GEORGE LOCKHART RIVES 
 
GEORGE LOCKHART RIVES 
 President of The New York Public Library 
 
GEORGE LOCKHART RIVES 
 
 THE HON. GEORGE LOCKHART RIVES, President of The New 
 York Public Library, died at his summer home in Newport, August 
 18, 1917. 
 
 Mr. Rives was elected a trustee of the Astor Library in 1883. He 
 filled this office until he offered his resignation in 1888, in order to move 
 to Washington as Assistant Secretary of State. In 1893 he was elected a 
 trustee of the Lenox Library, and, as such, became a member of the new 
 Board of Trustees of The New York Public Library. He was Secretary 
 of the Board of Trustees of the Library from its organization in May, 
 1895, until his resignation in 1902, when he was appointed Corporation 
 Counsel of the City of New York. He continued his membership of the 
 Board, however, and became successively Second Vice-President and First 
 Vice-President. Following the death of Mr. Cadwalader, he was elected 
 President on May 13, 1914. 
 
 It is difficult to describe adequately the importance of Mr. Rives' 
 services in the creation and development of the Public Library. The 
 working out of the scheme for the consolidation of the three constituent 
 corporations was a complicated task. So also was the adjustment of the 
 various relations between the Library and the City, both with reference 
 to the construction and operation of the central building and the establish- 
 ment and maintenance of the many circulation branches. When these 
 had been arranged, the development of the institution in such a way as to 
 meet the growing needs of the public required and still requires most 
 careful attention. In all of this Mr. Rives gave his best and constant 
 effort, and the results that have been accomplished bear the unfading 
 mark of his able and devoted participation. 
 
 Mr. Rives was an honorary Doctor of Laws of both Amherst and 
 Princeton, a Governor and former President of the New York Hospital 
 and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His most 
 important published work was his two-volume history, "United States 
 and Mexico, 1821 to 1848." 
 
 The New York Sun, on August 22, 1917, published in its editorial 
 columns an estimate of Mr. Rives' services, which was in part as follows: 
 
 In Newport this morning the burial service will be read over the body of a citizen 
 whom New York can ill afford to lose. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2014 
 
 https://archive.org/details/georgelockhartriOOnewy 
 
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