Richard Norton (February 9, 1872 – August 2, 1918) was the organizer and head of the

American Volunteer Motor Ambulance Corps The American Volunteer Motor Ambulance Corps, also known as the Norton-Harjes Ambulance Corps, was an organization started in London, England, in the fall of 1914 by Richard Norton, a noted archeologist and son of Harvard professor Charles Eliot N ...

(also known as the Norton-Harjes Ambulance Corps), which served on the front in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

from 1914 until it was taken over by the

American Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

in 1917. He was the son of

Charles Eliot Norton Charles Eliot Norton (November 16, 1827 – October 21, 1908) was an American author, social critic, and Harvard professor of art based in New England. He was a progressive social reformer and a liberal activist whom many of his contemporaries c ...

and Susan Ridley Sedgewick. He was also the director of the

Archaeological Institute of America The Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) is North America's oldest society and largest organization devoted to the world of archaeology. AIA professionals have carried out archaeological fieldwork around the world and AIA has established re ...

. He was awarded the

Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

, the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

, and the

Order of St. Lazarus The Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem, also known as the Leper Brothers of Jerusalem or simply as Lazarists, was a Catholic military order founded by crusaders around 1119 at a leper hospital in Jerusalem, Kingdom of Jerusalem, whose care bec ...

. His award of the Cross of the Legion of Honor was the highest award given to any foreigner by France during World War I.Description of the service and his award of the Legion of Honor
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Early life

Norton graduated from Browne and Nichols School and went on to graduate from Harvard with the Class of 1892.Richard Norton, Class of 1892, Harvard
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References

* 1872 births 1918 deaths American archaeologists Buckingham Browne & Nichols School alumni Harvard University alumni Recipients of the Legion of Honour Recipients of the Croix de Guerre (France) Recipients of the Order of Saint Lazarus Deaths from meningitis Burials at Mount Auburn Cemetery American expatriates in France {{US-archaeologist-stub