Dexter Perkins

Dexter Perkins (1889–1984) was a prominent authorities on United States History who served as Professor and Chairman of the Department of American History at the University of Rochester.

Born in Boston, and educated at Boston Latin School, Perkins received his A.B. (1909) and PhD. (1914) from Harvard University, where he was admitted to Phi Beta Kappa. In his doctoral studies, Archibald Cary Coolidge was a formative influence.

Perkins' first job was at the University of Cincinnati, where he taught ancient history, British history, and international law in 1914-1915. The following year he took a position at the University of Rochester.

Perkins was drafted in World War I, and entered service in June 1918. He joined the 87th Division, and shortly after it arrived in France he was commissioned as a first lieutenant and sent to Chaumont, where the American Expeditionary Force had its headquarters. Perkins was assigned to the historical section, where he found a former teacher of his from Harvard and others whom he had known from Harvard.

Upon his return to civilian life in July 1919, Perkins resumed his appointment at the University of Rochester, where he remained on the faculty until 1953. In 1925 he became chair of the history department. From 1928 to 1932, Perkins was secretary to the American Historical Association, succeeded by Conyers Read. In 1945 he was the first to hold Cambridge University’s Pitt Professor of American History and Institutions. Dr. Perkins was also the John L. Senior Professor of American Civilization at Cornell University from 1954 to 1959. He was a former visiting professor at the University of London and Cambridge University.

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