Thesis length

This is in response to your Talk Back request (“Hold that thought! Politics majors reined in,” Campus Notebook, Jan. 16). My 1964 history thesis, “The Fur Trade in Oregon, 1822-1828: Anglo-American Conflict,” totaled 87 double-spaced typed pages (77 narrative pages including seven maps, plus a 10-page bibliography). I do not recall whether the history department then imposed a maximum-page limit. My thesis adviser (also my second-semester junior-paper adviser), Malcolm J. Rohrbough, was outstanding. I reconnected by email with Mr. Rohrbough after his recent retirement as a history professor at the University of Iowa.