He graduated from Irondequoit High School in suburban Irondequoit, New York in 1949 and studied Social Studies at the New York State College for Teachers at Albany.

During this period, he was drafted and served two years in the U.S. Army but was not deployed to the ongoing Korean War.

From 1957 to 1966, Babcock taught history at Guilderland Central High School in suburban Albany.

His first book, Gompers in Canada: A Study in American Continentalism before the First World War, was published by the University of Toronto Press in 1974 and was awarded the Albert B. Corey Prize by the American Historical Association and Canadian Historical Associations.

[2] In 1975, Babcock was hired by the University of Maine, where he stayed for the remainder of his career.