Robert P. (Robert Percival) Porter

Born in Norwich, England, in 1852, he was sent to California as a child and began his career in journalism as a young man. He went on to become known in the United States as a writer on economics and public affairs, building a reputation for clear reporting on labor, trade, and industry.

He served as Superintendent of the Census from 1889 to 1893, a period when the federal census was expanding in scope and importance. He also worked in diplomacy and government service, including assignments connected with Cuba and Puerto Rico, and wrote extensively about economic conditions in the United States and abroad.

Later in life, he was associated with The Times of London and continued traveling widely for industrial and commercial investigations. Remembered as a journalist, statistician, and public official, he left behind a body of work that reflects the energy and ambition of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.