In Memoriam: Hobart A. Spalding Jr.: 1936-2025

by Steve Ellner

 

Hobart Spalding Jr., a prime mover of Latin American Perspectives beginning in its early years and a stalwart supporter of progressive causes, passed away on February 1 at the age of 88.

 

In an article titled “The First 25 Years: Where to Now,” published in Latin American Perspectives’ twenty-fifth anniversary issue in November 1998, Spalding wrote “The past 25 years have witnessed extraordinary changes in Latin America. LAP has generally kept up with these in terms of issue content. . . . Most enlightening for me and my graduate and undergraduate students have been the numbers that have specifically focused on the larger issues,

including not just a couple of articles from diverse points of view but systematic debate, and those that include a solid introduction that draws the articles together.”

 

Hoby (as many of us called him) was an historian and a pioneer scholar in the field of Latin American studies. His most impactful work was the path breaking Organized Labor in Latin America: Historical Case Studies of Urban Workers in Dependent Societies published in 1977. Until then, the field of Latin American urban working- class history was overshadowed by rural studies which took in the peasantry, perhaps due to the influence of the Cuban revolution. Hoby’s book represented a new direction for Latin American labor history, which previously had been heavily influenced by works by staunch anti-communists, some funded by the CIA. The book’s final chapter explores the notorious role of the U.S. government funded American Institute for Free Labor Development (AIFLD) linked to the AFL-CIO in combating militant pro-left labor movements throughout the world. Hoby’s book initiated a proliferation in research (which he himself contributed to in subsequent publications) on the role of U.S. labor in buttressing

imperialism.

 

After becoming an important name in the field of Latin American history, Hoby was exceptionally generous in his support for young scholars. As a graduate student in the latter half of the 1970s, Hoby took me under his wing and helped steer me through my dissertation which was on the labor movement in Venezuela. The treatment I received would have been commendable had I been a student at the City University of New York (CUNY) where he taught, but given that I studied at the University of New Mexico, his encouragement and support was extraordinary.

 

Others had similar experiences. Emelio Betances, a Latin American Perspectives editor, texted me the following: “Shortly after arriving in the U.S. from the Dominican Republic, Hoby guided me through the maze of American academia and helped me to succeed as a professor at both the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla and Gettysburg College.” Kenneth Erickson emailed me with similar words regarding Hoby’s invaluable input into his doctoral dissertation and that of another scholar and friend, Patrick Peppe. He ends the email saying “Thanks, Hoby, for being such a major influence on our publications and, therefore, our careers.”

 

In addition to Latin American Perspectives, Hoby played an active role in other endeavors which are identified with progressive causes and ideas. They included the Left Forum, North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA), and Socialism and Democracy.

 

After retiring from CUNY, Hoby told me that he would not pursue additional academic publications and that he wanted to dedicate the rest of his life to his family (his wife Myrna, three children and eventually a grandchild) as well as activity that contributed to the causes that he held dear. For the last nearly two decades of his life, that’s exactly what he did with the zeal and dedication that always characterized his activity as a teacher and a scholar as

well as at the personal level.