Background
John Erskine was born on October 5, 1879 in New York, United States, in the family of James Morrison and Eliza Jane (Hollingsworth) Erskine. John was raised in Weehawken, New Jersey.
educator musician screenwriter author
John Erskine was born on October 5, 1879 in New York, United States, in the family of James Morrison and Eliza Jane (Hollingsworth) Erskine. John was raised in Weehawken, New Jersey.
John graduated from Columbia University with a Bachelor of Arts in 1900, Master of Arts in 1901, Doctor of Philosophy in 1903 and Doctor of Letters in 1929, besides Doctor of Letters degree from Amherst College in 1923.
Erskine was professor at Amherst College from 1903 to 1909. Subsequently he taught at Columbia University from 1909 to 1937. In 1910, he led foundation of the Boar's Head Society for literature. In 1920 he instituted Columbia College's General Honors Course. The course was discontinued in 1928, though later reconstituted. Together with Mortimer Adler he subsequently went on to found the Great Books of the Western World program and the Great Books Foundation. Erskine was also an accomplished composer, pianist and musician. He was the first president of the Juilliard School of Music from 1928 to 1937. He was also director of the Metropolitan Opera Association, which runs the Metropolitan Opera, a noted opera company based in New York. Erskine is also credited with writing the subtitles for a number of films. In 1946 he served as the first chairman of the American Writers Association.
John was married to Pauline Ives from 1910 until 1945 and to a teacher Helen Worden Erskine from 1946 until 1951. He had two children: Graham and Anna. With his wife Pauline, he was the grandfather of actress Lindsay Crouse and the great-grandfather of actress Zosia Mamet.