Albert Bushnell Hart
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Albert Bushnell Hart (July 1, 1854 – July 16, 1943) was an American historian, writer, and editor based at
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...
. One of the first generation of professionally trained historians in the United States, a prolific author and editor of historical works, Albert Bushnell Hart became, as
Samuel Eliot Morison Samuel Eliot Morison (July 9, 1887 – May 15, 1976) was an American historian noted for his works of maritime history and American history that were both authoritative and popular. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1912, and tau ...
described him, "The Grand Old Man" of American history, looking the part with his "patriarchal full beard and flowing moustaches."


Biography

Hart was born in Clarksville, Pennsylvania (now known as
Clark Clark is an English language surname, ultimately derived from the Latin language, Latin with historical links to England, Scotland, and Ireland ''clericus'' meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone ...
), and grew up in
Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along ...
, Ohio, graduating from West High School in 1870. He graduated from
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...
in 1880. While at Harvard, he was a member of
Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...
and a classmate and friend of future U.S. President
Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
. He studied at
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
,
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...
and
Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...
, and received his doctorate under
Hermann Eduard von Holst Hermann Eduard von Holst (June 19, 1841 – January 20, 1904) was a German-American historian. Biography Holst was a Baltic German born at Fellin, Russian Empire. (It is now Viljandi, Estonia.) He was the seventh of ten children of a Luther ...
at Freiburg in 1883. Harvard President Charles Eliot appointed Hart an instructor in 1883 to teach the only course in American history that the college offered, despite the fact that
Edward Channing Edward Perkins Channing (June 15, 1856 – January 7, 1931) was an American historian and an author of a monumental ''History of the United States'' in six volumes, for which he won the 1926 Pulitzer Prize for History. His thorough research i ...
, already an assistant in European history, wanted to teach the course himself. Hart served as instructor in history from 1883–1887, assistant professor from 1887–1897, and became a professor in 1897. In 1910 he was appointed Eaton Professor of the Science of Government. He was on the Harvard faculty for 43 years, retiring in 1926. In retirement he continued to write and edit from a room in
Widener Library The Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library, housing some 3.5million books in its "vast and cavernous" stacks, is the centerpiece of the Harvard College Libraries (the libraries of Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences) and, more broadly, of the ...
. He maintained a summer home in New Hampshire near
Mount Monadnock Mount Monadnock, or Grand Monadnock, is a mountain in the towns of Jaffrey and Dublin, New Hampshire. It is the most prominent mountain peak in southern New Hampshire and is the highest point in Cheshire County. It lies southwest of Concord a ...
."Albert Bushnell Hart"
''New York Times'', June 18, 1943; accessed January 12, 2010.
Hart edited, along with Edward Channing, over the period from 1892 to 1895 a series of extracts from primary documents called the "American history leaflets; colonial and constitutional", which included titles such as "Extracts from the Sagas describing the voyages to Vinland", and "Documents illustrating the territorial development of the United States, 1584–1774". Hart was an editor of the ''Harvard Graduates' Magazine'' from 1894 to 1902. He served as president of the
American Historical Association The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world. Founded in 1884, the AHA works to protect academic freedom, develop professional s ...
in 1909 and of the
American Political Science Association The American Political Science Association (APSA) is a professional association of political science students and scholars in the United States. Founded in 1903 in the Tilton Memorial Library (now Tilton Hall) of Tulane University in New Orle ...
in 1912. In 1914, he was appointed exchange professor at the
University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative ...
. Hart authored ''Formation of the Union'' (1892), ''Salmon Portland Chase'' (1899), ''Essentials of American History'' (1905), ''Slavery and Abolition'' (1906), and many other books. He was editor of the "American Nation" series (28 volumes, 1903–1918) and other series on American history, of many source books and guides for the study of American history, and, with Andrew C. McLaughlin, of the ''Cyclopedia of American Government'' (3 volumes, 1914). He was an editor of the ''
American Historical Review ''The American Historical Review'' is a quarterly academic history journal and the official publication of the American Historical Association. It targets readers interested in all periods and facets of history and has often been described as the ...
'' for 14 years, and president of both the
American Historical Association The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world. Founded in 1884, the AHA works to protect academic freedom, develop professional s ...
(AHA) and the
American Political Science Association The American Political Science Association (APSA) is a professional association of political science students and scholars in the United States. Founded in 1903 in the Tilton Memorial Library (now Tilton Hall) of Tulane University in New Orle ...
. Hart edited the ''American Year Book'' from 1911 to 1920 and from 1926 to 1932. He edited a five-volume history of Massachusetts in 1927–1930 and worked as the official historian of the George Washington bicentennial commission from 1926 to 1932. In 1909, he played an important role in enabling his former student,
W. E. B. Du Bois William Edward Burghardt Du Bois ( ; February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was an American-Ghanaian sociologist, socialist, historian, and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist. Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Du Bois grew up i ...
, to deliver his paper "Reconstruction and Its Benefits" to the AHA in New York. This essay was elaborated as the book ''Black Reconstruction in America'' in 1935 and proved to be a seminal work in moving historical discussion of the Reconstruction period away from the views of the Dunning School. He served as a trustee of
Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a Private university, private, University charter#Federal, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classifie ...
. Though a believer in the racial inferiority of African Americans, he nevertheless opposed plans to deny black students places in the Freshman Halls at Harvard in the years following
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
. Aside from being the advisor for Du Bois' doctoral dissertation, Hart was also the advisor (along with Edward Channing) for Carter G. Woodson's dissertation. Hart was also the initial doctoral advisor for another African-American historian, Charles H. Wesley, and arranged for Wesley to receive the same Austin Scholar Graduate Fellowship that Du Bois had received thirty years earlier; and as a Howard University trustee, Hart used his influence to secure Wesley a leave of absence so he could complete his doctorate. However, since Hart was on academic leave that semester, Channing served as Wesley's dissertation advisor. A proponent of U.S. participation in World War I, he was accused of espionage in December 1918, but the charges were determined to be the work of German propagandists trying to undermine his pro-British stance.''The New York Times''
"Albert B. Hart of Harvard Dies"
July 17, 1943; accessed January 12, 2010.
In 1922, ''The Progressive Magazine'' referred to Hart as an Anglomaniac. In the fall of 1915, he served on the Mooseheart Governing Board, and remained in that role through 1928. The 1928 edition of ''Seniors' Book'' is dedicated in his honor. A discussion arose in 1923 as to the "Americanism" of his history textbooks ''Epochs of American History'' and ''National Ideals Historically Traced''. An investigating committee suggested the removal of his ''School History of the United States'' from
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
schools. Hart married Mary Putnam in 1889, and they adopted twin boys in 1897. He died on July 16, 1943. Although Hart had agreed that all of his papers would go to Harvard after his death, his papers were sold by his sons through book dealers in Newburyport, and the college attempted to recover as many as possible.


On lynchings

In December 1900, the ''
New York World The ''New York World'' was a newspaper published in New York City from 1860 until 1931. The paper played a major role in the history of American newspapers. It was a leading national voice of the Democratic Party. From 1883 to 1911 under pub ...
'' reported on Hart making a remark before the
American Historical Association The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world. Founded in 1884, the AHA works to protect academic freedom, develop professional s ...
in Detroit to the effect that "if the people of certain States are determined to burn colored men at the stake, those States would better legalize the practice". In a similar vein he suggested in an article in the ''
North American Review The ''North American Review'' (NAR) was the first literary magazine in the United States. It was founded in Boston in 1815 by journalist Nathan Hale and others. It was published continuously until 1940, after which it was inactive until revived at ...
'' that "Perhaps something might be accomplished by special courts set up on the model of similar tribunals in slavery times, with power to deal with certain aggravated crimes outside the technicality of ordinary criminal law." Hart goes on in the same article to argue: Hart wrote the entry on "Lynching" in ''Cyclopedia of American Government'' (1914), where he referred to it as "not simply extra-legal but anti-legal. It assumes guilt in many cases where guilt cannot be proved and in some cases where it does not exist; it sometimes includes manifestly innocent persons, as the negro woman who was burned at the stake by a mob because she had fled with her husband who had committed a crime."


Efforts to collect the writings of Theodore Roosevelt

Hart was a devoted friend and follower of
Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
and was elected as a Roosevelt delegate to the Republican convention of 1912. He became an enthusiastic trustee and supporter of the Roosevelt Memorial Association, now called the
Theodore Roosevelt Association The Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA) is a historical and cultural organization dedicated to honoring the life and work of Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919), the 26th President of the United States. The group is based in Oyster Bay, New York, whe ...
and said that from the time of TR's death he had the idea to "present in alphabetical arrangement extracts sufficiently numerous and comprehensive to display all the phases of Roosevelt's activities and opinions as expressed by him." This work would eventually be called the
Theodore Roosevelt Cyclopedia The Theodore Roosevelt Cyclopedia is a comprehensive project to publish, in one collection, the significant sayings, important conversations and writings (less his letters) of the 26th President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt. Originally ...
. Hart wrote Herman Hagedorn of the Association: "What we are after is the crisp, sharp, biting sparks that flew from the Roosevelt brain." Hart told the survivors of the Harvard Class of 1880 that editing the cyclopedia "will be a very interesting and agreeable service to the memory of our great classmate." From the beginning, however, the project was plagued with problems simply because Hart was very busy with many other commitments. Hart had to postpone the cyclopedia, and he asked the Association for research and clerical staff, but the Executive Committee of the Roosevelt Memorial Association delayed appropriations for the cyclopedia, because the expense was "so great," and it was not until May 1928 that a budget was approved for the cyclopedia, although the project had been publicly announced years before. Finally in 1931, Hart presented a rough draft of the cyclopedia to Hagedorn. But the book needed much more work and the elderly Hart "began to decline" and Hagedorn reported to the RMA Executive Committee that Hart could not finish the project "because of his advanced years." It appeared in 1941 as ''The Theodore Roosevelt Cyclopedia'', edited by Albert Bushnell Hart and Herbert Ronald Ferleger.


Notable quotes

"'Good wine needs no bush', and if there were need to urge the reading of history it would be proof that history is too dull and unattractive to be read." ("How to Study History", in ''Studies in American Education'', 1895) "For all the weary hours spent over bibliographies and source books and textbooks, at the end of fifty years I have the satisfaction of believing that I was one of a group of young men who made history and government vital subjects for college and graduate school." (Harvard College Class of 1880, ''Fiftieth Anniversary Report'', 1930) "I believe that the best thing for the happiness of American and of other people is for us to remain within our present boundaries, and give our strength to governing ourselves well. I don't want Hawaii nor Cuba nor Mexico nor Canada as a free and peaceable gift." (Albert Bushnell Hart to Theodore Roosevelt, January 11, 1896, quoted in Baird, 143)


Publications


Author

*''Introduction to the Study of Federal Government'' (1890) (2nd ed. 1891) *''Why the South Was Defeated in the Civil War'' (1891) *''Epochs of American History'' (3 vols.) (1891–1893) (with Reuben Gold Thwaites and
Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
). "The Colonies, 1492–1750" (1891), "Formation of the Union, 1750–1829" (1892), "Division and Reunion, 1829–1889" (1893). *''Epoch Maps, Illustrating American History'' (1891) *''Practical Essays on American Government'' (1893) *''Studies in American Education'' (1895) *''Guide to the Study of American History'', with
Edward Channing Edward Perkins Channing (June 15, 1856 – January 7, 1931) was an American historian and an author of a monumental ''History of the United States'' in six volumes, for which he won the 1926 Pulitzer Prize for History. His thorough research i ...
(1897); 2nd ed. with
Edward Channing Edward Perkins Channing (June 15, 1856 – January 7, 1931) was an American historian and an author of a monumental ''History of the United States'' in six volumes, for which he won the 1926 Pulitzer Prize for History. His thorough research i ...
and
Frederick Jackson Turner Frederick Jackson Turner (November 14, 1861 – March 14, 1932) was an American historian during the early 20th century, based at the University of Wisconsin until 1910, and then Harvard University. He was known primarily for his frontier thes ...
(1912) *'' Salmon Portland Chase'' (1899, in the ''American Statesman'' series) *''Foundations of American Foreign Policy'' (1901) *''Actual Government'' (1903) *''Slavery and Abolition'' (1906, in the ''American Nation'' series, covering 1831–1842) *''National Ideals Historically Traced'' (1907) *''Manual of American History, Diplomacy, and Government'' (1908) *''Imagination in History'' (1909) *
''The Southern South'' (1910); focus on race relations
influential survey *''Formation of the Union'' (1910) *''The Obvious Orient'' (1911) *''The War in Europe'' (1914); vol. 26 of the American Nation series *''The Monroe Doctrine: An Interpretation'' (1916) *''New American History'' (1917) *''School History of the United States'' (1917) *''America at War'' (1917) *''Causes of the War'' (1920) *''We and Our History'' (1923)


Editor

*''American history leaflets; colonial and constitutional." *''The Romance of the Civil War'' (1896) *''American History told by Contemporaries'' (4 vols, 1898–1901) *''Source Readers in American History'' (4 vols, 1901–1903) *''Epochs of American History'' series (3 small text-books) *''American Nation'' series (27 vols, 1903–1907) *''American Citizen'' series *''Cyclopedia of American Government'' (3 vols.) (1914) (co-edited by Andrew C. McLaughlin) *''Colonial Children'', edited with Blanche E. Hazard (1914)
''Harper's Pictorial Library of the World War, Volume 1'' (1920)
*''Commonwealth History of Massachusetts'' (five volumes, 1927–1930; Hart also contributed essays to the collection)


See also

*
Theodore Roosevelt Association The Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA) is a historical and cultural organization dedicated to honoring the life and work of Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919), the 26th President of the United States. The group is based in Oyster Bay, New York, whe ...


References


External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hart, Albert Bushnell 1854 births 1943 deaths 20th-century American historians Harvard University alumni American book editors American political writers American male non-fiction writers Theodore Roosevelt Harvard University faculty Presidents of the American Historical Association People from Cleveland 19th-century American historians 19th-century American male writers