The Higher Learning in America: The Annotated Edition: A Memorandum on the Conduct of Universities by Business Men PDF
Preview The Higher Learning in America: The Annotated Edition: A Memorandum on the Conduct of Universities by Business Men
The Higher Learning in America This page intentionally left blank The Higher Learning in America A Memorandum on the Conduct of Universities by Business Men The Annotated Edition Thorstein Veblen Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Richard F. Teichgraeber III Johns Hopkins University Press Baltimore © 2015 Johns Hopkins University Press All rights reserved. Published 2015 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper 2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 1 Johns Hopkins University Press 2715 North Charles Street Baltimore, Maryland 21218-4363 www.press.jhu.edu Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Veblen, Thorstein, 1857–1929. The higher learning in America : a memorandum on the conduct of universities by business men / Thorstein Veblen ; edited with an introduction and notes by Richard F. Teichgraeber III. — Annotated edition. pages cm Includes index. ISBN 978-1-4214-1677-9 (hardcover : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-4214-1678-6 (pbk. : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-4214-1679-3 (electronic) — ISBN 1-4214-1677-8 (hardcover : alk. paper) — ISBN 1-4214-1678-6 (pbk. : alk. paper) — ISBN 1-4214-1679-4 (electronic) 1. Education, Higher. 2. Universities and colleges—United States. I. Teichgraeber, Richard F. II. Title. LA226.V3 2015 378—dc23 2014030727 A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. Special discounts are available for bulk purchases of this book. For more information, please contact Special Sales at 410-516-6936 or [email protected]. Johns Hopkins University Press uses environmentally friendly book materials, including recycled text paper that is composed of at least 30 percent post-consumer waste, whenever possible. contents List of Illustrations vii Editor’s Note ix Suggested Readings xi Thorstein Veblen Chronology xiii Introduction 1 Veblen in Historical Context 1 The Composition of The Higher Learning in America 4 The Professors’ Literature of Protest 7 Veblen and the Professors’ Literature of Protest 13 What Set Veblen Apart? Why Read Veblen Today? 21 The Higher Learning in America A Memorandum on the Conduct of Universities by Business Men Preface 33 I. Introductory 37 II. The Governing Boards 75 III. The Academic Administration and Policy 94 IV. Academic Prestige and the Material Equipment 129 V. The Academic Personnel 138 VI. The Portion of the Scientist 153 VII. Vocational Training 168 VIII. Summary and Trial Balance 188 Index 235 This page intentionally left blank illustrations Figure 1. Thorstein Veblen, 1901 xv Figure 2. William Rainey Harper, John D. Rockefeller, trustee Martin A. Ryerson, and philanthropist Julius Rosenwald, 1901 9 Figure 3. David Starr Jordan, 1908 92 Figure 4. William Rainey Harper and the University of Chicago Band, ca. 1900 121 Figure 5. Thorstein Veblen, Herbert J. Davenport, Walter W. Stewart, and University Missouri School of Commerce students, ca. 1914 186 Figure 6. Thorstein Veblen, 1920 233 This page intentionally left blank editor’s n ote The first edition of The Higher Learning in America: A Memorandum on the Con- duct of Universities by Business Men was published by B. W. Huebsch in New York in late 1918. In preparing the text of this new edition for the printer, I used a digitally scanned copy of the first edition that was carefully compared to a copy of the final corrected typescript manuscript Veblen delivered to his publisher in late September 1918.1 Differences between these earlier texts are minor: misspell- ings, misprints, or scanning errors, which have been easily corrected. Some small liberties have been taken with this new edition. Veblen’s numbered footnotes have been alphabetized to facilitate annotation. For the readers’ convenience, Veblen’s footnotes also have been emended to bring them in line with standard scholarly practice. His spelling, word division, and punctuation have been regu- larized both in his text and in his footnotes wherever it was possible to do so without encroaching on his tone or meaning. For all the notice it has received, The Higher Learning in America has never been annotated. Publication of this first annotated edition seems an appropriate way to mark the centennial of Veblen’s great book. The annotation is divided into two parts. Numbered notes placed on the appropriate pages identify—when iden- tification proved possible—events, institutions, persons, and publications alluded to or mentioned in the text of The Higher Learning in America. Bracketed notes follow Veblen’s now alphabetized footnotes and identify events, institutions, per- sons, and publications he alludes to or mentions in his footnotes. I supply a broad range of contexts but pay particular attention to the history of American higher education during the course of Veblen’s lifetime. From time to time, my notes take issue with what Veblen has to say. He was an extraordinarily provoca- tive observer of the cultural and intellectual currents in which he swam but not always a completely reliable one. Readers also will find a comprehensive index that directs them to recurrent themes in The Higher Learning in America as well 1. The original manuscript is in the Thorstein B. Veblen Papers, Carleton College Archives.
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