Herbert Putnam

Herbert Putnam
Herbert Putnam
Librarian Emeritus of Congress
In office
1939–1954
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byOffice abolished
President of the American Library Association
In office
1903–1904
Preceded byJames Kendall Hosmer
Succeeded byErnest Cushing Richardson
In office
January 1898 – August 1898
Preceded byRutherford P. Hayes
Succeeded byWilliam Coolidge Lane
8th Librarian of Congress
In office
1899–1939
PresidentWilliam McKinley
Theodore Roosevelt
William Howard Taft
Woodrow Wilson
Warren G. Harding
Calvin Coolidge
Herbert Hoover
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Preceded byJohn Young
Succeeded byArchibald MacLeish
Personal details
Born
George Herbert Putnam

(1861-09-20)September 20, 1861
New York City, US
DiedAugust 14, 1955(1955-08-14) (aged 93)
Woods Hole, Massachusetts, US
Spouse
Charlotte Elizabeth Munroe
(m. 1886)
Children2, including Brenda
Parent
Alma mater
Awards
Signature

George Herbert Putnam (September 20, 1861 – August 14, 1955)[1] was an American librarian. He was the eighth (and also the longest-serving) Librarian of Congress from 1899 to 1939.[2] He implemented his vision of a universal collection with strengths in many languages, especially from Europe and Latin America.[3]

  1. ^ "(George) Herbert Putnam." Dictionary of American Biography. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1977. Biography In Context. Web. 7 Oct. 2013.
  2. ^ Jane Rosenberg, The Nation's Great Library: Herbert Putnam and the Library of Congress, 1899–1939 (1993)
  3. ^ John Young Cole, "The library of congress becomes a world library, 1815–2005." Libraries & culture (2005) 40#3: 385–398. in Project MUSE