LeBaron Russell Briggs

LeBaron Russell Briggs (December 11, 1855 – April 24, 1934)[1] was an American educator. He was appointed the first dean of men at Harvard College, and subsequently served as dean of the faculty until he retired. He was concurrently president of Radcliffe College and the National Collegiate Athletic Association.[2]

LeBaron Russell Briggs
2nd President of Radcliffe College
In office
1903–1923
Preceded byElizabeth Cabot Agassiz
Succeeded byAda Louise Comstock
Personal details
Born(1855-12-11)December 11, 1855
Salem, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedApril 24, 1934(1934-04-24) (aged 78)
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
Spouse
Mary Frances De Quedville
​
​
(m. 1883)​
Alma materHarvard University

Early life

Briggs was born in Salem, Massachusetts on December 11, 1855. He was the son of Unitarian minister George Ware Briggs and Lucia Jane (née Russell) Briggs.[1] Among his siblings was brother George Russell Briggs.

He received A.B. (in 1875) and A.M. degrees (in 1882) from Harvard University.[3]

Career

After graduating from Harvard, he began teaching there; he began as a Greek tutor before moving to English, eventually becoming the Boylston Professor of Rhetoric from 1904 until 1925.[4]

Briggs was appointed dean of Harvard College in 1891 (to 1902) and dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences from 1902 until his retirement in 1925. His appointment as dean of men was the first "student personnel" appointment, which later became the catalyst for the Student Affairs field in higher education. Briggs was responsible for advising students academically, and on personal issues. "His fairness in dealing with the Faculty and students alike, his patience in dealing with erring undergraduates, and his always kindly humor endeared him to everyone," wrote George Henry Chase.[lower-alpha 1]

Radcliffe College

In 1903, Briggs succeeded co-founder Elizabeth Cary Agassiz as the second president of Radcliffe College, which had been founded as the Society for the Collegiate Instruction of Women in 1882 before becoming Radcliffe College in 1894.[6] During his presidency (which was then a part-time position), the college purchased the Greenleaf estate and built five new dormitories. Also during his tenure, the student body grew from less than 500 in 1903 to more than 700 in 1923. The geographical diversity of students also increased, with the number of students matriculating from outside of Massachusetts rising from 19 percent in 1903 to 33 percent in 1923.[7]

He served as president for twenty years until 1923,[8] when he was succeeded by Ada Louise Comstock who also served as president for twenty years from 1923 to 1943.[7] Before Briggs left office, the administration of Radcliffe requested that Radcliffe become a college for women within Harvard, but were again refused. In his last presidential report, Briggs wrote: “I believe that ultimately Radcliffe will become a women’s college in Harvard, but that neither institution is as yet prepared for such a union.”[7]

After his retirement from Radcliffe, he wrote the novel, Men, Women And Colleges, which was published in 1925 by the Houghton Mifflin Company.[9]

Personal life

In 1883, Briggs was married to Mary Frances De Quedville (b. 1862) of Cambridge. Together, they were the parents of three children:[1]

  • John DeQuedville Briggs (1885–1965), who married Marjorie Scott Winslow (1900–1994), daughter of William Herman Winslow, in 1925.[10][11]
  • Lucia Russell Briggs (1887–1960), who served as president of Milwaukee-Downer College for thirty years.[12]
  • LeBaron Russell Briggs Jr. (1895–1972), who married Elizabeth Mason.[13]

Briggs died on April 24, 1934, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, at the home of his daughter Lucia.[1] He was buried at Oak Grove Cemetery in Plymouth, Massachusetts,[14] where he had a summer home.[1]

Legacy

Briggs was also a trustee of Middlesex School, where the LeBaron Briggs House dormitory is named for him, as well as Briggs Hall at Harvard's Cabot House. He received honorary degrees from Harvard, Yale, Western Reserve University and Lafayette University.[1]

His nautical namesake, the liberty ship LeBaron Russell Briggs, was scuttled with its cargo of nerve gas on August 18, 1970, as the last installment of a project in which the United States disposed of much of its stockpile by dumping it at sea.[15][16]

Notes
  1. According to Chase a Harvard undergraduate, having knocked a Yale student unconscious late at night after a football game (see Harvard–Yale football rivalry), rushed to Briggs' home and declared, "Dean Briggs, I've killed a Yale man in the Yard". Briggs replied, "Why bother me at this time of night? Come to the office Monday morning and collect the customary bounty."[5]

References
  1. "DR. BRIGGS, EX-DEAN OF HARVARD, DEAD Won Friendship of Thousands of Students in His 47 Years of Service" (PDF). The New York Times. April 25, 1934. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  2. Hollander, David N., "The LeBaron Russell Briggs Sails Its Last", The Harvard Crimson, August 18, 1970.
  3. "LBRBP-MCR-S - Le Baron Russell Briggs Papers, 1855-1934 · Jane Addams Digital Edition". digital.janeaddams.ramapo.edu. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  4. Briggs, Le Baron Russell, 1855–1934. Records of Radcliffe College President Le Baron Russell Briggs, 1903–1925: A Finding Aid. Harvard University Library.
  5. Chase, George Henry (1947). Tales Out of School. Harvard University Press. pp. 25–26. ISBN 9780674493780.
  6. "PRESIDENT OF RADCLIFFE. Le Baron Russell Briggs, Dean of Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard, Succeeds Mrs. Agassiz" (PDF). The New York Times. June 13, 1903. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  7. "Le Baron Russell Briggs (Radcliffe College President from 1903 to 1923)". www.radcliffe.harvard.edu. Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. 22 September 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  8. Merrill, Charles A. (May 3, 1925). "HARVARD LOSES BRIGGS, PURIST IN SPORT; Kindly Dean Has Exerted a Marked Influence in the Collegiate Athletic World". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  9. "EDUCATION AND LIFE; MEN, WOMEN AND COLLEGES. By LeBaron Russell Briggs. 180 pp. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. $1.50" (PDF). The New York Times. 6 December 1925. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  10. "John D. Briggs Ex-Headmaster in St. Paul, Dies". The Minneapolis Star. December 9, 1965. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
  11. "John DeW. Briggs". The Boston Globe Boston, Massachusetts 0. December 9, 1965. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
  12. "LUCIA BRIGGS DIES AT 72 Head of Milwaukee-Downer College From 1921 to 1951" (PDF). The New York Times. January 11, 1960. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  13. "BRIGGS". The Boston Globe. January 27, 1972. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
  14. "FUNERAL FOR DR. BRIGGS. Heads of Harvard and Radcliffe at lmple Rites for Educator" (PDF). The New York Times. April 28, 1934. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  15. "Cut Holes and Sink 'Em", Time, Aug. 24, 1970; "A Generation of Indiscriminate Dumping".
  16. "Ship That Carried Gas Bore Name of Educator". The New York Times. August 19, 1970. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
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