Shotwell, James Thomson
James Thomson Shotwell, 1874–1965, Canadian-American historian, b. Strathroy, Ont. A teacher of history at Columbia from 1900 and professor from 1908 to 1942, Shotwell also worked tirelessly to promote international understanding. He was an active member of several national and international labor, peace, and historical conferences, including the Paris Peace Conference (1918–19) and the conference at San Francisco (1945). He was director of the division of economics and history (1942–49) and president (1949–50) of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and served as chairman (1932–43) of the American committee on International Intellectual Cooperation of the League of Nations. Among his many works are An Introduction to the History of History (1922; rev. ed. The History of History, Vol. I, 1939), Plans and Protocols to End War (1925), War as an Instrument of National Policy (1929), The Origins of the International Labor Organization (1934), On the Rim of the Abyss (1936), The Great Decision (1944), and The Long Way to Freedom (1960). Shotwell was also coauthor of several authoritative studies on international relations and editor of Economic and Social History of the World War (150 vol., 1919–29).
See his autobiography (1961).