Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1923-03-10
Fine Piece of Work
Says Pres. Harding
of BOWdOin Institute

doin College recently extended an in
. vitation to President Warren G..
Harding to participate in the Insti-
! tute Of Modern History which is to
, be held at the College April 16 to
, April 20. At the chapel exercises at
! Bowdoin, this morning, President
Kenneth c. M. Stills ead the follow
ing letter from President Harding,
I in which the chief executive ex-
pressed his regret at being unable
| to participate in the institute and at
the same time he expressed Ills en-
dorsement of the plan and gave his
views regarding the teachings OF
history.
The letter follows:
THE WHITE HOUSE
I Washington, March !. 1923.
My Dear Doctor Stills:
I I wish l had the time and Oppor-
| tunity to make something more than
a perfunctory acknowledgment OF
your invitation of February twenty
fourth. l am deeply interested in
| your plans to hold at Bowdoin an
| Institute Of Modern History. l think
you are inaugurating a fine piece OK
work. and wish l could be among
those privileged to participate with
you: which / am sorry to say is not
possible. There is need for a vast
| deal of this kind of work on the part
ssof educational institutions, ana
I learned societies, not only OF this
country, but of the world. remem-
Der when I was very young man
hearing a political orator. in par
ticularIy fervid period. announce
| that 1.-The whole history OF the past
must be changed" A good deal OF
fun was poked at this proposal, and
I was among those who INDUCED
more or less humor in connection
with it. Yet, since the World war,
have sometimes wondered Whether
the orator was SO hopelessly WRONG
as to justify all the hilarlty. Ger
tainly our point of view regaru.hs
modern history has been sh',.et
greatly by the events Of the last
Saoade 10 fit into our histories,
the story of the years from 1914 down
to this time, is requiring the most
nainstaking, thoughtful, and anaiyt-
ical consideration of all the course
and nrocress Of modern history. For
one thing, it seems very clear 10 me
that henceforth the teaching OF ms
torv will have to be conducteo,
Il is conducted wisely. on qui,e
ferent lines than have markeo IL AZ
Ina mast. There has been too mucn
disposition among the writers anu
students Of history to deal WIN .ns
different nations OF the "eotel =
world. as it were, in separate Cum.
nartments; to assume tnat one n~y
study and understand the nistolS
one nation without particularly
voting himself to the relations VI Tic
narticular nation to the otners'
fTndouhcdly we shall from this time
forward have a much more adequate
convention of the essential unity OF
1.-The whole story Of mankind; ana
(keener realization Of the fact that
all it's factors must be weighed ana
appraised if any-of them are to De
accurately estimated and understood.
il feel strongly that such a broader
view Of history, if it can be planted
in the community's mind of the
future through the efforts Of educa-
tors and writers, will contribute
greatly TO uphold the hands and
strengthen the efforts Of those who
Will have to deal with the great
problems of human destiny. particu-
larry with that of preserving peace
and ouilawinS war.
1t is because I entertain these
views, that l am so glad to know OF
what you are undertaking at Bow
dom. | have felt that the work of the
Institute of Politics, at Williams col
lcgo, has represented one phase of Il
very useful service in the direction
Of Illuminating current problems: and
l feel that your plan for an Institute
Of Modern History at Bowdoin repre-
sents another phase, just as useful
and desirable. in behalf of a broader
conception of the tremendous task
that the race Confronts. 1t is ever
lastingly true that on the whole the
best guide to the future is to be found
in a proper understanding of the les
sons of the past. If some of its les
sons have been misunderstood. as
think we all feel nowadays some OF
them have been, it is peculiarly nee
eSsary in times like these that every
effort be made to correct whatever
n1isapprehenSons may have arisen.
4, l recall the great interest and even
enthusiasm with which l discovered
the work of Ferrero on Roman His
tory. because it gave q new means
and furnished now applications of so
many of the lessons of Old Rome. l
venture that in the light of the last
decades tremendous events. there Is
now the possibility of a reshaping OF
orr attitude toward modern history
through such inspirations is you are
seeking at Bowdoin. that may ulti-
mately have as great an effect upon
our views Of modern times as Fer
| rcro's work had upon our attitude
toward the story of the Roman En-
pire.
do believe it is a contradic-
ton Of which ] have already said
about the essential unity of all his
| tory to add that in our own country
it seems to me there is altogether too
little knowledge of our national story.
| too little interest in and serious
study of it. One has many times
seen the high school student who had
completed his studies in an inter-
mediate text book on American His
tory promptly close the volume with
the announcement that "he knew
about history" l fear that cheerful
attitude is not by any means con-
fined to students of high school age.
The business of living and of making
! living so largely consumes the en-
ergies of most people that they find
| it all too easy to close the volumes
which ought to be kept open to them.
! l am sure that the work you are I'M
dertaking at Bowdoin will be an en-
| couragement to such an attitude
| toward the study and analysis OF his
, tory; and so I am sending my con-
/ gratulations on the program you have
| undertaken.
Most sincerely yours.
WARREN G. HARDING.
| DIR. Kenneth c. NJ. Stills,
| Bowdoin College,
| RrInSwick Maine