The History of the Department

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The Department of History, Humanities, Philosophy and Political Science finds its historical beginnings with the creation of the 5th District State Normal School at Maryville by the Missouri General Assembly in 1905. The Normal School was organized and officially constituted on June 13, 1906 with the purpose of preparing and certifying young men and women to teach in the schools of the state. Our first faculty consisted of sixteen members including the president of the institution with students completing a two-year certification program. Among the founding faculty members were Jesse Lewis and B.F. Duncan who taught History and Civics respectively, establishing the tradition of providing historical, social, and political awareness to our students, and cultivating the sense of responsibility to community and culture.

Jesse Lewis served as the chair of the Department of American History, and B.F. Duncan filled the analogous role for the Department of Civics and Economics. The study of world history was also part of the departmental mission, but the first department name established the focal point of historical inquiry that remains until this day---the study of American History. In a similar fashion, the Department of Civics and Economics laid the foundation that an educated person should be aware of civic responsibilities and the connection of those responsibilities to related fields such as economics---a foundation which continues to motivate our contemporary colleagues in the political science arena.

As the Normal School grew, changes were inevitable, and by 1911 Northwest began to refer to itself as Northwest Normal School---a name, driven by geography, but indicative of the institution's service commitment to an entire region. By 1913 the programs of History, Economics, Government, and Civics were merged into one "Department of History" under T.H. Cook.

In 1919, the year after the end of the Great War, the institution was renamed Northwest Missouri State Teachers College, a four-year school administering a B.S.Ed. (Bachelor of Science in Education) Degree and a B.A. degree with a two-year teaching certification. With the transformation into the College, internal reorganization also became necessary with a tripartite structure: the College Division, the Secondary Division (high school) and the Demonstration School (grade school). Within the College Division there were numerous departments, one of which was the Department of History under the continuing direction of T.H. Cook. Civics, now referred to as Government, was also taught within this department.

Administration Building By 1924 the department was once again reorganized as the Department of Social Sciences. Under the direction of Henry Foster, the department included the major fields of Economics, Geography, History, Political Sciences, and Sociology. This reorganization better reflected Northwest's fundamental mission as a teachers college and the dominance of the social science education degree as the one most sought by Northwest students.

During the Great Depression of the 1930s Northwest suffered along with the rest of the nation. As enrollment dropped the university participated in a number of W.P.A programs as a means to keep faculty employed. Some of this work is currently housed in the University Archives in B.D. Owens Library.

In 1947, John Harr became chair of the department, as Northwest was about to enter into another period of growth and change in great part driven by the post-World War II boom in higher education. In 1948, Northwest began issuing B.S. degrees in addition to the B.A. and B.S. Ed, which increased flexibility for the expanding student body. On September 1, 1949, the institution became Northwest Missouri State College with a broader mission then that of the Teachers College. Even so, Northwest remained true to its historical mission of preparing the next generation of educators for the state and region. The transformation to a State College initiated necessary internal reorganizations as well. The Division and Department of Social Sciences was chaired by John Harr and included the content areas (majors) of Economics, Geography, History, Political Science, Religious Education and Sociology.

In 1960, due to various cultural changes and student needs, the Religious Education area was transformed into the study of Humanities. In 1968 the department once again expanded its mission, creating a minor in philosophy. In 1970 the B.A. major in philosophy was added to the curriculum.

Harmon Mothershed On August 14, 1972, Northwest became a university with the recognition that over the years it had become a comprehensive institution of higher learning. Over the next decade Northwest struggle to find the optimum organizational model to meet the needs of the students and better communicate its new status to the academic world. In 1977, there was departmental consolidation when Harr became chair of the new Department of History, Social Sciences, Humanities and Philosophy. Major restructuring in 1979, however, allowed Jerald Brekke to return as chair of the Department of Political Science. John Harr remained as chair of the Division of History and Humanities as well as chair of each of its sub-departments: the Department of Foreign Languages, Department of History, Department of Social Sciences, and the Department of Humanities and Philosophy. Harmon Mothershead eventually succeeded John Harr in 1979.

In 1984, the division concept gave way to four colleges: the College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences, College of Education, College of Fine Arts and Humanities, College of Sciences, Mathematics and Computer Science. There was also a School of Business and Government. Mothershead continued to chair the Department of History and Humanities within the College of Fine Arts and Humanities supervising the discipline areas of Language, History, Humanities, Philosophy and Social Sciences. In the School of Business and Government, Brekke chaired the renamed Department of Government.

The national economic crises of the mid-nineties precipitated additional structural changes with the reduction of the four colleges down to three. The new College of Arts and Sciences became the home of the renamed Department of History, Humanities, and Philosophy, which became chaired by Thomas Carneal; and the Department of Government under Fulton. In 1998, the name of the later was changed to the Department of Political Science bringing it in greater alignment with general practices around the nation.

Finally, in 2002, our current department was born with the merger, driven by economic crises and attempts to streamline efficiency, of the two departments into the Department of History, Humanities, Philosophy and Political Science under the leadership of our new chair Richard Frucht. The story of our department is one in which, regardless of the institutional structure, the various members remain committed to providing the best possible education to our students so that they will become AYa more active, intelligent, and effective citizenry who will be more capable of dealing with the problems of the community, state, union, and world today and in the future."

Northwest Missouri State University

The History of the Department