John Franklin Crowell

John Franklin Crowell

John Franklin Crowell, Courtesy of the Duke University Archives
Biographical details
Born	(1857-11-01)November 1, 1857 York, Pennsylvania
Died	August 6, 1931(1931-08-06) (aged 73) East Orange, New Jersey
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1888-1889	Duke
Head coaching record
Overall	3-2

John Franklin Crowell (November 1, 1857 – August 6, 1931) served as president of Trinity College, the predecessor of Duke University, from 1887 to 1894. Crowell studied economics at Yale University, Columbia University and the University of Berlin. Crowell is primarily known for overseeing Trinity's movement to Durham, North Carolina and for reforming Trinity's curriculum, along with Joseph L. Armstrong, to be more in line with the German research university model. Toward that end Crowell persuaded the competing student literary societies to combine their libraries into a single college collection, where he personally catalogued the books and kept hours at a reference desk to encourage proper research methods. He also corrected the Latin in the college motto. Crowell increased the number of visiting lecturers at Trinity, and helped establish several academic student publications, one of which, the literary magazine The Archive is the second oldest such publication in the United States. Crowell also served as the head coach of the football program from 1888–1889, compiling a 3-2 record. After resigning from Duke, Crowell became head of the Department of Economics and Sociology at Smith College. He received an honorary LL.D. degree from Trinity in 1917.

Head coaching record

Year	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Bowl/playoffs	Coaches#	AP°
1888	Duke	2-1
1889	Duke	1-1
Total:		3-2
†Indicates Bowl Coalition, Bowl Alliance, BCS, or CFP / New Years' Six bowl. #Rankings from final Coaches Poll.

External links

• Template:CFBCR
• Guide to the John Franklin Crowell Papers and Records University Archives, Duke University
• Men of Mark in America Biography & Portrait