Page:American Historical Review, Volume 12.djvu/499

American Historical Association 489 others. The teacher should especially endeavor to develop the art of narration, and to arouse enthusiasm at an impressionable age. Mr. Isaac O. Winslow, principal of a school in Providence, regarded the committee's plans as impracticable and too ambitious. The amount of work he considered as far too great. It would be better to have fewer details, to select a few large centres of interest and emphasize them. Qualitatively also the work proposed is too difficult. Pupils of sixth-grade age are not interested in tracing the origins of American institutions in European history; for them history is still largely a moral subject and its basis should be biog- raphy. It would be better, he thought, to devote the sixth and seventh years to American history, taking up European history with its American connections in the eighth year. Tested under average conditions he believed the scheme would not prove practicable. Dr. James Sullivan of the High School of Commerce, New York City, declared, on the other hand, that the plan marked an important for- ward step in that it gave the pupil some idea of European history, presented American history as part of world-history, thus incul- cating a truer patriotism than mere jingoism, eliminated what was unimportant, and made a most wise selection of historical person- ages for biographical treatment. An open impromptu discussion followed. Professor James an- nounced that in the completed report of the committee due attention to geography, civics, literature and art in their relations to history would be provided for; and that the work laid down for the first five grades, and especially for the fourth and fifth, would have to do with American life or American heroes. Mr. A. P. Walker of the Boston Normal School emphasized anew the doctrine that no vivid interest can be aroused and maintained in the minds of immature pupils by merely going over somewhat more intensively a field already covered. Care would need to be exercised that teachers of lower grades should not appropriate subjects belonging to the upper grades. The plan in his opinion did not cover too much ground provided a proper method of exclusion were adopted. Dr. Ernest F. Henderson thought that the plan provided too much American history. He proposed a four-year course in modern history, dealing in successive years with German, French, English and American history. It is expected that the final report of the committee will be published in the course of the year 1907. Upon the evening of the same day occurred a joint session held with the American Economic Association, at which two papers in economic history were read. The first was that of Professor