Following his graduation, he and classmate Daniel Coit Gilman accompanied Connecticut Governor Thomas Seymour, newly appointed U.S. minister to Russia, as unpaid attachés for a year. A semester of study at the Sorbonne and another at the University of Berlin, followed by travel in Switzerland and Italy, convinced him of the value of historical studies. Determined on a career as a professional historian, he returned to Yale, where he received an A.M. in 1856.
White had hoped to be named a member of his alma mater's faculty and was distressed when he was passed over by the largely Congregationalist Yale Corporation because his religious orthodoxy was suspect. He quickly found a nonsectarian alternative, the University of Michigan presided over by Henry P. Tappan, which offered him the professorship of history and rhetoric. At Michigan, Tappan, who also had studied in Germany, was creating a university that offered several courses of study, welcomed students of all religious persuasions, was devoted to scholarship, and employed scholars who lectured instead of hearing recitations--all in sharp contrast to Yale. During his tenure at Michigan beginning in 1857, White furthered his reputation as a staunch, even radical, abolitionist and advocate of the Union cause in the Civil War.
This is a free page. This page contains 187 words. This
biography contains 2,745 words (approx. 9 pages at 300
words per page).
Read the rest of this Biography with our Andrew Dickson White Access Pass.
