Archibald Cary Coolidge

Archibald Cary Coolidge (March 6, 1866 – January 14, 1928) was an American educator. He was a Professor of History at Harvard College from 1908 and the first Director of the Harvard University Library from 1910 until his death. Coolidge was also a scholar in international affairs, a planner of the Widener Library, a member of the United States Foreign Service, and editor-in-chief of the policy journal, Foreign Affairs.

Archibald Coolidge was born in Boston, Massachusetts as the third of five boys. His parents were Joseph Randolph Coolidge and Julia Coolidge née Gardner, both from prominent and wealthy Boston families. Coolidge attended seven different elementary and preparatory schools, the Adams Academy in Quincy, and Harvard College, from which he emerged summa cum laude in history in 1887. He also attended the University of Berlin and the École des Sciences Politiques in Paris. He earned a Ph.D. from the University of Freiburg in Germany 1892.

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 turned the Harvard College Library into a major research institution. 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 Widener Library.

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

...
Wikipedia