John Thornton Kirkland

Portrait of Kirkland by Gilbert Stuart (around 1816)

John Thornton Kirkland (born August 17, 1770 in (today's) Herkimer County , New York , † April 24 or 26, 1840 in Boston , Massachusetts ) was an American cleric and from 1810 to 1828 President of Harvard University .

Life

education

John Thornton Kirkland was born in 1770 to the missionary Samuel Kirkland and his wife Jerusha (née Bingham) Kirkland. He attended the recently founded Phillips Academy in Andover , Massachusetts , from 1784 , before moving to Harvard College two years later, where he received the Artium baccalaureus ( Bachelor of Arts ) in 1789 . He also served briefly in the army while studying at Harvard and was involved in the crackdown on Shays' rebellion . After completing his studies, he returned to the Phillips Academy, where he worked as a teacher while continuing his theological training in parallel . In doing so, Kirkland gradually turned away from the Calvinist doctrine, so that a little later he returned to Harvard University and from then on devoted himself to the study of the Unitarian denomination . During this time he was a tutor at Harvard, teaching logic and metaphysics . In 1794 he received ordination and from then on served as pastor of the New South Church in Boston , Massachusetts. In 1799, like his father, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences . However, his studies continued Kirkland and received in 1802 the Doctor of Divinity (lat. Divinitatis Doctor , comparable to today's Doctor of theology ) from Princeton University and in 1810 the Doctor of Laws ( Doctor of Laws ) from Brown University .

Presidency at Harvard

In 1810, Kirkland was elected 15th President of Harvard University. Under his leadership, the university experienced a heyday in which the Law School and the Divinity School were founded, 15 new professorships were brought into being, numerous buildings were built or renovated, and the library was doubled. In addition, Kirkland was described as extremely open-minded and friendly, especially towards his students. However, his final years at Harvard resulted in several controversies. After he expelled half the class from the university in 1823 in response to a student rebellion, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts cut $ 10,000 in government funding in 1824. This cut made it clear that Kirkland had not properly directed the financial fortunes of the university for a long time; Significant savings in all areas were the result. In addition, he suffered a minor stroke in August 1827 , so that he resigned as President of Harvard University in March 1828. He was succeeded by Josiah Quincy III .

With his wife, whom he had only married in September 1827, Kirkland undertook a world tour from the spring of 1829, which took them to Europe and the Middle East, among others, before the couple returned to Boston in 1832 and settled there. John Thornton Kirkland died on April 26th (according to other sources on April 24th) 1840 at the age of 69 in Boston. In his honor, the Kirkland House was built at Harvard in 1931 , which functions as a student residence .

Web links

• Profile on Harvard University website
• Biographies: John Thornton Kirkland on Harvard Square Library page
• Papers of John Thornton Kirkland on the Harvard University Library page

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Kirkland's History. kirkland.harvard.edu, accessed December 16, 2016 .