Theodore Dwight Woolsey
Encyclopedia
Theodore Dwight Woolsey (October 31, 1801 – July 1, 1889) was an American academic, author and president of Yale College
from 1846 through 1871.
. His mother was Elizabeth Dwight (1772–1813) and father was William Walton Woolsey (1766–1839).
He graduated from Yale College
in 1820, spent a year in legal study in Philadelphia
, and two years of the study of theology
at Princeton
. For some time, he was a tutor at Yale, then went abroad to study Greek in Leipzig
, Bonn
, and Berlin
. From 1831 to 1846 he was professor
of Greek at Yale. His mother's brother Timothy Dwight
(1752–1817) had been president of Yale 1795–1817. Jeremiah Day
was the only president Yale had in between the family members. He was elected an Associate Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
in 1845. After being chosen as president of Yale, he instructed students of history, political economy
, political science
, and especially international law.
He resigned as president of Yale in 1871. After Noah Porter
served as president, the office was back in the family as his cousin once removed Timothy Dwight V
(1828–1916), was selected in 1886.
During his 25 years as president, Yale advanced in wealth and influence and two new departments, the Scientific School
and the School of Fine Arts
, were begun. Woolsey was one of the founders of the New Englander, chairman of the American commission for the revision of the Authorized Version of the Bible, president of the World's Evangelical Alliance at its international meeting in New York, a lifelong member and at one time president of the American Oriental Society
, and a regent of the Smithsonian Institution
. Among his writings and publications are these: Editions of the Alcestis of Euripides
(1834), of the Antigone of Sophocles
(1835), of the Prometheus of Æschylus (1837), of the Electra of Sophocles (1837), and of the Gorgias of Plato
(1843); an edition of Lieber
's Civil liberty and Self Government, and:
On September 5, 1833 he married Martha Salisbury, who was born November 30, 1812 and died November 3, 1852. Their children were:
On September 6, 1854 he married Sarah Sears Prichard, who was born March 3, 1824 and died in 1900.
Their children were:
Dwight died July 1, 1889 in New Haven.
Woolsey Hall at Yale and Woolsey Street in New Haven, Connecticut
are named in his honor.
The statue erected in his memory has a golden toe from being rubbed for good luck.
Yale College
Yale College was the official name of Yale University from 1718 to 1887. The name now refers to the undergraduate part of the university. Each undergraduate student is assigned to one of 12 residential colleges.-Residential colleges:...
from 1846 through 1871.
Biography
Theodore Dwight Woolsey was born October 31, 1801 in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. His mother was Elizabeth Dwight (1772–1813) and father was William Walton Woolsey (1766–1839).
He graduated from Yale College
Yale College
Yale College was the official name of Yale University from 1718 to 1887. The name now refers to the undergraduate part of the university. Each undergraduate student is assigned to one of 12 residential colleges.-Residential colleges:...
in 1820, spent a year in legal study in Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
, and two years of the study of theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
at Princeton
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
. For some time, he was a tutor at Yale, then went abroad to study Greek in Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
, Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
, and Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. From 1831 to 1846 he was professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of Greek at Yale. His mother's brother Timothy Dwight
Timothy Dwight IV
Timothy Dwight was an American academic and educator, a Congregationalist minister, theologian, and author...
(1752–1817) had been president of Yale 1795–1817. Jeremiah Day
Jeremiah Day
Jeremiah Day was an American academic, a Congregational minister and President of Yale College .-Early life:Day was the son of Rev...
was the only president Yale had in between the family members. He was elected an Associate Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
in 1845. After being chosen as president of Yale, he instructed students of history, political economy
Political economy
Political economy originally was the term for studying production, buying, and selling, and their relations with law, custom, and government, as well as with the distribution of national income and wealth, including through the budget process. Political economy originated in moral philosophy...
, political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
, and especially international law.
He resigned as president of Yale in 1871. After Noah Porter
Noah Porter
Noah Porter, Jr. was an American academic, philosopher, author, lexicographer and President of Yale College .-Biography:...
served as president, the office was back in the family as his cousin once removed Timothy Dwight V
Timothy Dwight V
Timothy Dwight V was an American academic, an educator, a Congregational minister, and president of Yale College...
(1828–1916), was selected in 1886.
During his 25 years as president, Yale advanced in wealth and influence and two new departments, the Scientific School
Sheffield Scientific School
Sheffield Scientific School was founded in 1847 as a school of Yale College in New Haven, Connecticut for instruction in science and engineering. Originally named the Yale Scientific School, it was renamed in 1861 in honor of Joseph E. Sheffield, the railroad executive. The school was...
and the School of Fine Arts
Yale School of Art
The Yale School of Art is one of twelve constituent schools of Yale University. It is a professional art school, granting only Masters of Fine Arts degrees to those completing studies in graphic design, painting/printmaking, photography, or sculpture....
, were begun. Woolsey was one of the founders of the New Englander, chairman of the American commission for the revision of the Authorized Version of the Bible, president of the World's Evangelical Alliance at its international meeting in New York, a lifelong member and at one time president of the American Oriental Society
American Oriental Society
The American Oriental Society was chartered under the laws of Massachusetts on September 7, 1842. It is one of the oldest learned societies in America, and is the oldest devoted to a particular field of scholarship....
, and a regent of the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
. Among his writings and publications are these: Editions of the Alcestis of Euripides
Euripides
Euripides was one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, the other two being Aeschylus and Sophocles. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to him but according to the Suda it was ninety-two at most...
(1834), of the Antigone of Sophocles
Sophocles
Sophocles is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus, and earlier than or contemporary with those of Euripides...
(1835), of the Prometheus of Æschylus (1837), of the Electra of Sophocles (1837), and of the Gorgias of Plato
Plato
Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
(1843); an edition of Lieber
Francis Lieber
Francis Lieber , known as Franz Lieber in Germany, was a German-American jurist, gymnast and political philosopher. He edited an Encyclopaedia Americana...
's Civil liberty and Self Government, and:
- Introduction to the study of International Law (1860, many times republished)
- Essays on Divorce and Divorce Legislation (1869)
- Religion of the Present and Future, a collections of sermons (1871)
- Political Science (1877)
- Communism and Socialism (1880)
- Helpful Thoughts for Young Men (1882)
Family and legacy
Dwight married twice and had a total of 13 children.On September 5, 1833 he married Martha Salisbury, who was born November 30, 1812 and died November 3, 1852. Their children were:
- Edward Salisbury Woolsey was born June 10, 1834, but died from scarlet feverScarlet feverScarlet fever is a disease caused by exotoxin released by Streptococcus pyogenes. Once a major cause of death, it is now effectively treated with antibiotics...
on December 17, 1843. - Elizabeth Woolsey was born November 30, 1835, but died in the same scarlet fever epidemic on the same day as her two brothers.
- Agnes Woolsey was born June 30, 1838, married Edgar Lain Heermance (1833–1888), had three children and died in 1915.
- William Walton Woolsey was born June 12, 1840, and died in the 1843 scarlet fever epidemic.
- Laura Woolsey was born June 22, 1842 but died of typhoid feverTyphoid feverTyphoid fever, also known as Typhoid, is a common worldwide bacterial disease, transmitted by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with the feces of an infected person, which contain the bacterium Salmonella enterica, serovar Typhi...
on March 23, 1861. - Catherine Woolsey was born January 17, 1845 but died June 7, 1854.
- Martha Woolsey was born July 7, 1847 but died December 6, 1870.
- Helen Woolsey was born August 7, 1849 but died December 8, 1870.
- Theodore Salisbury WoolseyTheodore Salisbury WoolseyTheodore Salisbury Woolsey was an United States legal scholar, born at New Haven, Connecticut, son of Theodore Dwight Woolsey. He graduated at Yale in 1872 and at Yale Law School . In 1872 he was an initiate into The Skull and Bones Society...
was born October 22, 1852 and died April 24, 1929.
On September 6, 1854 he married Sarah Sears Prichard, who was born March 3, 1824 and died in 1900.
Their children were:
- Mary Pritchard Woolsey born September 1, 1855, married Alfred Terry Bacon and died in 1931.
- John Muirson Woolsey was born February 13, 1858 but died from typhoid fever March 13, 1861.
- George Woolsey was born May 2, 1861
- Edith Woolsey was born July 2, 1864.
Dwight died July 1, 1889 in New Haven.
Woolsey Hall at Yale and Woolsey Street in New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
are named in his honor.
The statue erected in his memory has a golden toe from being rubbed for good luck.