James Harvey Robinson and the New School for Social Research

Abstract

T HE New School for Social Research, established in New York City in 19I9, was an experiment in educational liberalism. It marked a reaction against academic traditions in the curriculums, the system of courses, credits, and degrees, and the organization and administration of institutions of higher learning. The movement which led to the founding of the New School was initiated by James Harvey Robinson. Robinson, born in Bloomington, Illinois, in I863, had graduated from the normal school at Normal, Illinois, and had gone to Harvard, where he obtained his Bachelor's degree in I887 and his Master's degree the following year. In i888 Robinson went to Europe to spend a semester studying German at Strasbourg, where his brother Benjamin was studying botany. After spending one semester at Strasbourg he moved to the University of Freiburg, where he received careful training in the technique and methodology of historical research under Von Holst. After completing his doctorate in history in I890 at Freiburg, Robinson returned to the United States. In I89I he accepted a position as lecturer in history at the University of Pennsylvania and, after serving in this capacity for about two years, was promoted to an associate professorship, a position which he held until his resignation. In I895 Robinson went to Columbia University as professor of European history and remained there until I9I8. A man of restless mind, ever given to the challenge of current ideas and conditions, he took an active part in the revision of history teaching in schools and colleges; he introduced the study of intellectual history at Columbia. He wrote, alone or in collaboration with Charles A. Beard, college and high-school textbooks that were widely adopted and very