Arthur Kirkland Besley (November 9, 1902 – September 17, 1994) was an American hospital administrator and college football player. He played as a

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

and halfback at the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

Biography

He was born to Maryland state forester Frederick Wilson Besley and Bertha née Simonds on November 9, 1902 in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Besley attended the

where he gained his first football experience at any level with the

varsity team In most English-speaking countries, varsity is an abbreviation of the word ''university''. In the United States and Canada, the term is mostly used in relation to sports teams. Varsity in the United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, varsity team ...

. He played as a halfback in 1922 and 1925 and as a

in 1923 and 1924.Morris Allison Bealle, ''King of American Football: The Story of Football at Maryland Agricultural College, Maryland State College and the University of Maryland: 1890–1952'', pp. 98–104, Columbia Publishing Co., Washington, D.C., 1952. Besley received from Maryland a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree in 1923, a

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast t ...

degree in 1924, and in 1931, a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

degree with a dissertation on "The Effect of Ozone on the Vitamin Content of Cod Liver Oil." He was a member of the Beta Kappa chapter of the

Kappa Alpha Order Kappa Alpha Order (), commonly known as Kappa Alpha or simply KA, is a social fraternity and a fraternal order founded in 1865 at Washington College (now Washington and Lee University) in Lexington, Virginia. As of December 2015, the Kappa Alph ...

. From 1943 to 1949, Besley served as the superintendent of the Prince George's General Hospital in

Cheverly, Maryland Cheverly is a town in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, located very close to Washington, D.C., though not bordering it directly. The town was founded in 1918 and incorporated in 1931. Per the 2020 census, the population was 6,17 ...

. In September 1949, he became the assistant superintendent of the Western Pennsylvania Hospital in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

. In 1953, he was appointed as the head of the Norwegian American Hospital in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. On July 22, 1956, Besley witnessed the murder of Margaret Mary Gallagher in Lincoln Park from his apartment through a pair of binoculars, which prompted the media to dub it the "spyglass murder". He flagged down a motorcycle patrolman and directed him to the scene of the crime, but he was unable to identify the murderer because he could not see his face from his vantage point.Bizarre Daylight Slaying Seen From Apartment
''St. Petersburg Times'', July 23, 1956.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Besley, Kirkland 1902 births Players of American football from Washington, D.C. Maryland Terrapins football players American football quarterbacks American football running backs American hospital administrators Players of American football from Maryland Crime witnesses 1994 deaths

Biography

See also

References