The people and places of Dickinson College

Garrett's History Seminar 1974
Photograph courtesy of Dickinson College Archives

This photograph was taken in the fall of 1974 at Clarke Garrett's house on 133 East High Street, Carlisle.  Clarke Garrett was a history professor at Dickinson College.  He can be seen here, sitting in the rocker.  He is teaching his fifteen student French Revolution Senior Seminar.
 
Some of the students can be identified from the photograph.  On the couch all the way to the left is Helen Valerie Turnbell. She was an history major and graduated in 1975.  The young woman on the couch next to her is unidentified.  Sitting on the floor in front of the couch to the left is Barbara Balliet.  She was an English major and graduated in 1975.  Next to Barbara is Anne Fiedler. She was an English major as well and graduated in 1975.  The others are still being identified.  Other students in the class that are not visible or unidentified in this photograph were William Calcutt,  Mary S. Carroll, Bradford Croft class of 1976 and a biology major, Jonathon Ganz, class 1975 and an history major, Wanda Holloway, class of 1975 and a Political Science major,  Wendy Kinlaw '75 and an history major,  Gary Kornfield, class of 1975, Francesco Leboffe '75,  John Michnya '75 and an economics major, Mary Schumacher, Barry Sofsky, class of 1974 and an history major, and lastly David Thomas '74.
 
Other classes Professor Garrett taught in 1974 were a section of the famous "190" - the introduction to history methods course which consisted of projects, tutorials, and discussions,  a 20th Century Europe lecture-discussion course, a seminar on fascism, and an Historiography course which was half lecture-discussion and half seminar.

Professor Garrett was a most respected professor at the College.   He was especially knowledgeable in French History and the history of protestant sects in early modern Europe; he published numerous well received books and articles on the latter topic.  He was a recipient of the prestigious Lindback Award for distinguished teaching and in March, 1997, Professor Daniel K. Richter mentioned in a testimonial letter that Garrett "always stood for a kind of hands on learning of history." Garrett graduated from Carleton College in 1956 and then went on the receive his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin.  He was an instructor of history at the University of Wisconsin in 1960 while achieving his degrees.  In  1961, he went on to teach at Wake Forest University until coming to Dickinson in 1965.  In all, Professor Garrett taught at Dickinson for thirty-two years, retiring in 1997.   His wife Margaret, served in the English Department and as an assistant dean at Dickinson.  They had three children - Amy, Susan, and Margaret Julia.
 
Though the faces are mostly different, the History Program at Dickinson College in 1974 was not so different from today.  The main goals that the department hoped to teach the students was to inform the student interested in the human past, to acquaint him or her with the leading interpretations of his or her heritage, to encourage the comprehension and use of historical prospective, and introduce all students to the methodology and technologies of historical analysis.  To complete the history major in 1974-1975 a student would need nine courses, including the Introduction to History,  a seminar course that was either Historiography, a History Seminar, or a American or European Seminar.  One could also follow independent study for this but it had to be approved by the department and be relevant in that it treated some aspect of  methodology or philosophy.  Lastly, the students had the option of taking an American emphasis or a European emphasis, studying in two courses in one emphasis and one in the other.

Aimee Zoppi

 Sources:
Dickinson College Archives - History Department records