author
Ruth Putnam
1856–1931
A Cornell-educated historian and suffragist, she wrote lively, research-driven books that opened European history to general readers. Her work ranged from William the Silent and the Netherlands to Burgundy, Luxembourg, and the life of her sister Mary Putnam Jacobi.
3 Audiobooks
The Count of the Saxon Shore; or The Villa in Vectis. A Tale of the Departure of the Romans from Britain
by Alfred John Church, Ruth Putnam
Charles the Bold, Last Duke of Burgundy, 1433-1477
by Ruth Putnam
Willem de Zwijger, Prins van Oranje
by Ruth Putnam
About the author
Born in Yonkers, New York, on July 18, 1856, she grew up in the prominent Putnam publishing family, the daughter of publisher George Palmer Putnam and Victorine Haven Putnam. She earned her bachelor's degree from Cornell University in 1878 and was later noted as a suffragist and an alumni trustee of the university.
Putnam became known for accessible historical writing grounded in serious research. Catalog and reference sources connect her with books including William the Silent, History of the People of the Netherlands, A Mediaeval Princess, Charles the Bold, Alsace and Lorraine from Caesar to Kaiser, and Luxemburg and Her Neighbours. Later in life, she also wrote Life and Letters of Mary Putnam Jacobi, a biography of her pioneering sister.
She died in Geneva, Switzerland, on February 12, 1931. Records at the Library of Congress show that her correspondence and diaries survive, suggesting a life deeply engaged with scholarship, family, and public causes.