|
Charles Francis Meserve
Charles Francis Meserve (1850–1936) was an American educator, university president, academic administrator, and author. He served as president of Shaw University from 1894 to 1919, a historically Black university in Raleigh, North Carolina.[1][2] Early life and educationCharles Francis Meserve was born on July 15, 1850, in Abington, Massachusetts.[3][2] His parents were Susan Smith Blanchard and Charles Meserve, a shoemaker and farmer. His family was descendants of Clement Meserve, a native from the Isle of Jersey (now Jersey) who emigrated to the United States in 1673.[3] Meserve attended Waterville Classical Institute (later known as Coburn Classical Institute) for three years.[3] In 1873, he enrolled in Colby College; where he graduated with an A.B. degree in 1877; an A.M. degree in 1880; and a LL.D. degree in 1899.[3] Career After graduation Meserve worked as principal of the high school in Rockland, Massachusetts (1877 to 1885), and at the Oak Street School in Springfield, Massachusetts (1885 to 1889).[3] This was followed by a role as superintendent of the Haskell Institute (now Haskell Indian Nations University) in Lawrence, Kansas (1889 to 1894).[3] From 1894 until 1919, Meserve served as president of Shaw University.[3] Under his leadership Shaw University improved the curriculum, and increased the size of the industrial department.[2] He was a Baptist and was licensed to preach at a specific church, the First Baptist Church in Raleigh, but he was not ordained.[2] Merserve helped found the Capon Springs Conference (later known as the Conference on Education for the South) in Capon Springs, West Virginia.[2] He also gave lectures on "Indian and negro problems".[2] Death and archivesHe died on April 20, 1935, in Raleigh, North Carolina.[4] He is buried at Pine Grove Cemetery in Waterville, Maine. The National Archives and Records Administration contains a 1897 letter from Meserve to Daniel M. Browning concerning the recent punishment of Richard Henry Pratt.[5] The W. E. B. Du Bois Papers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst library contains a 1908 letter from Meserve to Du Bois.[6] The American Baptist Historical Society Repository contains his papers.[7] Personal lifeHe was married to Abbie Mary Whittier from 1878 until her death in 1898, together they had one daughter.[2] In 1900, Merserve married Fannie J. Philbrick.[2] Merserve was a member of the Republican party.[2] Writings
References Wikimedia Commons has media related to Charles Francis Meserve.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
