Archibald Cary Coolidge (March 6, 1866 – January 14, 1928) was an American

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

and diplomat. He was a professor of history at

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

from 1908 and the first director of the

Harvard University Library Harvard Library is the network of libraries and services at Harvard University, a private Ivy League university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Library is the oldest library system in the United States and both the largest academic librar ...

from 1910 until his death. Coolidge was also a scholar in international affairs, a planner of the

Widener Library The Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library, housing some 3.5million books, is the centerpiece of the Harvard Library system. It honors 1907 Harvard College graduate and book collector Harry Elkins Widener, and was built by his mother Eleanor Elki ...

, a member of the

United States Foreign Service The United States Foreign Service is the primary personnel system used by the diplomatic service of the United States federal government, under the aegis of the United States Department of State. It consists of over 13,000 professionals carr ...

, and editor-in-chief of the policy journal ''

Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit organization, nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership or ...

''.

Early life

Archibald Coolidge was born in

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, as the third of five boys. His parents were Harvard University Law School graduate Joseph Randolph Coolidge and Julia (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Gardner) Coolidge, both from prominent and wealthy

Boston Brahmin The Boston Brahmins are members of Boston's historic upper class. From the late 19th century through the mid-20th century, they were often associated with a cultivated New England accent, Harvard University, Anglicanism, and traditional Britis ...

families. His siblings included U.S. Minister to Nicaragua John Gardner Coolidge, noted lawyer Harold Jefferson Coolidge Sr. (the father of

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

Harold Jefferson Coolidge Jr.), architect J. Randolph Coolidge Jr. and mathematician and fellow Harvard professor Julian Lowell Coolidge. His paternal uncle was Thomas Jefferson Coolidge, the Boston businessman and U.S. Minister to France. His father, Joseph Randolph Coolidge, was a great-grandson of the 3rd United States President

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

, through his maternal great-grandparents, Thomas Mann Randolph Jr. and

Martha Jefferson Randolph Martha "Patsy" Randolph (Maiden and married names, ''née'' Jefferson; September 27, 1772 – October 10, 1836) was the eldest daughter of Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, and his wife, Martha Jefferson, Martha Wayles ...

. Archibald's great-uncles were Thomas Jefferson Randolph, George Wythe Randolph, and his grandfather,

Joseph Coolidge Joseph Coolidge (1798–1879), who married Thomas Jefferson's granddaughter Ellen Randolph Coolidge, Ellen Wayles Randolph, was a partner of several trading companies, working most of his career overseas in the opium, silk, porcelain, and tea tra ...

, was a distant relative of President

Calvin Coolidge Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States, serving from 1923 to 1929. A Republican Party (United States), Republican lawyer from Massachusetts, he previously ...

. Through his mother, Archibald was the nephew of John Lowell Gardner II. His mother and uncle John were the grandchildren of merchant Joseph Peabody, one of the wealthiest men in the United States at the time of his death in 1844. Coolidge attended seven different elementary and preparatory schools, the Adams Academy in Quincy, and

, where he became associated with the

Owl Club The Owl Club of Cape Town, South Africa (formed in 1894), is a social meeting place for all those with an interest in the arts and sciences. The monthly meetings include an evening of fellowship, fine dining, stimulating conversation, talks by ac ...

and graduated ''

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'' in history in 1887. He also attended the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

and the

École des Sciences Politiques Sciences Po () or Sciences Po Paris, also known as the Paris Institute of Political Studies (), is a public research university located in Paris, France, that holds the status of ''grande école'' and the legal status of . The university's unde ...

in Paris. He earned a Ph.D. from the

University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially ), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The university was founded in 1 ...

in Germany 1892. Coolidge, Harold Jefferson; Lord, Robert Howard:
Archibald Cary Coolidge: life and letters
', 1932 (reprinted 1971), . URL retrieved 2011-01-11.

Career

From 1893 on, he taught various history courses at Harvard, first as an instructor, from 1899 on as assistant professor, and in 1908, he was made a full professor of history. Coolidge today is recognized as having turned the

Harvard College Library Harvard Library is the network of libraries and services at Harvard University, a private Ivy League university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Library is the oldest library system in the United States and both the largest academic librar ...

into a major research institution. Coolidge helped make the Harvard Library "one of the best organized libraries for scholars and students as well as one of the great libraries of the world." He is further credited with bringing the study of history of Latin America, the Far East, and the Slavic countries to the history department of Harvard. In 1908, he was appointed to the Harvard Library Council and was chairman of this council in 1909. In 1910, he became the first director of the Harvard University Library. Coolidge's tenure saw the building of the

.Harvard University Archives, call no. HUG-1299:
Coolidge, Archibald Cary, 1866-1928. Papers of Archibald Cary Coolidge : an inventory
'', with a biography. URL retrieved 2011-01-11. To detail his efforts in making the Harvard Library a centerpiece for students at the university, "The first to hold this office, Professor Coolidge gave a creative interpretation to its functions and made it an essential part of University organization. He kept before the University and its friends a broad and comprehensive idea of the Library and its possibilities, and had the satisfaction of seeing the Harvard Library under his administration reach an assured position among the great libraries of the world. This result was due in large to his own wisdom, vision, patient skill, and interest in every side of the Library's welfare. He encouraged equally the acquisition of unique special collections, the prompt and steady purchase of books asked for, and improved facilities for work by members of the University and by visiting scholars." His own department described his personal characteristics: "He gave himself to history; and it was characteristic of him that his gifts to the Department in his lifetime should take permanent form in his bequests... One prejudice he did not rise above- a prejudice for intellectual distinction; but to him this was a thing of many kinds... His attachments were of the heart. He was a man of strong feeling, quick to anger at injustice, profoundly stirred by sympathy. He hated the waste of useless friction and mis-directed strength... His mind was essentially political: he knew that he lived in a world of men, not of ideas." Coolidge's time at Harvard shows his true dedication to Academia, with his emphasized focus on history and the improvement of the Harvard Library. He was an essential member of the Harvard Faculty and made improvements to the college that would prove to be long-lasting.

Diplomatic career

Between college terms and parallel to his post at Harvard, Coolidge also pursued a career in

diplomacy Diplomacy is the communication by representatives of State (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, non-governmental institutions intended to influence events in the international syste ...

, which fit his travel interests and his desire and aptitude for learning languages well. He held posts as secretary to the American legation in Saint Petersburg, Russia (1890–1891), as private secretary to the American minister in France (1892), and as secretary to the American legation in Vienna (1893). At the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, more important assignments followed. Coolidge joined the

Inquiry An inquiry (also spelled as enquiry in British English) is any process that has the aim of augmenting knowledge, resolving doubt, or solving a problem. A theory of inquiry is an account of the various types of inquiry and a treatment of the ...

study group established by

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

. The U.S. State Department sent him in 1918 to Russia to report on the situation there. In 1919, he was made the head of the so-called Coolidge Mission, which was "appointed by the American Delegation on 27 December and set up headquarters in Vienna.". Secretary of State Robert Lansing informed Coolidge in a telegram dated December 26, 1918, that "You are hereby assigned to the American Commission to observe political conditions in Austria-Hungary and neighboring countries.". Coolidge and his group in Vienna analyzed the state of affairs on Central Europe and the Balkans and made recommendations for the benefit of the U.S. participants at the

Paris Peace Conference, 1919 Paris () is the capital and largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the fourth-most populous city in the European Union and the 30th most densely pop ...

.U.S. Department of State,
Papers relating to the foreign relations of the United States, The Paris Peace Conference, 1919, vol XII
'. URL retrieved 2011-01-11. In 1921, Coolidge worked as a negotiator for the

American Relief Administration American Relief Administration (ARA) was an American Humanitarian aid, relief mission to Europe and later Russian Civil War, post-revolutionary Russia after World War I. Herbert Hoover, future president of the United States, was the program dire ...

and helped organize the humanitarian aid to Russia after the famine of 1921. Coolidge also was one of the founders of the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank focused on Foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is an independent and nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organi ...

, which grew out of the Inquiry study group, and served as the first editor of its publication ''

'' from 1922 until his death in 1928.Grose, P.:
Continuing the Inquiry: The Council on Foreign Relations from 1921 to 1996
''. New York: Council on Foreign Relations: 1996, reprinted 2006. . URL retrieved 2011-01-11. Coolidge was also a member of the Monticello Association, which was created in 1913 to care for and preserve President Jefferson's home,

Monticello Monticello ( ) was the primary residence and plantation of Thomas Jefferson, a Founding Father, author of the Declaration of Independence, and the third president of the United States. Jefferson began designing Monticello after inheriting l ...

, serving as its president from 1919 to 1925.Coolidge, H.J.; Lord, R.H.: ''Archibald Cary Coolidge: life and letters'', p. 328.

Death

Coolidge died at his home in Boston, Massachusetts on January 14, 1928.

Publications

*''The United States as a World Power'' (1908) *''The Origins of the Triple Alliance'' (1917) *''Ten Years of War and Peace'' (1927) * Editor-in-Chief, ''Foreign Affairs'', a journal of the Council on Foreign Relations.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Coolidge, Archibald Cary 1866 births 1928 deaths Diplomats for the United States 20th-century American historians Archibald Cary Jefferson family Harvard University Department of History faculty Harvard College alumni University of Freiburg alumni Adams Academy alumni