University Times

A March 8 memorial is planned on campus for history professor Robert W. Doherty, who died Feb. 5, 2013. He was 77.

Doherty earned a bachelor’s degree at Denison University and his master’s and PhD degrees at the University of Pennsylvania.

He began his teaching career as an instructor at Widener College in 1959 and held teaching positions at Swarthmore, Rutgers and the University of Massachusetts before joining the Pitt faculty as an associate professor of history in 1968. Doherty rose to full professor in 1977 and taught in the history department until he suffered a stroke during the fall term.

Doherty began his academic career with an interest in United States religious history. Later, his interests in teaching and research turned to Native American history, environmental history and environmental politics, along with courses focusing on recent U.S. history.

His interests in environmental history led him to direct a number of undergraduate honors theses on related topics, said colleague Van Beck Hall.

In the 1980s, Doherty and Richard Smethurst developed and co-taught the sports history course that has become a popular elective in the department.

Smethurst said Doherty was a strong advocate for undergraduate education and was instrumental in developing “writing in the major” coursework in history as well as teaching the writing-intensive courses. “He was committed to the idea of good writing and teaching it,” Smethurst said.

Among Doherty’s honors was a 2002 Student Government Board Faculty Honor Roll teaching award.

A native of Detroit, Doherty spent most summers in northern Michigan. He enjoyed the outdoors, particularly hiking, canoeing, fishing and sailing. His time on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula also influenced his professional interests, said Smethurst, citing Doherty’s research on Great Lakes fishing rights treaties on behalf of Native Americans.

Doherty served as an adviser and consultant to the Grand Traverse Band of Chippewa and Ottawa Indians and the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, providing expert witness testimony in federal court cases involving treaty rights.

“He was a historian doing research for a court case,” Smethurst said, pointing out the unusual purpose for a historian’s research.

“He liked to solve problems,” Smethurst said. “He didn’t like to merely apply theory, but he liked to solve problems through research and action.” While Doherty’s personality was low-key, “He did not like injustice,” Smethurst said. “When he saw it, he would do everything he could to correct it.”

Doherty wrote “Not First in Nobody’s Heart” with Ron Paquin, a Chippewa Indian whom colleagues said Doherty met while researching another book, “Disputed Waters: Native American Fishing Rights in the Great Lakes.”

Earlier in his career, Doherty authored “Society and Power: A Comparative Study of Five Towns in Massachusetts, 1800-1860” and “The Hicksite Separation:  A Sociological Analysis of Religion in Early 19th Century America.”

Doherty is survived by his brother Lynn Doherty, sons Robert G. and Ian Doherty, daughter Kathryn Doherty, and granddaughters Elizabeth Doherty and Sage Goodwin.

A memorial is planned at 1:30 p.m. March 8 in Heinz Chapel followed by a gathering at 3:30 p.m. at the University Club.

The family suggests memorial contributions to the Benzie County Community Chest, P.O. Box 713, Beulah, MI 49617 (www.benziecommunitychest.org).

—Kimberly K. Barlow