Call Number:

AC349

Repository:

Princeton University Library: University Archives

Extent:

1 box

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Ralph Barton Perry Papers, Box and Folder Number; Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Date:

1917-1946 (inclusive)

Creator:

Perry, Ralph Barton, 1876-1957

Abstract:

Ralph Barton Perry was a member of the Princeton University Class of 1896, a Harvard Philosophy Professor, and a Pulitzer-Prize winning writer producing works on philosophy, history, and politics in his lifetime. The Ralph Barton Perry Papers consist of correspondence, speeches, clippings, and other materials documenting Ralph Barton Perry's life as an alumnus of the Princeton Class of 1896.

Ralph Barton Perry was a member of the Princeton University Class of 1896. Following graduation he studied philosophy at Harvard where he was student of William James, among others. He earned his PhD from Harvard in 1899 and became an instructor at that University in 1902, where he would remain a member of the faculty until his retirement in 1946.

Perry was a prolific writer, producing works on philosophy, history, and politics in his lifetime. He was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 1936 for his two-volume biography The Thought and Character of William James.

He was notable also as one of the leaders of the New Realist movement in philosophy in the early 20th century, and he served as president of the American Philosophical Association in 1920. Perry died in 1957.

The Ralph Barton Perry Papers consist of correspondence, speeches, clippings, and other materials documenting Ralph Barton Perry's life as an alumnus of the Class of 1896. Nearly all of the documents in some way relate to Princeton. Typical topics discussed in correspondence include speeches that Perry gave at Princeton or contributed to the Princeton Alumni Weekly, as well as upcoming reunions and Barton's published work.