The ‘True Professional Ideal’ in America: A History

Bruce A. Kimball attacks the widely held assumption that the idea of American professionalism arose from the proliferation of urban professional positions during the late nineteenth century. This first paperback edition of The True Professional Ideal in America argues that the professional ideal can be traced back to the colonial period. This comprehensive intellectual history illuminates the profound relationships between the idea of a professional and broader changes in American social, cultural, and political history.