North American Scholar

LEES, James Thomas

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  • Date of Birth (YYYY-MM-DD): 1859-08-17
  • Born City: Middleton, Lancashire
  • Born State/Country: England
  • Parents: Thomas & Betty Wrigley L.
  • Date of Death (YYYY-MM-DD): 1926-02-03
  • Death City: Coronado
  • Death State/Country: CA
  • Married: Anna Belle Murray, 26 Dec. 1889.
  • Education:

    B.A. Adelbert Coll. (now part of Case Western Reserve U.), 1886; M.A., 1889; Ph.D. Johns Hopkins, 1889; study at Göttingen, 1887-8; study in Greece, 1893, 1903.
  • Professional Experience:

    Princ. Latin Sch. U. Nebraska, 1889-91; head dept. Gk. U. Nebraska, 1891-1919; provost, 1918-23; prof. Gk. lang. & lit., 1923-6.
  • Dissertation:

    “Δικανικὸς λόγος in Euripides" (Johns Hopkins, 1889); printed as The Rhetorical Element in Euripides (Lincoln, NE, 1891) and in Nebraska University Studies 1 (1892) 367-408.
  • Publications:

    The Claims of Greek (Syracuse, NY, 1895); "The Metaphor in Aeschylus," Studies Gildersleeve, 483-96; "A Photographic Archaeological Expedition to Sicily and Greece," CJ 2 (1906-7) 69-73.
  • Notes:

    James T. Lees combined the careers of a classical scholar and a university administrator. His specialty was Greek tragedy. He was popular as a lecturer on topics in drama and art in general. His students recalled him as the soul of accuracy and precision, yet very companionable and sympathetic to their needs. He was exceptionally active in university affairs and was appointed the first provost of the University of Nebraska in 1919. When he died after a long illness, his ashes were scattered on the Lincoln campus and a memorial stone, still to be seen, was placed there.
  • Sources:

    Robert N. Manley, Centennial History of the University of Nebraska (Lincoln, NE, 1969) 1:132, 232; NatCAB 21:270-1; Nebraska Alumnus 22 (Feb. 1926) 52-3; WhAm 1:718.
  • Author: Ward W. Briggs, Jr.