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Ainsworth Rand Spofford (September 12, 1825 – August 11, 1908) was an American journalist, prolific writer and the sixth Librarian of Congress. He served as librarian from 1864 to 1897 under the administration of ten presidents. A great admirer of
Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading int ...
, he wrote a twenty-one page introduction in Franklin's autobiography, which he edited and published.


Early life

Spofford was born in
Gilmanton, New Hampshire Gilmanton is a town in Belknap County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 3,945 at the 2020 census. Gilmanton includes the villages of Gilmanton Corners and Gilmanton Ironworks. The town became well known in the 1950s after it was ...
. Ill health prevented him from attending
Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher educati ...
. He instead, at age 19, moved to
Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...
, where he became a bookseller, publisher, and newspaper man at ''The
Cincinnati Commercial Tribune The ''Cincinnati Commercial Tribune'' was a major daily newspaper in Cincinnati, Ohio formed in 1896, and folded in 1930.(3 December 1930)OLDEST NEWSPAPER IN CINCINNATI QUITS; Commercial Tribune Stopped by McLean Interests After Political Shift ...
''. Dictionary of American biography, 1932, v. 17, p.463 In 1849, Spofford founded the Literary Club of Cincinnati with John Celivergos Zachos, Stanley Matthews and nine others. Prominent members included Rutherford B. Hayes and Alphonso Taft; notable club guests
Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a cham ...
,
Booker T. Washington Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, orator, and adviser to several presidents of the United States. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the dominant leader in the African-American c ...
, Mark Twain, and
Robert Frost Robert Lee Frost (March26, 1874January29, 1963) was an American poet. His work was initially published in England before it was published in the United States. Known for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American collo ...
. In 1850 prominent abolitionist and woman's rights activist John Celivergos Zachos named his son Ainsworth to honor Spofford."Topping, Eva Catafygiotu"
''John Zachos Cincinnatian from Constantinople'' The Cincinnati Historical Society Bulletin Volumes 33-34 Cincinnati Historical Society 1975: p. 54
In 1851, in response to the Fugitive Slave Law, he published the pamphlet ''The Higher Law, Tried by Reason and Authority'', which argued that "Injustice is the only treason; no law can legalize it, no constitution can sanction it." Readers included Emerson, who shared Spofford's antislavery principles. In 1859 Spofford became associate editor of the '' Cincinnati Commercial''. He was also active in Republican politics and was a delegate to the 1856 Republican National Convention, where
John C. Frémont John Charles Frémont or Fremont (January 21, 1813July 13, 1890) was an American explorer, military officer, and politician. He was a U.S. Senator from California and was the first Republican nominee for president of the United States in 1856 ...
was nominated. While in Washington, D.C., in 1861, shortly after reporting on the First Battle of Bull Run for ''The Cincinnati Commercial'', Spofford accepted the position of Chief Assistant Librarian of Congress under the Librarian of Congress
John G. Stephenson John Gould Stephenson (March 1, 1828 – November 11, 1883) was an American physician and soldier. He was the fifth Librarian of the United States Congress from 1861 to 1864. He was referred to as the "librarian of the Civil War era" because Ste ...
. Once Spofford learned of the impending retirement of Stephenson, Spofford gathered enough political endorsements for the position, which later led President
Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation throu ...
to promote Spofford to the post of Librarian of Congress in 1864. He was elected as a member to the
American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
in 1873.


Librarian of Congress

Spofford served as the Librarian of Congress from 1864 to 1897, a tenure that saw the expansion of the library's collections and notable changes in its methods of collection development. According to the library's published history, Spofford contributed to the Jeffersonian vision for the library that a “democratic form of government depended on a comprehensive base of knowledge and information.” Spofford is generally credited with overseeing the expansion of the Library from a Congressional resource into a national institution. During his tenure, the library's collection expanded from over 60,000 items to more than one million. Among his more noted acquisitions was the purchase of a vast collection of early American archives from noted archivist Peter Force. Spofford's hopes were to follow the great library models of Europe, in which "the library would be a comprehensive collection of the literature of the nation." Beginning in the 1830s, the Library of Congress began to receive foreign governmental documents and publications. By the late 1860s, Spofford convinced Congress to allow the library to become the repository for international documents. He stated that "there is almost no work, within the vast range of literature and science, which may not at some time prove useful to the legislature of a great nation." Spofford's championing of the copyright law, passed on July 8, 1870, also expanded the library's collection through the copyright registration deposit mandate. The law "centralized all U.S. copyright registration and deposit activities at the Library." and stipulated that two copies of every "book pamphlet, map, print, photograph, and piece of music registered for copyright be deposited in the Library." In arguing for the deposit requirement, Spofford suggested that the legislature would "provide a repository of American culture." In his argument for the copyright law to Congress, he wrote that "the Public intelligence and welfare are promoted by every extension of the means of acquiring knowledge." The law established the library as the de facto national library of the United States and "essentially resolved nydebate over which institution would serve as America's national library." Spofford had persuaded Congress to expand the library's space within the Capitol in 1865. As it was becoming the nation's copyright depository happened at about the same time as two major acquisitions: Congress authorized the transfer of the Smithsonian Institution's collection to the Library of Congress and the purchase of the large private collection of Peter Force. Subsequently, the library quickly outgrew its new space, and Spofford proposed construction of a new building for the Library in 1872. Congress quickly agreed, but the project was bogged down in bickering over details. As the collection outgrew the space for it, books and boxes piled conspicuously on the floor. Members of Congress who used the library could hardly find room to work. Although everyone recognized the need for a new building, it took more than a decade to resolve all the issues. Finally, Congress appropriated funds for the new building in 1886. A dispute with the architect further delayed the start of construction until 1888. The building was finally completed in 1897 and is now known as the
Thomas Jefferson Building The Thomas Jefferson Building is the oldest of the four United States Library of Congress buildings. Built between 1890 and 1897, it was originally known as the Library of Congress Building. It is now named for the 3rd U.S. president Thomas Jef ...
. In 1897, Spofford stepped aside in favor of a younger librarian, John Russell Young, and returned to his old post of Chief Assistant Librarian, where he remained until his death. Spofford also held a post as professor and department head of library science at the Columbian University in Washington, D.C. During his retirement, Spofford wrote and published ''A Book for All Readers'', and was described by the ''New York Times'' as "written from the fullness of knowledge and experience of a veteran librarian for the guidance of younger members of his chosen profession."


Works by Spofford

* Autobiography. Poor Richard. Letters. (New York, D. Appleton and company, (1899) * A book for all readers, (New York London, G. P. Putnam's sons, (1900) * The coming of the white man, and the founding of the national capital, (Washington, D. C., The Academy, 1900) * Celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of the establishment of the seat of government in the District of Columbia. (1901) * The copyright system of the United States--its origin and its growth. (1892) * Eminent and representative men of Virginia and the District of Columbia in the nineteenth century. With a concise historical sketch of Virginia. (1893) * The founding of Washington city, (1881) * Handbook of the new Library of Congress. (1899) * A handy book of reference on all subjects and for all readers. (1900) * Library of choice literature and encyclopaedia of universal authorship; selected from the standard authors of all nations and all time. (1895) * The life and labors of Peter Force, mayor of Washington. (1898) * Massachusetts in the American Revolution, (1895) * Memorial of Dr. Joseph M. Toner. (1898) * The New cabinet cyclopædia and treasury of knowledge. A handy book of reference on all subjects and for all readers. With about two thousand pictorial illustrations, a complete atlas of sixty-four colored maps, and one hundred maps in the text. (1892) * Virginia Three Hundred Years Ago (1908)


Posthumous reception

While doing research on Spofford,
John Y. Cole John Y. Cole (born July 30, 1940) is an American librarian, historian, and author. He was the founding director of the Center for the Book at the Library of Congress and in 2016 became the first official historian of the Library of Congress. Educ ...
discovered that while Ainsworth's ashes were interred at Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington, D.C., his tombstone was blank, although his wife's name was there. Spofford was also not listed in the cemetery's handout that noted the famous people buried there. Although Cole was responsible for bringing this to the attention of some Spofford descendants, nothing was done to correct this until 2004, when John Spofford Morgan, Ainsworth Spofford's great-grandson (1917–2015), saw to it that the situation was remedied. Today, the tombstone reads, "Ainsworth Rand Spofford, 1825–1908, Librarian of Congress, 1864–1897, Appointed by President Lincoln." His name is also now listed in the cemetery's handout on notable figures whose tombstones can be viewed there."Ainsworth's Ashes: Final Resting Place of a Seminal Librarian of Congress". Library of Congress Information Bulletin. March 2005, v. 64 no. 3, p. 75. https://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/0503/ainsworth.html. Retrieved 2009-10-18


References


Sources

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External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Spofford, Ainsworth Rand 1825 births 1908 deaths American male journalists 19th-century American journalists American publishers (people) Librarians of Congress People from Gilmanton, New Hampshire Burials at Rock Creek Cemetery 19th-century publishers (people) Journalists from New Hampshire American abolitionists Ohio Republicans 19th-century American businesspeople