author
Herbert Darling Foster
1863–1927
A Dartmouth historian with a gift for turning scholarship into vivid narrative, he wrote on subjects ranging from Calvin and the Synod of Dort to Daniel Webster and the secession crisis. His work reflects both deep archival research and a strong interest in the moral and political struggles behind history.
1 Audiobook
Webster's Seventh of March Speech and the Secession Movement, 1850
by Herbert Darling Foster
About the author
Born in West Newbury, Massachusetts, on June 22, 1863, he graduated from Dartmouth College in 1885 and later earned an A.M. there. After teaching English, German, and Greek at Worcester Academy, he joined Dartmouth's history faculty in 1893 and remained a central figure at the college for the rest of his career.
He was known as a historian and teacher whose interests ranged widely across European and American history. His published work includes studies such as Calvin's Programme for a Puritan State in Geneva, The Remonstrants at the Synod of Dort in 1618, Stark's Independent Command at Bennington, and Webster's Seventh of March Speech and the Secession Movement, 1850. A memorial volume of his collected papers, issued after his death, shows how much of his writing was devoted to historical and biographical studies.
An appreciation published by Dartmouth after his death in England on December 26, 1927, remembered him not only as a longtime professor but also as an influential member of the Hanover and Dartmouth communities. That combination of serious scholarship, public-mindedness, and devotion to teaching helps explain why his work still feels grounded and readable today.