- Robert Herrick (novelist)
Robert Welch Herrick (1868 - 1938) was a
novelist who was part of a new generation of American realists. His novels deal with the turbulence of industrialized society and the turmoil it can create in sensitive, isolated people. He was also briefly acting-Governor of the United States Virgin Islands in 1935.Herrick was born in
Cambridge, Massachusetts 21 April 1868, and attendedHarvard University , where he received aBachelor of Arts degree in 1890. In 1894 he married Harriett Peabody Emery with whom he had a son Phillip Abbot Herrick and daughters Alice Freeman Palmer Herrick and Harriet Peabody Herrick. He later taught at theMassachusetts Institute of Technology . From 1905 to 1923, he was a professor ofliterature at theUniversity of Chicago , during which time he wrote thirteen novels. Among those considered to be his finest was "Web of Life " (1900).Herrick was praised by
William James for his frank and clear-eyed views, and his work can be compared to that ofEngland 'sGeorge Gissing . Both writers developed themes of social discontent, the changing role of women, and the effects of social isolation. While seeing his world with a critical eye, Herrick escaped the shrill tone of muckraking writers likeUpton Sinclair . His art was free of dogmatic "isms" and achieves its power from a melancholic fatalism. He dreaded the brutality and ignorance of the mob as much as he despised the avarice and ennui of the upper class. Herrick was suspicious of political doctrines and utopian legislation, feeling that true progress for human happiness must always lie in individuals making moral choices.In January 1935, he was appointed as a Secretary to the United States Virgin Islands. During a political scandal involving then-Governor
Paul Martin Pearson , both Pearson and hisLieutenant Governor ,Lawrence William Cramer , were called away to testify before the Senate. Pearson was ultimately forced to resign and Cramer was appointed as his replacement, but he was forced to remain inWashington, D.C. , until the conclusion of the hearings. During this period, Herrick was acting-Governor of the Islands, presiding over legislative sessions.References
*"R. Herrick Named to Virgin Islands." "The New York Times". New York, NY: January 15, 1935. pg. 13
*"Robert Herrick, 70, Aide of Ickes, Dead." "The New York Times". New York, NY: December 24, 1938. pg. 15External links
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