Norman Hapgood

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title: "Norman Hapgood" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1868-births", "1937-deaths", "american-magazine-editors", "20th-century-american-biographers", "american-male-biographers", "writers-from-chicago", "harvard-university-alumni", "harvard-law-school-alumni", "ambassadors-of-the-united-states-to-denmark", "burials-at-green-wood-cemetery", "progressive-era-in-the-united-states", "historians-from-illinois", "harper's-weekly-editors", "harvard-college-alumni"] description: "American diplomat, editor, writer and journalist (1868–1937)" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Hapgood" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American diplomat, editor, writer and journalist (1868–1937) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
order
minister_from	United States
country	Denmark
term_start	June 17, 1919
term_end	December 9, 1919
predecessor	Maurice Francis Egan
successor	Joseph Grew
president	Woodrow Wilson
name	Norman Hapgood
image	Photo of Norman Hapgood.jpg
birth_date
birth_place	Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
death_date
death_place	New York City
resting_place	Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
alma_mater	Harvard University
occupation	{{flatlist
spouse	Emilie Bigelow Hapgood
Elizabeth Kempley Reynolds
module	{{infobox writer
notableworks	The Inside Story of Henry Ford's Jew-Mania
::

| honorific_prefix = | order =
| minister_from = United States | country = Denmark | term_start = June 17, 1919 | term_end = December 9, 1919 | predecessor = Maurice Francis Egan | successor = Joseph Grew | president = Woodrow Wilson | name = Norman Hapgood | image = Photo of Norman Hapgood.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = | birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = New York City | resting_place = Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York, U.S. | alma_mater = Harvard University | occupation = {{flatlist|

• Diplomat
• editor
• writer
• journalist | spouse = Emilie Bigelow Hapgood Elizabeth Kempley Reynolds | module = {{infobox writer |embed = yes | notableworks = The Inside Story of Henry Ford's Jew-Mania Norman Hapgood (March 28, 1868 – April 29, 1937) was an American writer, historian, journalist, editor, and critic, and an American Minister to Denmark. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/Norman_Hapgood,_American_Minister_to_Denmark,_1919.jpg" caption="Norman Hapgood was the American Minister to Denmark in 1919."] ::

Biography

Norman Hapgood was born March 28, 1868, in Chicago, Illinois to Charles Hutchins Hapgood (1836–1917) and Fanny Louise (Powers) Hapgood (1846–1922). He is the older brother of the journalist and author Hutchins Hapgood. He graduated from Harvard University in 1890 and from the law school there in 1893, then chose to become a writer. Hapgood worked as the drama critic of the New York City Commercial Advertiser and of the Bookman in 1897–1902. He was named the editor of Collier's Weekly in 1903 and remained at that post for about a decade, before leaving to become editor of Harper's Weekly in June 1913. His editorial style was widely considered outstanding for its vigor and range.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/Norman_Hapgood,_Pach_Brothers_photo_portrait,_circa_1890-1910.jpg" caption="Hapgood at Harvard (1895)"] ::

He inspired T. G. Masaryk to write the first memorandum to president Wilson for independence of Czechoslovakia from London to Washington in January 1917.

During the latter part of World War I and into the early post-war period Hapgood served as president of the League of Free Nations Association, which advocated in favor of a League of Nations to adjudicate international disputes. In this capacity Hapgood helped advance the agenda of President Woodrow Wilson, who sought the establishment of such a body at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919.

In 1919 President Wilson appointed Hapgood Minister to Denmark, in which post he served for about six months. He helped expose Henry Ford's antisemitism in his article, "The Inside Story of Henry Ford's Jew-Mania", Part 4, Hearst's International (September 1922)

In 1922, the International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGWU) and the manufacturer's association representing cloak makers chose Norman Hapgood to chair a Wage Commission for workers in the industry (Lorwin, 351 - 352).

Hapgood was married twice. His first wife, Emilie Bigelow Hapgood, whom he married in 1896, went on to become famous in her own right as a theatrical producer in New York. They were divorced in 1915. Two years later, he married his second wife, Elizabeth Kempley Reynolds (1894–1974). Elizabeth Hapgood, who spoke fluent Russian, was the first English-language translator of writings about acting by Konstantin Stanislavsky (it was Norman Hapgood who had first suggested, in 1914, that the Moscow Art Theatre be invited to America.).

Norman Hapgood died on April 29, 1937, following prostate surgery at NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital. He was buried in Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York.

Works

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/Norman_Hapgood_1.jpg" caption="Norman Hapgood. [[Bain News Service]] (date unknown)."] ::

• (1897). Literary Statesmen and Others Essays on Men Seen from a Distance [reissued by Books for Libraries Press, 1972]
• (1899). Abraham Lincoln: The Man of the People.
• (1899). Daniel Webster.
• (1901). George Washington.
• (1901). The Stage in America, 1897–1900.
• (1905) Theodore Roosevelt
• (1911). Industry and Progress.
• (1919). The Jewish Commonwealth.
• (1920). The Advancing Hour.
• (1927). Professional Patriots (with Sidney Howard, and John Hearley).
• (1927). Up From the City Streets: A Biographical Study of Alfred E. Smith (with Henry Moskowitz).
• (1929). Why Janet Should Read Shakspere (sic).
• (1930). The Changing Years.

References

References

1. (1989). "Biographical Dictionary of American Journalism". New York, Greenwood Press.
2. Preclík, Vratislav. Masaryk a legie (Masaryk and legions), váz. kniha, 219 pages, vydalo nakladatelství Paris Karviná, Žižkova 2379 (734 01 Karvina, Czechia) ve spolupráci s Masarykovým demokratickým hnutím (Masaryk Democratic Movement, Prague), 2019, {{ISBN. 978-80-87173-47-3, pages 20-29, 94, 124–125, 128, 129, 132, 140–148, 184–190.
3. "Hapgood Backs Nations League As Peace Prop," ''New York Call,'' vol. 12, no. 32 (February 1, 1919), pg. 4.
4. [[Schenectady Gazette]], [https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1917&dat=19300217&id=-YpGAAAAIBAJ&sjid=UekMAAAAIBAJ&pg=2105,5917612 "Mrs. Emilie Bigelow Hapgood Dies in Rome" (obituary)]; accessed April 25, 2015.
5. Stanislavski, Konstantin. (2008). "An Actor's Work: A Student's Diary". Taylor & Francis.
6. Benedetti, Jean. (1990). "Stanislavski: A Biography". Methuen Drama.
7. (April 30, 1937). "Norman Hapgood Dies". [[Montreal Gazette]].
8. [https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/32534924/norman-hapgood Norman Hapgood]

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