ANNUAL REPORTS OF THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE YEARS 1927 AND 1928 IN OiiE VOLUME AND TWO SUPPLEMENTAL VOLUMES UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON 11929 For aale by the Superintendent ot Documents, Washington, D. C. - - - - - Price 75 Cen tr LETTER OF SUBMITTAL SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION' W(!J8hington, D. 0., June '27, 19'29. To the Congress of the United States: In accordance with the act of incorporation of the American Historical Association approved January 4, 1889, I have the honor to submit to Congress the annual reports of the association for the years 1927 and 192.8. I have the honor to be, Very respectfully, your obedient servant, CHARLES D. WALCOTT, Secretary. 3 .. ACT OF INCORPORATION Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of AmeriCOJ in Congress assembled, That Andrew D. White, of Ithaca, in the State of New York; George Bancroft, of Washington, in the District of Columbia; Justin Winsor, of Cam­ bridge, in the State of Massachusetts; William F. Poole, of Chicago, in the State of Illinois; Herbert B. Adams, of Baltimore, in the State of Maryland; Clarence W. Bowen, of Brooklyn, in the State of New York, their associates and successors, are hereby created, in the Dis­ trict of Columbia, a body corporate and politic by the name of the American Historical Association, for the promotion of historical studies, the collection and preservation of historical manuscripts, and for kindred purposes in the interest of American history and of his­ tory in America. Said association is authorized to hold real and personal estate in the District of Columbia so far only as may be necessary to its lawful ends to an amount not exceeding $500,000, to adopt a constitution and make by-laws not inconsistent with law. Said association shall have its principal office at Washington, in the District of Columbia, and may hold its annual meetings in such places as the said incorporators shall determine. Said association shall report annually to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution concerning its proceedings and the condition of historical study in America. Said secretary shall communicate to Congress the whole of such report, or such portions thereof as he shall see fit. The Regents of the Smithsonian Institution are authorized to permit said associa­ tion to deposit its collections, manuscripts, books, pamphlets, and other material for history in the Smithsonian Institution or in the National Museum at their discretion, upon such conditions and under such rules as they shall prescribe. [Approved, January 4, 1889.] 4 LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION' wASIDNGTON, D. c., Jwne 30, 19'29. Sm: As provided by law, we have the honor to submit herewith the annual reports of the American Historical Association for the years 1927 and 1928, included in a single volume. In an effort to clear the arrears that had accumulated, all reports since the report for 1922, together with the reports in this volume, have been limited to the proceedings of the association and of the Pacific Coast Branch. At the outset an, effort was made with the Government Printing Office to have two reports at a time appear in a single volume. But the reports of the association are issued as congressional documents, and as document numbers had been assigned in advance, and the document index which contains a numerical list of these numbers had been printed and distributed, no consolidation could be arranged until the reports had been brought to date. Reports, for which no numbers had been assigned, could then be consolidated and issued under a single number. Accordingly the reports for 1927 and 1928 now appear in a single volume. Two supplemental volumes contain a bibliography of the Writ­ ings on American History during the years 1927 and 1928, respec­ tively, compiled by Miss Grace Gardner Griffin. Very respectfully, LEO F. STOCK, Ohairman, Oommittee on Publications. ALLEN R. BoYD, Editorr. To the SECRETARY OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, Washington, D. 0. 5 CONTENTS Page I. Proceedings of the forty-second annual meeting of the American Historical Association_________________________________________ 27 II. Proceedings of the twenty-third annual meeting of the Pacific Coast Branch of the American Historical Association__________________ 115 III. Proceedings of the forty-third annual meeting of the American Historical Association_________________________________________ 133 IV. Proceedings of the twenty-fourth annual meeting of the Pacific Coast Branch of the American Historical Association___________ 197 Index----------------------------------------------------------- 209 7 CONSTITUTION I The name of this society shall be The .American Historical Association. II Its objects shall be the promotion of historical studies. III Any person approved by the executive council may become a member by paying $5, and after the first year may continue a member by paying an annual fee of $5. On payment of $100 any person may become a life member, exempt from fees. Persons not resident in the United States may be elected as honorary or corresponding members and be exempt from the payment of fees. IV The officers shall be a president, a first vice president, a second vice president, a secretary, a treasurer, an assistant secretary-treasurer, and an editor. The president, vice presidents, secretary, and treasurer shall be elected by ballot at each regular annual meeting in the manner provided in the by laws The assistant secretary-treasurer and the editor shall be elected by the execu­ tive council. They shall perform such duties and receive such compensation as the council may determine. If the office of president shall, through any cause, become vacant, the first vice president shall thereupon become president, and the second vice president shall become first vice president whenever the office of first vice president shall have been vacated. v There shall be an executive council, constituted as follows: 1. The president, the vice presidents, the secretary, and the treasurer. 2. Elected members, eight in number, to be chosen annually in the same manner as the officers of the association. 3. The former presidents, but a former president shall be entitled to vote for the three years succeeding the expiration of his term as president, and no longer. VI The executive council shall conduct the business, manage the property, and care for the general interests of the association. In the exercise of its proper functions, the council may appoint such committees, commissions, and boards as it may deem necessary. The council shall make a full report of its activities to the annual meeting of the association. The association may by vote at any annual meeting instruct the executive council to discontinue or enter upon any activity, and may take such other action in directing the affairs of the associa­ tion as it may deem necessary and proper. VII This constitution may be amended at any annual meeting, notice of such amendment having been given at the previous annual meeting or the proposed amendment having received the approval of the executive council. 9 BY-LAWS I The officers provided for by the constitution shall have the duties and per­ form the functions customarily attached to their respective offices with such others as may from time to time be prescribed. II A. nomination committee of five members shall be chosen at each annual business meeting in the manner hereafter provided for the election of officers of the association. At such convenient time prior to the 15th of September as it may determine, it shall invite every member to express to it his preference regarding every office to be filled by election at the ensuing annual business meeting and regarding the composition of the new nominating committee then to be chosen. It shall publish and mail to each member at least one month prior to the annual business meeting such nominations as it may determine upon for each elective office and for the next nominating committee. It shall prepare for use at the annual business meeting an official ballot containing, as candidates for each office or committee membership to be filled thereat, the names of its nominees and also the names of any other nominees which may be proposed to the chairman of the committee in writing by 20 or more members of the associa­ tion at least one day before the annual business meeting, but such nominations by petition shall not be presented until after the committee shall have rep()rted its nominations to the association, as provided for in the present by-law. The official ballot shall also provide under, each office a blank space for voting for such further nominees as any member may present from the floor at the time of the election. III The annual election of officers and the choice of a nominating committee for the ensuing year shall be conducted by the use of an official ballot prepared as described in By-law II. ' IV The association authorizes the payment of traveling expenses incurred by the voting members of the council attending one meeting of that body a year, this meeting to be other than that held in connection with the annual meeting of the association. The council may provide for the payment of expenses incurred by the secre­ tary, the assistant secretary-treasurer, and the editor in such travel as may be necessary to the transaction of the association's business. 10 AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION Organized at Saratoga, N. Y., September 10, 1884. Incorporated by Congress January 4, 1889 OFFICERS FOR 1929 PRESIDENT JAMES HARVEY ROBINSON, PH. D., LL. D. New York, N. Y. FIRST VIC'l!l PRESIDENT EVARTS B. GREENE, PH. D. Oolumbia University SECOND VIC'l!l PRESIDENT EPHRAIM DOUGLASS ADAMS, PH. D., LL. D., LITT. D.