HANNAH FARBER

Profile

Dr. Hannah Farber is Associate Professor of History at Columbia University, specializing in the political economy of colonial North America, the early American republic, and the Atlantic World. Her research explores how financial and commercial systems shaped early American political institutions and culture.

Research and Scholarship

Professor Farber’s first book, Underwriters of the United States (Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture / UNC Press, 2021), examines how the transnational system of marine insurance influenced the formation and development of the early American republic. Her second book project, The American Lawsuit: Civil Litigation from the Revolution to Tocqueville, investigates the role of lawsuits in shaping early American life and governance.

Awards and Recognition

• John Lyman Book Award, U.S. Maritime History, North American Society for Oceanic History (2021)

• Hagley Prize, Best Book in Business History, Business History Conference (2023)

“Farber fills her pages with a fantastically colorful community of characters at work in the often-shadowy underworld of finance. She has made people—and not always well-known leaders—come alive. That is rare in business history.” — David J. Hancock, University of Michigan

Research Interests

• Early American interest rates

• Visual and material culture of American commerce

• Political economy of colonial North America

• The early American republic

• The Atlantic World

Education

• Ph.D. History – University of California, Berkeley
  Doctoral Dissertation: “Underwritten States: Marine Insurance and the Making of Bodies Politic in America, 1622–1815.”

• B.A. History – Yale University

Positions Held

• Associate Professor of History – Columbia University

• Visiting Assistant Professor and Postdoctoral Fellow – Boston College