John Henderson Jr.
American diplomat, educator and malacologist (1870–1923)
John Brooks Henderson Jr. (February 18, 1870 – January 4, 1923) was an American diplomat, educator, and malacologist.
Early life
Henderson was born in Pike County, Missouri on February 18, 1870. He was the son of United States Senator John Brooks Henderson and social activist Mary Foote Henderson, who was known as "The Empress of Sixteenth Street." His father was known as the Senator who introduced the thirteenth amendment to the Constitution that abolished slavery and one of seven Republicans who voted for acquittal during the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson in May 1868.
His maternal grandparents were Eunice (née Newton) Foote, a scientist and women's rights campaigner, and Elisha Foote, a prominent lawyer and judge. His grandfather Elisha was the brother of prominent politician Samuel Foote, who served as a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives, U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and Governor of Connecticut in the early 1800s.
Henderson graduated from Harvard University in 1891 and received his degree in law from Columbian University (now George Washington University) in 1893.
Career
From 1896 to 1897, he was Private Secretary to the John W. Foster while Foster was diplomatic advisor to the Chinese government. In 1897, he traveled with General Nelson A. Miles to Europe and toured the Ottoman Empire as an unofficial observer.
In 1911, Henderson was appointed a citizen member of the Smithsonian Institution Board of Regents, serving until his death in 1923.
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This entry incorporates text from “John Henderson Jr.” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.