Putnam, Carleton, 1901-1998

Dates:

Birth 1901

Death 1998

Biographical notes:

Carleton Putnam (December 19, 1901 – March 5, 1998) was an American businessman and writer who was an advocate for racial segregation. He graduated from Princeton University in 1924 and received a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) from Columbia Law School in 1932. Putnam published two books, the first of which is entitled Theodore Roosevelt: The Formative Years, 1858-1886 (1958) and describes Roosevelt’s family and the first decades of his life. Putnam admired Roosevelt due to his belief that specifically the European and English settlers and immigrants are responsible for American greatness. In 1961, Putnam published Race and Reason: A Yankee View, which advocated for racial segregation after the Brown v. Board of Education decision of 1954, though its range covers far more than school segregation. Putnam was a white supremacist. Putnam died of pneumonia in 1998. He was married twice, first to Lucy Chapman Putnam and then to Esther Mackenzie Willcox Auchincloss Putnam.