George Lincoln Burr

Burr was born in Albany, New York and entered the Cortland Academy in 1869, where he first met Andrew Dickson White, who was guest speaker for its 50th anniversary.

The financial Panic of 1873 wreaked havoc on his family's finances, and he was forced to leave school and seek employment at age 16.

As a sophomore, Burr audited a course for seniors taught by White on the historical development of criminal law, and received permission to sit for the exam.

His single most famous contribution in this area was his discovery in 1885, in the library at the University of Trier, of the Loos Manuscript (1592), one of the first books written in Germany against the witch trials of the late 16th century, and long believed destroyed by the Inquisition.

Starting in 1869, and throughout his career, Professor White argued that history showed the negative outcomes resulting from any attempt on the part of religion to interfere with the progress of science.

Burr was deeply influenced by White's views, and assisted him in editing a series of articles, published in Popular Science, covering all aspects of the debate.

Although he felt a great deal of sympathy for White's project, Burr ultimately came to believe that the book did not accomplish what its title suggested; he re-titled the revised, second volume as the "Warfare of Humanity."

[3] He served as historical consultant for the U. S. Commission appointed by U.S. President Grover Cleveland to settle a boundary dispute between Venezuela and British Guiana.

His biographer, Roland Bainton, credits Cornell in general and Burr in particular with producing historians who populated the history faculties at what were then the women's colleges of Vassar and Wellesley.