Department of History

History provides windows to the world and to the human psyche.  Clio, the muse of History, opens those windows to reveal vistas of the past that help us understand former times, places, and peoples as well as our own.

The study of History:

• enriches those who undertake it
• provides them with skills that they will find invaluable - to think critically, to write with authority, and to understand broadly

As James M. McPherson, a preeminent scholar of the Civil War, has written, history is “a continuing dialogue between the present and the past.”  Because of that, History is not just one written record but also an on-going analysis of many records. It is a challenge to do History well, but it's intriguing and, yes, it can even be fun.

This Month in History

Month: MARCH

March 23, 1839
"O.K." Enters National Vernacular

"On this day in 1839, the initials 'O.K.' are first published in The Boston Morning Post. Meant as an abbreviation for 'oll correct,' a popular slang misspelling of 'all correct' at the time, OK steadily made its way into the everyday speech of Americans.

"During the late 1830s, it was a favorite practice among younger, educated circles to misspell words intentionally, then abbreviate them and use them as slang when talking to one another. Just as teenagers today have their own slang based on distortions of common words, such as 'kewl' for 'cool' or 'DZ' for 'these,' the 'in crowd' of the 1830s had a whole host of slang terms they abbreviated. Popular abbreviations included 'KY' for 'No use' ('now yuse'), 'KG' for 'No go' ('Know go'), and 'OW' for all right ('oll wright')." (Source)