author
Harlan Hoge Ballard
1853–1934
An educator, librarian, and lifelong champion of science, Harlan Hoge Ballard helped bring the natural world within reach of young readers and amateur investigators. He founded the Agassiz Association and wrote across subjects ranging from nature study to English and classical literature.
1 Audiobook
New National First Reader
by Charles J. (Charles Joseph) Barnes, Harlan Hoge Ballard, S. Proctor Thayer
About the author
Born in Athens, Ohio, in 1853, Harlan Hoge Ballard graduated from Williams College in 1874 and began his career as a teacher and school principal in Massachusetts. In 1875, he founded the Agassiz Association, a popular organization devoted to encouraging the study of natural science, especially among young people; by the 1890s, it had more than 20,000 members.
Ballard later turned to literary and library work. He edited The Swiss Cross and the New York Observer, published books including Three Kingdoms, World of Nature, Open Sesame, and One Thousand Blunders in English, and translated Virgil’s Aeneid. He served as librarian of the Berkshire Athenaeum in Pittsfield for 46 years and was the first curator of the Berkshire Museum of Natural History and Art. He died in 1934.