Obituaries

Robert Wiebe

This past year the history profession lost one of its most influential scholars with the death of Robert Wiebe. An accomplished and highly regarded author and teacher, Wiebe studied the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, focusing his most significant efforts in understanding the meaning of "democracy" in America. His most well known book, The Search for Order, examines the political changes that occurred between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. His work expressed the concern that with the transformations of the Progressive Era, Americans largely abandoned control of democracy. In subsequent material, he continued to examine similarly important issues, calling on citizens to recognize their responsibility in the process of democracy. Authoring a total of six elegantly penned books, Wiebe's most recent--released in late October of this year--is an exploration of nationalism entitled Who We Are: A History of Popular Nationalism. Wiebe's exceptional research has permeated much of the current study of American history and his work has become highly regarded by both scholars and critics alike.

After receiving a B.A. from Carleton College in 1951, Wiebe earned a Ph.D. from the University of Rochester and taught at Michigan State and Columbia University before settling at Northwestern for thirty-seven years. In addition to his important contributions to the profession, Wiebe was recognized as an excellent teacher. Highly regarded by both his students and colleagues at Northwestern, Wiebe's lectures were punctuated by the enthusiasm, passion and knowledge necessary in an effective teacher. A popular and influential professor, he was not only well liked, but respected as a man of great intellect and incredible personal discipline.

An Illinois native, Robert Wiebe died of a stroke on 10 December 2000 in Evanston. He is survived by his wife, Penny Whiteside, and three sons, Douglas, Eric and Patrick.

Robert A. East

Professor Robert A. East, long-time specialist of economic, colonial and revolutionary history at Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, died at York, Maine, on 28 July 2001 after a brief illness. Born in Lima, Ohio, in 1909, he was married to the late Elizabeth Paddock, and is survived by a son, Frank Paddock East, of Essex, New York; a daughter, Elsie East Mooney, of Southbury, Connecticut; and three grandsons. After earning a B.A. at Williams College in 1931 and his doctorate at Columbia University in 1938, East was the winner of the Dunning Prize of the American Historical Association in 1938 for his book Business Enterprise in the American Revolutionary Era. East's other works include John Quincy Adams, the Critical Years, 1785-1794 (1962) and Connecticut Loyalists (1974). He was also the founder of the Program for Loyalist Studies and Publications, an international organization sponsored by the American Antiquarian Society, the City University of New York, the University of London, and the University of New Brunswick. After teaching at Columbia University from 1934 to 1936 and Kansas State Teachers College of Emporia in 1937, East joined the specialist staff of the newly founded National Archives (1937-1940) before starting his decades long career (instructor-professor of history) at Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. As a member of the personnel committee of the Department of History at Brooklyn College, he played an important role in the selection of John Hope Franklin as the first African American to head a predominately white department. After retiring in 1977, he continued to supervise the work of the Loyalist program from his home in Ogunquit, Maine, where he resided until his death.

A most amiable teacher, loyal colleague, and stimulating author, Robert A. East will be missed by all who knew him.

--Hans L. Trefousse
Brooklyn College and Graduate Center, CUNY
Emeritus