Albert Bushnell Hart, professor of American history and government at Harvard University, was, in his own words, "one of a group of young men who made history and government vital subjects for college and graduate school." He was a teacher, organizer, and promoter of American history who was also a prolific writer. His works, which ranged from informal newspaper articles to scholarly monographs and reference books, communicated history and the methodology of history to Americans of all ages and all walks of life during the half-century between 1885 and 1935.

Born to Albert Gaillard and Mary Crosby Hornell Hart in Clarksville (now Clark), Pennsylvania, and reared in the Western Reserve section of Ohio, A. B. Hart was clearly a product of his heritage and his environment. His energetic devotion to the protestant work ethic and his ethical and moral uprightness were evidence of the strong New England Congregationalist influence that...