Heckscher, August, 1913-1997

Author, arts consultant, social commentator, and journalist.

From the description of August Heckscher papers, 1931-1999 (bulk 1948-1976). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 70979771

Art administrator, writer; New York, N.Y.

From the description of August Heckscher interviews, 1970 May 25-Dec. 29 [sound recording]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 276394224

August Heckscher (1913-1997) was a writer, printmaker and educator, who was also active in civic institutions. After graduating from Harvard, he taught government at Yale before moving on to work as a writer for the Herald Sun . During the Kennedy administration he was appointed Special Consultant on the Arts and advised the president on national arts programs. He was the New York City Parks Commissioner from 1967 through 1972, and helped plan the first New York Marathon. He was involved in many civic groups including the Twentieth Century Fund, the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, the Cooper Hewitt Museum, and Civitas. Hew as also president of the American Council for Nationalities Services. His passion was printmaking, and he founded the Uphill Press and The Printing Office at High Loft.

From the guide to the August Heckscher printmaking collection, 1949-1991, 1966-1984, (The New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division.)

City official, journalist.

From the description of Reminiscences of August Heckscher : oral history, 1978. (Columbia University In the City of New York). WorldCat record id: 309740911

August Heckscher (1913-1997) was an art administrator and writer from New York, N.Y.

From the description of Oral history interview with August Heckscher, 1970 May 25-Dec. 29 [sound recording]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 495595185

Biographical Note

• 1913, Sept. 16: Born, Huntington, N.Y.
• 1929 - 1932 : Attended St. Paul's School, Concord, N.H.
• 1936: B.A., Yale University, New Haven, Conn. Published These Are the Days. New Haven: Yale Daily News
• 1939: M.A., Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.
• 1939 - 1941 : Instructor in government, Yale University, New Haven, Conn.
• 1941: Married Claude Chevreux
• 1942 - 1945 : Intelligence service (civilian), Office of Strategic Services
• 1946 - 1948 : Editor, Auburn Citizen Advertiser, Auburn, N.Y.
• 1947: Published A Pattern of Politics. New York: Reynal and Hitchcock
• 1948 - 1956 : Editorial writer, New York Herald Tribune, New York, N.Y.; chief editorial writer, 1952-1956
• 1956: Edited The Politics of Woodrow Wilson. New York: Harper
• 1956 - 1967 : Director, Twentieth Century Fund, New York, N.Y.
• 1957: Published with Raymond Aron Diversity of Worlds. New York: Reynal
• 1962: Published The Public Happiness, New York: Atheneum
• 1962 - 1964 : Special consultant on the arts to President John F. Kennedy
• 1963 - 1964 : Moderator, “Books for Our Time,” television program
• 1967 - 1973 : Parks commissioner and Administrator of Recreation and Cultural Affairs, New York, N.Y.
• 1974: Published Alive in the City: Memoirs of an Ex-Commissioner. New York: Scribner
• 1978: Published with Phyllis Robinson Open Spaces: The Life of American Cities, New York: Harper and Row and When LaGuardia Was Mayor: New York's Legendary Years. New York: Norton
• 1991: Published Woodrow Wilson. New York: Scribner
• 1997, Apr. 5: Died, New York, N.Y.

From the guide to the August Heckscher Papers, 1931-1999, (bulk 1948-1976), (Manuscript Division Library of Congress)