Harlan Hoge Ballard
BornMay 26, 1853 Edit this on Wikidata
Athens Edit this on Wikidata
DiedFebruary 18, 1934 Edit this on Wikidata (aged 80)
Pittsfield Edit this on Wikidata
Parent(s)

Harlan Hoge Ballard (May 26, 1853 – February 18, 1934) was an American author. He was founder of the Agassiz Association and served as librarian of the Berkshire Athenaeum for 46 years.

Life

Harlan Hoge Ballard was born on May 26, 1853 in Athens, Ohio. He was the son of the Rev. Addison Ballard and Julia Perkins Ballard, a writer of nature books and temperance fiction.[1] Ballard attended public school in Athens and Detroit, Michigan and graduated from Williams College in 1874.[1][2][3]

Upon graduating, he became principal of Lenox High School until 1880 and principal of Lenox Academy from 1880 to 1886.[1][2][3]

In 1903 he was appointed the first curator of the Berkshire Museum of Natural History and Art.[4][5] He remained as curator until early 1931,[6][7][8] giving up the position when the museum and library became separate institutions.[9]

In 1875, he founded the Agassiz Association, an organization dedicated to the promotion of natural science, especially among young people. By the 1890s, membership numbered over 20,000 people.[10]

On August 20, 1879, he married Lucy Bishop Pike.[4]

In 1886, he left teaching for literary efforts. He edited The Swiss Cross, the Agassiz Association monthly magazine, and the newspaper the New York Observer. He published numerous books, including a translation of Virgil's Aeneid (1930).[2]

He became librarian of the Berkshire Athenaeum on November 1, 1888.[2] He also served as President of the Western Massachusetts Library Club.[11]

Harlan Hoge Ballard died of a heart attack on 18 February 1934 in Pittsfield.[12] He was survived by his wife, a son, and two daughters.[4] A memorial fund was established in his name by his daughter,[9] in about 1952.[13]

Works

His published works include:

  • Three Kingdoms
  • World of Nature
  • Open Sesame
  • One Thousand Blunders in English
  • Barnes Readers
  • The Tyler's Jewel

References

  1. 1 2 3 Farlow, Charles Frederic; Pope, Charles Henry (1911). Ballard genealogy : William Ballard (1603-1639) of Lynn, Massachusetts and William Ballard (1617-1689) of Andover, Massachusetts and their descendants. Boston Public Library. Boston : C.H. Pope. pp. 161–2, 173.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Translation Not Mr. Ballard's Only Literary Enterprise". Berkshire Eagle. 6 June 1908.
  3. 1 2 "Ballard, Harlan Hoge," Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography
  4. 1 2 3 "Harlan H. Ballard, Librarian, 81, Dies". The New York Times. February 19, 1934. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
  5. ↑ "Athenaeum Trustees". The Pittsfield Sun. June 11, 1903. p. 1. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
  6. ↑ "Bishop Gift to the Museum Forms a Valuable Addition". The Berkshire County Eagle. June 20, 1923. p. 2. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
  7. ↑ "Spending $12,000 on a New Steel Stack for 40,000 More Books at Berkshire Athenaeum". The Berkshire Eagle. July 11, 1925. p. 3. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
  8. ↑ "Many View Loan Exhibition At Reception Given for New Director of Berkshire Museum". The Berkshire Eagle. September 1, 1931. p. 4. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
  9. 1 2 "Reptile Case's Popularity Revealed by Fingerprints". The Berkshire Eagle. March 10, 1962. p. 11. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
  10. ↑ Keeney, Elizabeth (1992). The Botanizers: Amateur Scientists in Nineteenth-century America. Univ of North Carolina Press. pp. 140–145. ISBN 978-0-8078-2046-9.
  11. ↑ Library Journal. Library Journal. April 1900. p. 182.
  12. ↑ "Founder of Agassiz Association Dies". Oakland Tribune. 19 February 1934.
  13. ↑ "1,000 Attend Museum Event". The Berkshire Eagle. May 28, 1962. p. 17. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
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