Richards, Robert H. (Robert Hallowell), 1844-1945

Robert H. Richards was the son of Henry and Laura E. Richards, of Gardiner, Me. He was an American mining engineer, metallurgist, and educator, born at Gardiner, Me. In 1868 with the first class to leave the institution, he graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and there he taught for 46 years, becoming professor of mineralogy and assaying in 1871, head of the department of mining engineering in 1873, and in 1884 also professor of Metallurgy. Rosalind Richards, author and literary executor, was daughter of Henry and Laura E. Richards of Gardiner, Me. Laura E. Richards was a well-known children's book author.

This Delaware Oral History project was initiated in the University of Delaware History Department and conducted between 1966 and 1978. The project planners initially sought to document the lives of veteran Delaware politicians, but quickly expanded the range of interviewees to include immigrants, professors, agricultural workers, Delawareans during the Great Depression, journalists, University of Delaware Junior Year Abroad program participants, and others. The project was suggested to Dr. John Munroe by University of Delaware alumnus and Wilmington lawyer Robert H. Richards, Jr., and Richards's annual financial contributions to the project sustained its work.

Long-time History Department chairman Dr. John Munroe hired interviewers for the project who were paid a minimal fee from the project's funds. Most interviewers were teachers who had completed master's degrees at the University of Delaware. When possible, Munroe assigned interviewers to interview individuals with similar backgrounds (ethnic, religious, and career) knowing that such interviewers would, "have a special understanding of their subjects' careers." Some of the most frequent interviewers and their focuses include Myron Lazarus (Jewish community), Francis J. Fierro (Italian immigrants), George Vapaa (agriculture), Steve Schoenherr (German immigrants), and Rebecca Button (University and other topics). No standard list of interview questions was used for the interviews and, after Dr. Munroe suggested a preliminary line of questioning, interviewers were given great liberty to direct the conversations as they saw fit.

In addition to the funding provided by Richards and guidance offered by Munroe, the project was also supported at various times by University President John A. Perkins, Director of Libraries Dr. John M. Dawson, and Munroe's successor as History Department chairman, Dr. Willard Fletcher.

Information for historical note derived from John Munroe letter to Rebecca Johnson Melvin, August 28, 2002, Manuscript Collection Folders, Special Collections.

Robert Hallowell Richards, 1844-1945, SB 1868, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), was a member of the first graduating class of MIT. He remained at MIT as an assistant in chemistry. He became an instructor in assaying and qualitative analysis in 1869, assistant professor of analytical chemistry in 1870, professor of mining and assaying in 1871, and professor of mining engineering in 1873. He was head of the course and Department of Mining and Metallurgy, 1873 to 1914, when he became emeritus.

In 1871 Richards was one of five members of the MIT instructing staff and fifteen students to make the first summer school of mining excursion. In 1872 he started the Mining and Metallurgy Laboratory at MIT, which introduced the method of combining practical experience with theory. He was secretary of the faculty, 1873 to 1883, and the first president of the MIT Alumni Association. He married the first female graduate of MIT, Ellen Swallow, in 1875, and after her death he married Lillian Jameson in 1912.