Elmer Hewitt Capen (April 5, 1838 – March 22, 1905) was the third president of

Tufts College Tufts University is a Private university, private research university in Medford, Massachusetts, Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, with additional facilities in Boston and Grafton, Massachusetts, Grafton, as well as Talloire ...

(now Tufts University), serving from 1875 to 1905. He was born in

Stoughton, Massachusetts Stoughton (official name: Town of Stoughton) is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 29,281 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The town is located approximately from Boston, from Providence, Rh ...

. Capen graduated from Tufts in 1860, and while there he was a founding member of the Kappa Charge of Theta Delta Chi. Also, in 1859, while still an undergraduate, he was elected to, and served in, the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into ...

.Capen, Elmer Hewitt
in ''

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'', 1902 edition, via archive.org 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 at

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

, practiced law for a short time, and then became a Universalist minister. Capen presided over the continued expansion of course and program offerings at Tufts, and the beginning of

co-education Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

(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. His wife was Mary Leavitt Edwards (1860-1944; married to Sumner Robinson following Elmer Capen's death). Elmer and Mary's only son, Samuel Paul Capen (1878-1956) also graduated from Tufts, and made significant contributions to the field of higher education; he became the first Director of the

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References

Sources

Elmer Hewitt Capen, 1875
- Tufts Interactive Timeline {{DEFAULTSORT:Capen, Elmer 1838 births 1905 deaths Presidents of Tufts University Members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives People from Stoughton, Massachusetts Tufts University alumni Harvard Law School alumni 20th-century Christian universalists 19th-century Christian universalists Clergy of the Universalist Church of America 19th-century American clergy 19th-century members of the Massachusetts General Court