Robert Vance Bruce (December 19, 1923 in

Malden, Massachusetts Malden is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 66,263 people. History Malden is a hilly woodland area no ...

– January 15, 2008 in

Olympia, Washington Olympia is the capital city of the U.S. state of Washington. It had a population of 55,605 at the 2020 census, making it the state of Washington's 23rd-most populous city. Olympia is the county seat of Thurston County, and the central city ...

) was an American historian specializing in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, who won the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for History for his book '' The Launching of Modern American Science, 1846–1876'' (1987). After serving in the Army during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Bruce graduated from the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire, United States. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant coll ...

, where he earned his

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

. He received his

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in history and his

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

from

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

, where he was later a professor. He also taught at the

University of Bridgeport The University of Bridgeport (UB or UBPT) is a private university in Bridgeport, Connecticut, United States. The university is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education. In 2021, the university was purchased by Goodwin Unive ...

Lawrence Academy at Groton Lawrence Academy at Groton is a private, nonsectarian, co-educational college-preparatory boarding school located in Groton, Massachusetts. Founded in 1792 as Groton Academy and chartered in 1793 by Governor John Hancock, Lawrence is the tenth ...

, and the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

. Bruce was also a lecturer at the Fortenbaugh Lecture at

Gettysburg College Gettysburg College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1832, the campus is adjacent to the Gettysburg Battlefield. Gettysburg College has about ...

Plagiarism controversy

In April 1998, Bruce accused Scottish historian

James A. Mackay James Alexander Mackay (21 November 1936 – 12 August 2007) was a prolific Scottish writer and Philately, philatelist whose output of philatelic works was rivalled only by Fred Melville. He was described by John R. Holman, John Holman, editor of ...

of plagiarizing his book ''Bell: Alexander Graham Bell and The Conquest of Solitude'', even as Mackay acknowledged Bruce on page 12 of his book. Accusations also appeared in the review of Mackay's book by ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

''. By Bruce's own count, 285 pages of Mackay's 297-page book ''Alexander Graham Bell: A Life'' contained plagiarisms from his book, including Mackay's acknowledging the

National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, natural sc ...

and other organizations that had not heard of Mackay. Eventually,

John Wiley & Sons John Wiley & Sons, Inc., commonly known as Wiley (), is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Publishing, publishing company that focuses on academic publishing and instructional materials. The company was founded in 1807 and pr ...

took the book out of print and destroyed any remaining copies at Mackay's expense in exchange for Bruce's promise not to sue. Mackay also later apologized to Bruce. The

American Historical Association The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world, claiming over 10,000 members. Founded in 1884, AHA works to protect academic free ...

later found that Mackay had violated its ''Statement on Standards of Professional Conduct''.

Bibliography

Bruce wrote multiple works: *''Lincoln and the Tools of War'' (1956) *''1877: Year of Violence'' (1959) *''Two Roads to Plenty: An Analysis of American History'' (1964) *''Alexander Graham Bell and the Conquest of Solitude'' (1973) *''Alexander Graham Bell: Teacher of the Deaf'' (1974) *''Lincoln and the Riddle of Death'' (1981) *''The Launching of Modern American Science, 1846–1876'' (1987) (Pulitzer Prize for History winner) * *''The Shadow of A Coming War'' (1989) *''Lincoln, the War President: The Gettysburg Lectures'' (1992) (with Gabor Boritt)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruce, Robert V. 1923 births 2008 deaths Pulitzer Prize for History winners Historians of the American Civil War People from Malden, Massachusetts University of New Hampshire alumni Boston University Graduate School of Arts & Sciences alumni Boston University faculty University of Bridgeport faculty University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty 20th-century American historians 20th-century American male writers Historians from Massachusetts American male non-fiction writers United States Army personnel of World War II