Bill Caraher |

For this week’s post, I thought it would be fun to look back to 1920 and read a little about the Quarterly’s origin story. It amuses me to read that faculty back then were much like faculty now: concerned about having the time and energy to sustain the Quarterly. In the vigorous lead up to the next issue, I share some of that anxiety!

For more from the early years of the Quarterly, check out the First Series in the archive.

Ten Years of the Quarterly Journal

A little more than ten years ago, Dr. Frank L. McVey, who was then the President of the University of North Dakota, suggested to the faculty that they establish a high-grade periodical with a scientific and literary character. He believed such a publication could represent the institution’s intellectual life and act as a medium for exchanging ideas between its members and the outside scholarly world. He considered this highly necessary given their situation, being geographically cut off from other centers of thought and educational activity. He also felt sure that the stimulation of worthily maintaining such a publication would be of great value to the men themselves and the institution.

The faculty took the matter under advisement, and after significant discussion, it was recommended to the Board of Regents. However, most of the men were not very enthusiastic. Many were hesitant, fearing that while starting the work might be easy, and perhaps carrying it on for a year or two, it would soon become too much of a task and eventually have to be dropped, which would reflect poorly on them. But the recommendation was made, the Regents acted favorably, and the publication was launched as The Quarterly Journal of the University of North Dakota. A small editorial committee of three was put in charge of the management, and it has continued that way since.

Early on, it was decided to organize the work into three departments: contributed articles, book reviews, and University Notes. The articles were intended to be serious studies primarily contributed by University men and women, reflecting the varied work of the different departments and colleges. The reviews were to cover recent noteworthy books of interest to scholarly people. The Notes were to be editorials chronicling important events at the University. It was also decided that each issue should be relatively homogeneous.

The first issue was released in September 1910, at the time of Dr. McVey’s inauguration as President of the University. The publication has continued since then, with the current issue being the fourth and final of volume ten. The venture has been a success, even exceeding the expectations of its early sponsors. While it was not primarily started as a subscription magazine but rather for exchange, it has still gained a respectable paid circulation without any particular efforts in that direction. The mailing list includes paid subscribers as well as leading high schools in North Dakota, major colleges and universities in the United States, numerous learned societies, high-grade educational periodicals, technical magazines, notable publishing houses, representative newspapers, and many foreign addresses.

Many appreciative and unsolicited comments have been received about the publication. Pages could be filled with complimentary quotations. Occasional printing delays cause an issue to be late, which is sure to bring letters of inquiry from near and far. In one instance, letters came from Canada, England, France, Australia, and many parts of the United States. Requests for back issues containing specific studies are frequent. These requests come from widely separated places; for example, a single mail delivery recently brought requests from London, England; Bombay, India; and a rural post office in northern Michigan. They also come from all kinds of people, with recent letters arriving from both a university president and a girl on a Texas cattle ranch.

The Quarterly Journal has established a very definite place for itself in the magazine world. The yearly issues are eagerly awaited and carefully preserved. It is included in important bibliographies and is widely accepted by prominent people as an authoritative and established institution.

The publication has also been of great benefit to the University. It has helped to spread knowledge of the institution and broaden its influence. It has also contributed in more direct and objective ways. The exchanges it brings to the Library are numerous and valuable, and the positive influence on the writers of the articles and on the institution itself has been significant. This success is primarily due to the loyal cooperation of the faculty and the writers of the articles. While the maintenance fund from the Business Management was essential, it would have been useless without articles of merit. The maintenance fund itself would not have been continued if the periodical had not measured up satisfactorily.

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Bill Caraher is the editor of North Dakota Quarterly.