ABSTRACT
In the twentieth century too rapid expansion in some fields occurred at the expense of others; one may even speak of a decline in certain areas of historical scholarship. By 1919, the year in which Columbia College launched the famous course significantly entitled "Contemporary Civilization" ancient history had lost its time honored place as a freshman elective in the great majority of leading universities and colleges. A significant decline in scholarly activity did not become evident, however, until World War II. The seventeen doctoral dissertations on medieval history completed in 1960 were done at fifteen different universities, a fact that illustrates both the general decentralization of American scholarship and the lack of a predom inating leader or school. In the Eighties and Nineties enthusiasm for the new movement of historical research was unqualified. Men of dignity and sober rectitude, these professors enjoyed an intimate connection with the local social elite while participating increasingly in the culture of a wider world.
