W&M in the Jazz Age, Spring 2008

Tues, 2:00-3:20; Thurs 2:00-4:20 in James Blair 219

James P. Whittenburg (jpwhit@wm.edu)

Carolyn S. Whittenburg (cswhit@wm.edu)

David S. McCarthy (dsmcca@wm.edu)

Louse L. Kale (llkale@wm.edu)

Melissa E. Engimann (meengi@wm.edu)

Office Hours will be on Tuesdays by appointment.

Please consult Mr. McCarthy for appointments.

This experimental course will focus on the History of the College of William & Mary during the presidency of J. A. C. Chandler, 1919-1934. During the first few weeks, however, we will undertake a review of the development of the College, and to some extent, higher education generally, from the colonial period through the end of the First World War. 

Requirements & Grades: Students generally want to know every little thing about the grading system, but truth be known, it is all pretty-much a subjective process and in the end we will evaluate the totality of your work over the course of the semester. Admittedly, many students find this ambiguity unsettling during the semester, but few seem to think the grades unfair in the end. Keep in mind that A grades are reserved for EXCEPTIONAL work, and to win an A for the course means hitting on just about all cylinders just about all of the time. The grade of B covers a much wider range of perfectly acceptable, even superior, performance. Any student who scrambles over all the course requirements and delivers even a modest effort should have no trouble attaining a C--acceptable, but undistinguished. To receive a final grade lower than C, a student in this class would simply have to stop trying. I do use pluses and minuses, by the way.

We will divide the course into four components, each of which will determine 25% of your class grade:

I.Research Paper: Each student will write a research paper of 10-12 pages on some aspect of the History of the College of William & Mary during the presidency of J. A. C. Chandler selected from a list of topics we’ll distribute next week. The research paper should be written from both primary and secondary sources and should follow the conventions of the Chicago Manual of Style. It will be due at class time on Thursday, 17 April. 

II. Group Presentation: All students will participate in a group project that will culminate in a team presentation on some aspect of life at the College of William & Mary between the world wars selected from a list of topics that we’ll provide next week. Each project can use as much as half a class period. Multimedia presentations are encouraged. We anticipate teams of four-five people and will assign team members on the basis of preference for topics.

IIIClass Participation: Each of the instructors for this course has a different teaching style, but we will all expect you to be ready to discuss all elements of the course. That makes it very important for you to keep up with the readings and to attend all the lectures and campus tours. Missing class without advance instructor approval will greatly detract from your grade in this area. 

IV. Final Exam: The final exam will contain both essay and short-answer questions. It is scheduled for the 1:30-4:30 slot on 30 April.

Schedule:

Keep in mind that this is an experimental course offered for the first time this semester, that it is a team-taught affair, and that it is to some degree dependent on the schedules of outside scholars. Bottom Line: We will almost surely have to move some things around as the semester goes along.

 THURS. JAN 17---All

Course Overview

Readings:

Jennifer Agee Jones, “ ‘The Very Heart and Centre of the Country’: From Middle Plantation to Williamsburg,” in Robert P. Mccubbin, ed., Williamsburg, Virginia: A City Before the State (2000), pp.15-23.

TUES, JAN 22--- J.P. Whittenburg

W&M during the Colonial Era

Readings:

Godson, Johnson, Sherman, Tate, Walker. The College of William and Mary: A History, Two Volumes (1993), vol 1. (hereafter, W&M History)

“Foundations,” pp. 3-21
“Beginnings, 1693-1705,” pp.23-47
“Despair, Hope, 1706-1743,” pp. 49-80
“Turmoil, 1743-1768,” pp. 81-110
 
Frederick Rudolph, The American College and University: A History (1990).
“The Colonial College,” pp. 3-22.
“The Legacy of the Revolution,” pp. 23-43;
 
THURS, JAN 24---Louise Kale
 
Illustrated lecture: Campus Development at W&M: 1693-1859
 
Readings:
 
E-exhibit: Gallery I (“Building a College: The Early Campus of W&M”)
 
Glenn Patton, “The College of William & Mary, Williamsburg and the Enlightenment,” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, 29 (March 1970): 24-32.
 
W&M History, vol.1:
College and Revolution, 1769-1782,” pp. 111-141.
 
Paul Venable Turner, Campus: An American Planning Tradition (1984), pp. 3-50.
 
Carl Lounsbury, “Ornaments of Civic Aspiration: The Public Buildings of Williamsburg,” Williamsburg, Virginia: A City before the State, 1699–1999, Robert P. Maccubbin, ed., pp. 25–38.
 
James D. Kornwolf, "So Good a Design": The Colonial Campus of the College of William and Mary, pp.29-73 and 121-153.

TUES, JAN 29--- J.P. Whittenburg

 
From the Revolution to the Civil War at William & Mary
 
Readings:
 
Mark Wenger,” Thomas Jefferson, The College of William & Mary, and the University of Virginia,” Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, 103:3 (July 1995): pp. 339-374.
 
Robert F. Pace, Halls of Honor: College Men in the Old South (2004), 82-97.
 
 W&M History, vol.1:
“Madison and Decline, 1782-1812”, pp. 165-198.
“How Not to Run College, 1812-1825,” pp. 199-225.
“Southernism, 1836-1846” pp. 247-266.
“Recovery, Disaster, 1846-1862”, pp. 267-290.
 
THURS JAN 31—Melissa Engimann
 
Walking Tour: The Civil War at William & Mary (meet in the Grammar School Room of the Wren Building)

Followed by: Tour of Special Collections Research Center at Swem Library

 
Readings:
 
W&M History, vol. 1:
“Rebuild, 1862-1869, pp. 333-356.
 
Carson O. Hudson, Jr., Civil War Williamsburg, Williamsburg (Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 1997), entire.
 
Melissa E. Engimann, “Primary Source Packet - The Civil War at William and Mary,” entire.
 
TUES, FEB 5--- Louise Kale
 
W&M in Post Civil War Era/Review of W&M in the 19th century
 
Readings; W&M History, vol. 1:
“Survival, Salvation, 1870-1888,” pp.357-409.
 
 Joseph Stetar, “In Search of a Direction: Southern Higher Education after the Civil War,” History of Higher Education Quarterly, Vol. 29, No. 3 (Autumn 1985), pp.341-367. .
 
THURS, FEB 7---David McCarthy
 
Colleges and Universities during the Progressive Era
 
Readings:
 
Frederick Rudolph, The American College and University: A History (1990).
“Flowering of the University Movement,” pp. 329-354.
“Progressivism and the Universities,” pp. 355-372.
“The Rise of Football” pp, 373-393.
 
TUES, FEB 12---C.S. Whittenburg
 
The College, Women, and Higher Education in the Progressive Era
 
W&M History, vol. 2:
“Risen from Ashes, 1888-1906,” pp. 439-480
“Modern College, 1906-1919,” pp. 481-515.
 
Amy Thompson McCandless, “Maintaining the Spirit and Tone of Robust Manliness: The Opposition to Coeducation at Southern Public Universities,” in McCandless, The Past in the Present: Women’s Higher Education in the Twentieth-Century American South (1999), pp.83-120.
 
Anne Hobson Freeman, “Mary Munford’s Fight for a College for Women Co-Ordinate with the University of Virginia,” The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 78, No. 4 (1970). pp. 481-491
 
 
THURS, FEB 14— Louise Kale
 
Illustrated Lecture: The Forgotten Campus: Construction at W&M during the Ewell and Tyler Years.
 
Readings:
 
Benjamin Stoddert Ewell, “The College in the Years 1861-1865” [a report to the Board of Visitors, July 5, 1865], William and Mary College Quarterly, 2nd Ser., Vol. 3, No. 4, October 1923, pp. 221-230.
 
Robert M. Hughes, “’S-I-X-T-Y Y-E-A-R-S A-G-O’: Baccalaureate Address of Robert M. Hughes at the College of William and Mary Final Day, June 12, 1933,” William and Mary College Quarterly, 2nd Ser., Vol. 13, No. 3, July 1933, pp. 195-202.
 
 
TUES, FEB 19---David McCarthy
 
America and World War I
 
Readings:
 
Thomas J. Knock, To End All Wars (1992), Chp. 8, "'If the War Is Too Strong': The Travail of Progressive Internationalism and the Fourteen Points," pp. 123-147

Anthony Gaughan, "Woodrow Wilson and the Rise of Militant Interventionism in the South," The Journal of Southern History, Vol. 65, No. 4 (November 1999), pp. 771-808 [], pp. 771-808.

Paul L. Murphy, World War I and the Origins of Civil Liberties in the United States (1979),  pp. 128-132.

 
THURS, FEB. 21---Guest: James Axtell
 
Higher Education in the United States before the Second World War
 
Readings:
 
David O. Levine, The American College and the Culture of Aspiration (Cornell University Press, 1986).
“The Middle-Class Culture on the Campus,” pp. 113-135.
“Discrimination in College Admissions,” pp. 136-161.
 
James Axtell, The Making of Princeton University (Princeton University Press, 2006).
“Getting In” pp. 118-143.
 
 
TUES, FEB 26—C.S. Whittenburg
 
J.A.C. Chandler’s Preparation for the Presidency of the College of William & Mary
 
Readings:
 
Michael Dennis, Lessons In Progress: State Universities and Progressivism in the New South, 1880-1920 ( 20010, pp. 1-13.
 
Carolyn Sparks Whittenburg, President J.A.C. Chandler and the first women faculty at the College of William and Mary (PhD dissertation, College of William & Mary, 2004), (Hereafter, SW Dissertation).
“Training for the Presidency:  JAC Chandler’s Early Career,” pp. 21-65;
“Preparation for the Presidency:  JACC in Public Education,” pp.66-115.
 
THURS, FEB 28—C.S. Whittenburg
 
J.A.C. Chandler and Student Life
 
Readings:
 
W&M History, vol. 2:
“Students and Student Life,” pp. 593-610
 
CSW Dissertation:
“College Growth,” pp. 134-140.
 
Lynn Gordon, “The Gibson Girl Goes to College: Popular Culture and Women’s Higher Education in the Progressive Era, 1890-1920,” American Quarterly, Vol. 39, No. 2 (Summer 1987), pp.211-230.
 
TUES, MAR 4           SPRING BREAK
 
THURS, MAR 6        SPRING BREAK
 
TUES, MAR 11—C.S. Whittenburg
 
J.A.C. Chandler and the Women of William & Mary
 
Readings:
 
CSW Dissertation:
“Chandler in Charge,” pp. 251-303.
 
W&M History, vol. 2:
 “Administration and Faculty during the Chandler Years,” pp 579-592.
 
Patricia Graham, “Expansion and Exclusion: A History of Women in American Higher Education,” Signs, Vol. 3, No. 4 (Summer 1978), pp.759-773.
 
THURS, MAR 13—Louise Kale
 
Illustrated lecture: The Colonial Revival Campus at W&M
 
Readings:
 
E-exhibit: Gallery II (“Building a College: The Colonial Revival Campus at W&M
 
Charles M. Robinson, “The College of William and Mary,”, ca. 1927 (draft typescript). CW&M, University Archives, College Papers, folder 225, pp. 19–35.
 
 
TUES, MAR 18—C.S. Whittenburg
 
The Chandler Empire
 
Readings:
 
J. A. C. Chandler, The Romance and Renaissance of W&M. (circa. 1924).
 
CSW Dissertation,
“Funding” pp.151-160.
 
W&M History, vol. 2:
 “Julius A. C. Chandler and the Transformation of William and Mary,” pp. 541-559.
“Program & Curriculum,” pp. 561-578.
 
THURS, MAR 20— Visiting Lecturer: Carl Lounsbury (moved from March 25)
 
The Changing Perception of Williamsburg

Readings:

 
Carl Lounsbury, “Beaux Arts Ideals and Colonial Reality: The Reconstruction of Williamsburg’s Capitol, 1928-1934,” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, vol. 49 (December 1990): 373-389.

 

TUES, MAR 25— Guest Lecturer: Ed Chappell (moved from March 20)
 
Walking Tour: The Nature of the Colonial Revival Campus at W&M
 
Readings: To Be Assigned
 
THURS, MAR 27— Guest Lecturer: Susan Kern (moved from April 10)
 
Walking Tour of Colonial Williamsburg
 
Readings: To Be Assigned
 
TUES, APR 1—Guest Lecturer: Tom Taylor
 
The Restoration of Colonial Williamsburg
 
Tom H. Taylor, Jr., “The Restoration of Williamsburg,” in Mccubbin, ed., Williamsburg, Virginia: A City Before the State, pp. 179-189.
 
THURS, APR 3---ALL
 
Class Projects Due
 
TUES, APR 8—David McCarthy
 
America in the Era of the Great Depression
 
Readings:
 
Excerpts from David Kennedy's Freedom From Fear

Introduction, Richard Polenberg's The Era of Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1933-1945 (Bedford Books).

 
THURS, APR 10—All (moved from March 27)

Class Projects Due

 
TUES, APR 15---LK/Dave
 
William & Mary in the Era of the Great Depression
 
Readings:
 
W&M History, vol. 2:
“Controversy and Commitment: Chandler and His Legacy,” pp. 611-635.
 
THURS, APR 17—Guest: Edward Chappell
 
Walking Tour: Chandler Court and Pollard Park
 
Readings:
 
Thaddeus W. Tate, Jr., “Town and Gown through Three Centuries: William and Mary in the Life of Williamsburg,” in Mccubbin, ed., Williamsburg, Virginia: A City Before the State, pp. 137-155.
 
Edward Chappell, “Greening the Grid: Chandler Court, Pollard Park, and the Early Suburbanization of Williamsburg,” in Mccubbin, ed., Williamsburg, Virginia: A City Before the State, pp. 173-177.
 
TUES, APR 22---All
 
The Chandler Era in Perspective
 
 Readings:
 “Letters Addressed to Dr. J. A. C. Chandler for the Contemplated Celebration of His Fifteen Years Service as President of William & Mary College.” Ed. Cornelia Adair. The William & Mary Quarterly, 2nd Series, Vol. 14, No. 4 (Oct. 1934), pp. 265-288. .
 “Installation Address of Dr. J.A.C. Chandler as President of the College of William & Mary, October 19, 1921.” William & Mary Quarterly, 2nd Series, Vol. 14, No. 4 (October, 1934),  pp. 290-294.
 
THURS, APR 24---Guest: Amy Green
 
Swing Dancing in the Great Hall!