John Augustine Smith
10th President of the
College of William & Mary
In office
1814–1826
Preceded byJohn Bracken
Succeeded byWilliam Holland Wilmer
Personal details
Born(1782-08-29)August 29, 1782
Westmoreland County, Virginia
DiedFebruary 9, 1865(1865-02-09) (aged 82)
Alma materCollege of William & Mary

John Augustine Smith (29 August 1782 – 9 February 1865) was a physician and the tenth president of the College of William and Mary, serving from 1814 to 1826.

Early and family life

Smith was born into a prominent Westmoreland County family as the son of Reverend Thomas Smith. He graduated from the College of William & Mary in 1800, then traveled to New York City, where he studied medicine.

Career

Dr. Smith began practicing 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 succeeded Rev. James Madison and was the first layman to hold the presidency.[1][2]

In 1824, facing low enrollment at the College, Smith proposed that it be moved to Richmond from Williamsburg;[3] however, the General Assembly refused to authorize the move and the controversy eventually caused Smith to resign.

After leaving the College of William and Mary, Smith returned to New York City and joined the faculty of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, eventually becoming its president in 1831.[4] While at King's College, Smith became 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

  1. 1 2 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.
  2. ↑ "19th Century Presidents". College of William and Mary. Archived from the original on 28 May 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  3. ↑ "Petitions to Remove the College from Williamsburg". Special Collections Research Center, Earl Gregg Swem Library, College of William and Mary. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  4. ↑ "Political Economy at the College of William and Mary". College of William and Mary. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  5. ↑ "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 orangoutan 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.
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