- Elmer Hewitt Capen
Elmer Hewitt Capen (
April 5 ,1838 -March 22 ,1905 ) was the third president of Tufts College (now Tufts University), serving from 1875 to 1905. He was born inStoughton, Massachusetts . Capen graduated from Tufts in 1860, and while there he was a founding member of the Kappa Charge ofTheta Delta Chi . Also, while still an undergraduate, he was elected to, and served in, theMassachusetts House of Representatives . He relinquished his seat after one term in order to finish his studies and graduate with his class. After his graduation from Tufts, he studied atHarvard Law School , practiced law for a short time, and then became aUniversalist minister.Capen presided over the continued expansion of course and program offerings at Tufts, and the beginning of
co-education (over his own objections) in 1892. He died in office on March 22, 1905. A bronze bust of Capen remains in Tufts'Goddard Chapel . The residence he constructed for himself and his family while president, at 8 Professors Row, is still known as Capen House.ources
* [http://www.tufts.edu/home/timeline/html/1875-p-elmer.html Elmer Hewitt Capen, 1875] - Tufts Interactive Timeline
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