Summary: Unfunded List founder Dave Moss interviews his father, a U.S. Cultural Historian, about the history of Philanthropy in America. Richard J. Moss (aka Pete Moss), was the John and Cornelia Gibson Professor of History at Colby College, where he taught U.S. History and American Studies for close to three decades. A cultural historian, he is the author of two biographies of the post-revolutionary figures Noah Webster and Jedidiah Morse. Later in his career, he became interested in the history of sport and leisure and authored two books on golf and country clubs. He also wrote Eden in the Pines, a history of Pinehurst, North Carolina, his current home. He earned his doctorate at Michigan State University in 1974. At Colby, his courses on American culture — particularly in the late 19th century — dealt substantially with philanthropy as an important aspect of American life.
