In Memoriam: Robert Hohner

Robert A. Hohner, a historian of early twentieth-century southern politics, died on August 8, 2010, at his home in London, Ontario. In an educational career interrupted by service in the U.S. Navy, Bob received his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. from Duke University. After teaching briefly at the U.S. Naval Academy, Bob took a position in 1965 at the University of Western Ontario (uwo), where he remained in the Department of History until his retirement in 2001.

His pioneering dissertation, supervised by Richard Watson, was on prohibition as a political and social issue in Virginia. He was active in several scholarly groups focused on prohibition, and his interests led him into a study of the life of Methodist cleric and political activist, James Cannon Jr. Despite delays created by lengthy and effective administrative service at uwo, he completed what is likely to be the definitive Cannon biography, Prohibition and Politics: The Life of Bishop James Cannon, Jr. (1999).

In 1970 the historians of the United States at uwo and its affiliated colleges created a monthly seminar to review each other’s writing, in which Bob took a leading role. Incisive in identifying interpretive issues, he shined when the discussion turned to prose style. That concern for style, and his mastery of the historical literature, made him a valued mentor to a generation of students at uwo. His honors and graduate seminars were models of their genres; they were exacting and helped launch many students on successful careers.

Bob had a special personality that grew out of his blended New England and southern heritage. Long before bicycling became fashionable, he startled us by commuting from his home across the city of 300,000 to the campus. A faithful attendee at meetings of the OAH and Southern Historical Association, Bob was often a life of the party at reunions of the self-styled “Duke Mafia.”

The academic community at Western and beyond is diminished by his loss.

Thomas N. Guinsburg
The University of Western Ontario