Lester Kruger Born

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Lester Kruger Born (born January 23, 1903 in Alameda , California , † October 7, 1969 in Washington, DC ) was an American archivist and historian .

Life

Born studied Classical Philology at the University of California, Berkeley , where he received his bachelor's degree in 1925 and his master's degree in 1926 . From 1926 to 1927 he studied political science at the Graduate School , from 1927 to 1928 he went to Princeton University as a graduate student in the field of classical philology , where he again obtained his master's degree in 1928. The following year (1929) he received a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. PhD .

After completing his doctorate, Born first worked as of Classical Languages at Ohio State University , and from 1930 as Assistant Professor of Classics at Mather College, Western Reserve University . On September 19, 1935 he moved as Assistant Professor of Classical Languages ​​and Literatures and as Managing Assistant to George Washington University (as the successor to Charles Sidney Smith ).

From 1936 Born moved from the university to the archive service. He participated in the Historical Records Survey , an inventory of historically significant files from numerous archives as part of the New Deal's job creation efforts . From 1941 to 1945 he served as an officer in World War II .

After the end of the war, Born took over the management of the Ministerial Collecting Center in Fürstenhagen near Kassel on behalf of the American military government in Germany . He worked closely with Sargent B. Child , the head of the restitution department in Berlin-Zehlendorf . Born was largely responsible for the reconstruction of the German archival system and the archive schools and until 1949 also participated in the restitution and distribution of the archives in occupied Germany (as part of the Monument, Fine Arts, and Archives program ).

After returning to the United States in 1950, Born coordinated the microfilming of important holdings in the Library of Congress . He worked for the National Archives and Records Administration until his death .

In line with his varied career, Lester Kruger Born was active in many different fields as a journalist and scientist. His first research focus was the history of humanism from antiquity to the Middle Ages ( Johannes de Garlandia ) and the early modern period . In 1936 Born published the first English translation of Erasmus' work on The Education of the Christian Prince (1515). His later work dealt with innovations in library and archive systems.

Fonts (selection)

  • Desiderius Erasmus : The Education of a Christian Prince . New York 1936
  • British Manuscripts Project: a checklist of the microfilms prepared in England and Wales for the American Council of Learned Societies. 1941-1945 . Washington, DC 1955

Essays

  • Erasmus on political ethics: the Institutio principis christiani . In: Political Science Quarterly 43 (1928), pp. 520-543
  • The Perfect Prince. A Study in thirteenth and fourteenth Ideals , in: Speculum 3 (1928), pp. 470-504
  • The Manuscripts of the Integumenta on the Metamorphoses of Ovid by John of Garland . In: Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association . Volume 60 (1929), pp. 179-199
  • Some Notes on the Political Theories of Erasmus In: Journal of modern history 1930, pp. 226-236
  • Animate Law in the Republic and the Laws of Cicero . In: Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association . Volume 64 (1933), pp. 128-137
  • The Perfect Prince According to the Latin Panegyrists . In: American Journal of Philology 55 (1934), pp. 20-36
  • Quotations and Citations in the Accentarium of John of Garland . In: Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association . Volume 70 (1939), pp. 303-317
  • Baldassare Bonifacio and his Essay De Archivis . In: The American Archivist 4 (1941), pp. 221-237
  • A National Plan for Extensive Microfilm Operations . In: American Documentation 1 (1950), pp. 66-75
  • The literature of microreproduction, 1950-1955 . In: American Documentation 7 (1956), pp. 167-187
  • History of Microform Activity . In: Library Trends 8 (1960), pp. 348-358

literature

  • Who's who in the South and Southwest . 1956, p. 99
  • Ken Munden: In Memoriam Lester Kruger Born (1903-1969) . In: The American Archivist . Volume 33 (1970), pp. 79-80

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Born, Lester Kruger
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American archivist and historian
DATE OF BIRTH January 23, 1903
PLACE OF BIRTH Alameda (California)
DATE OF DEATH 7th October 1969
Place of death Washington, DC