Arquivo F1761 - Queen's University. Department of History fonds

Queen's University established its Department of History in the early twentieth century. History was first taught at Queen's only as a small part of courses in Latin and Greek, the heart of the university's arts curriculum in its early years. Students in these courses spent some of their time studying the history of ancient Greece and Rome. The first professor of history as a separate subject was John Machar, Jr (son of Queen's second principal), who was appointed part-time lecturer in English History, without salary, in 1864. Professor George Ferguson was the most significant early appointment in the subject, however, serving as professor of History and English Literature from 1869 to 1907. The first full-time professor to teach history exclusively was the Rev. George Harrison, appointed in 1891. In 1890, Queen's became the first English-speaking university to establish examinations in Canadian history, a subject which has ever since been a major component of both the graduate and undergraduate programs. The Department was expanded significantly in the 1960s with the development of a graduate programme.