George Barton Cutten
George Barton Cutten | |
---|---|
8th President of Colgate University | |
In office 1922–1942 | |
Preceded by | Elmer Burritt Bryan |
Succeeded by | Everett Needham Case |
8th President of Acadia University | |
In office 1910–1922 | |
Preceded by | W.B. Hutchinson |
Succeeded by | Frederic Patterson |
Personal details | |
Born | Amherst, Nova Scotia, Canada | April 11, 1874
Died | November 2, 1962 Northampton, Massachusetts | (aged 88)
Spouse | Minnie Warren Brown |
Children | Muriel, Claire, William F., and Sarah (d. 1926) |
Education | Acadia University (BA, 1895) Yale University (PhD, 1902) |
George Barton Cutten (1874–1962) was a Canadian-born psychologist, moral philosopher, historian and university administrator. He was president of Acadia University from 1910 to 1922 and Colgate University from 1922 to 1942.
Career
Born in
He went on to
At the onset of the
After twelve years at Acadia, in 1922 he moved to Hamilton, New York, where he had accepted the presidency of Colgate University. He altered the university admissions policy to block the admissions of African Americans and severely limited the admissions of Jewish students.[5] Finding the university's financial affairs in disorder he set out to turn its finances around. For the next seventeen years the school declared a surplus, in the meantime doubling its faculty, plant and assets. His football teams also won championships. In 1928, he introduced the "Colgate Plan", an influential curriculum.
He retired from Colgate in 1942.[2]
Later work and personal life
In his retirement, Cutten devoted his efforts to a vocation entirely divorced from his academic pursuits. Arising from an interest in American
He was married to Minnie W. Brown who shared his passion for silver and contributed to his books on the subject.[7] They had four children.[8] He died in 1962.
Legacy and latter reassessment
A women's residence named after Cutten opened at Acadia University in 1975.[9] A residence hall complex and its associated dining hall at Colgate were named for him in 1966. Controversy erupted over the name in 2001 and resulted in a serious debate about his role as a eugenicist.[10] At issue was his statement to the Canadian Society of New York in 1923 that "the melting pot is destructive to our race ... we must build up from our resources and conserve our race power, or else we must admit only such immigrants as shall strengthen and not weaken our race, or both. The danger the melting pot brings to the nation is the breeding out of the higher division of the white race and the breeding in of the lower divisions."[11] He followed through with this belief by actively restricting racial diversity at the university.[5] Though a substantial number of students organized and signed petitions calling for the renaming of the residence hall complex, the name remained at the time.[12] However, in 2017 the hall was renamed by the Colgate Board of Trustees, after renewed advocacy by students, faculty, the University Planning Committee, and the Student Government Association.[5]
Publications include
- The Psychology of Alcoholism, Scribners, 1907.
- The Psychological Phenomena of Christianity, Scribners, 1908, (Review in The New York Times).
- Three Thousand Years of Mental Healing, New York : C. Scribner's sons, 1911.
- Mind, Its Origin and Goal, Yale University Press, 1925
- The Threat of Leisure, Ayer, 1926 (Google Books)
- Speaking with Tongues Historically and Psychologically Considered, Yale, 1927
- The Silversmiths of Utica, Hamilton, 1936
- The Silversmiths of Georgia (Together With Watchmakers and Jewellers), 1733–1850
- The Silversmiths, Watchmakers and Jewellers of The State of New York Outside of New York City, private, 1939
- Instincts and Religion, Harper and Brothers, 1940
- Silversmiths of North Carolina 1696-1860, 1948
- Silversmiths of Virginia: Together With Watchmakers and Jewellers, 1694 to 1950, 1952
References
- ^ J. Ernest Kerr, Imprint of the Maritimes, 1959, Boston: Christopher Publishing, p. 73
- ^ a b c "Education: Colgate's Cutten". Time. February 2, 1942.
- ^ Acadia University: "George Barton Cutten" Archived July 6, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b Paul Axelrod, Youth, University, and Canadian Society: Essays in the Social History of Higher Education, 1989, Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, p. 146
- ^ a b c Frishberg, Zoe (April 27, 2017). "Special Edition: President Casey and Administration Wipe Away Cutten Namesake, Leaving Behind Tattered Past". The Colgate Maroon-News.
- ^ E. Richard McKinstry, Guide to the Winterthur Library: The Joseph Downs Collection, Winterthur Museum, 2003
- ^ Article on "Silversmiths of North Carolina 1696-1860"[permanent dead link]
- ^ Green, C. Sylvester. "Cutten, George Barton". NCpedia. University of North Carolina Press. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
- ^ "Residences Through the Years". Acadia University Bulletin. November 15, 2011.
- ^ Compter, Sarah (June 25, 2001). "Students Condemn Cutten". The Colgate Maroon-News. Archived from the original on June 25, 2001. Retrieved July 20, 2017.
- National Vanguard Magazine. No. 117. March–April 1997. Archived from the originalon November 14, 2006.
- ^ Murphy, Dan (February 24, 2006). "Cutten's Ugly Legacy". The Colgate Maroon-News. Archived from the original on October 29, 2017. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
External links
- Works by George Barton Cutten at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about George Barton Cutten at Internet Archive
- Works by George Barton Cutten at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)