Max Farrand

Max Farran (March 29, 1869 - June 17, 1945) was an American historian, taught at several universities and was the first director of the Huntington Library. He was born in Newark, New Jersey, USA. He graduated from Princeton (A. B., 1892; Ph.D., 1896). Farran taught at Wesleyan University, then after several years at Stanford University and a year of study at Cornell University, he became professor of history at Yale University (1908-1925). His special area of interest and experience was the Founding Fathers, the United States organization after the American Revolutionary War. Farrand was also the director of the Commonwealth Fund, founded in 1918 by Anna M. Harkness, widow of Stephen W. Harkness, an investor in Standard Oil, who wanted to "do something for the good of humanity."