Wrapping Up the Symposium ...

Thanks to Barry Gewen, the author of"Forget the Founding Fathers" and an editor at the New York Times Book Review. Thanks, also, to my colleagues who made Cliopatria's first symposium such a success. Thanks, finally, to Dave Merkowitz at Cincinnati Historian who says of our"Forget the Founding Fathers": A Symposium ...":"this is the best sort of history blogging." Invited to have a look at our on-line symposium, the Times' Barry Gewen sent this response via e-mail:

Many thanks for featuring my essay on your website. I do appreciate it. I've read some of the responses already and am pleased at the range of opinion. I should say that I make no claims to thoroughness, but I do believe that my perch here at the Book Review gives me some idea of the kind of work going on both inside and outside of the academy. I hope that you and the participants understand that my piece was an essay in Montaigne's sense--a"try" at something. I welcome all (reasonable) criticism.
Best,
Barry Gewen

I hope that the discussion of Gewen's article and the comments of my colleagues will continue in comments, but I wanted to post this appreciation to all who contributed to the symposium's success. We'll have to do this again, probably irregularly. Do keep your eyes out for a likely feature for discussion.