Robert Grant (novelist)
Encyclopedia
Robert Grant was an American
author and a jurist who participated in a review of the Sacco and Vanzetti
trial a few weeks before their executions.
and graduated from Harvard University
in 1873. At one point in his college career he was publicly reprimanded for missing chapel on 22 occasions. He received the first Ph.D. in English granted by Harvard in 1876 and a law degree in 1879.
His first novel appeared in 1880. It was called The Confessions of a Frivolous Girl, a realistic depiction of the problems facing young women. He published his second novel An Average Man in 1883, a study of two young New York lawyers with very different ambitions. His next novel was Face to Face (1886), which demonstrated the difference between English and American manners and social standards. He followed that with the novel that proved to be his most successful. Unleavened Bread (1900), the story of a woman who abandons her moral standards win her search for prestige and dominance was one of the best selling novels of 1900.
He output continued with The Undercurrent (1904); The Orchid (1905), an examination of the impact of divorce in the upper class; The Chippendales (1909), the story of the decline in character of a Boston family over the course of several generations; The High Priestess (1915), detailing a woman's struggle to have a career; and The Bishop's Granddaughter (1925), a humorous view and critique of American divorce law.
At the same time as he pursued his writing, Grant was also served as a probate court judge from 1893 to 1923. He was an Overseer of Harvard University
from 1896 to 1921 as well. He served as president of the Harvard Alumni Association in 1922 and of the Harvard Club of Boston in 1923-24 and held honorary degrees from Harvard and Columbia.
He was called out of retirement by Massachusetts Governor Alvan T. Fuller
to serve on an Advisory Committee with President Abbott Lawrence Lowell
of Harvard and President Samuel Wesley Stratton
of MIT
. They were tasked with reviewing the trial of Sacco and Vanzetti
to determine whether the trial had been fair. Some criticized Grant's appointment to the Committee, with one defense lawyer saying he "had a black-tie class concept of life around him," but Harold Laski
in a conversation at the time found him "moderate." Others cited evidence of xenophobia in some of his novels, references to "riff-raff" and a variety of racial slurs. His biographer allows that he was "not a good choice," not a legal scholar, and handicapped by age.
The Committee concluded that the trial had been fair, but its report included some measured criticism of the judge in the case, Webster Thayer
. Judge Grant furnished the language that found "a grave breach of judicial decorum". Later Grant allowed that he was "amazed and incensed" at the biased comments Judge Thayer made outside the courtroom. In later years he was known to struggle with the judgment the Committee had rendered, though in his autobiography he took a "defensive, almost bellicose tone." He maintained a particularly acute animus toward Harvard Professor of Law Felix Frankfurter
who published an article making the case for the defense in the Atlantic Monthly while appeals were still pending. Grant believed that Frankfurter's article served as the foundation of most criticism of the Sacco and Vanzetti case on the part of intellectuals throughout the world, a view in which he was seconded by Chief Justice of the Supreme Court William Howard Taft
.
Following that very public work, he returned to writing. First he produced another novel, The Dark Horse (1931), a study of society and politics in Boston and finally his autobiography Fourscore (1934) when he was 82. He died in Boston on May 19, 1940.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
author and a jurist who participated in a review of the Sacco and Vanzetti
Sacco and Vanzetti
Ferdinando Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were anarchists who were convicted of murdering two men during a 1920 armed robbery in South Braintree, Massachusetts, United States...
trial a few weeks before their executions.
Biography
Grant was born into a wealthy family in Boston, Massachusetts on January 24, 1852. He attended Boston Latin SchoolBoston Latin School
The Boston Latin School is a public exam school founded on April 23, 1635, in Boston, Massachusetts. It is both the first public school and oldest existing school in the United States....
and graduated from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
in 1873. At one point in his college career he was publicly reprimanded for missing chapel on 22 occasions. He received the first Ph.D. in English granted by Harvard in 1876 and a law degree in 1879.
His first novel appeared in 1880. It was called The Confessions of a Frivolous Girl, a realistic depiction of the problems facing young women. He published his second novel An Average Man in 1883, a study of two young New York lawyers with very different ambitions. His next novel was Face to Face (1886), which demonstrated the difference between English and American manners and social standards. He followed that with the novel that proved to be his most successful. Unleavened Bread (1900), the story of a woman who abandons her moral standards win her search for prestige and dominance was one of the best selling novels of 1900.
He output continued with The Undercurrent (1904); The Orchid (1905), an examination of the impact of divorce in the upper class; The Chippendales (1909), the story of the decline in character of a Boston family over the course of several generations; The High Priestess (1915), detailing a woman's struggle to have a career; and The Bishop's Granddaughter (1925), a humorous view and critique of American divorce law.
At the same time as he pursued his writing, Grant was also served as a probate court judge from 1893 to 1923. He was an Overseer of Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
from 1896 to 1921 as well. He served as president of the Harvard Alumni Association in 1922 and of the Harvard Club of Boston in 1923-24 and held honorary degrees from Harvard and Columbia.
He was called out of retirement by Massachusetts Governor Alvan T. Fuller
Alvan T. Fuller
Alvan Tufts Fuller was a United States Representative from Massachusetts. He became one of the wealthiest men in America, with an automobile dealership which in 1920 was recognized as "the world's most successful auto dealership." He was elected a member of the Massachusetts House of...
to serve on an Advisory Committee with President Abbott Lawrence Lowell
Abbott Lawrence Lowell
Abbott Lawrence Lowell was a U.S. educator and legal scholar. He served as President of Harvard University from 1909 to 1933....
of Harvard and President Samuel Wesley Stratton
Samuel Wesley Stratton
Samuel Wesley Stratton was an administrator in the American government, physicist, and educator.Stratton was born on farm in Litchfield, Illinois on July 18, 1861. In his youth he kept farm machinery in repair and worked as a mechanic and carpenter...
of MIT
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
. They were tasked with reviewing the trial of Sacco and Vanzetti
Sacco and Vanzetti
Ferdinando Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were anarchists who were convicted of murdering two men during a 1920 armed robbery in South Braintree, Massachusetts, United States...
to determine whether the trial had been fair. Some criticized Grant's appointment to the Committee, with one defense lawyer saying he "had a black-tie class concept of life around him," but Harold Laski
Harold Laski
Harold Joseph Laski was a British Marxist, political theorist, economist, author, and lecturer, who served as the chairman of the Labour Party during 1945-1946, and was a professor at the LSE from 1926 to 1950....
in a conversation at the time found him "moderate." Others cited evidence of xenophobia in some of his novels, references to "riff-raff" and a variety of racial slurs. His biographer allows that he was "not a good choice," not a legal scholar, and handicapped by age.
The Committee concluded that the trial had been fair, but its report included some measured criticism of the judge in the case, Webster Thayer
Webster Thayer
Webster Thayer was a judge of the Superior Court of Massachusetts, best known as the trial judge in the Sacco and Vanzetti case.-Background:...
. Judge Grant furnished the language that found "a grave breach of judicial decorum". Later Grant allowed that he was "amazed and incensed" at the biased comments Judge Thayer made outside the courtroom. In later years he was known to struggle with the judgment the Committee had rendered, though in his autobiography he took a "defensive, almost bellicose tone." He maintained a particularly acute animus toward Harvard Professor of Law Felix Frankfurter
Felix Frankfurter
Felix Frankfurter was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.-Early life:Frankfurter was born into a Jewish family on November 15, 1882, in Vienna, Austria, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in Europe. He was the third of six children of Leopold and Emma Frankfurter...
who published an article making the case for the defense in the Atlantic Monthly while appeals were still pending. Grant believed that Frankfurter's article served as the foundation of most criticism of the Sacco and Vanzetti case on the part of intellectuals throughout the world, a view in which he was seconded by Chief Justice of the Supreme Court William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...
.
Following that very public work, he returned to writing. First he produced another novel, The Dark Horse (1931), a study of society and politics in Boston and finally his autobiography Fourscore (1934) when he was 82. He died in Boston on May 19, 1940.
Works (partial list)
- Novels
- The Confessions of a Frivolous Girl (1880)
- An Average Man (1884)
- Face to Face (1886)
- The King's Men, A Tale of To-Morrow
- The Law-Breakers and Other Stories
- The Opinions of a Philosopher
- The Reflections of a Married Man (1892)
- Unleavened BreadUnleavened BreadUnleavened Bread is a 1900 novel by American writer Robert Grant....
(1900) - The Undercurrent (1904)
- The OrchidThe Orchid (Robert Grant novel)The Orchid is a 1905 novel by American writer Robert Grant.-Plot introduction:A headstrong young woman marries for money and divorces for love. She then sells her infant daughter back to her former husband to secure a two million dollar fortune....
(1905) - The Chippendales (1909)
- The High Priestess (1915)
- The Bishop's Granddaughter (1925)
- The Dark Horse (1931)
- Autobiography
- Fourscore: An Autobiography (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1934)