Robert Pierce Forbes
Encyclopedia
Robert Pierce Forbes is an American historian
specializing in the politics and culture of the early American Republic, and the impact of slavery on the development of American institutions and modern society.
. His father is a historian of Asian decorative arts, founder of the Captain Robert Bennet Forbes House
and curator of Asian export art at the Peabody Essex Museum
in Salem, Massachusetts. His mother was a book editor and homemaker.
Forbes attended Concord Academy
and graduated from the Cambridge High and Latin School (now Cambridge Rindge and Latin School
) in 1976. He received his bachelor’s degree in History from the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences of The George Washington University in 1986, receiving its Distinguished Scholar Award. After graduation he worked at the Afro-American Communities Project at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History
before enrolling in the graduate program in history at Yale University
, where he received a Ph.D in 1994. His dissertation,"Slavery and the Meaning of America, 1819-1833," was awarded the John Addison Porter
Prize and the George Washington Egleston Prize in American History.
From 1998 to 2006, Forbes served as the founding associate director of Yale’s Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition
, under the directorship of David Brion Davis
. During this time he also taught undergraduate and graduate courses at Yale.
Forbes currently teaches U.S. history and American Studies at the University of Connecticut
, Torrington. Professor Forbes is also the founder of Locally Grown History, an initiative founded in 2008 to promote public history and tourism in northwest Connecticut.
His first book, The Missouri Compromise and its Aftermath: Slavery and the Meaning of America, the first major work on the subject in over fifty years, was described as “a profound study” by Oxford historian Daniel Walker Howe.
Forbes is also the author of two seminal essays on the cultural history of slavery, "Slavery and the Evangelical Enlightenment" (in McKivigan and Snay, eds., Religion and the Antebellum Debate over Slavery) and "'Truth Systematised': The Changing Debate over Slavery and Abolition, 1761-1916" (in McCarthy and Stauffer, eds., Prophets of Protest: Reconsidering the History of American Abolitionism.
In 2007, Forbes was an advising scholar for the award-winning, PBS-documentary Prince Among Slaves, produced by Unity Productions Foundation.
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
specializing in the politics and culture of the early American Republic, and the impact of slavery on the development of American institutions and modern society.
Life
Robert Pierce Forbes was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the first son of Henry Ashton Crosby Forbes and Grace Pierce Forbes. His childhood was spent in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he attended Shady Hill SchoolShady Hill School
Shady Hill School is an independent, co-educational day school in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1915, Shady Hill serves students in pre-kindergarten through 8th grade. The school has an enrollment of approximately 500 students.Current Shady Hill Head of School Mark Stanek became the...
. His father is a historian of Asian decorative arts, founder of the Captain Robert Bennet Forbes House
Captain Robert Bennet Forbes House
The Captain Robert Bennet Forbes House, also known as the R. B. Forbes House, is a house museum located at 215 Adams Street, Milton, Massachusetts. It is now a National Historic Landmark, and is open several afternoons per week. An admission fee is charged.The house was built in 1833 for their...
and curator of Asian export art at the Peabody Essex Museum
Peabody Essex Museum
The Peabody Essex Museum , originally the Peabody Museum of Salem and the Essex Institute, in Salem, Massachusetts is the oldest continuously operating museum in the United States, and holds one of the major collections of Asian art in the US; its total holdings include about 1.3 million pieces, as...
in Salem, Massachusetts. His mother was a book editor and homemaker.
Forbes attended Concord Academy
Concord Academy
Concord Academy is a coeducational, independent, college preparatory school for grades nine through twelve, located in Concord, Massachusetts...
and graduated from the Cambridge High and Latin School (now Cambridge Rindge and Latin School
Cambridge Rindge and Latin School
The Cambridge Rindge and Latin School is a public high school in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States.The school, serving grades 9 through 12, is a part of the Cambridge Public Schools....
) in 1976. He received his bachelor’s degree in History from the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences of The George Washington University in 1986, receiving its Distinguished Scholar Award. After graduation he worked at the Afro-American Communities Project at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History
National Museum of American History
The National Museum of American History: Kenneth E. Behring Center collects, preserves and displays the heritage of the United States in the areas of social, political, cultural, scientific and military history. Among the items on display are the original Star-Spangled Banner and Archie Bunker's...
before enrolling in the graduate program in history at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, where he received a Ph.D in 1994. His dissertation,"Slavery and the Meaning of America, 1819-1833," was awarded the John Addison Porter
John Addison Porter
John Addison Porter was an American Professor of Chemistry. He was born in Catskill, New York and died in New Haven, Connecticut...
Prize and the George Washington Egleston Prize in American History.
From 1998 to 2006, Forbes served as the founding associate director of Yale’s Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition
Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition
The Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance and Abolition is part of The Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale University. The center was founded in November 1998 by David Brion Davis and funded by Richard Gilder and Lewis Lehrman and the...
, under the directorship of David Brion Davis
David Brion Davis
David Brion Davis is an American historian and authority on slavery and abolition in the Western world. He is the Sterling Professor of History Emeritus at Yale University and founder and Director Emeritus of Yale’s Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition. He is a...
. During this time he also taught undergraduate and graduate courses at Yale.
Forbes currently teaches U.S. history and American Studies at the University of Connecticut
University of Connecticut
The admission rate to the University of Connecticut is about 50% and has been steadily decreasing, with about 28,000 prospective students applying for admission to the freshman class in recent years. Approximately 40,000 prospective students tour the main campus in Storrs annually...
, Torrington. Professor Forbes is also the founder of Locally Grown History, an initiative founded in 2008 to promote public history and tourism in northwest Connecticut.
His first book, The Missouri Compromise and its Aftermath: Slavery and the Meaning of America, the first major work on the subject in over fifty years, was described as “a profound study” by Oxford historian Daniel Walker Howe.
Forbes is also the author of two seminal essays on the cultural history of slavery, "Slavery and the Evangelical Enlightenment" (in McKivigan and Snay, eds., Religion and the Antebellum Debate over Slavery) and "'Truth Systematised': The Changing Debate over Slavery and Abolition, 1761-1916" (in McCarthy and Stauffer, eds., Prophets of Protest: Reconsidering the History of American Abolitionism.
In 2007, Forbes was an advising scholar for the award-winning, PBS-documentary Prince Among Slaves, produced by Unity Productions Foundation.
Chapters in Anthologies
- "The Missouri Compromise and Sectionalism,"
- "'Truth Systematised': The Changing Debate over Slavery and Abolition, 1761-1916,"
- "Slavery and the Evangelical Enlightenment,"