King, Stanley, 1883-1951

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King (AC 1903) was born in 1883 to Judge Henry Amasa (AC 1873) and Maria Lyon (Flynt) King in Troy, New York. He attended Springfield (Mass.) High School and entered Amherst College in 1900 with the Class of 1903. He graduated from Harvard Law School and was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in 1906. He held a variety of executive positions with the W. H. McElwain Company, shoe manufacturers in Boston, from 1906 to 1922. In 1921 he became a trustee of Amherst College. From 1922 to 1927 he was Eastern Manager and Director of the International Shoe Company, Boston. In 1927 he retired from business. In 1932 King was appointed the 11th President of Amherst College. As President of Amherst, King was instrumental in developing the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., constructing many new buildings on campus and the development of the "New Curriculum." He retired as President in 1946 and died in 1951.

From the description of King papers, 1880-1967 (1895-1967). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 49710480

Stanley King (AC 1903) was born in 1883 to Judge Henry Amasa (AC 1873) and Maria Lyon (Flynt) King in Troy, New York. He attended Springfield (Mass.) High School and entered Amherst College in 1900 with the Class of 1903. As an undergraduate he was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity and Phi Beta Kappa. After earning a degree from Harvard Law School (completing the course in the abnormally short space of two years), he was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in 1906. He held a variety of executive positions with the W. H. McElwain Company, shoe manufacturers in Boston, from 1906 to 1922. In business he demonstrated great skill at settling labor disputes. During World War I, King served first as a member of the Council of National Defense, and in October 1917 he was appointed Confidential Clerk to the Secretary of War, functioning as an advisor to Secretary of War Newton Baker on business matters. King remained in government service through mid-1919 before returning to the McElwain Company. In 1921 he became a trustee of Amherst College. From 1922 to 1927 he was Eastern Manager and Director of the International Shoe Company, Boston. In 1927 he retired from business. In 1932, after traveling extensively for several years, King was appointed the 11th President of Amherst College - the first in the institution's history to have been neither a minister nor educator.

As President of Amherst, King was instrumental in developing the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., into one of the most important libraries of its kind. He was also took a great interest in the buildings and grounds of the Amherst campus: the College recovered from the destruction caused by a major hurricane in 1938 by the introduction of new landscaping and the unprecedented construction of new buildings. Under King's administration the campus saw the addition of such buildings as Alumni Gymnasium, Valentine Hall, Memorial Field, Kirby Theatre, James and Stearns dormitories, and the Mead Art Building. In the 1930s, President King led the College through the crisis of the Great Depression by achieving financial solutions that enabled Amherst to avoid annual deficits or reductions in salary. The disruptions of World War II, 1941-1945, were handled with similar effectiveness with a long-range focus on developing a "New Curriculum" for the College to meet modern post-war needs.

After retiring as President in 1946, he was President Emeritus until his death in 1951. Stanley King was the author of several books: Recollections of the Folger Shakespeare Library (1950); A History of the Endowment of Amherst College (1950); and "The Consecrated Eminence": The Story of the Campus and Buildings of Amherst College (1952). Upon his death in 1951, Stanley King was survived by his wife, Mrs. Margaret Pinckney Jackson King (whom he married in 1927), a son Richard King (AC 1935), and a daughter, Gertrude King. (Stanley King's first wife, Gertrude, died in 1923.)

From the guide to the King Papers, 1880-1967, 1895-1967, (Amherst College Archives and Special Collections)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Amherst College Inaugurations Collection, 1821-present Amherst College Archives and Special Collections
creatorOf Frost, Robert, 1874-1963. Letter, 1932 May 7, South Shaftsbury, Vt., to Stanley King. Amherst College. Library
referencedIn Amherst College. Inaugurations collection, 1821-[ongoing] / Amherst College. Amherst College. Library
creatorOf King, Stanley, 1883-1951. Correspondence with Paul Philippe Cret, 1932-1933. University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Van Pelt Library
creatorOf Meiklejohn, Alexander, 1872-1964. Meiklejohn papers, 1894-1924 (bulk 1912-1923). Amherst College. Library
creatorOf Stanley King (AC 1903) Papers Amherst College Archives and Special Collections
referencedIn President's Office Public Records, 1934-1976 Amherst College Archives and Special Collections
creatorOf King, Stanley, 1883-1951. Letter, 1938 June 7, Amherst, Mass., to Robert Frost, Amherst, Mass. Amherst College. Library
referencedIn Kenyon, Dorothy, 1888-1972. Dorothy Kenyon papers, 1850-1998 (bulk 1888-1971). Smith College, Neilson Library
creatorOf Frost, Robert, 1874-1963. Letter, to Kathleen Morrison. Dartmouth College Library
creatorOf King, Stanley, 1883-1951. Letter, 1919 Feb. 27, Washington, D.C., to Harold G. Rugg, Hanover. N.H. Dartmouth College Library
referencedIn Dorothy Kenyon Papers MS 85., 1850 - 1998 Sophia Smith Collection
referencedIn Meiklejohn Papers, 1894-1924, 1912-1923 Amherst College Archives and Special Collections
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Amherst College corporateBody
associatedWith Amherst College. Class of 1903 person
associatedWith Amherst College. Class of 1903. King. corporateBody
associatedWith Amherst College. President's Office. corporateBody
associatedWith Baker, Newton Diehl, 1871-1937 person
associatedWith Folger Shakespeare Library corporateBody
associatedWith Frankfurter, Felix, 1882-1965 person
associatedWith Frost, Robert, 1874-1963. person
associatedWith Hopkins, Ernest Martin, 1877-1964 person
associatedWith Kenyon, Dorothy, 1888-1972 person
associatedWith King, Margaret P. person
associatedWith King, Margaret P. person
associatedWith Manthey-Zorn, Otto, 1879-1964, person
associatedWith Meiklejohn, Alexander, 1872-1964 person
associatedWith Rugg, Harold Goddard, 1883-1957. person
associatedWith United States. War Dept. corporateBody
associatedWith W.H. McElwain Co. corporateBody
associatedWith Woodbridge, Frederick James Eugene, 1867-1940 person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Subject
Amherst College
Amherst College
College presidents
World War, 1914-1918
Occupation
Activity

Person

Birth 1883-05-11

Death 1951-04-28

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