26 Facts About Robert Garrett

Robert S Garrett was an American athlete, as well as investment banker and philanthropist in Baltimore, Maryland and financier of several important archeological excavations.

Robert Garrett's father was Thomas Harrison Garrett, and his mother the former Alice Dickerson Whitridge ; his elder brother John Work Garrett became a distinguished American diplomat for the United States Department of State.

Robert Garrett married Katharine Barker Johnson, who survived him by less than a year.

When he decided to compete in the famous first modern Olympic games being revived and held in Athens, Greece, in 1896, Professor William Milligan Sloane suggested that Robert Garrett try the discus.

Robert Garrett paid for his own and three classmates' travel to Athens to compete in the games.

When Robert Garrett discovered that a real discus weighed less than five pounds, he decided to enter the event for fun.

Robert Garrett threw the discus with tremendous force using a style more similar to the hammer throw, after seizing the discus in his right hand and swinging himself around and around.

Robert Garrett's final throw punctuated with a loud grunt, sent the discus sailing 19 centimetres beyond the second-place throw mark at 29.15 metres.

Robert Garrett won the shot put with a distance of 11.22 metres and finished second in the high jump and second in the long jump.

Robert Garrett competed in the discus throw again, but due to a poorly planned course was unable to set a legal mark as all of his discus throws hit trees.

Robert Garrett was a member of the Tug-of-War team at the 1900 Olympics that was forced to withdraw because three of the six members were engaged in the hammer throw final.

Robert Garrett had an early intensive interest in science, especially in history and archeology, and became an early collector and important donor.

Robert Garrett amassed a collection of historical volumes of Western and non-Western manuscripts, fragments, and scrolls, originating from Europe, the Near East, Africa, Asia and Mesoamerica, ca.

Robert Garrett inherited his collecting interest from his father, Thomas Harrison Garrett.

Robert Garrett used the text Universal Paleography: or, Facsimiles of Writing of All Nations and Periods by J B Silvester as his guide for collecting primary examples of every known type of script.

In 1942, Robert Garrett donated his collection of more than 11,000 manuscripts to Princeton University, including the "Aksum Scrolls" and sixteen Byzantine Greek manuscripts, containing rare examples of illuminated Byzantine art.

Robert Garrett was largely responsible for bringing the new Boy Scouts of America youth organization to Baltimore in 1910, shortly after its national establishment and imported from Great Britain with founder.

Robert Garrett managed the BSA in Baltimore until his retirement in 1934.

In 1919, Robert Garrett gave to the City of Baltimore a tract of land of a city block along East Patapsco Avenue, between Second and Third Streets in its recently annexed Brooklyn neighborhood in South Baltimore to be used as a public park, which was named in his honor.

Robert Garrett helped develop Baltimore's public recreational facilities, many of which were privately funded by himself, colleagues and friends.

Robert Garrett organized the Public Athletic League which later merged with a similar earlier Children's Playground Association.

Robert Garrett was the first chairman of Baltimore City's Bureau of Recreation, and the first chairman of the city's Board of Park Commissioners for the combined Department of Recreation and Parks.

Robert Garrett was through much of his life an active member of the National Recreation Association, and was elected its chairman in 1941.

Robert Garrett was later asked to resign from the Board of Park Commissioners when a positive vote for integration was taken.

Robert Garrett died on April 25,1961, in Baltimore, Maryland and was buried with other family members at Baltimore's historic Green Mount Cemetery, where his widow would be buried by year's end.

Robert Garrett donated his papers to Princeton University; the Library of Congress has family papers.