Franklin H. Giddings

The talk in any sociable evening group was bound to be enlivened by the downright and emphatic remarks of Franklin Henry Giddings. It was not that Giddings monopolized the conversation; he could listen as well as talk, and he always considered thoughtfully the views even of those who disagreed with him. There were always some who disagreed; for Giddings’ opinions were very positive on many subjects, and he was not in the habit of taking middle ground. But his judgments were those of one who had thought the matter out; he was not impatient with conflicting opinion, but his own could not be shaken. Conversation under such auspices was certain to illuminate all sides of a question. Giddings held equally positive opinions in his chosen field of sociology and history, which he taught at Columbia from 1891 down to the very recent date of his retirement as professor emeritus. In those investigations, his close observance of the individual and collective trend of other times may quite possibly have been stimulated by the four years which he spent in practical journalistic work before he began to teach. He certainly carried the study of his subject into regions not previously explored by any investigator.

Alexander Dana Noyes
1932 Century Association Yearbook