Williams College. Office of the President.

Theodore Clarke Smith was professor of American history at Williams (1903-1938). He served on the Committee on Curriculum (1911-1927) and the Advisory Committee (1911-1935). Smith was the official biographer of James A. Garfield; his Life and Letters of James Abram Garfield was published in 1925. President Garfield submitted the new curriculum proposal to the faculty in May 1910. According to Garfield's plan, courses would be organized into major groups with prerequisites that forced students to advance to more difficult coursework. The curriculum was accepted by a majority vote of the faculty in April 1911. The new curriculum was instituted Fall 1911. Amendments to the curriculum and modified Administrative Laws were announced in May 1912.