North American Scholar

HAMILTON, Alfred Porter

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  • Date of Birth (YYYY-MM-DD): 1887-11-27
  • Born City: Marianna
  • Born State/Country: FL
  • Parents: Rev. Jefferson Porter, a Methodist minister, & Elizabeth Gordon Merritt H.
  • Date of Death (YYYY-MM-DD): 1964-03-22
  • Death City: Jackson
  • Death State/Country: MI
  • Married: Charlotte De Golyer, 5 Sept. 1916.
  • Education:

    A.B. Southern U. (Greensboro, AL), 1908; study at Leipzig, 1909-10; M.A. U. Pennsylvania, 1911; Ph.D., 1923; study at U. Chicago, 1912-3.
  • Professional Experience:

    Prof. Lat. & Germ. Huntington Coll. (Montgomery, AL), 1912-7; asso. prof, to prof, class: langs. & Germ. Millsaps Coll. (Jackson, MI), 1917-59; chair depts. class, langs. & German, 1923-57; dean freshmen, 1930-46; prof, class, langs. & Germ. Bellhaven Coll. (Jackson, MI), 1959-64; pres. So. Sect. CAMWS, 1942.
  • Dissertation:

    “Compounds of the Word 'Cow': A Study in Semantics” (Pennsylvania, 1923).
  • Notes:

    The son and grandson of Methodist ministers, Alfred P. Hamilton was a devoted teacher at Millsaps and an enthusiastic supporter of CAMWS, serving as president of the Southern Section in 1942 and as first vice-president in 1945. He undertook the maintenance of communication between Latin teachers in the state and served as a source of teaching materials and information as state vice-president for CAMWS. He was active in the cultural life of Jackson, served on the local board of education, and wrote a history of his Methodist church. At his retirement in 1958 the faculty established the Alfred Porter Hamilton Chair of Classical Languages.
  • Sources:

    Willliam T. Jolly, CJ 60 (1964-5) 143; The Story of Jackson: Biographical Sketches of the Builders of Mississippi (Jackson, 1953) 2:450-3.
  • Author: Ward W. Briggs, Jr.