Harold Gould Henderson (1889–1974) was an American

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

, art historian and

Japanologist Japanese studies ( Japanese: ) or Japan studies (sometimes Japanology in Europe), is a sub-field of area studies or East Asian studies involved in social sciences and humanities research on Japan. It incorporates fields such as the study of Japanes ...

. He was a

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

professor for twenty years. From 1948 through 1952, he was the President of the Japan Society in New York, "Harold Henderson, Japanese Scholar
''New York Times.'' May 11, 1988. and in 1968 he cofounded the

Haiku Society of America The Haiku Society of America is a non-profit organization composed of haiku poets, editors, critics, publishers and enthusiasts that promotes the composition and appreciation of haiku in English. Founded in 1968, it is the largest society dedicat ...

.
''Haiku Society of America website.''

Biography

Henderson earned his A.B. from Columbia College (New York), Columbia College of

in 1910, and continued his studies in Japan between 1930 and 1934. From 1927 through 1929, Henderson was assistant curator of the Far East Department of the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

in New York City.Monuments Men Foundation
Monuments Men> Henderson, Harold G.
In 1934, he joined the faculty of Columbia. His academic career was interrupted by military service in the Second World War. At war's end, he returned to Columbia, retiring in 1956. In 1945 he married Mary A. Benjamin, (1905–1998), "The Autograph Lady", and the daughter of Walter Romeyn Benjamin (1854–1943) and took over her father's business at his passing. Her mother was Rachel Seigne (1875–1954). In World War II Lieutenant-Colonel Henderson's war service took him to Japan. General Douglas MacArthur's staff during the occupation of Japan included a Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives (MFAA) section. Among those serving with Henderson in Tokyo were Sherman Lee, Laurence Sickman and Patrick Lennox Tierney.Consulate General of Japan, Los Angeles
Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon (3rd class).
In

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, Henderson was an advisor on education, religion, and art. Along with

Reginald Horace Blyth Reginald Horace Blyth (3 December 1898–28 October 1964) was an English writer and devotee of Japanese culture. He is most famous for his writings on Zen and on haiku poetry. Early life Blyth was born in Essex, England, the son of a railway c ...

, he served as a liaison between General MacArthur and Japan’s Imperial household. He participated in the process of drafting the

Humanity Declaration The , also known as the , , and ''Imperial Rescript Denying His Divinity'', is an imperial rescript issued by the Emperor Shōwa as part of a New Year's statement on 1 January 1946 at the request of the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers (al ...

in which the Emperor renounced his personal divinity. In 1974 Henderson was honored the Order of the Sacred Treasure.

Selected works

In a statistical overview derived from writings by and about Harold Henderson, OCLC/

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the O ...

encompasses roughly 70+ works in 160+ publications in 5 languages and 4,900+ library holdings. WorldCat Identities Henderson, Harold Gould
/ref> * ''The Bamboo Broom; an Introduction to Japanese Haiku'' (1934)Walton, Eda Lou
"Japanese Poets Who Have Influenced the Imagists; ''The Bamboo Broom: An Introduction to Japanese Haiku'' by Harold Gould Henderson,"
''New York Times.'' April 22, 1934. * ''From the Bamboo Broom'' (1934) * ''The Surviving Works of Sharaku '' (1939) * ''Handbook of Japanese Grammar'' (1943) * ''An Introduction to Haiku; an Anthology of Poems and Poets from Bashō to Shiki''

Anchor Books Vintage Books is a trade paperback publishing imprint of Penguin Random House originally established by Alfred A. Knopf in 1954. The company was purchased by Random House in April 1960, and a British division was set up in 1990. After Random ...

Doubleday & Company Doubleday is an American publishing company. It was founded as the Doubleday & McClure Company in 1897 and was the largest in the United States by 1947. It published the work of mostly U.S. authors under a number of imprints and distributed th ...

(1958) * ''Haiku in English'' (1965)

Notes

References

* American Commission for the Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historic Monuments in War Areas. (1946). ''Report.'' Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. * Dower, John W. (1999). '' Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II.'' New York: W. W. Norton. ; *

External links

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

(

Oregon Public Broadcasting Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) is the primary television and radio public broadcasting network for most of the U.S. state of Oregon as well as southern Washington. OPB consists of five full-power television stations, dozens of VHF or UHF tra ...

)
"The Rape of Europa."
2006 film, aired November 24, 2008 * Monuments Men Foundation
Monuments Men> Henderson, Harold G.
* Obituary
"Harold Henderson, Japanese Scholar
''New York Times.'' May 11, 1988. {{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Harold Gould 1889 births 1974 deaths American art historians American art curators American Japanologists Recipients of the Order of the Sacred Treasure United States Army officers United States Army personnel of World War II Monuments men Columbia College (New York) alumni

Biography

Selected works

See also

Notes

References

External links