James Walker (August 16, 1794 – December 23, 1874) was a Unitarian minister, professor, and President of

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

from February 10, 1853, to January 26, 1860.

Biography

Walker was born to John and Lucy (Johnson) Walker in

Woburn, Massachusetts Woburn ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,876 at the 2020 census. Woburn is located north of Boston. Woburn uses Massachusetts' mayor-council form of government, in which an elected mayor is ...

(now in Burlington). From 1801-1810 he attended Lawrence Academy. He graduated in 1814 from Harvard, where he was a member of the

Hasty Pudding Hasty pudding is a pudding or porridge of grains cooked in milk or water. In the United States, it often refers specifically to a version made primarily with ground ("Indian") corn, and it is mentioned in the lyrics of "Yankee Doodle", a tradit ...

. Afterward he taught for one year at the Phillips Exeter Academy and then returned to study at the

Harvard Divinity School Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the academic study of religion or for leadership roles in religion, gov ...

(class of 1817), after which he served for twenty years as the Unitarian minister of Harvard Church in Charlestown, Massachusetts. During this period, he was active in his parochial duties and in advocating the cause of school and college education, lectured extensively and with success, and was a close student of literature and philosophy. In 1838, Walker was appointed Harvard's Alford Professor of Natural Religion, Moral Philosophy, and Civil Polity, which position he held until 1853, when he was elected president of the college. During his administration, music was added to Harvard's curriculum. Walker also served as a Fellow of Harvard College (1834-1853) and a member of its Board of Overseers (1825-1836, 1864-1874). He was elected a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

in 19XX. He was president at Harvard until his resignation in 1860. He devoted the remainder of his life to scholarly pursuits, and left his library and $15,000 to Harvard, where he received the degree of

D.D. A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ra ...

in 1835. At

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

he received the degree of

LL.D. Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation refers to the early ...

in 1860.

Writings

He published numerous sermons, addresses, and lectures, including three series of lectures on “Natural Religion,” and a course of

Lowell Institute The Lowell Institute is a United States educational foundation located in Boston, Massachusetts, providing both free public lectures, and also advanced lectures. It was endowed by a bequest of $250,000 left by John Lowell Jr., who died in 1836. ...

lectures on “The Philosophy of Religion”. Other works are ''Sermons preached in the Chapel of Harvard College'' (Boston, 1861) a ''Memorial of

Daniel Appleton White Daniel Appleton White (7 June 1776 – 30 March 1861) was an American statesman, lawyer, and Judge of Probate in Essex County, Massachusetts during the nineteenth century. He was elected as a member of the Massachusetts Senate and later elected t ...

'' (1863), and a ''Memoir of Josiah Quincy'' (1867). After his death a volume of his “Discourses” appeared in 1876. Sermons, Reason, faith and Duty, preached chiefly in the college chapel, Boston, American Unitarian Association, 1892, was published "by his brothers," He also edited, as college textbooks,

Dugald Stewart Dugald Stewart (; 22 November 175311 June 1828) was a Scottish philosopher and mathematician. Today regarded as one of the most important figures of the later Scottish Enlightenment, he was renowned as a populariser of the work of Francis Hut ...

's ''Philosophy of the Active and Moral Powers'' (1849), and

Thomas Reid Thomas Reid (; 7 May ( O.S. 26 April) 1710 – 7 October 1796) was a religiously trained Scottish philosopher. He was the founder of the Scottish School of Common Sense and played an integral role in the Scottish Enlightenment. In 1783 he wa ...

's ''Essays on the Intellectual Powers, Abridged, with Notes and Illustrations from Sir William Hamilton and Others'' (1850).

Family

In 1829 Walker married Catherine Bartlett (1798-1868); they had no children.

Notes

References

Biography, part of a series of Harvard's Unitarian Presidents
*

External links

* *
Correspondence
with James Walker is in the Harvard Divinity School Library at

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, James 1794 births 1874 deaths Presidents of Harvard University American Unitarian clergy Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Harvard Divinity School alumni People from Woburn, Massachusetts Hasty Pudding alumni 19th-century American clergy