Hendrik Willem, Van Loon 1882-1944.

Hendrik Willem van Loon was born in Rotterdam, Holland on January 14, 1882. He attended Cornell University, graduating in 1905. In 1906 he married Eliza Ingersoll Bowditch and began working for the Associated Press in New York City, Washington, D.C., Moscow, and Warsaw. His son Henry Bowditch van Loon was born on June 22, 1907, and Gerard Willem van Loon on January 16, 1911. Hendrik van Loon received his Ph.D. from the University of Munich in 1911, and in 1913 his book THE FALL OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC was published. He lectured at Cornell on European History from 1915-1916. He married Helen Criswell ("Jimmie") in 1920 and in 1921 received the Newberry Medal for THE STORY OF MANKIND. From 1922-23 he was a professor at Antioch College, Ohio, and was Associate Editor of the BALTIMORE SUN from 1923-24. He did his first radio broadcast on Christmas Day, 1929, and started radio broadcasts at NBC in 1932. He did lectures for the Cunard Cruise Line on the FRANCONIA in 1934. In 1939-40 his radio broadcasts were directed to Holland from WRVL in Boston. He died in Old Greenwich, Connecticut on March 11, 1944.

From the guide to the Hendrik Willem van Loon Papers, 1884-1972., (Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library)