Dexter Perkins was graduated from Harvard in 1909 and earned his Ph.D. there in 1914, the same year that he was hired by the University of Rochester as an assistant professor of history. He advanced to full professor in 1925, when he became head of the history department.

Dorothy Dennis [1885-1988] was a member of the University of Rochester Class of 1908. Two of her sisters and one brother also attended the University and went on to lead interesting and accomplished lives.