Raymond Emerson
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Annie Shepard Keyes
Raymond Emerson | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 28, 1886 Concord, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | October 27, 1977 (aged 90) Concord, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Harvard University (1906–1911) |
| Parent(s) | Edward Waldo Emerson Annie Shepard Keyes |
| Relatives | Ralph Waldo Emerson (grandfather); Lidian Jackson Emerson (grandmother); William Emerson (great-grandfather); John Malcolm Forbes (father-in-law) |
Raymond Emerson (November 28, 1886 – October 27, 1977) was an American civil engineer, investment banker, and faculty at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. He is known for his large donations of personal Ralph Waldo Emerson letters and other documents for educational purposes. He was part of the Emerson family, and was Ralph Waldo Emerson's last surviving grandson.[1] In addition to his marriage to Amelia Forbes, he was also connected to the Forbes family through other marriages in his parents' and his own generations.
Raymond Emerson was born to Dr. Edward Waldo Emerson and Annie Shepard Keyes on November 28, 1886, in Concord, Massachusetts. He was the youngest of seven children born to the couple, and one of only four that survived to adulthood.[2] Raymond's father, Edward, was the son of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Lidian Jackson Emerson.
Raymond graduated from Harvard College in 1910.
Business
Emerson worked as a civil engineer after graduating college. His surveying and engineering work took him across the United States and also to Canada and Brazil.[1] In 1927, he joined J.M. Forbes & Co. in Boston as an investment banker and partner in the company. He continued as partner until 1958. His son David was also a partner in the same firm from 1956–86, which gave the two a two-year overlap of being partners at the same time.[3]
Emerson worked closely and was good friends with William Henry Claflin Jr., both of whom were faculty at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University. In 1938 Raymond replaced Ingersoll Bowditch as a member of the museum faculty, and was part of the museum oversight body until he retired in 1956.[4] In 1924, Raymond and Claflin funded an expedition into Southern Utah for survey and excavation work performed by John Otis Brew and others. This expedition became known as the Claflin-Emerson Expedition, which lasted four years.[5] While at the museum, Raymond was "particularly involved" with Alfred V. Kidder under the latter's mentorship at the museum.[6]
