Brand Whitlock

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Brand Whitlock (before 1915)

Joseph Brand Whitlock (born March 4, 1869 in Urbana , Ohio , † May 24, 1934 in Cannes , Alpes-Maritimes , France ) was an American journalist , writer , politician of the Democratic Party and diplomat who, among other things, from 1914 was first envoy until 1919 and then between 1919 and 1921 Ambassador of the United States in Belgium .

Life

Whitlock, son of the Methodist clergyman Elias D. Whitlock and his wife Mallie Lavinia Brand, completed his education in public schools and in 1887, at the age of 18, became a reporter for a newspaper in Toledo , before he switched to the Chicago Herald as a political correspondent in 1890 . During the tenure of John Peter Altgeld as Governor of Illinois , he was employed in the office of the Secretary of State for Illinois in 1893 and worked there until 1897. In the meantime, he also completed a law degree and was admitted to the bar in 1894 for the state of Illinois (Illinois State Bar Association) . After completing his work in the office of the Secretary of State for Illinois, he took up a position as a lawyer in Toledo in 1897.

Whitlock with his wife in New York City in 1915

In 1905 Whitlock was elected mayor of Toledo for the first time as a candidate of the Democratic Party and held this office after three re-elections between 1906 and 1914. On February 14, 1914, he replaced Theodore Marburg as envoy in Belgium. A few months later started World War I and shortly after the invasion of German army units in Belgium . While most of the diplomatic missions with King Albert I of Belgium were relocated, Whitlock stayed with the US Embassy in Brussels and provided aid to oppressed people in need there. At the beginning of the war he also granted protection to numerous German residents of Belgium who were unable to leave the country. By appearing before the German military administration, he saved the lives of many Belgians, although his efforts were in vain in the case of Edith Cavell, who was sentenced to death by shooting after a court martial for helping Allied soldiers to flee . After the legation was upgraded to an embassy, ​​he became the first US ambassador to Belgium on September 30, 1919 and handed over his letter of accreditation on October 3, 1919 . He held the post of ambassador until December 1, 1921, before Henry P. Fletcher was appointed his successor on March 6, 1922.

Brand was married twice. His first marriage was to Susan Brainerd on June 29, 1892, who died on October 31, 1892. In his second marriage, he married her sister Ella Brainerd on June 8, 1895 and remained married to her until his death. There were no children from this marriage.

Publications

Whitlock, who had also been a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters since 1913, also wrote numerous, mostly political novels , as well as his autobiography, which appeared in 1918 under the title Forty Years of It . He described his experiences as envoy and ambassador to Belgium during the First World War in the book Belgium under the German occupation: A Personal Narrative , published in 1919 . His publications include:

  • The 13th District: A Story of a Candidate , 1902
  • The Happy Average , 1904
  • Her Infinite Variety , 1904
  • The Turn of the Balance , 1907
  • Abraham Lincoln , 1909
  • The Gold Brick , 1910
  • On the enforcement of law in cities. A reply to a letter from representatives of the Federation of Churches , 1910
  • The Fall Guy , 1912
  • Forty Years of It , autobiography, 1918
  • Belgium under the German occupation: A Personal Narrative , 1919
  • J. Hardin & Son: A Novel , 1923
  • Uprooted , 1926
  • Transplanted , 1927
  • Big Matt: A Story , 1928
  • La Fayette , 2 volumes, 1929
  • The Little Green Shutter , 1931
  • Narcissus. A Belgian legend of Van Dyck , 1931
  • The Stranger on the Island , 1933
posthumously
  • The letters and journal of Brand Whitlock , 1936
  • Little lion: Mieke , 1937

Background literature

  • David D. Anderson: Brand Whitlock , 1968

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Chiefs of Mission for Belgium on the homepage of the Office of the Historian
  2. ↑ US Ambassador to Belgium (NNDB)
  3. ^ Members: Brand Whitlock. American Academy of Arts and Letters, accessed May 3, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Whitlock, fire
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Whitlock, Joseph Brand (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American journalist, writer, lawyer, and diplomat
DATE OF BIRTH March 4, 1869
PLACE OF BIRTH Urbana , Ohio
DATE OF DEATH May 24, 1934
Place of death Cannes , Alpes-Maritimes department , France