Newhall and Williams College

Richard A. Newhall's life seemed unremarkable. He earned a Ph. D. in history at Harvard. He went to war in 1917. He taught at the same institution, Williams College, for thirty-two years, observed it closely for almost half a century. In a New England village his daily route became part of an academic routine - classroom, library, office, home. But after his death in 1973 the papers he left revealed a remarkable inner life. Newhall had decided views - on war, on the liberal arts in higher education, on teaching and scholarship, academicians, public affairs. From 1917 to 1973 he expressed his views, usually in private letters. In the process he drew a portrait of a special kind of teacher, and college. This book pays tribute to that teacher, to the profession of teaching, and to the college where they flourished.