A Scholar of Canada: A Tribute to Robert H. Babcock

As has been the case with many American scholars who turn their intellec- tual sights on their northern neighbor, a marriage of geography and genealogy set the stage for [Bob Babcock]'s lifelong passion for Canadian studies. Raised and schooled in northern New York State, his ties to Canada through his mater- nal grandfather kindled a childhood spark that provided a foundation for his career. After receiving a bachelor's degree at the New York State College for Teachers in Albany [later renamed University of Albany, suny] he was drafted and served two years in the US Army. Following a number of years teaching high school in New York State, he enrolled in the Canadian-American History doctoral program at Duke University, one of the leading graduate centers for the study of Canada in the United States. Mentored by Richard Preston, an important contributor to the historiography of Canadian-American relations, Bob honed his skills and gravitated to a dissertation project based on the extensive papers of American Federation of Tabor (afl) organizers in the early 20th century. The product was an outstanding thesis, published in revised form at the University of Toronto Press in 1974: Gompers in Canada: A Study in American Continentalism Before the First World War. Using as a primary lens the activities of John Flett, the Canadian organizer of the afl, Bob fash- ioned a nuanced and compelling account of the efforts of Samuel Gompers and afl activists to subsume the Trades and Tabor Congress of Canada as part of a design to craft a North American organization in the first decade of the 20th century. The work provides a textured portrait of the varied and complex ramifications of Gompers's efforts to eradicate dual unionism. Although the afl's relationship with the tlc brought undeniable benefits to workers, it triggered varied reactions in Canada's regions and served to radicalize many workers who bitterly opposed Gompers's vision of a more elitist North American craft unionism. Gompers in Canada rapidly gained traction among labour historians as it broadened the historiography to encompass transbor- der dynamics of unionism. It justifiably garnered the attention of the awards committee of the Albert B. Corey Prize, a biennial award offered jointly by the Canadian Historical Association and the American Historical Association. The 1976 Corey Prize, coupled by Bob's hire at the University of Maine the prior year after teaching at Wells College in upstate New York f