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William Carey Poland (1846–1929) was an American classical scholar, educator, academic administrator, and former university president. He was Professor Emeritus at Brown University starting in 1915; and the President of Rhode Island School of Design from 1896 to 1907.[1]

Biography

William Carey Poland was born on January 25, 1846, in Goffstown, New Hampshire.[1][2] His father was Baptist minister James Willey Poland.[3] Poland attended Brown University, where he received an A.B. degree and an M.A. degree in 1868.[2][1]

He served as the director of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens in 1891.[1] He taught Greek and Latin at Brown University from 1870 to 1890 and taught art history from 1892 to 1915.[1] In 1878, he worked as a private tutor for John Carter Brown's two sons to prepare them for college.[3][4] Brown's sons John and Harold traveled with Poland to Berlin, Paris, and Cannes to study classics.[3] When he retired in 1915, he was made Professor Emeritus of Art History.[2]

He was the fifth president of the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), serving from 1896 to 1907.[1] During his time at RISD, the school acquired Memorial Hall on Benefit Street (in 1903), marking the school's physical expansion beyond a single building.[5]

Poland was married to Clara (née Harkness), daughter of Albert Harkness, and together they had three sons.[6][7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "William Carey Poland diaries and photographs". Rhode Island Archival and Manuscript Collections Online (RIAMCO). Retrieved 2022-07-29.
  2. ^ a b c "Obituary for William Carey Poland (Aged 83)". The Journal (Meriden, Connecticut). March 20, 1929. p. 9. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  3. ^ a b c "Prof Poland of Brown Dead". The Boston Globe. March 20, 1929. p. 13. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  4. ^ "Poland, William Carey". Encyclopedia Brunoniana. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  5. ^ Dewing Schmid Kearns (March 2014). "RISD Campus Master Plan—State of the College Report: Phase I" (PDF).
  6. ^ Who's Who in New England: A Biographical Dictionary of Leading Living Men and Women of the States of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. A.N. Marquis Company. 1938. p. 1021.
  7. ^ "Prof. William C. Poland, Nationally Known Art Authority Dies at Eighty-three". Times Machine. The New York Times. March 20, 1929. p. 23. Retrieved July 29, 2022.