Robert Pelton Sibley

Robert Pelton Sibley (March 26, 1879-November 3, 1957) was an American academic and a headmaster of Deerfield Academy. [Citation
last = Downs
first = Winfield Scott, editor
title = Who's who in New York (city and State)
year = 1947, pg 957.]

Born in Westfield, Mass., Sibley graduated from Amherst College in 1900. At commencement, he was awarded the Henry D. Hyde prize in oratory, a victory reported in the New York Times. [Citation
title = Amherst's Commencement
newspaper = New York Times
date = June 26, 1900
pages = pg. 9
url = http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=980CEFD61339E733A25754C2A9609C946197D6CF&oref=slogin]

From 1900 to 1902, he was the fiftieth head of school, or principal as the position was then known, of Deerfield Academy. He was succeeded by the legendary Frank Boyden.

In 1903, he graduated from Columbia University with a Master of Arts degree. [Citation
last = Columbia University
author-link = Columbia University
title = Catalogue of Officers and Graduates of Columbia University from the Foundation of King's College in 1754
place = New York
publisher = Columbia University
year = 1906
url = http://books.google.com/books?id=c_kRAAAAYAAJ, pg 570.]

In 1907, he took up a post as an instructor in English at Ohio Wesleyan University.

From 1909 to 1920, he was professor of English language and literature at Lake Forest College, where he also served as registrar. [cite journal
title = Members of the Modern Language Association of America
journal = Publications of the Modern Language Association of America
volume = XXXII
pages = pg. clxii
location = Cambridge, Mass.
date = 1917
url = http://books.google.com/books?id=bHkUAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PR162&dq=robert+pelton+sibley+born&ei=lHLtSNS8E5S4yQTOk7yTAg#PRA1-PR162,M1
accessdate = October 8, 2008 ] [cite journal
last = Patterson
first = Henry L.
title = Universities and Colleges
journal = Patterson's College and School Directory of the United States and Canada
volume = 11
location =
pages = pg. 457
publisher = Educational Directories
date = 1914
url = http://books.google.com/books?id=iPqLXwe6tSwC&pg=PA457&dq=robert+sibley+lake+forest&lr=&ei=am_tSIPAJILmygSwscibBA
accessdate = October 8, 2008] In his final year there, the University awarded him an honorary doctorate in humane letters.

From 1920, he was a faculty member and secretary of Cornell's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. [cite journal
journal = Report of the New York State College of Agriculture at Cornell University, Ithaca, and of the Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station
title = Report of the Dean and Director
volume = 33
location = Albany, N.Y.
date = 1920
url = http://books.google.com/books?id=dB9JAAAAMAAJ
accessdate = October 8, 2008 ] Six years later he was transferred to the College of Arts and Sciences. There he would serve as assistant dean, secretary of the university faculty, and chairman of the faculty committee on student affairs.

In 1934, he became the second husband of artist Cora Billiard Wickham Sibley. [Citation
last = Frost
First = Josephine C.
title = Ancestors of James Wickham and His Wife Cora Prudence Billard
year = 1935
url = http://books.google.com/books?id=52ZbAAAAMAAJ&pgis=1, pg. 20.] [cite web
author = "Wallace Gallery"
authorlink = http://www.hamptonsweb.com/wallacegallery/
title = Cora Billiard Wickham Sibley
work = ASKArt
publisher = AskART
date = 2000-2008
url = http://www.askart.com/askart/s/cora_billiard_wickham_sibley/cora_billiard_wickham_sibley.aspx
accessdate = October 8, 2008]

Sibley died at age 78 at his home in Cutchogue, New York. His passing was noted by an obituary in the New York Times, which remarked that he had "become known as a specialist in American fiction." [Citation
title = Prof. Robert Sibley, Taught at Cornell
newspaper = New York Times
date = Nov. 4, 1957
pages = pg. 29
url = http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00B15F63955137A93C6A9178AD95F438585F9]

References