Henry Lamar Crosby (May 17, 1880 – March 20, 1954), known as H. Lamar Crosby, was an American

classicist Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

who served as dean of the graduate school of the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

. Crosby graduated from high school in

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

and completed his undergraduate studies at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

. While at Texas, due to a paucity of funds, he supported himself as a day laborer and

dairy farm Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy) for eventual sale of a dairy product. Dairy farming has a history th ...

hand. The financial generosity of an uncle allowed him to attend

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

, from which he received his Ph.D. After stints at the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded in ...

and

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

, Crosby began teaching at the University of Pennsylvania and, from 1928 to 1938, was dean of its graduate school. With John Nevin Schaeffer he was the author of ''Introduction to Greek'', which later became a popular textbook on the subject, remaining in print for the 20 years after publication. In 1925 he spent a year as annual professor at the American School of Classical Research in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, participating in the archaeological excavation of the Athenian market. He was invested into the

Royal Order of George I The Royal Order of George I ( el, Βασιλικόν Τάγμα Γεωργίου Α') is a Greek order instituted by King Constantine I in 1915. Since the monarchy's abolition in 1973, it has been considered a dynastic order of the former Greek r ...

at the rank of commander, and was a member of the Archaeological Institute of America. His son, Oliver S. Crosby, was

United States Ambassador to Guinea The United States ambassador to Guinea is the official representative of the government of the United States to the government of Guinea. This is a list of the United States ambassadors to Guinea Ambassadors See also *Guinea – United States ...

from 1977 to 1980.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crosby, Henry Lamar University of Texas alumni Harvard University alumni Order of George I 1954 deaths University of Pennsylvania faculty University of Missouri faculty 1880 births American philologists 20th-century philologists