Edward Smith Parsons (AC 1883) Papers

Edward Smith Parsons was born in Brooklyn, New York, on August 9, 1863. He was educated at the Brooklyn Collegiate and Polytechnic Institute, Amherst (BA 1883) and Yale (BD 1887), and was ordained in the Congregational Church in 1887. After serving as parson of the First Congregational Church in Greeley, Colorado, for four years, he joined the faculty of Colorado College as an English professor in 1892. Parsons was vice-president of the college (1898-1916, and dean of the Department of Arts and Sciences (1901-1917). However, his vocal opposition to President William F. Slocum (AC 1874), which caused Slocum to resign, made him unpopular with the trustees, who in turn forced his resignation in 1917. Parsons' dismissal caused considerable public outrage, and the trustees offered to reinstate him conditionally. Parsons declined the offer, however, and moved to Marietta College (Ohio), where he served as President from 1919 to 1936 and as President Emeritus from 1936 to 1943.

Parsons was a founder of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, an active member and official of the YMCA, and a member of various other social and academic organizations. He edited Milton's Minor Poems for the Cambridge Series, and wrote several scholarly articles, including "The Earliest Life of Milton" (English Historical Review, January 1902; republished as part of Colorado College Studies, vol. X, 1903); "A Christian Critique of Socialism"; "The Social Message of Jesus"; etc. Parsons married Mary Augusta Ingersoll on December 4, 1889, and was the father of six children. He died in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on April 22, 1943.