Max Farrand (March 29, 1869 – June 17, 1945) was an American historian who taught at several universities and was the first director of the
Huntington Library
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, known as The Huntington, is a collections-based educational and research institution established by Henry E. Huntington (1850–1927) and Arabella Huntington (c.1851–1924) in San Mar ...
.
Early life
He was born in
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.[United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...]
. He graduated from
Princeton
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nine ...
(A.B., 1892; Ph.D., 1896).
Career
Farrand taught at
Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Epis ...
, then after several years at
Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
, and a year at
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
, he became a professor of history at
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
(1908–1925). His particular area of interest and expertise was the
Founding Fathers
The following list of national founding figures is a record, by country, of people who were credited with establishing a state. National founders are typically those who played an influential role in setting up the systems of governance, (i.e. ...
, the organization of the United States after the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
. Farrand was also director of the
Commonwealth Fund
The Commonwealth Fund is a private U.S. foundation whose stated purpose is to "promote a high-performing health care system that achieves better access, improved quality, and greater efficiency, particularly for society's most vulnerable, includ ...
, founded in 1918 by
Anna M. Harkness
Anna Maria Richardson Harkness (October 25, 1837 – March 27, 1926) was an American philanthropist.
Early life
She was born on October 25, 1837, in Dalton, Ohio, and was the daughter of James Richardson and Anna ( née Ranck) Richardson. Not m ...
—widow of
Stephen V. Harkness—an investor in
Standard Oil
Standard Oil Company, Inc., was an American oil production, transportation, refining, and marketing company that operated from 1870 to 1911. At its height, Standard Oil was the largest petroleum company in the world, and its success made its co-f ...
who wanted to “do something for the welfare of mankind.”
Max Farrand also assisted philanthropist
Henry E. Huntington to establish the
Huntington Library
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, known as The Huntington, is a collections-based educational and research institution established by Henry E. Huntington (1850–1927) and Arabella Huntington (c.1851–1924) in San Mar ...
, located on the historic
Rancho Huerta de Cuati
Rancho Huerta de Cuati was a Mexican land grant in the San Rafael Hills area of present-day Los Angeles County, California given in 1838 by governor Juan Alvarado to Victoria Reid. The name means "Cuati Garden" in Spanish. The rancho included p ...
' in
San Marino
San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...
near
Pasadena, California
Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district.
I ...
. After Huntington's death in 1927, Farrand became the library's first director, and served until 1941.
Professor Farrand made many contributions to historical publications during his lifetime, as well as writing the following books:
*
Legislation of Congress for the Government of the Organized Territories of the United States, 1789–1895' (1896), his dissertation.
* ''Translation of
Jellinek's Declaration of the Rights of Man and of Citizens'' (Translation from German to English) (1901)
* ''Records of Federal Convention of 1787'' (three volumes, 1911) (vol. IV, published in 1937, remains under copyright; also reprinted in 1923, 1927 and 1934)
* ''The Framing of the Constitution of the United States'' (1913)
* ''Development of the United States'' (1918)
* ''The Fathers of the Constitution'' (1921)
* ''The Founders Of The Union'' (1926)
He was elected in 1926 a Fellow of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...
(AAAS).
In 1940, Farrand, as President of the
American Historical Society
The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world. Founded in 1884, the AHA works to protect academic freedom, develop professional s ...
delivered an address describing his views on history and the war then beginning, which he saw as a clash of civilizations.
Max Farrand's final work, an examination of the letters 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 inte ...
(removing transcription errors of its first editor,
John Bigelow
John Bigelow Sr. (November 25, 1817 – December 19, 1911) was an American lawyer, statesman, and historian who edited the complete works of Benjamin Franklin and the first autobiography of Franklin taken from Franklin's previously lost original ...
), was published posthumously.
Family
In 1913, while chairman of the history department at Yale University, Farrand married the renowned
landscape architect
A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manageme ...
Beatrix Farrand
Beatrix Cadwalader Farrand (née Jones; June 19, 1872 – February 28, 1959) was an American landscape gardener and landscape architect. Her career included commissions to design about 110 gardens for private residences, estates and country ho ...
, niece of the novelist and socialite
Edith Wharton
Edith Wharton (; born Edith Newbold Jones; January 24, 1862 – August 11, 1937) was an American novelist, short story writer, and interior designer. Wharton drew upon her insider's knowledge of the upper-class New York "aristocracy" to portray ...
. They remodeled her family's home,
Reef Point Estate Reef Point Estate was located in Bar Harbor, Maine, United States, on Mount Desert Island. Reef Point was the coastal “cottage” of Mary Cadwalder Rawle and Frederic Rhinelander Jones, the parents of landscape architect, Beatrix Farrand (1872–1 ...
in
Bar Harbor
Bar Harbor is a resort town on Mount Desert Island in Hancock County, Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population is 5,089. During the summer and fall seasons, it is a popular tourist destination and, until a catastrophic fire i ...
on
Mount Desert Island
Mount Desert Island (MDI; french: Île des Monts Déserts) in Hancock County, Maine, is the largest island off the coast of Maine. With an area of it is the 52nd-largest island in the United States, the sixth-largest island in the contiguous ...
in
Maine
Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...
, where they spent summers while Farrand held positions in California and lived in
Montecito near
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coas ...
. They had no children. His brother was the researcher
Livingston Farrand
Livingston Farrand (June 14, 1867 – November 8, 1939) was an American physician, anthropology, anthropologist, psychologist, public health advocate and academic administrator.
Early life and education
Born in Newark, New Jersey, to Dr. Sam ...
.
Death and legacy
The Farrands retired to
Reef Point estate Reef Point Estate was located in Bar Harbor, Maine, United States, on Mount Desert Island. Reef Point was the coastal “cottage” of Mary Cadwalder Rawle and Frederic Rhinelander Jones, the parents of landscape architect, Beatrix Farrand (1872–1 ...
in
Bar Harbor
Bar Harbor is a resort town on Mount Desert Island in Hancock County, Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population is 5,089. During the summer and fall seasons, it is a popular tourist destination and, until a catastrophic fire i ...
, which they planned to establish as an independent and self-perpetuating educational corporation. Max Farrand died there in 1945 and Beatrix Farrand established the foundation as they had planned. However, she came to realize in 1955, after a wildfire destroyed part of those gardens, that their plan for the foundation was impractical. She demolished the main house and uprooted the garden (
John D. Rockefeller
John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American business magnate and philanthropist. He has been widely considered the wealthiest American of all time and the richest person in modern history. Rockefeller was ...
purchasing the azaleas for his own Asticou Azalea Garden in
Northeast Harbor, Maine
Northeast Harbor is a village on Mount Desert Island, located in the town of Mount Desert in Hancock County, Maine, United States.
The original settlers, the Someses and Richardsons, arrived around 1761.
The village has a significant summe ...
where they continue to flower), donated their extensive library and herbarium specimens to the
University of California at Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...
where researchers could more readily access it than in Maine, and lived the final three years of her life at Garland Farm nearby.
The Farrands are buried at
Woodlawn Cemetery in New York City.
During the
Bicentennial __NOTOC__
A bicentennial or bicentenary is the two-hundredth anniversary of a part, or the celebrations thereof. It may refer to:
Europe
*French Revolution bicentennial, commemorating the 200th anniversary of 14 July 1789 uprising, celebrated ...
Celebrations, James Hutson, head of the Manuscripts Division of the Library of Congress, edited a revised edition of Farrand's four volume, ''The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787'' (Yale University Press, 1976).
References
Sources
''New General Catalog of Old Books and Authors''
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Farrand, Max
Princeton University alumni
American political writers
American male non-fiction writers
American historians
1869 births
1945 deaths
Wesleyan University faculty
Cornell University Department of History faculty
Presidents of the American Historical Association
People associated with the Huntington Library
People from Bar Harbor, Maine
Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science