Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-12-29
HISTORIANS DENY
HISTORY'S TRUTH
French Alone Know How
to Write Unbiased, De-
clares Prof. johnson
GALL GOOD MEN IN PAST"

The truth about history Is that few
histories tell the truth. This point was
developed by Prof. Henry John on. Of
the Teachers College, Columbia Uni
versty. speaking at the Bellevue STRAIT
ford Mt the last days session of the
threc-day congress Of the American His
.orical Association.
The French Professor johnson as
r6rted. are the only historians who know
how t. write an unbiased history and
the French schools the only schools
vhcrc history is taught in the way that
{ should he taught
THE way history is taught in the
lower grades of the schools in the
United States" Doctor johnson said
emphatlcally. "is u constant sin against
the verities.
"Our' children are made TO believe
that all the good men lived In the past
Washington and Lincoln, II is true.
were great men; but what Is the mat
ter with Woodrow Wilson and Theo-
dore Roosevelt?
The legislators who composed the
Congresses Of the Revolutionary days
We're intelligent men. doubtless. of
stout heart and courage: but am con-
vnced our legislators at Washington
today, despite tho muss we seem always
to be in. are of equal, IL not greater, in
telllgence."
While several hundred teachers OF the
Middle States Teachers Association
took notes. Doctor johnson reviewed
the principles on which the teaching of
history has been based since the seven
teenth century, and was emphatic in
his dcnunciation of the provincial atti-
tude that most nations have assumed in
their conception of the trend OF human
events.
Germany has taught the glorification
of Germany alone" he said. "and there
Is evidence already that German his
torians are beginning TO realize that
the great tragedy of Germany's isolation
today is the result of the way her his
tory has been conceived and taught"
The Kaiser, Doctor johnson prophe-
sled. would in future histories to be
written. even in German ones, be for
| ever linked with the epitthet of THE
Hun"
"In view of the events of this war.
don't see how he can shake that
title"
Patriotic history, the savant con-
tinued. was thought by most nations to
mean n history glorfying their own
deeds.
mo nation, however. has proved more
patriotic than France" he said, and
yet the French historians have been
the only ones who have viewed the world
as whole rather than of glorifying
France and forgetting the rest"
Some American and British histori-
ans, Doctor Johnson said, in II mis-
guided sense of patriotism were even
considering the revision Of the story
Of the American Revolution In order
to do away with the anti British senti-
ment il created on this side of the
water.
THE arguments and language heard
In the United States today" he said.
recall at once tho experience of Ger
many in the conflict with Napoleon.
The German arguments for patriotic
history won. Shall we repeat the Ger
man experiment? Strong arguments
are urging us in that direction.
There are. however counteracting
| Influences One of them is the convic-
tion of profound ignorance which has
| fallen upon US I'm the enforced study of
the war. Some of us have actually dis
covered that the United States and west
ern Europe have, after all, certain his
.orical connections with the rest Of the
human race. We are feeling as we never
felt before the need of understanding
other peoples. We hatter ourselves that
we have ALREADY learned to understand
the Germans, and in the process we
have had the pleasant experience of un-
Outstanding ourselves better. We have
special reasons for understanding the
Allies better and we are making progress
In that direction.
I'VE have reached "A crisis in the shap-
ing of history for schools, We must
go forward or backward"
At the closing session of the American
Farm Management Association meeting
at the Adelphia Hotel the following Of
fcers were elected: q. A. Billings. Of
the United States Department of Agri-
culture. president j. r. Fain, of the
University of Georgia, vice president I:
r. G. Livermore, of Cornell University,
secretary and treasurer