Hart was born on April 5, 1924 in Staunton, Virginia,[2] and spent his childhood summers on his grandfather's farm.
[3][4] The family moved to New York City in 1933 for his father to complete a doctoral degree at Columbia University through the end of 1934.
Instead of returning to school immediately, he spent a year working to get together enough money to attend Emory University, from which he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in classical languages, Latin and Greek, in 1943.
[7] As he was completing his Ph.D., Hart was asked by Prunty to return and work as a faculty member at the University of Georgia, which he agreed to in 1949 and stayed there until 1955.
[7] Under Prunty, he worked alongside other famous geographers, including Eugene Cotton Mather and Wilbur Zelinsky.
[9] He did not plan on completely retiring from geographical work, however, as he noted his intention to continue progress on his next book, Fossils on the Prairie.
[15] Hart was presented, in 1971, with the Teaching of Geography at the College Level award by the National Council for Geographic Education.
[11] In 1982, Hart was named a fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation for his geographical accomplishments.