John Augustine Smith
John Augustine Smith | |
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| 10th President of the College of William & Mary | |
| In office 1814–1826 | |
| Preceded by | John Bracken |
| Succeeded by | William Holland Wilmer |
| Personal details | |
| Born | August 29, 1782 |
| Died | February 9, 1865 (aged 82) |
| Alma mater | College of William & Mary |
John Augustine Smith (29 August 1782 – 9 February 1865) was the tenth president of the College of William and Mary, serving from 1814 to 1826.
Smith was born into a prominent Westmoreland County family as the son of Reverend Thomas Smith. He was graduated from the College of William & Mary in 1800, studied medicine and settled as a physician in New York City. In 1809 he became lecturer on anatomy at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, and editor of the Medical and Physiological Journal. In 1814 he was elected president of the College of William & Mary. Smith was the first layman to hold the presidency.[1][2]
In 1824, Because of low enrollment at the College, he proposed that it be moved to Richmond from Williamsburg;[3] this proposal was defeated by the General Assembly and the controversy from the proposal eventually caused Smith to resign. After leaving the College of William and Mary, Smith joined the faculty of the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City, eventually becoming its president in 1831.[4] While at King's College, he was also a prominent advocate of scientific racism, justifying white supremacy using phrenology and advocating for black people to be removed from the United States.[5]
Smith's publications include "Introductory Discourse" (New York, 1837), "Select Discourse on the Functions of the Nervous System" (1840), "The Mutations of the Earth" (1846) and "Moral and Physical Science" (1853).[1]
References
- ^ a b Alfred James Morrison; Virginia. State Board of Education (1917). The Beginnings of Public Education in Virginia, 1776–1860: Study of Secondary Schools in Relation to the State Literary Fund. D. Bottom, superintendent of public printing. pp. 91 ff. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
- ^ "19th Century Presidents". College of William and Mary. Archived from the original on 28 May 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
- ^ "Petitions to Remove the College from Williamsburg". Special Collections Research Center, Earl Gregg Swem Library, College of William and Mary. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
- ^ "Political Economy at the College of William and Mary". College of William and Mary. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
- ^ "1. King's College and Slavery". Columbia University and Slavery. Columbia University. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
The president of P and S from 1831 to 1843 was John Augustine Smith, a member of a prominent Virginia family, and a faculty member from 1808 to 1820. In his "Course of Anatomical Instruction" during his term on the faculty, Smith sought to demonstrate the superiority of "the European" over other races, including the Mongol, Malay, and Ethiopian, from an examination of their "anatomical structure," including "facial angle" and "capacity of the cranium." Years later, in 1843, Smith delivered a public lecture in New York City on the "different races of men." Smith concluded that the "Caucasian… might justly be said to stand at the head of all the races of the earth," while blacks' "mental powers are upon an inferior scale." In measurements such as "facial angle," the "Ethiopian race" was far closer to the orang outan than Caucasians. Smith added that "this can never justify any people in keeping them in slavery." Nonetheless, Smith was convinced that if freed and allowed to remain in the United States, blacks were "sure to be exterminated," and he became an avid proponent of colonization.
External links
- Finding aid for the College of Physicians and Surgeons manuscript collection
- Finding aid for the Petitions to Remove the College from Williamsburg
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