Bernhard Knollenberg was a lawyer, public official, and historian. He was born on November 26, 1892, in Richmond, Indiana. He received the degree of A.B. from Earlham College in 1912. He then moved to Harvard University where he received an A.M. In 1914 and LL.B. in 1916. Knollenberg practiced law in Hawaii, Indiana, Massachusetts, and New York before retiring from it in 1938. For the following six years, he was librarian of Yale University. Between 1943 and 1944, he was senior deputy administrator for the Lend-Lease Administration. He next became a division deputy for the O.S.S. He concluded his public service as U.S. Commissioner of the International Commission for Northwest Atlantic Fisheries, a position he held between 1950 and 1958. Knollenberg devoted the rest of his life to the study of history. He died in Old Lyme, Connecticut, on July 6, 1973.