New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-01-09
Where Our Celebrities Come From.


the geographical distribution Of Amer'-
can genius was sufficiently gratifying 10
his New England readers, but critics IN
other parts Of the country were inclined
70 pick holes IN IL They held that the
method Of selection he had used was IN
duly favorable TO a portion OF tho coun-
,rv at one time the chief producer of
celebrities, but that if he would take the
pains to analyze the younger part Of the
population he would soon find that the
New England States had suffered a seri-
Gus decline in this industry.
Professor Nearing accepted the chal-
lenge, and the results are published in
The Scientific Monthly" FOR January
As on the former occasion, he has made
use Of a dictionary Of contemporary
biography. selecting for analysis all the
celebrities born since 1870. The conclu-
sions he comes to are not quite so humli-
citing 70 the states outside Of New Eng
end as in the former study, where it was
shown, for instance that Rhode Island
the New England state with the smallest,
population Of ro;ables, was 30 per cent
above New York the state which, outside
e New England, had the highest proper
ton Of distinguished persons per one hun
bred thousand Of population" Ne'erthe-
less. New ENGLAND leads Considering
only persons born since 1870, the results
ere as follows.
New England with s per cent Of The total
population Of the United States iu 1880, pro
duccd rs per cent o. the group Of distin-
rutshod persons under confederation. Tie
Middle Atlantic States. with 81 per cent oil
the population, produced IS per cent q the
DISTINGUISHED persons. The East North Cen
tral States, with p per cent Of the distin-
euished persons. report only p per cent OF
the population. The Pacific States. with 70
per cent Of disti.c uished person., contain -
per cent OF the population. These four see
tons produced e percentage Of distinguished
persons greater tnan the percentage o. ihe
total population living within their ooJnia-
ric. The Mountain states show the same
percentage of population and Of distinguished
persoDs. The West North Central states
and all OF the group Of Southern states show
oroportioa OF distinguished persons con
siierably less than the proportion OF the
population.
It is evident, then, that New England
Is still the most Industrious contributor Of
DISTINGUISHED men-or men, at least, Of
Who's Who rank.
jealous outsiders may console them
~ bot Hfaf
az of contemporary biography can pos
sibly be a just mirror Of greatness. II is
true that the book used by Professor
Nearing is published in Chicago under the
cditorship Of a native Of Ohio, and may
therefore be presumed free Of bias in
favor Of New England. But the editor
himself admits that the names are re
corded mot as the best, but as the best
Known" and include many whose qualif-
cations are merely official.
Let US draw what comfort we can from
this circumstance. A considerable mum
Der Of Who's Whoers can be called dis
tinguished only by courtesy-among whom
may be reckoned a fair proportion Of the
many people who call themselves "edu-
GATORS" at least one "reformer," a gene
alogist or two and an enthusiast who used
70 describe himself as scientist On the
other side the names of men really dis
tinguished in science and art are often
eft out, and # is conceivable that these
modest ones are plentiful outside of New
England. Here, at any rate, is hint for
some other patient investigator.