bert Newton Harbert is the writer of A Review of Dr. Wilson's Swastika. The "College Day" address on Laying the Foundations, delivered at the Iowa State College at Ames by Charles E. Bessey on October 20, 1908; a continuation of Iowa and the First Nomination of Abraham Lincoln, by F. I. Herriott; and an editorial appreciation of Miss Mary R. Whitcomb are the remaining articles in the April number. The July number opens with an article from the pen of the late Charles Aldrich on The Building of An Autograph Collection. Under the heading of The Upper Des Moines Valley-1848, there is printed an interesting journal of an unknown writer. Following this there is the conclusion of the sketch of Judge Dillon. Recollections of War Times, by Col. David Palmer; and Governor Kirkwood and the Skunk River War, by Frank W. Eichelberger, conclude the number.

The Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society is proving more valuable with each succeeding issue. In the July number there may be found much interesting material relative to the history of Illinois. Besides a list of the officers and committees of the Society, an account of the annual meeting held May 13 and 14, 1909, and other editorial notes, George C. Broadhead contributes some Interesting Extracts from Old Newspapers; and under the heading, A Statesman's Letters of the Civil War Period, Duane Mowry contributes a number of letters written by Senator Lyman Trumbull to Senator James R. Doolittle of Wisconsin. Two Letters from Gov. Ninian Edwards, contributed by Louise I. Enos; and Extracts from the Journal of Captain Harry Gordon, who made a journey down the Ohio River to the Illinois country in 1766, complete the contents of a documentary character. In addition there is a description of the Dedication of George Rogers Clark Monument at Quincy, Illinois, by H. W. Clendenin; and the third installment of J. F. Snyder's Prehistoric Illinois; Certain Indian Mounds Technically Considered, in which are discussed the temple or domiciliary mounds.

ACTIVITIES

Professor M. D. Learned is in Germany gathering material relative to the German emigration to the United States for the Depart

ment of Historical Research in the Carnegie Institution. Mr. Waldo G. Leland has also returned to Paris to complete the work begun by him in the archives there.

The Archives Department of the Indiana State Library has been forced to suspend activities because the last legislature of the State failed to provide for a continuation of the work.

The Mississippi Valley Historical Association has issued a folder containing a list of the officers, a description of the organization and objects of the Association, and an outline of proposed activities during the coming year and in the future.

The Texas Library and Historical Commission is a new historical agency created by an act of the last legislature of Texas. This commission will consist of the head of the school of history in the University of Texas, the superintendent of public instruction, and three other members appointed by the governor.

The Lucas County (Iowa) Historical Society held its annual meeting on June 10. The following officers were elected: President, Warren S. Dungan; Vice President, John H. Darrah; Secretary and Treasurer, Mrs. F. H. Boynton; Curator, Mrs. E. L. Hickman; Board of Directors, Miss Margaret W. Brown, Mrs. E. L. Hickman, John H. Darrah, and Walter Dewey. The Society has been making a systematic canvass for funds with which to purchase cases in which to preserve its manuscripts and other historical material.

THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF IOWA

Mr. Jacob Van der Zee is engaged in gathering material for a history of the Hollanders in Iowa.

A biography of Thomas Cox, written by Mr. Harvey Reid of Maquoketa, is now in press and will be distributed in the near future.

The following persons have recently been elected to membership in the Society: Mr. John Wilson Townsend, Lexington, Kentucky; Mr. Martin J. Wade, Iowa City, Iowa; Professor C. R. Shatto,

Toledo, Iowa; Mr. H. E. C. Ditzen, Davenport, Iowa; and Mr. Elmer E. Johnston, Iowa City, Iowa.

Miss Clara Daley, a member of the Society, has been appointed to an instructorship in history at The State University of Iowa for the current year.

Mr. John Wilson Townsend, of Lexington, Kentucky, a member of the Society, is the author of The Life of James Francis Leonard, which appears in a recent number of the Filson Club Publications. Other works by Mr. Townsend are: Richard Hickman Menefee, and Kentuckians in History and Literature.

NOTES AND COMMENT

It is expected that The History of the Twenty-Second Iowa, by S. D. Pryce, will soon be published.

The town of Marengo, Iowa, is making plans for the celebration of its semi-centennial on October 14, 15, and 16.

It is proposed that a Universal Races Congress be held at London in October, 1910, for the purpose of promoting friendly relations between all races and nations.

The National Civic Federation has issued a call for a national conference to meet at Washington, D. C., early in January, 1910, for the purpose of considering the subject of uniform state legislation.

The University of Illinois is performing a valuable service in the interest of western history by having copies made of documents relating to the West from 1763 to 1775, which are found in the Public Record Office in London.

Mr. Fred Moerschel, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Community of True Inspiration at Amana, died on August 19, 1909. He was born at Marienborn, Germany, and came to Amana in 1859. For a half century he has been a leader in the Community.

Mrs. Ann Dickens, who came to the Iowa country in 1833, died at her home at North McGregor, Iowa, on September 5, 1909. Mrs. Dickens at the time of her death was said to be the oldest Iowan in point of number of years lived within the bounds of the State. A move in the direction of increasing the efficiency of our diplomatic service has recently been made by the Department of State. A School of Diplomacy has been established at Washington, for the purpose of giving instruction to new appointees in the service.

This summer has witnessed two notable and elaborate celebrations in the State of New York. In conjunction with the State of

Vermont the Lake Champlain Tercentenary was observed during the week of July 4-10. September 25 and October 9 are the inclusive dates of the more extended Hudson-Fulton Celebration.

A monument to Ansel Briggs, first Governor of the State of Iowa, was dedicated at Andrew in Jackson County on September 22, 1909. It will be remembered that largely through the efforts of Mr. J. W. Ellis, of Maquoketa, the last General Assembly of Iowa made an appropriation to defray the expenses of removing the remains of the old Governor from Nebraska to Iowa soil.

A number of old settlers' reunions have been held in Iowa during the past three months. Among them may be mentioned the old settlers' picnic at Boone on August 11; the reunion at St. Charles on August 12; the fourth annual pioneers' day under the auspices of the Webster County Historical Society at Fort Dodge on August 18; and the meeting of the Old Settlers' Association of Boone, Greene, Guthrie, and Dallas Counties near Dawson on August 18 and 19.

On Saturday, July 3, 1909, the people of Boone and Story counties united in celebrating the semi-centennial of the location of the Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts at Ames. It was in 1858 that the General Assembly made an appropriation of ten thousand dollars for the purchase of a farm on which an Agricultural College might be located. In the following year a farm was purchased in Story County, the people of that county as well as of Boone County increasing the amount of the appropriation by personal donation. The College, however, did not open its doors to students until 1868, since which time it has prospered and has become one of the largest and best institutions of the kind in the country. At the celebration Mr. Daniel McCarthy, who had charge of the arrangements for a similar celebration on the same spot fifty years ago, was President of the Day. Furthermore, John A. Hull, the Orator of the Day, is the son of the man who delivered the oration in 1859.