[2] Dargo grew up in Brooklyn, New York City, and graduated from Erasmus Hall High School in 1953.
He graduated from Columbia College with a bachelor's degree in American history and was a classmate of biblical scholar Robert Alter.
He also received a Juris Doctor degree from the Northeastern University School of Law.
[3] His book Jefferson's Louisiana (1975, republished 2010) was called one of the most important studies of the Louisiana Purchase and its impact on the legal culture and legal system of the state.
[1][5][6] Dargo died on January 5, 2012, of skin cancer in his Brookline home.