George Washington Williams, Historian Author(s): John Hope Franklin Source: The Journal of Negro History, Vol. 31, No. 1 (Jan., 1946), pp. 60-90 Published by: Association for the Study of African American Life and History, Inc. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2714968 . Accessed: 17/02/2015 12:12 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact
[email protected]. Association for the Study of African American Life and History, Inc. is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Journal of Negro History. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 81.194.22.198 on Tue, 17 Feb 2015 12:12:19 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions GEORGE WASHINGTON WILLIAMS, HISTORIAN In the social and intellectualupheaval that followedin thewake of CivilWar and Reconstruction,no area ofknowl- edge was moreacutely affected by the forcesat work,both in Americaand in Europe,than the study of history.If the economicrevolution had wroughtgreat changes in theways of makinga living,the rise of the new "scientificschool" of historianshad, in a similarmanner, called forthan en- tirelynew approachto thewhole problem of the studyand writingof history.It was as thoughthe new scientificage thathad beenushered in by innumerableinventions and dis- coveries around the middle of the centuryhad pervaded everyaspect of man's endeavorand had laid bare the fal- lacies and discrepanciesof his earlierpursuits.