Van Beck Hall
University of Pittsburgh
Department of History
3909 Posvar Hall
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
412-648-7451
email: vanbeck@pitt.edu
Education
1956, A.B., History, Oberlin College
1961, M.S., History, University of Wisconsin
1964, Ph.D., History, University of Wisconsin
Fellowships and Awards
1955-56 Social Science Research Council Undergraduate Research Fellowship
1956-57 Social Science Research Council Graduate Fellowship
1961-63 University of Wisconsin Teaching Fellowship
1963-64 University of Wisconsin Vilas Research Fellowship
1971 NSF Grant as an associate of Julius Rubin
1987 Summer Grant from University of Pittsburgh
Military Service
1958-61 U.S. Air Force, 2 nd Lieutenant-1st Lieutenant
1963 Captain, USAF Reserve [inactive]
University Positions
1964-71 Assistant Professor, University of Pittsburgh
1968-72 Associate Chair, Department of History
• Associate Professor, University of Pittsburgh
1981-86 Associate Chair, Department of History
1988-91 Graduate Director, Department of History
1991-92 Chair, Department of History
1999-2000 Graduate Director, Department of History
2001-02 Chair, Department of History
2003 Chair, Department of History
Books and Essays
Politics Without Parties: Massachusetts, 1780-1791, University of Pittsburgh Press, 1972
A Fond Farewell to Henry Adams, @ in James K. Martin, ed., The Human Dimensions of Nation Making, State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1976
Politics of Appalachian Virginia @ in Robert D. Mitchell, ed., Appalachian Frontier: Settlement, Society and Development in the Pre-industrial Era, University of Kentucky Press 1991
A book length manuscript tentatively entitled, The Political Economy of Virginia, 1790-1830" is going through final draft.
Entries in
Encyclopedia of Appalachia, University of Pittsburgh, (forthcoming)
Readers Guide to Military History, Fitzroy-Dearborn, 2001
West Virginia Encyclopedia, West Virginia Historical Foundation, forthcoming)
Encyclopedia of The New American Nation, Charles Scribner's Sons
Papers and Presentations
I have given papers, served as a commentator or chaired sessions at meetings of American Historical Association, Organization of American Historians, Southern Historical Association, Pennsylvania Historical Association, Association Of American Geographers and other professional groups. These papers and commentaries have included topics dealing with the political history of Virginia, the South and the United States during the first half of the 19 th century, the Civil War, social and religious developments in the United States during the same period. I have also give, within the past several years (1997-2001) presentations on the history of the Civil War to groups and seminars in western Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
I have read and evaluated manuscripts and grant proposals for:
University of Pittsburgh Press
Institute of Early American History and Culture
National Endowment for the Humanities
John Hopkins University Press
Currently reviewing web materials concerning the American Revolution and Early National Period fo rthe Pennsylvania State Historical and Museum Commission.
Book Reviews
My reviews have appeared in the American Historical Review, Journal of American History, Political Science Quarterly, Journal of Interdisciplinary History, Journal of the Early Republic, and Journal of Southern History and Pennsylvania History.
Other Professional Activities
Member of Board of Trustees of th Historical Society of Western
Pennsylvania, 1985-1998, Secretary of the Executive Committee HSWP,
1987-1998.
Member of the Council of the Pennsylvania Historical Association, 1991-1998.
Chair of Local Arrangement Committee for Pittsburgh Convention of Plea for October 2005.
Member of Education Committee of the Western Pennsylvania Historical Society and the Soldier & Sailors Memorial.
Chaired the Senate Committee of the University Press
Chaired the Senate Plant Planning and Utilization Committee
Graduate Program
I have directed dissertations dealing with the development of the idea of America during the period between the Seven Years War and the Revolution, the mercantile community of New York City during the American Revolution, the ethno-cultural background of Pennsylvania politics during the 1780s, and the development of the politics of class and race in Richmond Virginia between 1850 and the 1880s.
I have taught joint seminars in American Social and Political History with Samuel Hays and on Slavery and Abolition with Seymour Drescher. I have also taught the General Field Seminar in U.S. History through the 1880s. I have taught a joint seminar in Research in American History with Richard Oestreicher.
I am currently directing four dissertations. These deal with hunting and fishing by African-Americans in the post Civil War south, the importance of Pan European Military Culture during the 18th century to the development of the American Continental Army, the development of the Pennsylvania National Guard from the Spanish-American through the first World War, and the importance of race to the activities of James Davenport during the First Great Awakening of the 18th century.
Undergraduate Program
I teach the undergraduate survey courses for the History of the U.S. from circa 1500 through the 1880s every fall term. I offer upper division courses in American history from 1789 through 1844, the History of the South, and the History of the U.S. Civil War. I also teach an honors course in the History of the Civil War and an undergraduate research seminar dealing with the Sacco-Vanzetti trial the U.S. Civil War. I have worked with undergraduate who are interns in local institutions and have directed several undergraduate honors majors. I also have directed many undergraduates with their independent reading or research.
