Claybrook Cottingham

Claybrook C. Cottingham
Born	May 4, 1881(1881-05-04) Ottoman, Lancaster County, Virginia, USA
Died	August 17, 1949(1949-08-17) (aged 68) Mexico City, Mexico
Residence	Pineville, Rapides Parish, Louisiana Ruston, Lincoln Parish, Louisiana
Nationality	American
Alma mater	University of Richmond Baylor University
Occupation	Educator; College president
Religion	Baptist
Spouse	Myrtle Baker Cottingham (married 1904-1949, his death)
Children	Mary Virginia Cottingham ____ Margaret Drew ____ Claybrook Baker Cottingham, Sr.

Claybrook C. Cottingham (May 4, 1881–August 17, 1949) was an educator who served as president of both Baptist-affiliated Louisiana College in Pineville and the public institution, Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, Louisiana.

A son of George Cottingham and the former Louise Palmer, Cottingham was born in Ottoman in Lancaster County on the Atlantic coast of Virginia. He was educated at Chesapeake Academy in Irvington, Virginia. He received his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees prior to 1902 from the University of Richmond in Richmond, Virginia, then known as Richmond College. He obtained the Doctor of Divinity degree from Baylor University in Waco, Texas. From 1900-1902, he was the assistant principal at his alma mater, Chesapeake Academy.^[1]

He then moved to Louisiana to become from 1902-1905 professor of Greek and philosophy at the defunct Mount Lebanon College, sometimes called Mount Lebanon University, in Bienville Parish, a forerunner to Louisiana College. Cottingham served as the last president of Mount Lebanon president from 1905-1906, when he became from 1906-1910 a founding professor of the new Louisiana College. He was the third Louisiana College president, with his tenure stretching from 1910-1941, when he accepted the highest position at Louisiana Tech, then known as Louisiana Polytechnic Institute. A world traveler, Cottingham was still serving at Louisiana Tech when he died at the age of sixty-eight while on a business trip to Mexico City, Mexico.^[1]

On June 8, 1904, Cottingham married the former Myrtle Baker of Mount Lebanon, daughter of the merchant J. L. Baker and the former Mary Williamson. Their children were Mary Virginia (born 1906), Margaret Drew (born 1913), and Claybrook Baker Cottingham, Sr. (1915-1991).^[2] A Cottingham grandson, C. B. Cottingham, Jr. (1943-2008), who served in both the United States Army and United States Air Force during the 1970s,^[3] died at the age of sixty-five, a resident of Hanover in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.^[2]A Baptist deacon, Cottingham was president of the Louisiana Baptist Convention, based in Alexandria, from 1914-1916.^[1] He was also a director of Rotary International from 1930-1931.^[4]

The Cottinghams are interred at Greenwood Memorial Park in Pineville. Lynn Edward May, Jr., wrote an unpublished dissertation on Cottingham entitled "Claybrook Cottingham: A Study of His Life and Work."^[1]

The Claybrook Cottingham Expressway (U.S. Route 167) in Pineville is named in Cottingham's honor.^[5] A men's dormitory for honor students on the Louisiana Tech campus^[6] and a women's dormitory at Louisiana College^[7] are both named "Cottingham Hall" in his memory. The Louisiana Tech dormitory is adjacent to Richardson Hall, named for E.S. Richardson, Cottingham's predecessor as the Louisiana Tech president. ^[8]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} "Cottingham, Claybrook C.". A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography (lahistory.org). http://www.lahistory.org/site20.php. Retrieved December 19, 2010. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "Social Security Death Index"]. ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com. http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi. Retrieved "December 19k 2010. 
3. ^ "Claybrook B. Cottingham, Jr.". singletonfuneralhome. http://www.singletonfuneralhome.com/visitations/View.php?id=13958. Retrieved December 19, 2010. 
4. ^ "Rotary District 6860". googleusercontent.org. http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:mEHruCyFK_YJ:www.rotaryfirst100.org/districts/districts/6860.htm+Claybrook+Cottingham+and+Rotary&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us. Retrieved December 19, 2010. 
5. ^ "Bridge work to result in lane closures on Cottingham Expressway beginning May 3 (for about 2 months)". alexandria.momslikeme.com. http://alexandria.momslikeme.com/members/JournalActions.aspx?g=502236&m=11621916&grpcat=My+Life. Retrieved December 19, 2010. 
6. ^ "Housing". latech.edu. http://www.latech.edu/tech/housing/ResHalls/cottingham.htm. Retrieved December 19, 2010. 
7. ^ "Cottingham Hall". lacollege.edu. http://www.lacollege.edu/map/cottingham_hall.aspx. Retrieved December 19, 2010. 
8. ^ A later Louisiana Tech president, F. Jay Taylor, had previously been a professor of history and an administrator at Louisiana College, but he came to LC long after Cottingham had left. Their paths would have crossed only in 1941-1942, when Taylor was a student at Louisiana Tech and Cottingham was in his first year as president there.

Persondata
Name	Cottingham, Claybrook C.
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	May 4, 1881
Place of birth	Ottoman, Lancaster County, Virginia
Date of death	August 17, 1949
Place of death	Mexico City, Mexico