Monsignor Robert Howard Lord Papers: Archives of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, MA.

January 29, 2022
In the collection is Robert Lord’s original commission pass to the 1918 Paris Peace Conference.

The Robert H. Lord papers held by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston span the years 1842 to 1988.  The collection consists of handwritten and typed correspondence, manuscripts and drafts, research materials, sermons, notes, and photographs.  Also included is an invitation to the Paris Peace Conference (1919).  There are two contributors to this collection: Robert Howard Lord and Msgr. Mark Keohane.  Msgr. Keohane produced and collected various writings and research materials about the life of Robert Howard Lord.

Robert Howard Lord (1885-1954) was a professor, diplomat, and priest.  Lord was born in Plano, Illinois on 20 July 1885 to Dr. Frank Howard and Julia Marie Lord (née Custin), who were Episcopal Christians.  He is most notable for his role during the Paris Peace Conference, where Woodrow Wilson personally appointed Lord as a delegate for the conference, as well as chief of the Department of Polish Affairs (1918).  After experiencing a spiritual awakening in the Tuilleries Gardens in Paris, Robert Howard Lord converted to Catholicism and was baptized on 20 May 1920 at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston, Massachusetts, and later ordained at St. John’s Seminary in Brighton, Massachusetts on 5 April 1929.

Works written by Lord include The Second Partition of Poland (1915), Some Problems of the Peace Conference (1920), The Origins of the War of 1870 (1924), Archibald Coolidge: Life and Letters (1932), and History of the Archdiocese of Boston (1945).

Robert Howard Lord served as a faculty member of the history department at Harvard from 1910 to 1926, when he ultimately resigned in order to become a priest.  He served as a member of the Boston Public Library’s Board of Trustees from 18 May 1936 to 29 October 1952.  Robert Howard Lord died 22 May 1954 in Boston, Massachusetts.

Contact

Thomas P. Lester
Director, Archive and Library

Archdiocese of Boston
66 Brooks Drive
Braintree, Massachusetts 02184

617-746-5897
[email protected]
bostoncatholic.org/archives

Resources

Photos

After receiving his PhD at the Universities of Vienna, Berlin, and Moscow, Robert Howard Lord served as a faculty member in the History Department at Harvard from 1910 to 1926, when he ultimately resigned in order to become a priest.
Lord is notable for his role during the Paris Peace Conference, where Woodrow Wilson personally appointed him as a delegate for the conference, as well as chief of the Department of Polish Affairs (1918).
Lord visited various places in France during the Peace Conference, including Versailles. In the Tuileries Gardens in Paris, he experienced a spiritual awakening and converted to Catholicism.
Commander of the Order of the White Rose of Finland.JPG
Caption: Lord’s Certificate of induction to the Order of the White Rose of Finland, Commander Class Cross, from 1919.
Lord’s dissertation and first book were on the history of Poland. In 1923 he was inducted into the Order of the Rebirth of Poland, Commander Class Cross.
Included are notes and writings from Lord’s works such as The Second Partition of Poland (1915), Some Problems of the Peace Conference (1920), The Origins of the War of 1870 (1924), Archibald Coolidge: Life and Letters (1932), and History of the Archdiocese of Boston (1945)