been
drilled on those; he could put down
the exact date of the execution
of Mary Queen of Scotts, tell to a day
when Nero committed suicide, and
without the shadow of a doubt he
could put the date 1520 opposite the
question, "When was the pope's Bull
issued against the Thesis of Luther?"
Then his mind wandering on, he won
dered if Luther really did participate
in a bull fight and if the bull was
killed. Then he remembered the book
said the "people burned something."
Why, yes, to be sure, they must have
had a barbacue after Luther killed
the bull. How stupid of him not to
have thought of that before. Then he
remembered the book said Luther
Avas banished, and he thought the
bull must have been a very fine one
to have made the Pope so angry at
Luther that he was banished; but per
haps Luther did not care so very much
for his own country any way, for he
had been ordered to a diet of worms.
Can you wonder that the method of
teaching history which developed
such a vague idea of such an impor
tant event was calculated to destroy
all interest in the study and leave
the impression that history only dealt
with names, dates and facts intended
to torture the child with a poor mem
ory, or worse still, the child who had
a mind instead of a memory.
Is it any wonder that the club wo
men of today, who were the children
of that day, say: ""Oh, don't let us
take history next year, I am not in
terested in history." Just a few
weeks ago I heard an enthusiastic
club woman say when history was
mentioned as a study for next year:
"Don't let us go back to that dry,
humdrum study of school cays; noth
ing but wars and rumors of wars, lists
of names and tables of dates."
Ia that remark lies very largely the
secret of the avoidance of the study
of history by club women. But la
dies, there is a better way to study
history, a way that awakens interest,
a method which places intellectual
strength above the mere acquisition
of facts. And as it is one of the mis
sions of women's clubs to supply the
omissions of schools of twenty-five
years ago, they ought to take up
these new methods and through them
show that the proper study of history
perhaps mora than any other study
leads o the development of mind; .o
induce calm and conservative judg
ment, unselfishness, charity, sympa
thy, and a whole Kst of other things
that go to help make up a cultured life.
All social, political and economical
problems are being studied today
from the historical standpoint. Every
investigator of these subjects is equal
ly interested with the historian, for
he must use the material the historian
has gathered as the basts of his work,
and the interest in these questions
increases with the ever widening ac
ceptance of the law of evolution aa
the law ef human affairs. It grows
with the recogaltioa that we must
know the past ia order to understand
the present.
Philosophical historians claim that
we are at a turning point in our
career as a nation. That from this
time on a highly educated people,
politically, socially and industriously,
has become a necessity if we are to
prosper as a democracy, and then
they tt.ll us this broad comprehensive
knowledge can only be obtained from
historical studies.
We have already mentioned that the
relative importance of history is only
beginning to be recognized. But the
change going on in educational cen
ters is very marked and rapid. Wheth
er this change is due to the recogni
tion of the importance of historical
study alone, or whether trther causes
are at work as well we cannot here
discuss. It is sufficient for our pur
pose to know that its importance is
recognized, and that there is a de
mand for better methods of studying
it.
It is not unusual to hear some one
say, "Why, history is very good for
those who have a taste for it, or for
those who expect to pursue some
special line of work, hnt I don't think
it necessary in a general, or a scien
tific education." Others say, "History
is very interesting reading, when one
has a leisure hour, but I don't think
much of it as a study." So far from
these objections having any weight
educators say that whether one should
study history or not does not depend
upon what is called aaste" for it,
but upon the fact that everyone who
is to be educated, who is to be truly
cultured, must study it. And that it is
as much an integral part of a general
or scientific education as any other
study. And that the idea that the
study of history consists ia the read
ing of history books when, how, and
in -what order one pleases, is about as
far from the correct views aa similar
notions of the study of mathematics,
thus. Should the student 16 mathemat
ics first study arithmetic, then mathe
matical astronomy, then geometry,
then trigonometry, then algebra, he
would certainly be somewhat con
fused and sure to conclude that he
had no taste for mathematics; he will
arrive at the same conclusion from a
similar course in history. Now if his
tory is to be one of the strongest
educational agencies, one of the me
diums of highest culture, it must be
properly studied. Studied in a man
ner to develope the powers of re
search, of analysis, aompariaon, and
inference, which are very different re
sults from those coming from a mere
memorizing of facta. And I believe
it is possible for club women to take
up the study of history so as to reach
these best results. I-am not here to
condemn the methods of studying his
tory pursued by women's clubs in the
past We walked by the best light
we had, but now that there is a some
thing better offered on a broader,
higher plane, we will not turn away
from it. It may not be possible to
attain all at once to the fullness of
the new methods laid down by our
best institutions, but we can make
a beginning, and we shall never reach
higher than we aim.
The club that wishes to take up" the
new method, or source method, or
laboratory method, aa it ia variously
called, must first obtaia a good di
rective plan. By this I mean a care
fully prepared, detailed outline of the
subject to be studied. This could be
ia the form of the usual year book or
calendar, with the bibliography and
tables of chronology and geneology,
when possible.
The next step ia a careful considera
tion of the sources. What are the
sources? They are the material with
whkh the historian works, from
which he constructs his history, and
may be classified aa:
HISTORICAL REMAINS.
Remains of men.
Languages.
Social conditions: Manners, cus
toms, festivals, forms of worship, in
stitutions, laws and constitutions.
Products of human skill: Utensils,
arras, buildings and coins.
Records: Courts, assemblies,
speeches, newspapers, letters, tax
rolls, etc.
Monuments and inscriptions.
TRADITIONS.
Pictorial: Statuary and pictures.
Oral: Stories, anecdotes and songs.
Written: Annals, chroni es and
biographies.
These sources, the remains of the
event itself, are to the historian what
the plant is to the botanist. The dif
ference between the sources and nar
rative texts must be carefully distin
guished by the student from the be
ginning, viz: Grate's History of
Greece is not a source, but the result
of Grate's study of the sources and
his attempt to reconstruct the past
from them. The value of this work
is determined by comparing it with
the sources.
Where shall we find the sources?
Largely in bibliographies devoted to
particular peoples. In some of the
older bibliographies no distinction is
made between sources and modern
writers. But in the latest works the
two classes are kept separate. Take
a volume of Gibson or Macaulay and
at the bottom of each page will be
found a list of the sources they used.
From these foot notes we can obtain
a complete list of the sources from
which they were constructed. Now,
if we have our sources gathered, the
next step is to criticize them one by
one. Submit them to the following
questions to determine their value:
"Who was the writer?
When did he live?
Where did he live?
Was he an eye and ear witness?
Was he able to tell the truth?
Was he willing to tell the truth?
When did he make the record?"
Thia work of criticism ended, the
work of construction begins. The
facts must be established and classi
fied. Interpretation and combination
follow. Then we must consider the
psychical, physical and social cona -tion
of the subject under study. Now
yoa are ready to give your own ver
dict oa the event in other words, to
write history. Geography and psy
chology and sociology became to the
students of history auxiliary sciences.
Last of all, studying am historical
subject in its broadest and deepest
i leaning the student rises into the
realm of the philosophy of history.
You can read history, but don't imag
ine you are studying it unless you are
dealing directly with the sources and
from them forming your own judg
ment. There seems a prevailing opinion
that the source books or leaflets can
not be used without a library. This
is not correct. Dr. Fling, head of
the Department of European History
in the University of Nebraska, says:
"They can be used without a library,
because they have been used without
a library, and with excellent results."
In arranging for a course of study
and a bibliography the assistance of
aa experienced educator is invaluable,
but not a necessity, as there are sev
eral of our universities that have pre
pared a series of documents and stud
ies suggested by the requirements of
their owa students which can be util
ised for club work. These can be
obtaiaed for a mere nominal sum.
, I know that a uaKormity of hktor-
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