Thelin's History of American Higher Education

I've just begun reading John R. Thelin's History of American Higher Education, which has been on the shelf for a couple of years. I'm looking forward to it.

My first thought is merely personal: it is a bit surreal to read in a book with "history of" in the title about an event I followed as current news in the local paper. I was a Ph.D. student at Princeton Seminary when the University fought it out with Trenton State College over the use of the name "College of New Jersey." (Princeton conceded after a while.)

Thelin tells the story as an illustration of the important point that history matters, though not straightforwardly. Institutions construct and argue over their histories.

At our shop, we've just made a point of adding "1837," the year of the founding, to our logo. This was actually my idea, inspired by the boss's decision some time back to put it on his business card. Now, having read Thelin's introductory discussion of how the construction of institutional history can work, I feel rather sheepish about it.

However, for us who do most of our work in a building constructed in the 1980s, the fact that this is one of the oldest institutions of its kind in the country is reassuring and at least feels important.

That, of course, is part of Thelin's point.