Rider, Fremont, 1885-1962

Arthur Fremont Rider (1885-1962) was an American editor, author and librarian.

Born in Trenton, New Jersey, the son of George Arthur and Charlotte Elizabeth (Meader) Rider, he was educated in the public schools in Middletown, Connecticut and later in Syracuse, New York. He graduated from Syracuse University in 1905 with a PhB (Bachelor of Philosophy) and went on to the New York State Library School in Albany. Syracuse University awarded him the honorary LHD (Doctor of Humane Letters) in 1937.

Rider's first career as editor and publisher began in 1907. Over the course of more than thirty years, he served as associate editor of The Delineator, editor of The Monthly Book Review for nearly ten years, managing editor of Publisher's Weekly, editor of The American Library Annual, and managing editor of Library Journal . During World War I he published the International Military Digest, which he edited at the United States Military Academy. From 1914-1933 he was president of the Rider Press, periodicals printers in New York City, and for a time was associated with B. W. Dodge & Co., publishers.

In 1933 he was named Librarian of Wesleyan University's Olin Library, a position he retained until his retirement in 1953. He was the author of numerous magazine articles and books, including a biography of Melvil Dewey. He wrote on library policy, among other subjects, and in his book The Scholar and the Future of the Research Library (1944) he was an early proponent of microcard technology. Not content with the theoretical, he was also the inventor of a book truck, stack shelving, and other library equipment.

As chairman of the American Genealogical Index from 1934, and as founder (1951) of the Godfrey Memorial Library (which he continued to direct after his retirement from Wesleyan), he was a leader in the assembly of American genealogical data.

Fremont Rider married his first wife, Grace Godfrey, on October 21, 1908; he and his second wife, Marie Gallup (Ambrose), were married on June 6, 1951.

From the guide to the Fremont Rider Autograph Collection, 1826-1953, (Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries)