Barton C. Hacker's Obituary
Barton Clyde Hacker, Military Historian and Senior Curator at the Smithsonian’s Museum of American History, passed away on June 7, 2025, in Annapolis, at age 89.
He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1968. He researched, lectured, and published widely on the histories of military technology, social dimensions of warfare, women and the military, war art, military museums, and non-Western military institutions.
He formerly served as Laboratory Historian at the University of California's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and held teaching or research positions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Iowa State University, the University of Houston, University of Chicago, and Oregon State University.
His most recent publications include Astride Two Worlds: Technology and the American Civil War; A Right to Bear Arms? The Contested Role of History in Contemporary Debates on the Second Amendment; and Cutting a New Pattern: Uniformed Women in the Great War, among many others. He was the recipient of the Leonardo da Vinci Medal from the Society for the History of Technology and of several writing prizes.
With his partner, Margaret S. Vining (1933-2018), he co-authored numerous works and established the Vining Hacker Fellowship in Women’s Military History at the Smithsonian.
He was previously married to Dr. Sally Hacker (1936-1988), a sociologist.
He is survived by his son, Mark Hacker (Cindy), and stepchildren, Suzanne Vining Kerba (Remy), Winfield Vining (Pia), and Ed Vining (Jenn). He was predeceased by his sister, Jacqueline Hacker, brother, Irving Hacker, and parents Carl Hacker and Ida Geustel Hacker.
Bart loved to travel, enjoy good food (and of course beer), and the company of colleagues, friends and family. He will be remembered for his famously jolly demeanor and infectious laughter.
A Celebration of Life will be held in Annapolis in October. Donations may be made to the ACLU.
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