Hartshorne family papers

Richard Hartshorne (1899-1992) was an American geographer, who specialized in economic and political geography, as well as the philosophy of geography. He was born in Kittaning, Pennsylvania on 12 December 1899, and studied as an undergraduate at Princeton University before obtaining his doctorate at the University of Chicago in 1924. He taught at the University of Minnesota from 1924 to 1940, and at the University of Wisconsin form 1945-1970. He married Lois Huntington Wilde (1902-1972) in 1928, and they remained married until her death in 1972. In 1938-1939 they spent his sabbatical in Nazi occupied Vienna, Austria. While in Austria, they provided several Jewish friends monetary aid and visa assistance in efforts to help them emigrate. They moved briefly to Zurich, Switzerland from Austria before returning to the United States. During World War II, he founded and supervised the Geography Division in the branch of Research and Analysis of the OSS (Office of Strategic Services). His best known publications include "The Nature of Geography" (1939) and "Perspectives on the Nature of Geography" (1959). One of his brothers was the philosopher Charles Hartshorne (1897-2000). Professor Hartshorne died at his home in Madison, Wisconsin on 5 November 1992.