author

Baxter Perry Smith

1829–1884

Best known for writing The History of Dartmouth College in 1878, this 19th-century historian and philanthropist helped preserve an important piece of early American college history. His surviving letters also show a man deeply involved in supporting Dartmouth and its future.

1 Audiobook

The History of Dartmouth College

The History of Dartmouth College

by Baxter Perry Smith

About the author

Born in 1829 and dying in 1884, Baxter Perry Smith is remembered chiefly as the author of The History of Dartmouth College, a substantial nineteenth-century account of the school’s origins and development.

Archival records at Dartmouth describe him as an American philanthropist and historian. Those same records preserve letters showing that he took an active interest in the college’s affairs, including fundraising and the circulation of related historical works.

Although not widely known today, his book remains the main reason readers still encounter his name. For listeners interested in college history, early American education, or overlooked nineteenth-century writers, his work offers a direct window into how Dartmouth’s story was told in his own era.