Society for historians finds home on campus

A specialized society for historians has been given a new home for free on campus.

The Society for Historians of the Early American Republic, which was once just a group of professors scattered across the nation, will now have a central headquarters in the new home of the McNeil Center for Early American Studies.

When the McNeil Center moves to its new location at 34th and Walnut streets -- where the building is scheduled to be completed sometime this fall -- the SHEAR headquarters will move, too.

The only catch is that the headquarters is complete with a phone and a secretary -- and not much else.

But both the 27-year-old society and officials from the McNeil Center itself -- which is devoting very little financial assistance to the project -- say the move will result in an immense change in the way SHEAR functions.

"It's a matter of what phone we answer, but we are actually able to answer calls now," said Zelini Hubbard, the administrative assistant for SHEAR and the McNeil Center.

The society, which is not affiliated with the University, began when history professors across the nation felt "the profession as a whole was moving away from interesting white men," said History professor and McNeil Center Director Daniel, noting the importance of America's founders.

SHEAR attempts to keep up with various trends in the field while maintaining its focus on the history of the early republic.

Amy Baxter-Bellany, the associate director of the 1,400-member society, said that "it is the nature of history to be constantly changing ... depending on the emphasis given to the subject."

Some professors at Penn have expressed excitement about SHEAR's arrival.

The society will "help solidify Penn as one of the the most important centers for research on early America," Richter, who played a key role in bringing SHEAR to campus.

The Journal of the Early Republic, SHEAR's quarterly publication, is now being issued by Penn Press.

"This gives grad students a chance to work on the the journal," Richter said.

Members of the University might benefit in other ways, too.

The society "gives faculty of the History and English departments a chance to take part in writing grants," Baxter-Bellany said.

And SHEAR's annual conference -- which brings hundreds of the society's members together -- will now be held in Philadelphia every three years.

This will give Penn professors "an outside view of other historians that they normally wouldn't see," Baxter-Bellany said.

This year, the conference was held downtown and had a record attendance of 377 professors from around the nation.

"Philadelphia is a major mecca for early American scholars," Richter said. "And SHEAR is one more element in this terrific mixture."

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