Robert J. Allison

Robert Allison received his Bachelor of Liberal Arts from the Harvard Extension School in 1987 and his doctorate in the history of American civilization from Harvard University in 1992, and he has taught in Extension since 1993. In 1997, he received the Petra T. Shattuck Excellence in Teaching Award. He is also a professor of history at Suffolk University, where he chairs the history department. His books include The Crescent Obscured: The United States and the Muslim World 1776-1820; Stephen Decatur: American Naval Hero 1779-1820; A Short History of Boston; and The Boston Massacre. He has also edited an edition of The Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. He is president of the South Boston Historical Society, a Fellow of the Massachusetts Historical Society, and vice president of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts. He served as a consultant to the Commonwealth Museum at the Massachusetts State Archives, and he is an overseer of the USS Constitution Museum and on the board of directors of the Bostonian Society. He and his family live in South Boston.