The Present-Minded Professor: Merle Curti's Work as an Intellectual Historian

Abstract

THE FOLLOWING ESSAY is revised from commemoration of Merle (1897-1996) and his impact on the practice of intellectual history held at the 1997 meeting of the Organization of American Historians (OAH) in San Francisco. The special session included three other papers given by senior historians who were influenced by Merle Curti, each on different aspect of his scholarship. After these presentations, any number of people from the large audience rose to memorialize Professor Curti. Favorite stories were told and numerous tributes offered, in Richard Kirkendall's words, to his marvelous capacity for friendship. Session Chair Gerda Lerner spoke of how, after meeting in his eightieth year, his continued engagement with life provided her a model for growing old. She ended the commemoration by simply and movingly describing him as thoroughly good man. Taken collectively, the conference papers paid tribute to the great range and diversity of Merle Curti's intelligence and scholarship and impact on his students. Lawrence Wittner, who studied with him as master's degree student at the University of Wisconsin, spoke of his pioneering development of peace history. With his book Peace or War: The American Struggle, 1636-1936 (1936) and earlier works, Curti was the most important figure to challenge historical scholarship into the