Woodrow Wilson to Edward S. Corwin
Title
Woodrow Wilson to Edward S. Corwin
Creator
Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924
Identifier
WWP25154
Date
1918 August 30
Description
History will have to be left for later.
Source
Library of Congress, Woodrow Wilson Papers
Publisher
Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum
Subject
World War, 1914-1918--United States
World War, 1914-1918--History
Contributor
Danna Faulds
Language
English
Provenance
Document scan was taken from Library of Congress microfilm reel of the Wilson Papers. WWPL volunteers transcribed the text.
Text
My dear Professor Corwin:
To tell you the truth, I do not know upon what the newspaper statements with regard to the action of certain Departments of the government with a view to getting the history of these extraordinary days we are passing through properly and promptly set forth were founded on, because I have had no part in the matter and know nothing of it. I saw the same notices that you saw, and assumed that it meant merely that the military authorities in particular were seeking to have things that would not be officially recorded, studied and collated in a way which they would be sure would not be ephemeral and be lost. Personally, I do not think that this is the time to write the executive and legislative history of the war. That history will be accessible for a great many years, and more accessible in the future than it is now, in the official documents, and I have always had the feeling that an official “Remembrancer” never could do the same work that a historian could do at a later time.
With best wishes,
Cordially and sincerely yours,
[Woodrow Wilson]
Professor Edward S. Corwin,
Princeton University,
Princeton, New Jersey.
To tell you the truth, I do not know upon what the newspaper statements with regard to the action of certain Departments of the government with a view to getting the history of these extraordinary days we are passing through properly and promptly set forth were founded on, because I have had no part in the matter and know nothing of it. I saw the same notices that you saw, and assumed that it meant merely that the military authorities in particular were seeking to have things that would not be officially recorded, studied and collated in a way which they would be sure would not be ephemeral and be lost. Personally, I do not think that this is the time to write the executive and legislative history of the war. That history will be accessible for a great many years, and more accessible in the future than it is now, in the official documents, and I have always had the feeling that an official “Remembrancer” never could do the same work that a historian could do at a later time.
With best wishes,
Cordially and sincerely yours,
[Woodrow Wilson]
Professor Edward S. Corwin,
Princeton University,
Princeton, New Jersey.
Original Format
Letter
To
Corwin, Edward S. (Edward Samuel), 1878-1963
Collection
Citation
Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924, “Woodrow Wilson to Edward S. Corwin,” 1918 August 30, WWP25154, World War I Letters, Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum, Staunton, Virginia.