PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY · Winter 2001
Endowed Lecture 2001
“History by Hollywood: The Use and Abuse of the American Past
by
Robert Brent Toplin
Professor of History, University of North Carolina
February 22, 2001
7:30 p.m. Room 327
Smith Memorial Hall
Portland State University
MESSAGE FROM THE
PRESIDENT OF FRIENDS OF HISTORY
This year has started off well. Our fall lecture, "Still Learning About Lincoln," presented by Professor Douglas Wilson of Knox College, introduced by Senator Mark O. Hatfield, was very well attended and favorably received. Thank you to the Board members who helped make the lecture a reality and to you who attended.
Please reserve Thursday, February 22, 2001, 7:30pm, Vanport Room in Smith Center for the Endowed Lecture. Robert Brent Toplin, Professor of History at University of North Carolina will present "History by Hollywood: The Use and Abuse of the American Past." Dr. Toplin has written several books and is currently writing Reel History: Hollywood Interprets the Past. He has been the principal creator of historical dramas which have appeared on PBS Television and the Disney Channel. I think Dr. Toplin's lecture is quite timely, particularly since so many people today are "learning" history via popular movies such as The Patriot. I hope this lecture sounds as intriguing to you as it does to me.
Another date to keep in mind is Thursday May 3, 2001. Our Spring lecturer will be Professor Thomas Edwards, Whitman College, Walla Walla, Washington whose topic is the Civil War. Look for details in a future mailing. In addition to the lectures we offer during the year, Friends of History has begun a history book group which meets the last Monday of each month.
Although the group started off with only four members, it is growing. The book for February is The Negro's Civil War by James McPherson. The group is open to everyone and you may find the location, time, and book titles on the Friends of History web site: www.history.pdx.edu/foh
Lastly, I would like to thank all of you who have so graciously contributed to Friends of History. Your generosity is overwhelming. Because of you, we are able to maintain our service to the community, faculty, and students.
Thank you.
Cathy Alzner
LETTER FROM THE CHAIR
I would like to take this opportunity to better acquaint the Friends with our newest scholars. In the future I will update you with the academic adventures of the more historical (aged) among us, but our latest additions to the Department have been so excellent that I want to spread the news. The following are their accomplishments since coming to PSU in fall of 1999.
Caroline Litzenberger, our scholar of Reformation Britain, has been
selected as a Fellow of the world-renowned Royal Historical Society of
Great Britain. Caroline has presented the following papers: "Constructing
Gender in the English Reformation" at the 2000 Sixteenth Century Studies
Conference, "The Art of Dying Well: The Use of Published Texts in Sixteenth-century
English Will Preambles" at the annual Pacific Northwest Renaissance Conference.
Caroline’s excellence in community service has been recognized by her appointment
as the Mt. Hood Memorial Scholar in Residence at
Oregon Episcopal School.
John Ott, our European medievalist, has had an article come out in Viator:
Medieval and Renaissance Studies, a leading journal in Medieval Studies
edited at UCLA. Its title is "Urban Space, Memory and Episcopal Authority:
The Bishops of Amiens in Peace and Conflict, 1073-1164." John is
presenting new work in March at the annual convention of the Medieval Academy
of America, in Tempe, AZ, on "Heresy, Authority, and Devotion: Le Mans
(1116) Reconsidered." John's courses have become enormously popular
and he has become the veritable center of Medieval Studies at PSU.
Ken Ruoff, our scholar of modern Japan, is shepherding his book manuscript
"The Symbolic Monarchy in Japan's Postwar Democracy, 1945-1995: Royalism
in an Age of Popular Sovereignty" through the final stages before release
by Harvard University Press. He was also one of five Japan scholars
at PSU who secured a substantial grant from the Japanese Consulate of Portland
to support a series of lecture by eminent Japan scholars. Dr. Paul
Varley, a historian of medieval Japan, will deliver a slide lectures about
"Rikyu's Tea House," at 6:30 pm on March 1 in Smith Center 338, and Donald
Keene, the famous interpreter of Japanese literature, will be coming to
PSU in late April to lecture on “The Tale of Genjii.” We hope to
see many Friends of History at these events as well as at the several top-notch
Friends' events in the coming months.
Lois Becker
TREASURER REPORT
As we head into Endowed Lecture (our single largest annual expense) balances in the Friends of History accounts are as follows:
The donations make up almost entirely the unexpected $1,100 bill from PSU for mailing services made over the past several years. Thanks to these very generous donations our finances have returned to the strong position they were in prior to the expected expenditure.
The Friends of History would like to thank these very generous donors. The generosity of these individuals makes it possible for us to do more than sponsor the annual Endowed Lecture. Without these donations the Friends of History would be unable, for example, to join with other community organizations in bringing the study of history to the community, or to continue to provide grants to students and faculty at PSU for historical research and to attend conferences on historical scholarship.
David Bogdon
Treasurer
IMPORTANT DATES:
Feb. 22: 7:30 P.M. Endowed Lecture
“History by Hollywood: The Use and Abuse of the American Past”
Smith Memorial Hall Rm 327
March 1: 6:30 P.M. Dr. Paul Varley
“Rikyu’s Tea House”
Smith Center Rm 338
Friends of History
Board of Directors
Officers
Cathy Alzner, President
Jan Oeltjen Vice-President
Julie Lay, Secretary
Dave Bogdon, Treasurer
Board Members
Beryl Dahl
Lois Becker, History Department Chair
Gordon Dodds
Daniela Ebeling
Tim Garrison
Erica Goodwin
Vaughan Hill
Cindy Landrum
Bill Ray
Howard Shorr
Gail Throop
Roberta Ulrich
Honorary Board Member
Elizabeth Furse
Honorary Directors
Bernard V. Burke
Daniel Bernstine
The Friends of History newsletter is published quarterly by the Friends of History at Portland State University. The Friends of History is a group of individuals interested in history who believe that the Department of History at PSU offers a strong program worthy of community attention and support. In an age increasingly dependent on technology, the Friends of History shares a conviction that the disciplines inherent in historical analysis are vital not only to the preservation of the humanities, but to all sound thinking. The Friends of History promotes excellence in the teaching and study of history within the University and strives to increase awareness of this resource in the Portland metropolitan area.
Editor: Jan Oeltjen
Friends of History
Department of History
PO Box 751
Portland, OR 97207
503/725-3917