John Allen Gable (1943, Rockford - February 18, 2005, Glen Cove) was an American historian who specialized in
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...
. Executive director of the
Theodore Roosevelt Association
The Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA) is a historical and cultural organization dedicated to honoring the life and work of Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919), the 26th President of the United States.
The group is based in Oyster Bay, New York, on ...
from 1974 until his death in 2005, Gable was described as a "walking Theodore Roosevelt encyclopedia" by Bill Bleyer of ''
Newsday
''Newsday'' is a daily newspaper in the United States primarily serving Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI" ...
''. Marcelle Fischer of the ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' wrote in 2006 that Gable was "widely considered to be the country's, if not the world's, foremost expert on Roosevelt."
Early life
Gable was born to Allen H. and Mary Jane Gable in 1943 in
Rockford, Illinois
Rockford is a city in Winnebago County, Illinois, Winnebago and Ogle County, Illinois, Ogle counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Located in far northern Illinois on the banks of the Rock River (Mississippi River tributary), Rock River, Rockfor ...
, one of three children. He became interested in Theodore Roosevelt after his grandparents took him to visit
Sagamore Hill
Sagamore Hill was the home of the 26th president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, from 1885 until his death in 1919. It is located in Cove Neck, New York, near Oyster Bay on the North Shore of Long Island, east of Manhattan. It is n ...
when he was 9 years old. The family moved from Illinois to
Lenox, New York
Lenox is a town in Madison County, New York, United States. The population was 8,768 as of the 2020 census.
The town is on the county's northern border and is west of the city of Oneida. The International Boxing Hall of Fame is in the town.
Hi ...
when Gable was 11. The following year, he wrote for the first time to
Hermann Hagedorn
Hermann Hagedorn (18 July 1882 – 27 July 1964) was an American author, poet and biographer.
Life and career
Hagedorn was born in New York City and educated at The Hill School. He graduated from Harvard University, where he was awarded the G ...
, the head of the Theodore Roosevelt Association, and the two corresponded before meeting three years later. Gable considered Hagedorn his mentor.
After graduating from the
Lenox School for Boys
Lenox School was an Episcopal independent, college-preparatory boarding school for boys in grades nine through twelve in Lenox, Massachusetts, in the United States.
History
The school opened in 1926 under the leadership of Rev. G. Gardner Monks ...
, Gable attended
Kenyon College
Kenyon College ( ) is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1824 by Episcopal Bishop Philander Chase. It is the oldest private instituti ...
, where he studied medieval and American history. He was part of
Psi Upsilon
Psi Upsilon (), commonly known as Psi U, is a North American fraternity,''Psi Upsilon Tablet'' founded at Union College on November 24, 1833. The fraternity has chartered fifty chapters at colleges and universities throughout North America, some ...
and was a staff member of the college newspaper, the ''
Kenyon Collegian
Kenyon College ( ) is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1824 by Episcopal Bishop Philander Chase. It is the oldest private instituti ...
''. Gable's senior honors thesis in 1965 was titled ''A nineteenth century patrician becomes a twentieth century president: an interpretation of the career of Theodore Roosevelt, 1880-1909''. The culmination of his history doctorate from
Brown University
Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...
was a dissertation on the
Bull Moose Party
The Progressive Party, popularly nicknamed the Bull Moose Party, was a Third party (U.S. politics), third party in the United States formed in 1912 by former president Theodore Roosevelt after he lost the 1912 Republican Party presidential prim ...
in 1972. He later developed this into his 1978 book ''The Bull Moose Years: Theodore Roosevelt and the Progressive Party''.
Career
After finishing graduate school, Gable was a history instructor at Brown (1972-1973),
Briarcliffe College
Briarcliffe College was a private for-profit college with two campuses on Long Island, New York. It was owned by Career Education Corporation. The Bethpage campus served Nassau County, New York, and the Patchogue campus was in Suffolk Count ...
(1974-1977), and
C. W. Post
Charles William Post (October 26, 1854 – May 9, 1914) was an American innovator, breakfast cereal and foods manufacturer and a pioneer in the prepared-food industry. He was the founder of what is now Post Consumer Brands.
Early life and ...
(1977-1989). From 1989 until 2005, he was an adjunct history professor at
Hofstra University
Hofstra University is a Private university, private research university in Hempstead, New York, United States. It originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University and became an independent college in 1939. Comprising ten schools, includ ...
. In 1974, he joined the
US Department of the Interior
The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal lands and natural resources. It also administers programs relating t ...
's Historic American Engineering Record project, which "catalog dthe historic engineering and commercial ventures of
Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
,
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
and
Queens
Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...
".
In 1974, when Gable moved into the role of executive director, the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA) was on its last leg, having lost many of its members after the organization achieved its goal of turning
Sagamore Hill
Sagamore Hill was the home of the 26th president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, from 1885 until his death in 1919. It is located in Cove Neck, New York, near Oyster Bay on the North Shore of Long Island, east of Manhattan. It is n ...
into a museum. Over the course of the next 31 years, he grew membership to more than 2,000. In 1975, he founded the quarterly ''Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal'', a peer-reviewed publication, and served as its editor until 2004. In 1978, he joined the
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Located in Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 21 interconn ...
's Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Committee and in 1986 became part of the Advisory Board for the Netherlands'
Roosevelt Study Center
The Roosevelt Institute for American Studies (RIAS) is a research institute, graduate school, conference center, and library for the study of US history and transatlantic relations in the modern era located in Zeeuws Archief, in Middelburg, the ...
. His position and personal research made him a noted Roosevelt historian and he was a consultant and on-screen commentator for numerous television productions concerning Roosevelt, including ''A Man for All Times'' (1975), ''
American Experience
''American Experience'' is a television program airing on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States. The program airs documentaries, many of which have won awards, about important or interesting events and people in American his ...
'' (1996), ''
America's Castles
''America's Castles'' is a documentary television series that aired on A&E Network from 1994 to 2005. Through interviews, historic photos and newly shot footage, the program documents the mansions and summer homes of the high society of The Gild ...
History's Mysteries
''History's Mysteries'' is an American documentary television series that aired on the History Channel.
Overview
The 154 episodes of the series were produced from 1998 to 2011. Each season consisted of 12 to 14 one-hour episodes that focused on ...
'' (2000), and ''Teddy Roosevelt: An American Lion'' (2003). In 2001, Roosevelt was posthumously awarded the
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...
for the
Spanish-American War
Spanish Americans (, ''hispanoestadounidenses'', or ''hispanonorteamericanos'') are Americans whose ancestry originates wholly or partly from Spain. They are the longest-established European American group in the modern United States, with a ...
, the culmination of a campaign led by the TRA under Gable.
Gable was a member of the
Organization of American Historians
The Organization of American Historians (OAH), formerly known as the Mississippi Valley Historical Association, is the largest professional society dedicated to the teaching and study of American history. OAH's members in the U.S. and abroad incl ...
, Oyster Bay Historical Society, Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities, and the Center for the Study of the Presidency. He was also part of his church's
vestry
A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government of a parish in England, Wales and some English colony, English colonies. At their height, the vestries were the only form of local government in many places and spen ...
and a past trustee of the Oyster Bay Historical Society. The TRA awarded him with their Distinguished Service Medal shortly before his death.
Death and legacy
Gable died from inoperable cancer on February 18, 2005 at what was then called North Shore University Hospital at Glen Cove. Shortly after, the Friends of Sagamore Hill, an organization Gable helped found, named its annual lecture series in his honor. Hofstra University awarded its first John Allen Gable Award in 2008.
Selected works
Books (author)
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Books (editor)
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* With Natalie A. Naylor and
Douglas Brinkley
Douglas Brinkley (born December 14, 1960) is an American author, Katherine Tsanoff Brown Chair in Humanities, and professor of history at Rice University. Brinkley is a history commentator for CNN, Presidential Historian for the New York Historica ...