Robert Harper Babcock (December 19, 1931 – February 12, 2014) was an American historian of North American labor. Born in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, Ohio in 1931, to Harold Laverne Babcock and Elsie Elizabeth Harper Babcock, Babcock's father Harold lost his job in 1933 and he and his parents moved to his mother's hometown of

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

. He graduated from

Irondequoit High School Irondequoit High School (IHS) is a public high school in the town of Irondequoit, a major suburb of Rochester, New York. History Irondequoit District Number 3 renamed their original ''Irondequoit Union Free School'' as Irondequoit High School in 1 ...

in suburban Irondequoit, New York in 1949 and studied Social Studies at the New York State College for Teachers at Albany. He graduated from Albany with a B.A. in 1953 and an M.A. in 1957. During this period, he was drafted and served two years in the U.S. Army but was not deployed to the ongoing

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. Babcock married Rosemary Kirby in June 1955 while still in the Army. From 1957 to 1966, Babcock taught history at

Guilderland Central High School Guilderland High School is a public senior high school, located in Guilderland Center, New York. It is part of the Guilderland Central School District. Constructed in 1953, the high school has since undergone additions in 1955, 1960, 1997, 20 ...

in suburban Albany. He completed his dissertation at

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

. His first book, ''Gompers in Canada: A Study in American Continentalism before the First World War'', was published by the

University of Toronto Press The University of Toronto Press is a Canadian university press founded in 1901. Although it was founded in 1901, the press did not actually publish any books until 1911. The press originally printed only examination books and the university calen ...

in 1974 and was awarded the Albert B. Corey Prize by 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 ...

and Canadian Historical Associations. In 1975, Babcock was hired by the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine or UMO) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universities, flagshi ...

, where he stayed for the remainder of his career.

Works

Books

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Selected articles

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Babcock, Robert H 1931 births 2014 deaths People from Rochester, New York Historians from New York (state) University at Albany, SUNY alumni Duke University alumni University of Maine faculty Historians of Canada Historians of Maine Labor historians Wells College faculty