Max Farrand (March 29, 1869 – June 17, 1945) was an American historian who taught at several universities and was the first director of the Huntington Library.
Early life
He was born in Newark, New Jersey, United States. He graduated from Princeton (A.B., 1892; Ph.D., 1896).
Career
Farrand taught at Wesleyan University, then after several years at Stanford University, and a year at Cornell University, he became a professor of history at Yale University (1908–1925). His particular area of interest and expertise was the Founding Fathers, the organization of the United States after the American Revolutionary War. Farrand was also director of the Commonwealth Fund, founded in 1918 by Anna M. Harkness—widow of Stephen V. Harkness—an investor in Standard Oil who wanted to “do something for the welfare of mankind.”
Max Farrand also assisted philanthropist Henry E. Huntington to establish the Huntington Library, located on the historic Rancho Huerta de Cuati' in San Marino near Pasadena, California. After Huntington's death in 1927, Farrand became the library's first director, serving until 1941.
