CHARLES ARTHUR CONANT (1861-1915) (SPRING 2026)


 

Are you a descendant of the celebrated American journalist Charles Arthur Conant (1861-1915) or do you happen to know someone who is related to him? 

If you can answer yes, you may be able to help Johnny Darren Fulfer, a PhD candidate in history at Indiana University. 

 If you have access to any documents, photos or other written items relating to Charles Arthur Conant the future Dr Fulfer would be so pleased to hear from you. He tells us that this descendant of Roger Conant whom he is researching is one of the most important actors in his dissertation. 

Charles Arthur Conant was born in Winchester MA in 1861 to parents Charles Edwin Conant and Marion Crawford, née Wallace. He began his career as a journalist with the Boston Daily Advertiser, going on to become the correspondent in Washington, D.C., for the New York Journal of Commerce and Commercial Bulletin. 

Conant became recognized as an expert on banking and finance, and was seen as one of the first American theorists to argue that imperialism was an economic necessity for advanced capitalist nations. 

 Typical of his thinking was his 1898 essay The Economic Basis for Imperialism. ‘The instinctive tendency of a race or civilization often out runs the wisdom of its leaders,’ he wrote. ‘The irresistible tendency to expansion, which leads the growing tree to burst every barrier, which drove the Goths, the Vandals, and finally our Saxon ancestors in succes sive and irresistible waves over the decadent provinces of Rome, seems again in operation, demanding new outlets for American capital and new opportunities for American enterprise.’ 

 If you think you can help, or if you would like to know more, you can contact Johnny Darren Fulfer by email: jfulfer@iu.edu 

 Photo of Charles Arthur Conant in 1890 by Pach Brothers (New York)

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