UMass Boston

Martin Quitt

Professor Emeritus

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Quitt  arrived at UMB following its merger with Boston State College in 1982. A Colonial American historian, he taught for several years an undergraduate research seminar on the founding of the Constitution, a graduate seminar for students in both the American Studies and History Departments, and a range of undergraduate courses on America before 1865. Two of his articles were published in the William and Mary Quarterly, the premier journal in early American history. The second one, “Trade and Acculturation at Jamestown, 1607–1609: The Limits of Understanding” won the Lester J. Cappon Award as the best article of 1995. After retirement he shifted his scholarly focus to the Civil War Era, publishing his third book, Stephen A. Douglas and Antebellum Democracy (Cambridge University Press, 2012) as well as articles in the Journal of the Early Republic and the Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association.

Prof. Quitt has a long record of educational service on and off campus: Coordinator for the U.S. Dept. of Education grant that trained more than 200 faculty and staff in the use of the first Apple computers at UMB in 1982; principal author of a Title III grant for 1986-88;  Vice Chair, then Chair of Faculty Council 1987-90; Chair of the Steering Committee for the decadal  NEASC accreditation visit and editor of the self-study 1993-95; chair of several NEASC visiting teams; Dean of Graduate Studies 1995-2000 as well as Vice Provost of Research 1998-2000; member of the long-range planning committee 2011-2012; planning for and contributing to displays and teaching for the opening of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute 2014-15; first chair of the Retired Faculty Council.