Edward Waldo Forbes

Edward Waldo Forbes (July 16, 1873 – March 11, 1969) was an American art historian. He was the Director of the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University from 1909 to 1944.

Early life

Edward Waldo Forbes, of the Forbes family, was born on July 16, 1873, on Naushon Island off Cape Cod in Massachusetts. His father, William Hathaway Forbes, was a co-founder of the Bell Telephone Company with Alexander Graham Bell.

Forbes was educated at the Milton Academy, a boarding school in Milton, Massachusetts. The real estate venture consisted in acquiring land between the Harvard Yard and the Charles River for US$400,000 to preserve the beauty of the area near the Harvard campus remained "collegiate". He urged art conservator George L. Stout to work with chemist Rutherford John Gettens, both of whom pioneered scientific art preservation. He retired in 1944.

As a permanent tribute, the plaza outside and the arcade inside Harvard's Holyoke Center were named in his honour. The occasion was marked by a ceremony on October 17, 1966.

Philanthropy Forbes served in the American Red Cross during World War I. and Rosamond (Mrs. Carl Pickhardt). They resided at 30 Gerry's Landing Road in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was ninety-five years old.