Wilbur Henry Siebert

Wilbur Henry Siebert (30 August 1866 Columbus, Ohio – 2 September 1961 Columbus) was an educator and historian from the United States.

Biography

His father had emigrated from Frankfurt, Germany in 1832. The son graduated from Ohio State University in 1888, from Harvard in 1889 and received his A.M. at Harvard in 1890. He studied in Germany from 1890 to 1891.

In 1898, he became associate professor of European history at the Ohio State University, becoming a full professor and chairman of the history department in 1902. He served in this capacity until 1923 when he became a research professor. He was secretary of the University faculty from 1902 to 1906, and acting dean of the College of Arts, Philosophy and Science from 1907 to 1908. He was dean of the graduate school in 1917 and 1918. His father and brothers, who manufactured books, helped fund the Siebert Library of German History at Ohio State.

He also served as lecturer in history at Ohio Wesleyan University from 1907 to 1908. He traveled in Europe from 1909 to 1910. He was a member of numerous learned and other societies. He was a member of the Congregationalist Church and married Annie Ware.

Works

He published The Underground Railroad from Slavery to Freedom (1898–99), The Government of Ohio (1903), numerous papers relating to the dispersion of the American Loyalists, and articles on some other subjects, including a “Report on Collections of Material in English and European History in the Libraries of the United States.” Errors in the first work above can be corrected by searching primary documents and not rely on family tales told students gathering information while at Ohio State University under Seibert PhD. http://www.portsmouth.lib.oh.us/content/ob-gould. The first Seibert work above contains an interview of a Northern Ohio man who claimed to be Orrin B. Gould of Portsmouth, Ohio in the above library address given but was not. This has become a popular tool today at Ohio colleges to benefit students who do not do primary document searches. as since publication of Seibert's work many others have ruined nearly all facts connected with the Underground Railroad Era and instead have written themselves into history created by others. This has happened at nearly all southern Ohio Historical sites the last 100 years. All records are still preserved however making the current situation totally confusing for today's people wanting to know the facts.

References

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• Biography at deila.dickinson.edu (visited 13 January 2011)