1
Spring 2010
History H511 (28149)
Cultural History of Philanthropy in the Atlantic World
Dr. Kevin C. Robbins
Associate Professor of History and Philanthropic Studies
IUPUI/IU Center on Philanthropy
Class Time: Thursdays, 6:00 p.m. to 8:40 p.m..
Place: Cavanaugh Hall 211.
Professor’s Office: 503Q Cavanaugh Hall.
Office Phone: 317-274-5819.
FAX: 317-278-7800.
E-Mail: krobbin1@iupui.edu
Office Hours: T/Th. 10:30-11:30 a.m. (and by appointment).
Course Description: This graduate seminar for M.A.-level students will provide a rigorous
and memorable grounding in the comparative socio-cultural, socio-political, and socioeconomic history of philanthropic actors and organizations within the Atlantic World from
early modern times through modern times (circa 1600—circa 1930). This course is intended
to familiarize graduate students with vital, long-neglected primary sources in the field, the
most acclaimed secondary scholarship on relevant themes, and the most important scholarly
debates over multiple, relevant historic subjects in European and American society involving
the cultural history of philanthropy. These include the drama our ancestors associated with
gift rituals of all kinds, the various Anglo-American laws intended to regulate, contain, and
discourage philanthropic action, donor motives over time, and the key roles of
“philanthropists” in the support and police of modern, ultra-patriotic, nationalistic, militarily
aggressive, capitalizing societies. Students will also explore the dynamic worlds of innovation
and experiment in philanthropic action that mark the development of manic fund raising,
professionalized social welfare including endowed foundations, and hegemonic nation states
in the West—perhaps “philanthropy’s” greatest achievement. The various historical
manifestations and implications of a sustained Western mania for “charity organization”
endemic to early modern, Anglo-Saxon societies (like the U.S.) will form a major focus of
assigned readings and class discussions. This Western, Anglophone obsession with the evermore rigorous and “scientific” management of philanthropy generated fierce debates among
historic charitable actors and an enormous quantity of contemporary documentation—now
often ignored or forgotten. All of this will be prime material for our joint investigations this
term.
Students will observe closely how charitable actors and organizations over time have
continually vied to shape and restructure the social hierarchies and behavioral norms of
Western citizens, especially in England and the United States. Philanthropy as nothing more
than civil war by other means among contending, misinformed, and uncaring elites will be a
continual focus of our investigations. Students will work to comprehend the historic
tensions created by the propensity of major donors to employ their gifts above all in service
to themselves and their frightful misconceptions of what welfare “society” as a whole or the
state as primary beneficiary really deserve. “Philanthropy” as so often a bizarre outcome of
elite social and political delusions will challenge us throughout the course and its assigned
2
readings. This will be seen, for example, in the “philanthropic” manias of Jeffersonian
America that led, inexorably, to the wide-spread destruction of native American societies and
culture—one of the greatest achievements of “philanthropy” in the early American Republic.
Deep-seated suspicions among certain English and American elites about the inherent and
supposedly irremediable corruption of most endowed philanthropic organizations will be
addressed through careful study of the various regulations English and American law makers
imposed on their societies in a desperate effort to control what they believed to be rampant
fraud among the allegedly “charitable.” On the Western side of the Atlantic, we will look
closely as the remarkably heterogeneous and incoherent body of American law, state by
state, so often intended to limit and discourage charitable actions of all kind. The players
and the stakes in the famous (or infamous) “Dartmouth College Case” before the U.S.
Supreme Court will be examined in detail. The preposterous notion that philanthropic
agents or organizations somehow assure or perpetuate “civil” society will also be recurrently
tested and critiqued. How the assumptions, preconceptions, and misconceptions of
determined charity organizers forced their way into the lives of ordinary “beneficiaries” will
be examined first through the ubiquitous training manuals for American volunteer
philanthropists that circulated so widely in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Then, this
analysis will culminate with a close study of the American prohibition movement, arguably
one of the greatest achievement of U.S. voluntary associations and assorted philanthropies,
that, with the most ridiculous of intentions, had, ultimately, a disastrous impact on the
overall quality of life and legality in these United States. Be Prepared!
Vital catalytic forces manifest in historic philanthropy and requiring close attention in this
class include: rationalism, nationalism, and capitalism. Studying the ramifications of
rationalized, organized, nationalized, and capitalized “charity” or “philanthropy” will be
crucial here. Students must also work diligently to track and comprehend the development
of "scientific philanthropy," that early modern mutation of European and American
conceptions of charity that remains to this day the reigning or hegemonic conception of the
subject. Students, as "scientific philanthropists" in training themselves (whether they like it
or not—their fate is inescapable now), need absolutely to know the origins of this very
strange, historic philanthropic regime that molds their current academic formation and
essentially determines their entire future working existence. Students will learn what the
many costs and few benefits of “sciencifying” (or rationalizing or organizing) philanthropy
have been, especially with regard to older regimes of philanthropy eclipsed or totally
destroyed by the determined advocates of a rationalized, nationalized, and capitalized
"science" of philanthropy.
From the outset of this course, all students should regard all definitions of "charity" or
"philanthropy" as open and provisional, subject to deconstruction and revision in light of
each reading assigned. Students should firmly put aside all modern definitions and
preconceived notions of what "philanthropy" can or should mean (modern
definitions of the term tend to be extremely limited, mutilated, truncated, often very
naïve, comically self-serving, and almost always ahistorical). (The hopelessly naïve
“sectorial” or “non-profit” conceptions of the philanthropic action should be
discarded outright and at once.) It is essential to watch for shifting historic meanings
for "philanthropy" and all related terms in course readings. The historic repertoire of
"philanthropies" is very diverse. An initial working definition of "philanthropy" for this
course (subject to continual criticism and revision) might be: "Individual or collective action,
3
imposed, incumbent, or voluntary on the part of donors, intended to enhance public order
as defined by contentious, propertied elites vying for domination over one another." We will
work together to investigate the full social, political, and cultural implications of this
formulation of "philanthropy" within the Atlantic World.
Regular course meetings will be divided into brief introductory remarks by the instructor
and extensive class discussions of the assigned readings. THIS IS A READING- AND
WRITING-INTENSIVE SEMINAR! ALL CLASS MEMBERS MUST DEVOTE
EXTENSIVE TIME AND ATTENTION TO THE THOROUGH READING OF
ALL REQUIRED TEXTS AND TO THE ANALYSIS OF THOSE TEXTS
ORALLY AND IN WRITING. NO EXCEPTIONS! All students are expected to
complete all readings by the date on which the readings are listed in the Course Outline
and Assignments shown below. Students must come to class fully prepared to share their
informed opinions about the readings they have accomplished. The instructor will regularly
question and call upon individual students to give their opinions about readings and themes
of analysis encountered. Be Prepared! And Don't be Shy! Speak Up! Class discussions
will focus on the sources, methods of argument, main contentions, and conclusions of the
authors read. All Students ALWAYS must make certain to bring with them to class
their copy of the assigned readings on the day or days each reading is to be
discussed. NO EXCEPTIONS TO THIS BASIC RULE!
Course Objectives: Within the context of the Philanthropic Studies program, this course
has several key objectives. 1) Deepen students’ knowledge of catalytic historic events and
primary sources in the field shaping contemporary practices and concerns of philanthropy.
2) Hone students’ analytical reading ability and capacity for synthetic use of diverse historical
information and argument. 3) Provide all students with a rigorous knowledge of historic
debates and research methods (especially as deployed by historians) within the field so as to
prepare each of them for the pursuit of future independent research in the field and
production of their own high quality research work clearly advancing their superior
knowledge of the subject.
Course Readings: Readings for this graduate seminar will be taken from texts for purchase
in the IUPUI bookstore (or from other bookshops and online book dealers). Please Note:
Additional Required Course Readings will be distributed in photocopy format to all
students free of charge by the professor. These additional required readings are
marked in the assignments below with a double asterisk (**). These additional
required readings will be distributed to all students well in advance of their date of
discussion. See below. All students should have their own personal copies of each
reading. Readings for the course this year come from the finest American and European
academic presses and offer all students worthy models for incisive comprehension of the
field. Class texts for sale (via the IUPUI College Bookstore or Online Book Dealers)
and in order of use are:
Shakespeare, William. Timon of Athens. Oxford World’s Classics Edition, Oxford Univ. Press.
ISBN: 978-0-19-0953744-0.
Bosanquet, Helen Dendy. Social Work in London, 1869-1912: A History of the Charity
Organization Society. Kessinger Publishing Reprints. ISBN: 1437268374.
4
Sheehan, Bernard W. Seeds of Extinction. Jeffersonian Philanthropy and the American Indian.
W.W. Norton & Co. ISBN: 978-0-393-007169. [Online Book Sellers Only!]
Watson, Frank Dekker. The Charity Organization Movement in the United States: A Study in
American Philanthropy. Kessinger Publishing Reprints. ISBN: 1437013929.
Charity Organization Society of the City of New York, Handbook for Friendly Visitors
Among the Poor (1883). Kessinger Publishing Reprints. ISBN: 1436865115.
Clark, Norman H. Deliver Us From Evil: An Interpretation of American Prohibition.
W.W. Norton & Co. ISBN¨978-0-393-09170-0.
All students should have their own copies of all class texts. Students purchasing books
online should get exactly the copies and editions mentioned above and get them at once.
Overnight delivery is imperative for all online book purchases.
Course Requirements: Regular and punctual attendance at all class sessions; completion of
all assigned readings by the dates listed on the syllabus, punctual completion of all written
assignments, completion of a short comparative essay focused on class readings with a topic
assigned by the professor; and punctual completion of one, 20-page (minimum) research
paper or comparative text review (with brief annotated bibliography) on a germane topic
approved in advance by the professor.
Grading: Short comparative essay 15% of final grade, research paper and annotated
bibliography 70% of final grade, course participation 15% of final grade.
Course Outline and Reading Assignments
(N.B. All Readings to be Completed by the Date On Which They Are Listed.)
Thr. 01/14 Course Introduction. Distribution and discussion of syllabus. Organization
of second reading assignment (Elizabethan Statute of Charitable Uses and Its
Regulatory Intent). Introductory remarks on course content, objectives, and
assignments. The requisite dimensions of historic research and writing in the
field.
Thr. 01/21
Lecture/Discussion: Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens (circa 1606-23). What is
The Nature of the Drama Inherent in the Progressive Insanity of a
Philanthropist? Why Would the Greatest Anglophone Playwright Turn the
Miseries of a Forsaken (Foolish?) Patron Into a Stage Play Now? Why is
Dysfunctional Benevolence Now a Theatrical Subject? Philanthropy, Money,
Management, Friendship, and the Political Economy of Insane Generosity(?).
Readings: Shakespeare, Timon of Athens, “Introduction” and “The Life of
Timon of Athens,” pp. 1-120, 144-153, and 167-324.
Readings on Elizabethan Statute of Charitable Usage to be Distributed
In Class.
5
Thr. 01/28 Lecture/Discussion: The Elizabethan Statutes of Charitable Usage and State
Police of Suspect Philanthropy. Documents, Scholarly Interpretations, and
Historical Repercussions.
Readings: (**) Elizabethan Statutes of Charitable Usage; (**) Gareth Jones,
History of the Law of Charity 1532-1827, Chapts. I-III, pp. 3-56; and (**) John
Herne, The Law of Charitable Uses Set Forth and Explained (1660), Excerpts.
All Students Must Have Submitted Potential Final Research Topic to
Professor in Writing. No Exceptions.
Readings for Donna Andrew to Be Distributed in Class.
Thr. 02/04
Lecture/Discussion: Intensive Debate On and the Institutional Forms of
Charity in the Modern Commercial Metropolis (or the Embourgeoisement of
Modern Charity). How “Philanthropy” Became Police for Anglo-Saxons.
What Are the Ideas and the Costs of “Philanthropy” on a Nationalized and
Globalized Scale for the English?
The Socio-Economic, Socio-Political, and SocioCultural History of English Philanthropy as Local and National Police.
Dynamic Changes in English Philanthropic Organizations, Activist Trustees,
The Volatility of Charitable Capital, Manic Fundraising, and the Progressive
Nationalization of London Charity.
Readings: (**) Donna Andrew, Philanthropy and Police: London Charity in the
Eighteenth Century, Introduction and Chapters 1-3, pp. 3-97.
Thr. 02/11 Lecture/Discussion: The Socio-Economic, Socio-Political, and SocioCultural History of English Philanthropy as Local and National Police.
Dynamic Changes in English Philanthropic Organizations, Activist Trustees,
The Increasing Volatility of Charitable Capital, Manic Fundraising, and the
Progressive Nationalization and Imperialization of London Charity.
Readings: (**) Andrew, Philanthropy and Police, Chapters 4-6 and Conclusion,
pp. 98-202.
Thr. 02/18 Lecture/Discussion: What is Modern, English “Charity Organization” and
To What Extent Has Organized, Anglo-Saxon Charity Organized You,
Your Conceptions of “Philanthropy”, and Your Professional Ambitions??
Readings: Helen Dendy Bosanquet, Social Work in London, 1869-1912: A
History of the Charity Organization Society, Part I, Chapts. I-VII, pp. 1-156.
Thr. 02/25 Lecture/Discussion: What are the Leading Values of the COS? English
Elite Socio-Economic, Socio-Political, Socio-Psychological, and SocioPhilanthropic Conceptions and Misconceptions. English Social Policy and
The Charitable Imperative of Making Everyone Autonomous, Economically
Driven and Independent, Profit-Maximizing, Productive—Only Very
Occasionally Benevolent—Citizens.
Readings: Bosanquet, Social Work in London, Part II, Chapts. VIII-XIV,
pp. 159-300.
Readings on the Legal History of American Philanthropy to be
Distributed in Class.
6
Thr. 03/04 Lecture/Discussion: The Vital Legal History of American Philanthropy.
Conflicting State Laws Regulating Charity and the Problematic Nature of
The Dartmouth College Case Before the U.S. Supreme Court (1819).
Readings: (**) Howard S. Miller, The Legal Foundations of American Philanthropy
1776-1840, pp. ix-59; (**)“The Dartmouth College Case” (including Daniel
Webster’s Argument before the Supreme Court, Chief Justice John Marshall’s
Decision, and Justice Joseph Story’s Concurring Opinion) from David
Hammack, The Making of the Nonprofit Sector in the U.S.: A Reader, pp. 123-141;
and (**) Elizabeth B. Monroe, “The Influence of the Dartmouth College Case
on the American Law of Educational Charities,” Journal of Supreme Court History,
Vol. 32, issue 1, 2007, pp. 1-21.
Thr. 03/11 Lecture/Discussion: Jeffersonian “Philanthropy” in the Early Republic
and Its Terribly Destructive Effects on Native Americans. Or Watching
Philanthropists Build Yet More Roads to Hell.
Readings: Bernard Sheehan, Seeds of Extinction: Jeffersonian Philanthropy
And the American Indian, Preface, Introduction, and Parts One and Two,
Chapts. I-VI and Conclusion, pp. ix-181 and 276-285.
SPRING BREAK SPRING BREAK NO CLASS NO CLASS 03/15-03/19
Thr. 03/25 Lecture/Discussion: The Triumph of the Charity Organization Movement in
The U.S. The Proliferation of Charity Organizers and the Socio-Economic and
Socio-Cultural Repercussions of this American Obsession.
Readings: Frank Dekker Watson, The Charity Organization Movement in the
United States (1922), Preface and chapts. I-V, pp. ix-171.
Thr. 04/01 Lecture/Discussion: The Detailed History of the Charity Organization
Movement in the U.S. Actors, Agencies, Agendas, and the Lasting Impact
Of the COS on American Philanthropic Activity.
Readings: Watson, Charity Organization Movement in the U.S., Chapts. VI, VII, IX,
And XII, pp. 172-263, 337-406, and 492-521.
Thr. 04/08 INDEPENDENT READING AND RESEARCH WEEK. NO CLASS!
ALL STUDENTS SHOULD PREPARE FINAL DETAILED
OUTLINE OF INDEPENDENT RESEARCH PAPER AND
COMPLETE ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF RESEARCH
SOURCES.
Thr. 04/15 Lecture/Discussion: The American COS and the “Friendly Visitation” of
The Poor: Methods, Objectives, and Instructions. Organized Charity as
A Mandate for Ever More Aggressive and Invasive Surveillance of the Needy.
The American Quest to Save Beneficiaries from Dreaded Dependence on Alms.
Readings: Charity Organization of the City of New York, Handbook for Friendly
Visitors Among the Poor (1883), pp. 1-88.
Annotated Bibliography for Research Paper Due in Class.
7
Thr. 04/22 Lecture/Discussion: The Greatest Achievement of Organized American
Philanthropyy: Prohibition(??) You Decide. U.S. Charitable Actors and
Voluntary Associations in the Assault on “Demon Rum.”
Readings: Norman Clark, Deliver Us From Evil, Chapts. 1-6, pp. 1-117.
Thr. 04/29 Lecture/Discussion: The American Anti-Saloon League, U.S. Voluntarism,
And the Campaign to Promote Temperance as a National Virtue Incumbent
Upon All. Philanthropy as the Dictatorship of the Sober?
Readings: Clark, Deliver Us From Evil, Chapts. 7-10, pp. 118-226.
Monday, May 3, Research Paper and Final Annotated Bibliography Due to
Instructor. Late Papers Fail! Submit all final written work IN HARD COPY ONLY
to professor’s mailbox, CA 504M or to the black metal bin on his office door (CA
503Q) by 5:00 p.m. No Exceptions!