Worthington C. Ford
| Worthington Chauncey Ford | |
|---|---|
| Born |
February 15, 1858 Brooklyn, New York |
| Died | March 7, 1941 (aged 83) At sea en route from Lisbon to New York |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Historian and librarian |
Worthington Chauncey Ford (February 15, 1858 – March 7, 1941) was an American historian and editor of a number of collections of documents from early American history. He served in a variety of government positions: first, as the chief of the Bureau of Statistics for the U.S. Department of State, from 1885–1889, then at the U.S. Department of Treasury, 1893–1898, then as chief of the manuscripts division at the Library of Congress from 1902-1908. He also served as Librarian of the John Carter Brown Library at Brown University from 1917-1922.
Ford was the youngest member of a distinguished and notorious family. He was the great-grandson (through his mother) of Noah Webster. His two older brothers were Paul Leicester Ford, an eminent biographer and novelist, and Malcolm Webster Ford, a distinguished amateur athlete, both of whom died May 8, 1902 in a murder-suicide perpetrated by the latter.
Worthington Ford was best known for his edited collections of a number of Founding Fathers documents, including “The writings of George Washington (14 Volumes)”, “Alexander Hamilton's notes in the Federal convention of 1787”, and “Writings of John Quincy Adams”. He also edited collections of the correspondence of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and other figures in early American history.
Ford’s historical work was also notable for his tenure as chief of the newly established Manuscripts Division at the Library of Congress. During his time in charge, from 1903-1909, he organized a significant effort to photograph and copy manuscripts pertaining to early American history which resided in foreign archives (especially France, Britain, and Spain). In this way, copies of many documents which had been missing since 1812 or earlier were recovered. . In addition, he edited and published the complete Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789.
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