Progressivism and the Masculinity Crisis

Fourteen years ago William Langer stated that the next assignment for professional historians ought to be to deepen the comprehension of the past “through the exploration of the concepts and findings of modern psychology” 9 The historical literature since Professor Langer's address to the American Historical Association in 1957, however, makes it apparent that historians have generally continued to be inattentive to the possibility of making important discoveries through the use of psychology. This is most unfortunate, because it has prevented historians from knowing more about important factors pertinent to understanding not only individuals but sociohistorical movements and climates of opinion as well. Moreover, to neglect personal feelings is unwarranted, since a variety of autobiographical material exists on many individuals, material containing many insights, hunches, self-doubts, anxieties, exaggerated concerns, and fears. Too often historians have dismissed these data as unimportant reflections on the game of life, in favor of the more typical career information.

Historians of progressivism in particular have been notably preoccupied with social, economic, and geographic factors, social status anxieties, religious affiliations, ideological interpretations of history, and the organizational techniques employed by progressive reformers. Still lacking is an adequate awareness of personality, that is, of the totality of man's or a woman's emotional and social characteristics and identity. If the past decade has been instructive at all, it should have taught us that people, men and women of all ages, colors, and creeds, do not necessarily respond to issues and national political figures according to articulated political philosophies on the issues but