FREDERICK JACKSON TURNER

In fortility of thought and ideas, few outrank Dr. Frederick Jackson Turner, professor emeritus of Harvard, as a dynamic force in the field of American History. His recent death has ended a career of far-reaching influence through-out the United States.

Dr. Turner's great book, "The Frontier in American History", which appeared some forty years ago, revolutionized historical writing. Not only did it establish the frontier as the chief factor in moulding life in the New World, but also it emphasized the social and economic aspects of history. This novel conception did much to discredit the old school of writers that had considered the past as a series of wars and political campaigns. The work of Dr. Turner, more than any other single cause, put American History on a scientific basis. He had the rare combination of fertility in ideas coupled with a vast store of scholarly learning.

However great Dr. Turner's publications, the future will undoubtedly remember him most as a teacher and inspirer of others. No more striking evidence of his ability could be found than the long list of his former students that is scattered through American universities as instructors and professors. Most all modern writers in the field have taken his work as a rallying point, preserving the spirit of his guiding genius. Those who knew him intimately will recall his broad sympathy for democracy that contributed so much to his delightful personality. Dr. Turner deserves highest rank in the annals of scholarship in the United States.