Denman Waldo Ross

Denman Waldo Ross (January 10, 1853 – September 12, 1935) was an American painter, art collector, and scholar of art history and theory. He was a lecturer on art and design at Harvard University and a trustee of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Early life and education

Ross was born in Cincinnati, Ohio to John Ludlow Ross, a wealthy businessman, and Fanny Walker Ross (née Waldo). He had two older siblings who died before he was born.

At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, the family moved to Boston, joining John Ross's brother Matthias Denman Ross and his wife Mary, who was Fanny Ross's sister, at their house at 76 Boylston St., across from Boston Common.

Ross was enrolled at an elementary school in Newton Corner. When his father's business took the family to New York City in 1862, Ross was tutored at home by his cousin Louise Nathurst, who was seven years his senior. By 1868, the family was living with M. Denman Ross in Jamaica Plain and the younger Ross entered Charles Knapp Dillaway's preparatory school, whose curriculum was designed for Harvard aspirants.

In 1871, Ross matriculated at Harvard College. His father bought a house at 24 Craigie St., a few blocks from the school, and Denman lived at home. He studied history with Henry Adams and received a bachelor's degree in 1875, graduating with honors in history and election to Phi Beta Kappa.

Ross resumed his studies at Harvard as a post-graduate in the fall of 1876. For his thesis, Studies in the Early History of Institutions, he received a PhD in History in 1880.