Harvard's History department used to be a smoothly-functioning factory, turning out Pulitzer Prizes, top publications and large numbers of concentrators each year.

But today a failure to tenure new faculty and the departure of some top professors have left History with dissatisfied concentrators and gaps in its course offerings, particularly in American topics.

The number of students in the department has also declined dramatically, from 488 in 1986-87 to 263 in 1992-93.

Concerned about its problems, the department has initiated a sweeping reevaluation and is presently seeking three new tenured faculty members in American History.

"We're aware, we regret, and we don't blame," says Thomas N. Bisson, Lea professor of medieval history and chair of the department. "We're doing everything we can."

A Lack of Offerings

Several students in the History department complain about a lack of course offerings.

One concentrator, speaking on condition of anonymity, says he entered the department hoping to focus on medieval history.

But he ended up with a focus on the American colonial era, after he found few medieval courses and even fewer offerings in other areas of American history.

"[Colonial American history] was not my primary interest, but there was really nothing else that I could take," he says.

And Alexandra G. Guisinger '94, the sole African historian in her class, says she could not even find the requisite five courses to fill her concentration card.

Because there was only one tenured professor specializing in African studies, the number of classes was limited. Guisinger had to count classes in other departments to fill her requirements.

The main problem, students say, is in the department's American branch.

"Especially the American offerings get kind of spacy," says concentrator Marc T. Horger '94. "You're never sure when you open the coursebook what what you're going to find," he says.

A sophomore American history concentrator, speaking on condition of anonymity, says she had problems finding courses in her focus this fall.

"I was looking though the course book, and the pickings in American history were really slim," she says. "It was just a whole semester of nothing."

Professors admit that the department should have more American courses.

"We've always had limited course offerings," says Winthrop Professor of History Stephan A. Thernstrom.

Bisson adds, "We are thought to be in need of strength in American history by outside colleagues."

Bisson defends the department's American history offerings.

The department chair says Harvard's American history offerings are commensurate with those of other schools.

Some students see a lack of classes because the department offers several narrowly-focused courses in specific topics, he says.

But students should welcome the more specific classes and not simply concentrate on "popular" areas of history, Bisson says.

"Other types of history should be emphasized," he says. "Students perceive that there is only one."

A Failure to Tenure

Professor says the department's real problem is its failure to tenure new faculty, especially American history specialists.

"We urgently need some senior appointments," Thernstrom says.

Additional professors would broaden course offerings and revamp the intellectual life of the department, says Assistant Professor of History Ronald Yanosky.

"We have good, compelling reasons to bring people in [at the senior level]," Yanosky says.

The department has also recently lost two top faculty members, including American history specialist Adams University Professor Emeritus Bernard Bailyn, who retired last year.

According to Thernstrom, who has been at Harvard since he was a graduate student in 1956, the number of tenured American historians has not increased since he arrived.

Presently, there are just five tenured specialists in American history, and the ratio of tenured to non-tenured Americanists is approximately one to one.

A target ratio would be more like two-thirds tenured faculty to one-third non-tenured faculty, says Professor of History James Hankins.

At other schools, such ratios are typical. Columbia's history department has ten tenured and four non-tenured professors of American history.

Princeton has approximately three tenured faculty members in American history for each two non-tenured professors in the field.

Part of the problem at Harvard, some students feel, is the department's longstanding reluctance to tenure its own junior professors.

Popular lecturer Alan Brinkley, who left Harvard after the department denied his tenure in 1987, is the example many still remember.

"You have no hope of being tenured no matter how good you are," says one history and Afro-American studies concentrator.

Faculty Searches

But professors in History say they are moving to remedy the lack of tenured Americanists.

"I really think that people are serious and that they know they have to have new bodies," Hankins says.

And Thernstrom says that "it would not be astonishing if we had four new faces in American history [soon]."

According to Hankins, one offer has been made and two other candidates are being seriously considered.

A Slow Process

But searching is a slow process, and the department is notoriously picky about selecting new colleagues.

"It's an excruciatingly slow process," Thernstrom says.

"It is hard to replace distinguished people who retire," Hankins says. "Next year might be kind of lean."

While some have blamed political divisions in the department for its failure to find new members, professors say the delay is due to Harvard's high standards.

The department does not hire based upon ideology, Bisson says.

"We look for the best scholar we can find," the department chair says.

The department has also made a concerted effort to seek student feedback about course offerings and teaching style.

This year, the department sent out questionnaires to all concentrators to field concerns, and the History tutorials have been revamped.

"They are trying to get feedback from students and are making a concerted effort to improve the tutorial and to get professors for next year," says a history concentrator focusing on the American colonial era. The student spoke on condition of anonymity.

Most professors seem to see a department on the way up.

Trumbull Professor of American History Donald Fleming said last fall, "I'm not gravely worried that we're stuck in water."

The concern for students, however, is the slow pace of change.

"I think they are aware of the problems," says history concentrator Ethan Cohen-Cole '96. But, he says, professors here "work on the Harvard time scale."