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John Horton

For thousands of students who studied history at the University of Buffalo between 1926 and 1967, the study of the past was brought alive by the dramatic and spellbinding lectures of Professor John Horton. According to his colleagues and former students, Professor Horton combined scholarship, sincerity and a flair for the theatrical into his life’s work–a career of over 60 years of research, teaching, service, and devotion to the University at Buffalo.

Professor Horton challenged and tested his students’ ideas in order to improve their understanding of the past, so they could better understand the challenges of the future. For him, the past was a tradition to be studied and to learn from, since it formed the basis for future potential.

“Give students the facts of the past … and they will then be able to understand the problems that will eventually confront them.”
~ Professor John Horton

Considered a brilliant scholar, an acclaimed author, and an engaging and popular lecturer, Dr. Horton was most admired by his students and colleagues for placing the teaching of history and service to the community above everything else. Dr. Horton brought the classic beauty and compelling history of Greece, Rome and Elizabethan England to life for his students in a vivid, dramatic, and engaging manner. In many ways, Dr. Horton epitomized the classically educated professor of the late nineteenth and early-twentieth century.

He was a traditional scholar, conversant in Latin, Greek and French, who devoted himself to championing the place of history in academia, and the essential role of history in the understanding of current affairs. Professor Horton joined the UB faculty in 1926 as an instructor in history after earning his undergraduate degree from UB, and before going on to Harvard University for his M.A. and Ph.D.

Professor Horton subsequently returned to the UB faculty, specializing in medieval, Renaissance, and reformation history. In 1939 he received the first Albert J. Beveridge Prize of the American Historical Association for his acclaimed book, James Kent: A Study in Conservatism. He served as chairman of the History Department from 1948 to 1967, retiring in 1973 as professor emeritus. In 1971, Dr. Horton received the 22nd annual Samuel P. Capen Alumni Award, the highest award that the alumni association can bestow, and presented to an alumnus who has made meritorious contributions to the University. Dr. Horton also authored a prominent book about the history of Western New York: Old Erie: The Growth of an American Community.

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