Charles H. Livingston papers

Charles H. Livingston (1888-1966) was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on July 4, 1888. He graduated from Harvard College in 1910 and taught in preparatory schools from 1912-1914. He subsequently returned to Harvard to work as Instructor of Romance Languages. In 1916, he left Harvard to accept a similar position at Haverford College, and shortly thereafter, he was promoted to the rank of Assistant Professor. After a year at Haverford, he resigned to serve as an officer in World War I. In September 1917, he was assigned to the Second Regular Army Division in France. Because of his linguistic abilities, he was attached to the Division Staff, where he was the liaison officer between the American and French commands. Upon returning to the United States in 1919, Livingston resumed teaching at Harvard, and, in the following year, he received his Ph.D. In 1921, he joined Bowdoin College's staff as a Professor of Romance Languages. Throughout his forty-five years at Bowdoin, he was instrumental to the college in the development of the Department of Romance Languages and the building of the collection of books in French literature and linguistics. His dedication to the college earned him the title of Emeritus. Livingston was also the author of such works as "Gliglois, A French Arthurian Romance of the Thirteenth Century" (1932) and "Le Jongleur Gautier Le Leu, Etude sure les Fabliaux" (1951). Livingston married Francoise Ruet, a Professor at Wellesley College, on December 17, 1943. He died in Brunswick, Maine on April 9, 1966.