Shotwell, James Thomson

Shotwell, James Thomson,

1874–1965, Canadian-American historian, b. Strathroy, Ont. A teacher of history at Columbia from 1900 and professor from 1908 to 1942, Shotwell also worked tirelessly to promote international understanding. He was an active member of several national and international labor, peace, and historical conferences, including the Paris Peace Conference (1918–19) and the conference at San Francisco (1945). He was director of the division of economics and history (1942–49) and president (1949–50) of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and served as chairman (1932–43) of the American committee on International Intellectual Cooperation of the League of Nations. Among his many works are An Introduction to the History of History (1922; rev. ed. The History of History, Vol. I, 1939), Plans and Protocols to End War (1925), War as an Instrument of National Policy (1929), The Origins of the International Labor Organization (1934), On the Rim of the Abyss (1936), The Great Decision (1944), and The Long Way to Freedom (1960). Shotwell was also coauthor of several authoritative studies on international relations and editor of Economic and Social History of the World War (150 vol., 1919–29).

Bibliography

See his autobiography (1961).

Shotwell, James Thomson

(1874–1965) historian, internationalist; born in Strathroy, Ontario, Canada. He came to the U.S.A. in 1898 and taught history at Columbia University (1905–42). He was an adviser to President Woodrow Wilson at the Paris Peace Conference (1919); he continued to promote his vision of collective security and this led to the Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact (1928). He served as president of the League of Nations Associates (1935–39), was chairman of the consultants to the U.S. delegation to the United Nations Conference in 1945, and was president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (1949–50). He served as editor of what became the 152-volume work, Economic and Social History of the World War.