Richard Melancthon Hurd (June 14, 1865 – June 6, 1941) was a pioneer real estate economist and political activist. Hurd was born in New York City and attended St. Paul's School. He graduated from

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 ...

in 1888, where he was a member of

Skull and Bones Skull and Bones, also known as The Order, Order 322 or The Brotherhood of Death, is an undergraduate senior secret student society at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. The oldest senior class society at the university, Skull and Bone ...

and an editor of ''

The Yale Record ''The Yale Record'' is the campus humor magazine of Yale University. Founded in 1872, it became the oldest humor magazine in the world when ''Punch'' folded in 2002."History", The Yale Record, March 10, 2010. http://www.yalerecord.com/about/histo ...

''. Particularly in his youth he was an avid hiker and mountain climber and visited Europe during summer with his father to enjoy the activity. He headed the mortgage department of the U.S. Mortgage & Trust Company in 1895. He married Lucy Gazzam of Seattle, Washington in Mobile, Alabama in 1898 and had five children. He was president of the Lawyers' Mortgage Insurance Company in 1903 when he published ''Principles of City Land Values''.Richard Melancthon Hurd, ''Principles of City Land Values'' (NY: Real Estate Record Association, 1903), archive.org
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accessed May 24, 2010 During the First World War he was active as an officer of the

American Defense Society The American Defense Society (ADS) was a nationalist American political group founded in 1915. The ADS was formed to advocate for American intervention in World War I against the German Empire. The group later stood in opposition to the Bolshevi ...

, an organization that promoted America's entry into

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 ...

and civilian initiatives to suppress dissent during the conflict. He was a close friend of

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

. In 1917, when he was vice-president and director of the Mortgage Bond Company of New York, he was appointed a New York State Prison Commissioner.James Malcolm, ed., ''The New York Red Book'' (Albany: J.B. Lyon Company, 1917), 10
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accessed May 26, 2010 He was later President of Lawyers Mortgage Trust, a securitizer of urban commercial property mortgages. The company suffered financial losses and closed during the depression. His son

Clement Hurd Clement Gazzam Hurd (January 12, 1908 – February 5, 1988) was an American artist. He is known for illustrations of children's picture books, especially collaborations with writer Margaret Wise Brown including ''Goodnight Moon'' (1947) and ''The ...

was an illustrator, known for the children's book ''

Goodnight Moon ''Goodnight Moon'' is an American children's book written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd. It was published on September 3, 1947, and is a highly acclaimed bedtime story. This book is the second in Brown and Hurd's "cla ...

''. He died at the

Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center The NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is a nonprofit academic medical center in New York City affiliated with two Ivy League medical schools, Cornell University and Columbia University. The hospital comprises seven distinct campuses located in the New Y ...

in New York City. He had been ill for more than a month.''New York Times''
"Richard M. Hurd, 75, Finance Firm Head," June 7, 1941
accessed May 26, 2010

Notes

Sources

*''New York Times''

accessed May 24, 2010 *''New York Times''

accessed May 24, 2010 *''New York Times''

accessed May 24, 2010

External links

Richard M. Hurd, "Principles of City Land Values" (1903)
*John W. Leonard, ed., ''Who's Who in New York City and State'' (NY: L.R. Hamersly & Company, 1909), vol. 4, 716
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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hurd, Richard Melancthon 1865 births 1941 deaths Writers from Brooklyn Economists from New York (state) St. Paul's School (New Hampshire) alumni American male non-fiction writers The Yale Record alumni Activists from New York City