North American Scholar

MAIN, John Hanson Thomas

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  • Date of Birth (YYYY-MM-DD): 1859-04-02
  • Born City: Toledo
  • Born State/Country: OH
  • Parents: H. B. and Margaret Costello M.
  • Date of Death (YYYY-MM-DD): 1931-04-01
  • Death City: Grinnell
  • Death State/Country: IA
  • Married: Emma Martha Myers, 18 June 1881.
  • Education:

    A.B. Moores Hill (now Evansville) Coll. (IN), 1880; A.M., 1883; Ph.D. Johns Hopkins, 1892; LL.D. Oberlin, 1911; Iowa State U., 1912; Grinnell (IA) Coll., 1916; Harvard, 1926; L.H.D. Colorado Coll., 1927.
  • Professional Experience:

    Prof. anc. langs. Moores Hill Coll., 1880-9; asst. Gk. & Lat. Woman's Coll. Baltimore, 1890-2; sr. fell. Gk. Johns Hopkins, 1891-2; Carter prof. Gk. lang. & lit. Iowa (now Grinnell) Coll., 1892-1900; actng. pres. 1900-2; dean fac, 1902-6; pres., 1906-31; trustee Carnegie Found. Adv. Tchng., 1924-31; ed. Grinnell Review.
  • Dissertation:

    "Locative Expressions in the Attic Orators" (Johns Hopkins, 1892); printed (Baltimore, 1892).
  • Notes:

    As president of Grinnell, Main, a student of Gildersleeve, won wide fame for liberalizing the curriculum, adding courses in music and drama, business and psychology, instituting a student government, and building large residence halls with common dining rooms. He increased the size of the student body, faculty, and endowment and began a professorial exchange with Harvard. Many of Main's reforms became standard in American universities and colleges. His chief publications are his addresses.
  • Sources:

    Charles E. Payne, DAB Suppl. 1: 537-8; NatCAB 23:398-9; WhAm 1:769.
  • Author: Ward W. Briggs, Jr.