Roger Putnam
| Roger Putnam | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Roger Lowell Putnam December 19, 1893 Boston, Massachusetts |
| Died |
November 24, 1972 (aged 78) Springfield, Massachusetts |
| Alma mater | Noble and Greenough School in Boston; Harvard University (1915 degree in math) |
| Occupation |
|
| Known for | Sole trustee of the Lowell Observatory for 40 years |
| Board member of |
|
| Spouse(s) | Caroline Jenkins |
| Children | Caroline, Roger Jr., William, Anna, Mary, and Michael |
| Parent(s) | William Lowell Putnam II |
| Awards | Honorary degrees from Boston College (1949), Saint Anselm College (1952), and the University of Massachusetts Lowell (1970) |
Roger Lowell Putnam (December 19, 1893 – November 24, 1972) was an American politician and businessman. A member of the prominent Lowell family of Boston, he served as Mayor of Springfield, Massachusetts, from 1937 until 1943, and as director of the Economic Stabilization Administration from 1951 until 1952. During his short tenure in federal office, the nation's steelworkers struck—leading President Harry S. Truman to seize the nation's steel mills.
For 40 years, Putnam was also the sole trustee of the Lowell Observatory. During that time, he purchased three new telescopes for the observatory and was instrumental in pushing Lowell astronomers to search for Percival Lowell's theoretical "Planet X"—which led to the discovery of Pluto in 1930.
Roger Lowell Putnam was born on December 19, 1893, in Boston. He was the son of William Lowell Putnam II, a notable and wealthy Boston lawyer. The Putnams were members of the Boston Brahmins—a group of families which claimed descent from the founders of Boston. On his mother's side, Percival Lowell (the noted astronomer) and Abbott Lawrence Lowell (president of Harvard University from 1909 to 1933) were his uncles and the cigar-smoking poet Amy Lowell his aunt.
Roger Putnam graduated from the Noble and Greenough School in Boston, and then attended Harvard University. He became acquainted with Leverett Saltonstall while at Harvard, joined the Hasty Pudding Club and the Fly Club, and graduated magna cum laude with a degree in mathematics in 1915.
...
Wikipedia