Frederick Bennett Wright Collection

Frederick Bennett Wright (1873-1922) was the son of George Frederick and Hulda Maria (Day) Wright, born in Andover, Massachusetts on November 4, 1873.  His father had received both his A.B. and theological degree at Oberlin College, and returned to the Oberlin Theological Seminary in 1881 as Professor of New Testament Language and Literature.  George and Hulda Wright had four children, all Oberlin graduates.  Frederick Bennett Wright enrolled at Oberlin in 1893, and graduated with a degree of Bachelor of Science in 1897.  For two years after graduation he was enrolled as a graduate student in geology at Johns Hopkins University, and during this time was a student observer for the U.S. Weather Bureau and was also connected with the Maryland Geological Survey.

In 1900-1901 Frederick Bennett Wright accompanied his father on a trip across Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, his father’s most ambitious voyage among several with the purpose of making firsthand observation of geological conditions.  The elder Wright was assisted by his son in the work of producing a two-volume work entitled Asiatic Russia published in 1902.  In the author’s preface, George Frederick Wright credits his son Frederick for most of the photographs that appear in the publication, as well as the chapter on climate and assistance in preparing the chapter on flora and fauna.

George Frederick Wright was Assistant Editor for the archeology journal Records of the Past, published by its parent organization Records of the Past Exploration Society, headquartered in Washington, D.C., from its creation in 1901 until 1903.  He was Editor-in-Chief with his son Frederick as Assistant Editor from 1903 until 1911, when he was listed as Editor Emeritus while Frederick ascended to the Editorship. Frederick’s sister Helen M. Wright, a 1902 graduate of Oberlin, was listed as Assistant Editor in 1911-1913.  Frederick Bennett Wright authored several articles for Records of the Past, including “The Ming Tombs,” April 1902; “Ancient Samarkand,” September 1902; “The Mastodon and Mammoth Contemporary with Man,” August 1903, and “Ancient Caravan Routes of China,” June 1904.  In 1914 Records of the Past merged with Art and Archeology, and at that point the Wright editorship ceased.

Frederick Bennett Wright married Sarah Ann Carrick in 1907; together they had five children.  In 1915 Wright became a lecturer for the National Homecrofter’s Society.  In 1916-1917 Frederick was a free-lance lecturer and manufacturer of educational sets of lantern slides, an indication of his continuing interest in photography.  From 1918 to 1922 he was engaged in Y.M.C.A. educational work at Camp Humphreys, Virginia, and at Walter Reed Hospital.

Frederick Bennett Wright died of pneumonia on December 12, 1922.

SOURCES CONSULTED

The student files of Frederick Bennett Wright and Helen M. Wright (RG 28).

Finding Guide for the George Frederick Wright Papers, RG 30/21.

Records of the Past Exploration Society, Records of the Past, volumes 1-7, 10-12, accessed from the Harvard University Open Collections Program, “Expeditions and Discoveries,”, 3/17/2011.

George Frederick Wright, Asiatic Russia, Volumes I and II.  New York: McClure, Phillips & Co., 1902.