Henry Watson Kent (September 28, 1866 – August 28, 1948) was an American

librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time, ...

and museum administrator, "a great pioneer in American museum education and administration".

Early life and education

Henry Watson Kent 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 September 28, 1866 to Robert Restiaux and Eliza (Watson) Kent. He attended the

Boston Latin School The Boston Latin School is a public exam school in Boston, Massachusetts. It was established on April 23, 1635, making it both the oldest public school in the British America and the oldest existing school in the United States. Its curriculum f ...

and in 1881, the Free Academy of

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

. During the summer of 1884, worked at the

Boston Public Library The Boston Public Library is a municipal public library system in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, founded in 1848. The Boston Public Library is also the Library for the Commonwealth (formerly ''library of last recourse'') of the Commonweal ...

where his interest in the library arts began. He attended at Columbia College, where he was taught by

Melvil Dewey Melville Louis Kossuth "Melvil" Dewey (December 10, 1851 – December 26, 1931) was an influential American librarian and educator, inventor of the Dewey Decimal system of library classification, a founder of the Lake Placid Club, and a chief lib ...

. In 1920, he was awarded an honorary M.A. from Hamilton University and in 1932, a Doctor of Arts from

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

Career

Early career

Kent became librarian at the

Norwich Free Academy The Norwich Free Academy (NFA), founded in 1854 and in operation since 1856, is a coeducational independent school for students between the 9th and 12th grade. Located in Norwich, Connecticut, the Academy serves as the primary high school for Norw ...

's Peck Library in 1888, and became curator for 12 years at the adjacent

Slater Memorial Museum The J. F. Slater Memorial Museum, also known as Slater Memorial Museum, is a historic building and art museum on the grounds of the Norwich Free Academy in Norwich, Connecticut, built in 1885 and dedicated in 1886. It is designed in Richardsonia ...

. His techniques in displaying the Slater Museum's collection of casts and reproductions caught the eye of the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

. And in 1894, was commissioned to install its collection of plaster casts in the recently constructed north wing of the museum. In 1900, Kent started working at the New York

Grolier Club The Grolier Club is a private club and society of bibliophiles in New York City. Founded in January 1884, it is the oldest existing bibliophilic club in North America. The club is named after Jean Grolier de Servières, Viscount d'Aguisy, Tre ...

, rising from assistant librarian to librarian in 1903. It was at the Grolier Club, where developed an interest in the art of printing.

Metropolitan Museum of Art

In 1905,

Robert W. De Forest Robert Weeks DeForest (1848–1931) was an American lawyer, financier, and philanthropist. Early life Robert Weeks DeForest was born to Henry Grant and Julia Mary Weeks DeForest in New York City on April 25, 1848, of French Huguenot ancestr ...

recruited Kent to the

as Assistant Secretary, and in 1913 became Secretary of the Board of Trustees. When Kent first started at The Met, he found the museum to be lacking in organization and with limited tools or staffing for communication. So as Secretary, he began laying the foundations for the standard museum organization including: cataloging techniques mimicking the Dewey Decimal System; establishing the first photo studio to produce a visual record of each piece of art; conceived and initiated shows; and developed the procedures for the lending art in and out of the museum. He was also interested in graphic arts and communication creating the first ''Bulletin'' in 1905; established an editorial department; and installed the first printing press in the museum. The ''Bulletin'' began as a quarterly publication, eventually becoming a monthly with a circulation of 16,000. The ''Bulletin'', books, and larger printing jobs were designed created by designers and frequently the museum had titles in the American Institute of Graphic Arts' ''Fifty Best Books of the Year'' exhibit. In 1928, the

Pierpont Morgan Library The Morgan Library & Museum, formerly the Pierpont Morgan Library, is a museum and research library in the Murray Hill neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It is situated at 225 Madison Avenue, between 36th Street to the south and 37th ...

arranged an exhibition of the printing work done under Kent's leadership at The Met. Kent felt that librarians were public servants and was committed to the education of the public through the museum and established the first visitor's center; initiated free tours; and guided the public's knowledge of the collections through lectures, talks, and publications that weren't "too scholarly." As the Supervisor of Museum Instruction from 1907 to 1925, he produced annual reports detailing the educational services provided by the museum. He greatly emphasized youth programming and in 1905 the museum began admitting New York City classes for free. He was greatly interested in American

decorative arts ] The decorative arts are arts or crafts whose object is the design and manufacture of objects that are both beautiful and functional. It includes most of the arts making objects for the interiors of buildings, and interior design, but not usual ...

and worked with De Forest and his wife to found the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Kent retired from the Met in 1940 after

Francis Henry Taylor Francis Henry Taylor (1903–1957) was a distinguished American museum director and curator, who served as the director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art for fifteen years. He was born in Philadelphia, and started his career as a curator at the ...

became director. Taylor appointed Lawrence S. Harrison to lead the administration and refused to let Kent see the museum reports without Harrison approving, finding Kent's methods to be old-fashioned.

Later career

Kent was a founding member of the

American Association of Museums American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

in 1906 and the

American Federation of Arts The American Federation of Arts (AFA) is a nonprofit organization that creates art exhibitions for presentation in museums around the world, publishes exhibition catalogues, and develops education programs. The organization’s founding in 1909 w ...

. In 1923, he directed the restoration of the Glebe House in Woodbury, CT. In 1924, he was invited to join the Arts Advisory Committee for the Carnegie Foundation. Henry Watson Kent served as president of the

American Institute of Graphic Arts The American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) is a professional organization for design. Its members practice all forms of communication design, including graphic design, typography, interaction design, user experience, branding and identity. T ...

from 1936–1938. In 1930 he received the

AIGA Medal Following is a list of AIGA medalists who have been awarded the American Institute of Graphic Arts medal. On its website, AIGA says "The medal of the AIGA, the most distinguished in the field, is awarded to individuals in recognition of their ex ...

, the most distinguished in the field of design and visual communication.

Death

Kent died of a heart attack August 28, 1948.

Works

* (ed. with

John Cotton Dana John Cotton Dana (born August 19, 1856, in Woodstock, Vermont – died July 21, 1929, in Newark, New Jersey) was an American library and museum director who sought to make these cultural institutions relevant to the daily lives of citizens. As ...

) ''Literature of libraries in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries'', 6 vols., Chicago: A. C. McClure, 1906-7. :*No. 1: ''The duties & qualifications of a librarian: a discourse ... in the Sorbonne, 1780; by Jean-Baptiste Cotton des Houssayes.'' :*No. 2: ''The reformed librarie-keeper ... concerning the place and office of a librarie-keeper; by

John Dury John Dury (1596 in Edinburgh – 1680 in Kassel) was a Scottish Calvinist minister and an intellectual of the English Civil War period. He made efforts to re-unite the Calvinist and Lutheran wings of Protestantism, hoping to succeed when he moved ...

(1596-1680).'' :*No. 3: ''The life of Sir

Thomas Bodley Sir Thomas Bodley (2 March 1545 – 28 January 1613) was an English diplomat and scholar who founded the Bodleian Library in Oxford. Origins Thomas Bodley was born on 2 March 1545, in the second-to-last year of the reign of King Henry VIII, ...

written by himself together with the first draft of the statutes of the public library at Oxon.'' :*No. 4: ''Two tracts on the founding and maintaining of parochial libraries in Scotland; by James Kirkwood (d. 1708).'' :*No. 5: ''A brief outline of the history of libraries; by

Justus Lipsius Justus Lipsius (Joest Lips or Joost Lips; 18 October 1547 – 23 March 1606) was a Flemish Catholic philologist, philosopher, and humanist. Lipsius wrote a series of works designed to revive ancient Stoicism in a form that would be compatible w ...

; transl. from 2nd ed, 1607'' :*No. 6: ''News from France or a description of the library of

Cardinal Mazarin Cardinal Jules Mazarin (, also , , ; 14 July 1602 – 9 March 1661), born Giulio Raimondo Mazzarino () or Mazarini, was an Italian cardinal, diplomat and politician who served as the chief minister to the Kings of France Louis XIII and Louis X ...

preceded by The surrender of the library ... two tracts written by

Gabriel Naude In Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብር� ...

(1600-1653).'' * ''What I am Pleased To Call My Education'', New York: The Grolier Club, 1949.