Part 1 - The Institute Libraries - Institute for Advanced Study

country for classical hwnistic studies. Even at this time,
this type of activity did not escape the criticism of sow of
the Trustees.l
Fosdick quoted Anson Phelps Stokes as saying that Flexner's emphasis
seemed to be "mainly on ancient history, ancient langusges end archae-
ology;" he hirself believed the humanities should be more broadly con-
-
ceived and supported. Ten years later Dr. David Stevens, Director of
the Humanities for the Rockefeller Foundation, characterized Flexner's
early progrzrs as a credit because of their "mgnitude," but a discredit
because "they buttressed scholasticism and antiquarianism in our univer-
sities."
2
The Director could vell have cited his own criticism of the
foundations' failure to evloy experts in the fields in which their aid
was dispensed; as will be recalled, he urged in 1924 that qualified men
be placed on the staff to'handle the work in two new fields -- the
humanities, and music and the fine arts. (See p. 33) When the Rocke-
feller foundations were reorganized in 1929, there were five or six
divisions over which qualified experts presided in administering funds
for aid to education on a world-wide basis. AS Fl-r was to make
clear his vievs later, he apparently approved of the divisions into the
social sciences, the hrrmanities,and the sciences, medical education, etc.,
but regarded the geographical spread as impossible of satisfactory ad-
ministration. But that is beside the point here. When he talked of the
place of the humanities in his concept of the modem university, he
urged a broad development, which was needed more urgently in the modem
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world than continuing discrimination in prombting the scie&w, Thus
'.
he wrote:
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