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New
Book by Historian Robert McCaughey Interprets 250-Year History
of Columbia University
 Historian
Robert McCaughey has written the first comprehensive history
of Columbia University in a century - an undertaking, he says,
that suited him perfectly as an outsider looking in from Columbia's
neighbor across Broadway, Barnard College, where he has been
Chair of the History Department and Dean of the Faculty during
a 30 year career.
In his 760-page interpretive history, McCaughey chronicles
the University’s 250-year past through the lens of New
York City’s expansion as a metropolis and the nation’s
social and political evolution. Stand, Columbia: A History
of Columbia University (Columbia University Press) took
seven years to complete.
Over his academic career at Barnard (with many great teaching
awards to his credit), McCaughey has contributed a groundbreaking
study of the intellectual lives of faculty at selective liberal
arts colleges and a biography of Josiah Quincy, a 19th century
mayor of Boston and president of Harvard College. The history
of higher education is among his fields of interest, along
with the early maritime culture of New York City and American
social and intellectual life. In addition to Scholars and
Teachers, which makes the case that the best professors
at liberal arts colleges are those who combine professional
research with teaching, he is also the co-author with John
A. Garraty of The American Nation (6th Edition, Harper
& Row) and Josiah Quincy: The Last Federalist, 1772-1864.
Stand, Columbia, which is being published simultaneously
with the launch of the University’s 250th anniversary
celebration this month, tells the story of Columbia’s
influence and contributions over two-and-a-half centuries.
It does not flinch from its shortcomings or miscalculations
made along the way.
The book places Columbia, the nation’s first "multi-versity,"
in its geographic and historical context, tying its fortunes
to New York’s and viewing its progress against social,
economic and political events swirling in the world beyond
Morningside Heights.
McCaughey recognizes that while colleges and universities
do reflect the best of human accomplishment, they are also
burdened by opportunities lost and goals unfinished. "I’ve
aimed for a straight-on view of Columbia in this book,"
says McCaughey, who is the Anne Whitney Olin Professor of
History.
Because he is something of an outsider looking in, having
spent his academic career at Barnard and having earned his
degrees elsewhere (his Ph.D is from Harvard and B.A. from
the University of Rochester), McCaughey believes it was easier
for him to achieve a more balanced view of Columbia. Columbia
and Barnard are independent institutions, although undergraduates
can take courses at either school and the institutions collaborate
on such things as faculty exchange. McCaughey himself has
taught graduate courses at Columbia.
"There’s something to be said for establishing the
viewpoint somewhat off the perceived center of the institution,"
said McCaughey. "Columbia looks different from this side
of Broadway."
McCaughey found that more than a dozen books were written
for Columbia’s 200th anniversary, many commissioned by
the University itself. But these books took a piecemeal approach,
looking at the development of schools within the University,
or achievements by individuals or in certain disciplines.
Some schools, such as the College of Physicians and Surgeons,
along with the University’s broader contributions in
science, were largely overlooked.
McCaughey sought to integrate these parts of the Columbia
story to arrive at a fuller perspective of the institution’s
past. "This is the interpretation of one historian,"
said McCaughey. "I suspect any other historian might
have a different view. Not so much because my views are idiosyncratic
or eccentric but because large chunks of Columbia history
have been left unchronicled and interpretations must necessarily
be subject to subsequent revision."
Stand, Columbia begins with the earliest discussions
in 1704 over whether New York was a fit place for a college,
proceeds to its founding as King’s College in 1754, and
continues to the present administration of President Lee C.
Bollinger, who became president a year ago.
When McCaughey was finishing his appointment as Dean of the
Faculty at Barnard in 1994, he was invited to join preliminary
planning discussions for the 250th anniversary of Columbia.
The more he read about the history of Columbia, the more he
realized he wanted to write a history of the institution.
By the fall of 2000, with his historical knowledge of Columbia
growing, he began teaching a course on the history of the
University while continuing to expand his own understanding.
What surprises did McCaughey find? "I was startled by
how quickly and effortlessly Columbia made the move from a
small local college that drew students as commuters in the
1860s to become, by 1900, one of the best universities in
the world," McCaughey says.
McCaughey naturally delved into the relationship between Barnard
and Columbia, and the role of women at Columbia, which was
the last of the Ivy League colleges to become co-educational
in 1983.
"I’d hold to the notion that the present relationship
between Columbia and Barnard is stronger and more durable
than at any time since 1900," he said.
As the 1800s drew to a close and Columbia was establishing
itself at the pinnacle of American universities, the issue
of women in higher education was gaining interest.
Frederick A.P. Barnard, then-president of Columbia, had strenuously
pressed for co-education at Columbia College and called for
the opening of its graduate programs to women.
At the same time, through the effort of a dedicated group
of women and men, including Annie Nathan Meyer, Ella Weed
and Arthur Brooks, a new women’s college was founded
in 1889, named to honor President Barnard, who had recently
died. It became the first women’s college in New York
City and one of the few at the time in the country where women
could receive the same rigorous liberal arts education as
men. Ironically, Frederick A.P. Barnard had opposed the idea
of a separate women's college affiliated with Columbia, advocating
instead the admission of women on equal terms to Columbia
University -- an idea 100 years ahead of its time.
McCaughey made a conscious decision to write about the contributions
of women at Columbia, although he emphasizes that his colleague
in the History Department, Professor Rosalind Rosenberg, is
the real authority on this subject.
He noted that since the early 1900s, Columbia has awarded
more doctorates to women than any other university. "Many
of them were Barnard graduates," said McCaughey. "These
women, though discriminated against often, did pursue professional
lives that have made a huge impact on our society."
Not only does McCaughey explore the history of women in
Stand, Columbia, he also examines the experiences of immigrants,
Jews, African- Americans and other groups as the University
has sought to become more reflective of the diverse city surrounding
it.
McCaughey will be visiting Columbia alumni clubs throughout
the country as well as in New York to discuss his book during
the 250th anniversary year. He expects to lecture on the subject
in the spring and he is one of the expert commentators in
filmmaker Ric Burns’ documentary on Columbia, which will
air this month on PBS. A reading and reception to celebrate
publication of the book will take place on October 16 at Columbia
Faculty House from 6-8:30 P.M.
-- Jo Kadlecek
For more information, please contact Suzanne Trimel in the
Office of Public Affairs, 212-854-2037, strimel@barnard.edu
The
book is available to purchase online. Please go to the Columbia
University Press web page: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cup/catalog/data/023113/0231130082.HTM
for details
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