History columnist Arthur Hart, Idaho Statesman staple since 1970, hangs up his keyboard

After 50 years and more than 2,000 history columns, Arthur Hart says he has written enough.

Hart, an iconic Idaho figure, historian, author and preservationist, informed the Idaho Statesman this week that he has decided to quit writing his weekly column, which has adorned these pages since Richard Nixon was president.

“Statesman readers have seen my picture thousands of times on Sundays over the years,” said Hart, whose first Idaho History piece was published in 1970. “They sure know what I look like.

“I just don’t think I have another column in me. It’s been a pleasure, but I’m 99 years old, and it’s time.”

Hart recalled Thursday that when he first started the history column, he would hand-deliver it to the Statesman office. He said it’s been so long now, he doesn’t recall the name of the first editor he worked with.

“There have been quite a few over the years,” he said.

Hart, director emeritus of the Idaho State Historical Society, has authored more than a dozen books on Ada County and Idaho. Hart said he still donates the royalties from the books he’s written to The College of Idaho, which was what brought him to the state in the first place, in 1948.

Hart attended high school in Tacoma, Washington, and enrolled at the University of Washington when he was 17. He majored in art while studying history and journalism. At the beginning of World War II, Hart got a job at Boeing before being drafted and transferred to the Army Air Corps. He spent a year in the infantry in Europe, mostly in Germany.

Hart’s wide-ranging academic career includes Biarritz American University in Paris, a master’s in art from the University of Washington and an honorary doctorate from College of Idaho, among other classwork and honors.

A job teaching art at C of I in Caldwell lured Hart and his wife, Dee, to the Gem State more than 70 years ago. From there, they moved to New England, where Hart taught for several years before returning to Idaho. He served as director of the Idaho State Historical Museum from 1969 until 1975. He became the director of the Idaho State Historical Society in 1975, and held that post until 1986.