Timeline
1897
Dec. 10 ~ Birth of Robert C. Binkley
Binkley born in Lititz, Pennsylvania
1899
Feb. 25 ~ Birth of Frances Williams
Frances born in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
1917
June ~ Enlists in USAAS
Binkley joined a Stanford ambulance company, which became SSU 578 of the US Army Ambulance Service, and was sent to Allentown, Pennsylvania for training.
1918
Jan. 9 ~ Embarks for Europe
The unit passed through England and received further training in France.
June 1-26 ~ Battle of Belleau Wood
SSU 578 was in action for the first time
Oct. 16 ~ Cited for distinguished service
Binkley received the Silver Star for gallantry in action, making several ambulance runs under heavy bombardment at Fléville, France, during the Argonne Offensive.
1919
Feb.-June ~ Student at Dijon and then Lyon
July-Dec. ~ Gathering archival materials in Paris and London
Under the direction of E.D. Adams, Binkley helped gather materials from Peace Conference delegations and war-time societies and government agencies for the embryonic Hoover War Library.
Dec. ~ Returns to California
Sails from Liverpool and reaches the new Binkley Ranch at Cobb, California, on Christmas Eve, after 2½ years away.
1922
1922 ~ A.B., Stanford University
1924
📖 Feb.-May ~ "Trend in Europe"
Bob and Frances collaborated on columns on international affairs for the San Francisco Journal.
1924 ~ A.M., Stanford University
Thesis: “The Reestablishment of the Independence of the Hanseatic Cities, 1813-1815.”
Sept. 13 ~ Bob and Frances marry
Bob and Frances married at Stanford
1925
June ~ Birth of Jean
Jean born in Palo Alto, California
1926
📖 Early 1926 ~ "Barnwoggler's Invention"
An unpublished and now lost story by Binkley about a research machine.
📖 Jan. ~ “New Light on Russia’s War Guilt.”
Current History 23.4 (1926): 531–533. Binkley’s first publication to gain public attention.
Feb. 13 ~ Death of Jean
Jean died in Palo Alto, California
📖 June ~ Article: “A New Interpretation of the ‘Responsibility’ Clause in the Versailles Treaty.”
(with A. C. Mahr). Current History 24.3 (1926): 398-400.
1927
1927 ~ Ph.D., Stanford University
Dissertation: “Reactions of European Public Opinion to Woodrow Wilson’s Statemanship from the Armistice to the Peace of Versailles.”
Sept. ~ Move to New York
Bob and Frances drove across the country in their Model T, visiting Frances’ family in Oregon on the way, to take up a teaching position at NYU Washington Square.
Dec. ~ Binkley pursues grant for newspaper preservation
Binkley wrote a memo on the subject which he and Henry Lydenberg at NYPL submitted to the Laura Spellman Rockefeller Foundation.
1928
Dec. ~ Binkley reviews Joseph Broadman collection
NYU considered acquiring Broadman’s collection of World War newspaper clippings and other ephemera.
1929
📖 Jan. ~ “Do the Records of Science Face Ruin?”
Scientific American Jan. 1929: 28–30.
Apr. ~ Memorandum on photographic reproduction of texts for National Research Council
At the request of George A. Hulett, Binkley prepared a memorandum on the potential of photography for the reproduction of texts, as an aspect of the solution to the perishable paper problem.
Summer ~ A Summer in Italy
Bob and Frances attended the World Bibliographic Conference in Italy
📖 June ~ Book: What is Right with Marriage
Aug. 25 ~ Birth of Robert "Binks"
Robert Williams Binkley born in Rome, Italy
1929-30 ~ Teaching at Smith College
Binkley was hired to fill Sidney Fay’s position after Fay moved to Harvard.
Oct. 14-15 ~ Meetings with John Lynd
These meetings led to Binkley’s involvement with the Joint Committee
Nov. 9 ~ Joint Committee Created
(Hirtle, p.4)
📖 Dec. ~ Ten Years of Peace Conference History
The Journal of Modern History 1.4 (1929): 607–629. This article established Binkley’s reputation as a historian of the Peace Conference.
Dec. ~ Binkley a "marked man" at AHA Conference
Binkley is head-hunted by Western Reserve University.
1930
📖 Feb. 5 ~ Article: "Free Speech in Fascist Italy."
New Republic 61.792 (1930): 291.
Feb. 17-18 ~ First Meeting of Joint Committee
Mar. 8 ~ Binkley joins Joint Committee
Apr. 18 ~ Accepts job at WRU
Binkley accepted the position as chair of the History Dept. at Women’s College (which changed its name to Flora Stone Mather College the following year).
Summer ~ Teaching Summer School at Stanford
Binkley teaching at Stanford, living in Sidney Robertson’s house in Palo Alto.
Sept. ~ Move to Cleveland
Sept. 12-13 ~ Second Meeting of Joint Committee
Branford, Connecticut; Binkley was elected Secretary
📖 Oct. ~ Book: Responsible Drinking
Dec. 25 ~ New Yorker parody
The Binkleys spent Christmas in New York with the Morton St. gang, who prepared this New Yorker issue.
Dec. 29 ~ Interim Meeting of the Joint Committee
1931
Apr. ~ First Correspondence between Binkley and Watson Davis
Binkley was doing small-scale tests of the Leica and Ansco cameras, and asked about Davis’ trials of the Recordak equipment. “Your interests and mine coincide remarkably.”
📖 Oct.-Feb. ~ Radio Lecture Series
Binkley gave a series of lectures on Europe from 1815 to the present for Cleveland College.
📖 Nov. 28 ~ Methods of reproducing research materials
Methods of Reproducing Research Materials: A Survey Made for the Joint Committee on Materials for Research of the Social Science Research Council and the American Council of Learned Societies. Ann Arbor, Mich.: Edwards Brothers, 1931.
Dec. 5 ~ Third Meeting of the Joint Committee
Dec. 26 ~ Birth of Tom
Thomas Eden Binkley born in Cleveland, Ohio
1932
Mar. 11 ~ Fourth Meeting of the Joint Committee
Binkley was elected chair.
1932-33 ~ Visiting Professor at Harvard
Binkley taught summer school at Harvard and stayed through the academic year, replacing William Langer.
Sept. ~ Microfilming of Dulles, House and Miller papers begins
An experimental microphotography project for the Paris Peace Conference History and Documents series of the Carnegie Endowment, supported by the Joint Committee, with the work done by Bob and Frances and Frances’ father William I. Williams.
Nov. 5 ~ Joint Committee Conference on Publication Service
Dec. 29 ~ "Methods of Reproducing Research Materials"
Binkley gave a paper at Conference of Historical Societies at Toronto, at the joint AHA/CHA conference, on alternative publishing methods and the means to do short-run publications.
1933
Jan. 14-15 ~ Fifth Meeting of the Joint Committee
Mar. 4 ~ FDR Inauguration
Apr. 15 ~ Sixth Meeting of Joint Committee
May ~ FERA Initiated
May 24 ~ Interim Meeting of Joint Committee
June 20 ~ Seventh Meeting of Joint Committee
Aug. 25 ~ Purchase 17918 Windward Rd.
On returning to Cleveland from Cambridge, the Binkleys bought a house.
1934
Jan.? ~ Jo McCarter hired
(May have started in 1933). Worked on Joint Committee office management and research.
Feb. 2-3 ~ Eighth Meeting of Joint Committee
Mar. ~ Ted Schellenberg hired
As Secretary for the Joint Committee
1934 ~ Publication of NRA and AAA hearings on microfilm
The first large-scale microfilm publication project. The records of the hearings of the National Recovery Administration and the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (totalling 286,000 pages) were copied on 16mm film using Recordak equipment and distributed to subscribing libraries for about $420.
📖 Nov. ~ "New Tools, New Recruits for the Republic of Letters"
Memo for the Joint Committee
Nov. 23-24 ~ Ninth Meeting of Joint Committee
1935
Jan. ~ Adeline Barry hired
Adeline Barry was hired for Joint Committee work, and did research and editing for the Manual.
Feb. 8-9 ~ Tenth Meeting of Joint Committee
Mar. ~ Ted Schellenberg leaves
As Secretary for the Joint Committee
📖 Mar. ~ "New Tools for Men of Letters"
Yale Review n.s. 24 (1935): 519–537. Article cut down from the memo of the previous November.
Apr. 8 ~ WPA Formed
May 12 ~ Microphotography Round Table
At ALA Conference, Richmond, Virginia
June 3 ~ Gentlemen's Agreement Concluded
A landmark agreement between the Joint Committee and the National Association of Book Publishers clarifying the the scope of “fair use” in copying of copyrighted materials by libraries for scholars.
📖 June ~ Library School Commencement Address
Sept. ~ Cuyahoga County Archives survey project starts
Under the direction of Binkley’s student Lillian Kessler Fuchs.
Late '35 ~ Jo McCarter resigned
McCarter resigned because of illness and also clashes with Adeline Barry.
Nov. 16 ~ Historical Records Survey initiated
📖 Dec. ~ Book: Realism and Nationalism
Dec. ~ Session on Binkley's theory of federative polity at AHA
At the AHA conference in Chattanooga there was a session to discuss the theory of federative polity developed by Binkley in Realism and Nationalism, which had just been published.
1936
1936 ~ Annals of Cleveland project launched
A WPA project to index Cleveland’s historical newspapers. Frances spent six months developing the newspaper digest system.
📖 Apr. 14 ~ Manual on Methods of Reproducing Research Materials
Manual on Methods of Reproducing Research Materials: A Survey Made for the Joint Committee on Materials for Research of the Social Science Research Council and the American Council of Learned Societies. Ann Arbor, Mich.: Edwards Brothers, 1936.
May 22-23 ~ Midwest regional conference of HRS, Chicago
June ~ Interim Meeting of the Joint Committee
Sept.-June ~ Frances' parents and the boys spend the school year in Florida
Binks was prone to ear infections, and their doctor warned that he might need a mastoid operation if he spent another winter in Cleveland.
1937
📖 Jan. 18 ~ "History for a Democracy"
Read at Minnesota Historical Society
1937-38 ~ Visiting Professor at Columbia
Binkley replaced Carlton Hayes. The boys spent the fall term with Bob and Frances in New York, then at Christmas were taken to Florida to stay with Frances’ parents.
1938
Apr. 29 ~ Death of Christian K. Binkley
Death of Binkley’s father in California. Binkley and his brother Charles flew from New York to San Francisco.
📖 May 13 ~ A Family Letter
A day-in-the-life description of Binkley’s current work and concerns.
Summer ~ Frances studies photography
Frances studied with Rabinovitch in New York.
Oct. 15 ~ Frances's first commercial sitting
Frances had her first commercial portrait sitting in Cleveland.
Dec. ~ Invited to serve on FDR Library National Advisory Committee
1939
Feb. 10-11 ~ Eleventh Meeting of the Joint Committee
Mar. ~ Foreign Language Newspaper Digest launched
A Cleveland WPA project
Dec. 1-2 ~ Fourteenth Meeting of the Joint Committee
1940
Apr. 11 ~ Death of Robert C. Binkley
Binkley died in Cleveland, Ohio
July 17 ~ Fifteenth Meeting of the Joint Committee
1940-41 ~ Frances takes B.S. in Library Science at WRU
Frances took a one-year program to get her degree in Library Science at WRU. The university waived tuition in Binkley’s memory.
1941
1941 ~ Frances moves family to Boulder, Colorado
Frances was appointed Social Sciences Librarian at the University of Colorado, and held this position for the rest of her life.
1948
1948 ~ Selected Papers published
Selected Papers of Robert C. Binkley. Ed. Max H. Fisch. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1948.
1962
June 7 ~ Death of Frances W. Binkley
Frances died in Boulder, Colorado