Merle Curti – AHA
A paper read at the annual meeting of the American Historical Association, held in New York, December 29, 1954. Published in the American Historical Review 60, no. 2 (Feb., 1955): 259–282 More than a century ago Emerson called the scholar “the man of the ages.” But the scholar, Emerson went on, “must also, wish with other men to stand well with his contemporaries. … In this country the emphasis in conversation and of public opinion commends the practical man; and the solid portion of the community is named with significant respect in every circle.” He added that the American people take a low view of “ideologies” and regard ideas as “subversive of social order and comfort.”1 Both Europeans and Americans echoed this judgment. Certainly the scholar in America has traditionally held a lower place in common esteem than in Europe, even if a witty dean was guilty of exaggeration in remarking that in the Old World an ordinary mortal on seeing a professor tipped his hat while in America he tap