Robert Bradley Cutler (November 8, 1913 – September 1, 2010) was an American

rower Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oarlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is di ...

who competed in the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. He was also a conspiracy theorist who founded The Conspiracy Museum in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Early life

Cutler was born in Charles River, Massachusetts to Roger W. and

Leslie Bradley Cutler Leslie Bradley Cutler (1890-1971) was an American politician who served in the Massachusetts Senate. Early life Cutler was born on March 24, 1890, in Boston. She graduated from the Haskell School, and attended Radcliffe College, and the Massachu ...

. His father was a noted rower who had been captain of the Harvard Crew in 1911 and competed in the 1914 Henley Royal Regatta as a member of the

Union Boat Club The Union Boat Club (also known as UBC), founded in 1851, is an athletic club in Boston. It is the longest continuously operating rowing club in Boston. Located in the Beacon Hill neighborhood along the Charles River, the Club has grown beyond ro ...

Athletic career

Cutler attended the Noble & Greenough School, where he rowed No. 2 in eights. He went on to

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

and the

Harvard Graduate School of Design The Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) is the graduate school of design at Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It offers master's and doctoral programs in architecture, landscape architecture, urban ...

. During his freshman year, Cutler was the No. 2. He stroked the JV boat during his junior year. In 1935, Cutler was promoted to varsity pace setter after team captain Sam Drury was demoted to No. 2 following the Syracuse-Cornell-Tech-Harvard regatta. Cutler graduated from

Harvard University 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 1935. In 1936, Cutler was a member of a

Riverside Boat Club The Riverside Boat Club is a private, non-profit, Sport rowing, rowing club on the Charles River in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America. Founded in 1869 by workers from the Riverside Press. Prominent members *Lauren Schmetterlin ...

crew, which consisted of himself, his brother

Roger Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ( ...

, William Haskins, J. Paul Austin, and Edward Bennett, that sought to make the U.S. Olympic team. On July 4, 1936, The Riverside Boat Club qualified for the Olympics by defeating the

Washington Huskies The Washington Huskies are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Washington, located in Seattle. The school competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Pac- ...

. In the Olympic men's coxed four, the Riverside Boat Club was eliminated in the semi-finals.

Personal life

On April 15, 1939, Cutler married Marion Lawrence in

Groton, Massachusetts Groton is a town in northwestern Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, within the Greater Boston metropolitan area. The population was 11,315 at the 2020 census. It is home to two prep schools: Lawrence Academy at Groton, founded in 17 ...

. The ceremony was officiated by

Endicott Peabody Endicott Howard Peabody (February 15, 1920 – December 2, 1997) was an American politician from Massachusetts. A Democrat, he served a single two-year term as the 62nd Governor of Massachusetts, from 1963 to 1965. His tenure is probably b ...

and

William Appleton Lawrence William Appleton Lawrence (May 21, 1889 - December 21, 1968) was the third bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts (1937–57). His father, William Lawrence, was the seventh Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts (1 ...

. Marion Cutler was granted a divorce on September 25, 1944 on grounds of cruel and abusive treatment. She was granted custody of their two children. On November 24, 1945 he married Claire Demmer in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. The couple had two children and resided in

Beverly Farms, Massachusetts Beverly Farms is a neighborhood comprising the eastern part of the city of Beverly, Massachusetts, in Massachusetts's North Shore region, about 20 miles north of Boston. Beverly Farms is an oceanfront community with a population of about 3,500, e ...

Grafton, Massachusetts Grafton is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 19,664 at the 2020 census. The town consists of the North Grafton, Grafton, and South Grafton geographic areas, each with a separate ZIP Code. Incorporated in ...

, and

Whitinsville, Massachusetts Whitinsville is an unincorporated village within the town of Northbridge in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Whitinsville is a census-designated place (CDP) and its population was 6,750 at the 2020 census. Whitinsville is pronoun ...

Later life

In 1953, Cutler was accused of using his mother's influence as a state senator to pressure the Massachusetts Airport Management Board into giving his

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

firm a contract for a control tower at

Logan Airport General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport , also known as Boston Logan International Airport and commonly as Boston Logan, Logan Airport or simply Logan, is an international airport that is located mostly in East Boston and partially ...

. Chairman George A. McLaughlin presented as evidence a drawing of a pie with a segment marked "$25,000 survey" removed from it with the caption "Commissioner, you know, we like our pie a la mode".

Massachusetts Attorney General The Massachusetts Attorney General is an elected Constitution of Massachusetts, constitutionally defined executive officer of the Government of Massachusetts, Massachusetts Government. The officeholder is the chief lawyer and law enforcement offic ...

George Fingold George Fingold (October 18, 1908 – August 31, 1958) was an American politician from Massachusetts who served as Attorney General of Massachusetts from 1953 to 1958. Fingold's political career began at the age of 21 when he was elected to the ...

cleared Cutler of any wrongdoing, stating that Cutler's sketch was an attempt at humor. Cutler researched extensively the assassinations of

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

and

Robert F. Kennedy Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925June 6, 1968), also known by his initials RFK and by the nickname Bobby, was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 64th United States Attorney General from January 1961 to September 1964, a ...

. He was known for constructing one of the most detailed maps of

Dealey Plaza Dealey Plaza is a city park in the West End Historic District of downtown Dallas, Texas. It is sometimes called the "birthplace of Dallas". It was also the location of the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963; 30 minutes after the shooting ...

. On April 4, 1995, Cutler opened The Conspiracy Museum to promote his theories, which included the belief that Kennedy was shot and poisoned by three men, one of whom used a gas-powered umbrella pistol to fire a dart with a paralyzing agent at Kennedy to immobilize his muscles and make him a "sitting duck" for an assassination. He also believed that

Lee Harvey Oswald Lee Harvey Oswald (October 18, 1939 – November 24, 1963) was a U.S. Marine veteran who assassinated John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, on November 22, 1963. Oswald was placed in juvenile detention at the age of 12 fo ...

was actually a

C.I.A. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

spy named Alek Hidell.

Gerald Posner Gerald Leo Posner (born May 20, 1954) is an American investigative journalist and author of thirteen books, including ''Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK'' (1993), which explores the John F. Kennedy assassination, and ' ...

, author of ''Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK'', told the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' that "even among conspiracy theorists utler isnot in the mainstream." Professionally, Cutler worked as an

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he served as a lieutenant in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. Cutler remained athletically active after the Olympics and was still rowing 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 ...

in the mid-1990s. He was a member of the Riverside Boat Club from 1921 until his death in 2010. Cutler died on September 1, 2010, aged 96, in Whitinsville, Massachusetts.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cutler, Robert B. 1913 births 2010 deaths 20th-century American architects American conspiracy theorists American male rowers United States Navy personnel of World War II Cutler family Harvard Crimson rowers Harvard Graduate School of Design alumni Museum founders Noble and Greenough School alumni Olympic rowers of the United States Researchers of the assassination of John F. Kennedy Rowers at the 1936 Summer Olympics Harvard College alumni Sportspeople from Needham, Massachusetts United States Navy officers