"Where have All the Footnotes Gone?"

Image Source: Drawing by Richard McGuire, copied from "Where Have All the Footnotes Gone," by Gertrude Himmelfarb, © The New York Times Book Review,June 16, 1991, p. 24.

Outline:

• review syllabus, change room assignment to Schaffer 401, Computer Lab
• read & discuss Himmelfarb "Where Have All the Footnotes Gone?" For the text of the Himmelfarb article click here.

• focus on the questions: how do we know what we know about the past?; how do we best explain what we know (or think we know) about the past?; to what degree do historians have a covenant with their intended audience that requires them to fully document their sources?
• ask ourselves who were General James Wolfe, Dr. Webster, Governor Briggs, Francis Parkman, George Parkman, Priscilla Hiss, Whittaker Chambers, Richard Nixon, Alger Hiss, etc., and why should we know about them?