By Roy F. Nichols Mr. Nichols, professor of history emeritus at
the University of Pennsylvania, delivered this presidential
address at the Hilton Hotel at Rockefeller Center, New York
City, December 29, 1966. American Historical Review 72:2
(January 1967): 411-424. Forty-six years ago tonight the
American Historical Association held a session such as this in
the city of Washington. Upon that occasion the late Edward
Channing delivered the address. As a young man he had been
present at the first meeting of the Association in 1884, and,
presumably, he had heard the speech delivered by Andrew D.
White, the first President. As a graduate student attending my
first meeting of this organization I listened to Channing in
1920. (This represents a cycle of sorts.) When President White
spoke, the world, in sharp contrast to the present, seems to
have been relatively quiet. England was engrossed in the
Victorian Age, secure in the midst of great possessions. The
unification of Germany and Italy had been accomplished. Th