Barrett Wendell (August 23, 1855 – February 8, 1921) was an American

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

known for a series of textbooks including ''English Composition,'' studies of ''

Cotton Mather Cotton Mather (; February 12, 1663 – February 13, 1728) was a New England Puritan clergyman and a prolific writer. Educated at Harvard College, in 1685 he joined his father Increase as minister of the Congregationalist Old North Meeting H ...

'' and ''

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

,'' ''A Literary History of America,'' ''The France of Today,'' and ''The Traditions of European Literature.''

Early life

Wendell was born in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

on August 23, 1855. He was the son of Jacob and Mary Bertodi ( Barrett) Wendell. His parents married in Boston in 1854, about a year after his father had moved from

Portsmouth, New Hampshire Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. At the 2020 census it had a population of 21,956. A historic seaport and popular summer tourist destination on the Piscataqua River bordering the state of Maine, Portsmou ...

, and joined the firm of J.C. Howe & Co. Among his three younger brothers were Gordon Wendell, philanthropist and athlete Evert Jansen Wendell, and actor Jacob Wendell. His paternal grandparents were Jacob Wendell Sr. and Mehitable Rindge ( Rogers) Wendell. The first Wendell, Evert Jansen, left the Netherlands in 1640 and settled in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...

.Small, Miriam Rossiter. ''Oliver Wendell Holmes''. Twayne's United States authors series, 29. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1962. . p. 20 His maternal grandparents were Boston merchant Nathaniel Augustus Barrett and Sally ( Dorr) Barrett. Both the Barrett and Dorr families had deep roots in colonial America, with the Dorrs making their fortune in the

fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mos ...

. Wendell graduated from

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in the class of 1877 with

Abbott Lawrence Lowell Abbott Lawrence Lowell (December 13, 1856 – January 6, 1943) was an American educator and legal scholar. He was President of Harvard University from 1909 to 1933. With an "aristocratic sense of mission and self-certainty," Lowell cut a large f ...

, who was later a president of Harvard. At Harvard, Wendell was a member of The

Lampoon Lampoon may refer to: *Parody *Amphol Lampoon (born 1963), Thai actor and singer *''The Harvard Lampoon'', a noted humor magazine ** ''National Lampoon'' (magazine), a defunct offshoot of ''Harvard Lampoon'' ***National Lampoon, Incorporated, a 20 ...

Career

In 1880, he was appointed Instructor in English at Harvard. He later became an Assistant Professor of English from 1888 to 1898, and a Professor of English from 1898 to 1917, after which he was a professor emeritus. He was also elected to the

Harvard Board of Overseers The Harvard Board of Overseers (more formally The Honorable and Reverend the Board of Overseers) is one of Harvard University's two governing boards. Although its function is more consultative and less hands-on than the President and Fellows of Harv ...

. In 1904 to 1905, he travelled overseas, and lectured at Cambridge University in England, the Sorbonne in Paris, and other French universities. After this visit he wrote ''The France of Today''. He was a trustee of the

Boston Athenaeum Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most ...

, a member of the

Massachusetts Historical Society The Massachusetts Historical Society is a major historical archive specializing in early American, Massachusetts, and New England history. The Massachusetts Historical Society was established in 1791 and is located at 1154 Boylston Street in Bost ...

, and a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

in 1916. He received honorary degrees from Harvard and

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, and an LL.D. from the

University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (french: Université de Strasbourg, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. The French university traces its history to the ea ...

in France.

Personal life

On June 1, 1880, Wendell was married to Edith Greenough (1859–1938) at

Quincy, Massachusetts Quincy ( ) is a coastal U.S. city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest city in the county and a part of Greater Boston, Metropolitan Boston as one of Boston's immediate southern suburbs. Its population in 2020 was 1 ...

. Edith was a daughter of William Whitwell Greenough and Catharine Scollay ( Curtis) Greenough. Edith was a national leader of movements to preserve historical sites. Together, they were the parents of four children: *

Barrett Wendell Jr. Barrett Wendell Jr. (April 19, 1881 – June 3, 1973) was an American investment banker. Early life Wendell was born on April 19, 1881, in Boston, Massachusetts. He was the eldest child of Edith ( Greenough) Wendell and Barrett Wendell, a well-kn ...

(1881–1973), an investment banker who married Barbara Higginson, granddaughter of the founder of Lee, Higginson & Co. * Mary Barrett Wendell (1883–1975), who married Geoffrey Manilus Wheelock. They divorced and she married Reinier van der Woude. * William Greenough Wendell (1888–1967), who married Ruth Appleton, a daughter of

Francis R. Appleton Francis Randall Appleton (August 5, 1854 – January 2, 1929) was an American lawyer and prominent New York society man during the Gilded Age. Early life Francis Randall Appleton was born on August 5, 1854 in Lenox, Massachusetts. He was the eld ...

. They divorced in 1938 and he married Evelyn Fahnestock, a daughter of Ernest Fahnestock. * Edith Wendell (1893–1963), who married publisher and

Mayor of Auburn, New York Auburn is a city in Cayuga County, New York, United States. Located at the north end of Owasco Lake, one of the Finger Lakes in Central New York, the city had a population of 26,866 at the 2020 census. It is the largest city of Cayuga County, the ...

Charles Devens Osborne in 1913. Wendell died in Boston on February 8, 1921. His widow died in Boston in October 1938.

Descendants

Through his daughter Mary, he was a grandfather of Reiner Garrit Anton van der Woude Jr., who married his second cousin, Lady Anne Penelope Herbert, a daughter of Henry Herbert, 6th Earl of Carnarvon and the former Anne Catherine Tredick Wendell (Wendell's niece).

Selected works

* ''The Duchess Emilia: A romance'', Boston: James R. Osgood and Co., 1885.
''Cotton Mather, the Puritan priest''
New York, Dodd, Mead and Co., 1891. * ''English composition: Eight lectures given at the Lowell Institute'', New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1891. * ''Some neglected characteristics of the New England Puritans'', 1892 * ''William Shakespeare, a study in Elizabethan literature'', New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1894. * ''Rankell’s remains: An American novel'', New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1896. * ''A literary history of America'', New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1901. * ''Ralegh in Guiana, Rosamond, and a Christmas Masque'', New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1902 (Boston: Merrymount Press) * ''The France of today'', New York: C. Scribner, 1907. * ''The privileged classes'', New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1908. * ''The mystery of education, and other academic performances'', New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1909. * ''The traditions of European literature, from Homer to Dante'', New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1920.

References

External links

*
Barrett Wendell genealogy chart
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wendell, Barrett 1855 births 1921 deaths Members of the Harvard Board of Overseers University of Paris faculty Academics of the University of Cambridge The Harvard Lampoon alumni Harvard University faculty Harvard Crimson baseball coaches Harvard Crimson baseball players American academics of English literature