M. Woolsey Stryker

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M. (Melancthon) Woolsey Stryker, D.D., Litt. D., LL.D., (1851-1929) an American clergyman, was Pastor of the Fourth Presbyterian Church, Chicago and President of Hamilton College from 1892-1917. He distanced Hamilton form the Presbyterian Church, moving it towards becoming a more secular institution. [1]

Stryker was a liberal, who spoke out against prejudice against Jews, basing "his argument on the fact that our spiritual and religious perceptions have been first taught by Jews, and that the Old as well as the New Testament we owe entirely to men of that race. " [2]


Stryker was a popular speaker, and was widely quoted in his day.[3] [4]. As President of Hamilton, he strongly defended the traditional approach to a liberal arts education, and preserved the teaching of the classics[5].


Stryker was one of the signers of the Blackstone Memorial advocating the creation of a Jewish State as a solution to anti-Jewish pogroms in Russia.


"Some minds are eager for change, and some are angry at any" --- M. Woolsey Stryker, 1894

[edit] References

  1. ^ AUTONOMY OF HAMILTON COLLEGE.; President Stryker Asserts the Instituti... - Article Preview - The New York Times
  2. ^ [query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30B12F63E5417738DDDAA0994DE405B808DF1D3]
  3. ^ Life of William McKinley, Our Martyred President, by Samuel Fallows - 1901, p. 424
  4. ^ [site:query.nytimes.com M. Woolsey Stryker]
  5. ^ New York Times