Lester, Robert M. (Robert MacDonald), 1889-1969

Variant names

Hide Profile

Teacher; foundation administrator and consultant.

From the description of Robert Lester papers, 1879-1969. (Duke University Library). WorldCat record id: 32520383

Robert MacDonald Lester (1889-1969) was an author, teacher and employee of the Carnegie Institute of New York. His published works include Forty Years of Carnegie Giving (1941). Lester was also the recording secretary of the Council of Southern Universities and executive director of the Southern Fellowships Fund.

From the guide to the Robert M. Lester Papers, 1879-1969, (David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University)

Foundation executive.

From the description of Reminiscences of Robert MacDonald Lester : oral history, 1967. (Columbia University In the City of New York). WorldCat record id: 122528694

Robert MacDonald Lester (1888-1969) was an author, teacher and employee of the Carnegie Institute of New York.

His published works include Forty Years of Carnegie Giving (1941).

From the description of Papers on Joseph Glover Baldwin, 1838-1950. (New York Public Library). WorldCat record id: 144652185

Teacher, education scholar, and philanthropy executive Robert M. Lester was born in Center, Alabama, on November 7, 1889. He received degrees from Birmingham Southern College and Vanderbilt University. He became a teacher and later superintendent of schools in Mayfield, Kentucky, and then served in the Army during World War I. Lester taught and served as an administrator at Columbia University, and in 1934 was elected Secretary of the Carnegie Corporation and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in New York. Lester served on a variety of educational boards and foundations, and counted among his achievements an appointment as a trustee of American University in 1941. In 1954, he left the Carnegie Corporation to become executive director of the Southern Fellowships Fund of the Council of Southern Universities, Inc., a position he held until 1968.

Lester wrote and spoke frequently on issues relating to education, libraries, and philanthropic programs. He published several books and articles relating to his work with the Carnegie Corporation, the Southern Fellowship Fund, and other fundraising organizations, including the well-received Forty Years of Carnegie Giving: A Summary of the Benefactions of Andrew Carnegie and of the Work of the Philanthropic Trusts Which He Created (New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1941).

Lester resided on East 52nd Street near First Avenue in Manhattan from the 1930s through the early 1950s. As an amateur photographer, he pointed his camera toward the radical changes in the face of the city just blocks from his home where the United Nations Headquarters complex was undergoing construction between 1947 and 1954.

Robert M. Lester died in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, on February 21, 1969, after a brief illness.

From the guide to the Robert M. Lester Photograph Collection, 1946-1956, (© 2011 New-York Historical Society)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Penn School Papers, 1862-2004 and undated (bulk 1862-1978) University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection
creatorOf Lester, Robert M. (Robert MacDonald), 1889-1969. Robert Lester papers, 1879-1969. Duke University Libraries, Duke University Library; Perkins Library
referencedIn Joseph G. Baldwin papers, 1838-1949 New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division
referencedIn 7th Regiment Records, 1767-1983 (bulk 1830-1947) New-York Historical Society
creatorOf American Council of Learned Societies correspondence, 1926-1927, 1926-1927 American Philosophical Society
creatorOf United States. Army. New York Infantry Regiment, 7th (Militia) (1806-1922). 7th Regiment records, 1767-1983 (bulk 1830-1947). Churchill County Museum
referencedIn American Council of Learned Societies. Correspondence, 1926-1927. American Philosophical Society Library
referencedIn Southern Fellowships Fund. Southern Fellowships Fund and Council of Southern Universities records, 1952-1964 [microfilm manuscript]. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
referencedIn Alumni Association (University of Michigan), Individual Photographs, ca. 1880-ca. 1960s Bentley Historical Library
creatorOf Robert M. Lester Photograph Collection, 1946-1956 New-York Historical Society
referencedIn John Mason Brown papers, 1922-1967. Houghton Library
creatorOf Lester, Robert M. (Robert MacDonald), 1889-1969. The treatment of nature in Elizabethan pastoral poetry before 1600. Columbia University in the City of New York, Columbia University Libraries
creatorOf Joseph G. Baldwin papers, 1838-1949. New York State Historical Documents Inventory
referencedIn Lester-Gray collection of documents relating to Joseph Glover Baldwin, 1838-1949. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
creatorOf Lester, Robert MacDonald, 1888-1969,. Papers on Joseph Glover Baldwin, 1838-1950. New York Public Library System, NYPL
creatorOf Lester, Robert M. (Robert MacDonald), 1889-1969. Reminiscences of Robert MacDonald Lester : oral history, 1967. Columbia University in the City of New York, Columbia University Libraries
creatorOf Robert M. Lester Papers, 1879-1969 David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith American Council of Learned Societies. corporateBody
associatedWith American Council of Learned Societies. Committee on Native American Languages. corporateBody
associatedWith Armstrong, E. C., (Edward Cooke), 1871-1944 person
associatedWith Baldwin family. family
associatedWith Baldwin, Joseph G. (Joseph Glover), 1815-1864. person
associatedWith Bloomfield, Leonard, 1887-1949 person
associatedWith Boas, Franz, 1858-1942 person
correspondedWith Brown, John Mason, 1900-1969 person
associatedWith Bryan, R. W., (Ronald W.) person
associatedWith Carnegie Corporation of New York. corporateBody
associatedWith Cattell, James McKeen, 1860-1944 person
associatedWith Columbia University. corporateBody
associatedWith Council of Southern Universities. Southern Fellowship Fund. corporateBody
associatedWith Duke University. corporateBody
associatedWith Gray, Cornelia Baldwin. person
associatedWith Grossner, Isabel S., person
associatedWith Haskins, Charles Homer, 1870-1937 person
associatedWith Hewitt, Joseph William, 1875-1938 person
associatedWith Jacobs, Melville, 1902-1971 person
associatedWith John F. Kennedy International Airport corporateBody
associatedWith Keat, Roland G. person
associatedWith Kroeber, A. L., (Alfred Louis), 1876-1960 person
associatedWith La Guardia Airport corporateBody
associatedWith Leland, Waldo Gifford, 1879-1966 person
associatedWith Lester family. family
associatedWith Lester's Chapel corporateBody
associatedWith Li, Fang-kuei, 1902- person
associatedWith Morice, A. G., (Adrien Gabriel), 1859-1938 person
associatedWith Oldfather, William Abbott, 1880-1945 person
associatedWith Penn School (Saint Helena Island, S.C.) corporateBody
associatedWith Reichard, Gladys Amanda, 1893-1955 person
associatedWith Sapir, Edward, 1884-1939 person
associatedWith Southern Fellowships Fund. corporateBody
associatedWith Sturtevant, Edgar H., (Edgar Howard), 1875-1952 person
associatedWith Swanton, John Reed, 1873-1958 person
associatedWith United Nations corporateBody
associatedWith United States. Army. New York Infantry Regiment, 7th (Militia) (1806-1922) corporateBody
associatedWith University of Michigan. Alumni Association. corporateBody
associatedWith White, Sidney. person
associatedWith Willcox, Walter Francis, 1861-1964 person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Mayfield (Ky.)
New York (N.Y.)
United States
Greenwich Village (New York, N.Y.)
Southern States
North Carolina
Broadway (New York, N.Y.)
East River (N.Y.)
Subject
Theater
Education
African American universities and colleges
Anthropological linguistics
Teachers
Blizzards
Charitable uses, trusts, and foundations
Charities
Universities and colleges
Education, Higher
Endowment of research
Endowments
Endowments
Executives
Indians of North America
Libraries
Parks
Signs and signboards
Universities and colleges, Black
Occupation
Collector
Activity

Person

Birth 1889

Death 1969

Information

Permalink: http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w68d0tt4

Ark ID: w68d0tt4

SNAC ID: 2415837