Truman Jay Backus

Background

He was born at Milan, New York on February 11, 1842, the son of Mercy (Williams) Backus and the Rev. Jay Spicer Backus, a Baptist clergyman.

Education

As his father later moved to New York City with his family, Truman Backus received his early education there. He then attended the University of Rochester, from which he graduated with honors in 1864.

He later returned to Rochester and completed work for the degree of Master of Arts.

Career

At the close of the Civil War he organized a school for colored people in Richmond, while that city was still under martial law.

In 1867 he accepted a call to Vassar College to teach rhetoric and English. Vassar, the earliest American college for women, was then in its infancy; and Backus rendered effective pioneer service to the cause of the education of women in cooperating with Dr. John Howard Raymond, its first president, and Miss Maria Mitchel, professor of astronomy, in planning the work of the institution.

He was offered a professorship of English at Harvard University, as well as the presidency of Vanderbilt University, both of which he declined. While he was teaching at Vassar his first wife died; and in 1883 he married Helen Hiscock of Syracuse, a graduate of Vassar in the class of 1873 and until her marriage a member of the English department of that institution. In 1883 he accepted the presidency of the Packer Collegiate Institute of Brooklyn, a well-known educational institution for girls and young women, partly preparatory, partly collegiate in character. He continued in the presidency until his death.

As an administrator he combined a grasp of detail with an ability to eliminate unessentials and to solve the larger problems. Despite the pressure of teaching and administrative work, Backus found time for literary, civic, and other activities. He revised Thomas B. Shaw's New History of English Literature (1884) and was himself the author of The Great English Writers from Chaucer to George Eliot (1889) and the Outlines of Literature, English and American (1897). He served as civil service commissioner in Brooklyn under two mayors. He held office, also, as president of the board of managers of the Long Island State Hospital, president of the Head Masters Association of New York City, and president of the Association of Colleges and Preparatory Schools of the Middle States and Maryland. Above all, his joyous spirit infected the whole institution.

Despite the pressure of teaching and administrative work, Backus found time for literary, civic, and other activities. He revised Thomas B. Shaw's New History of English Literature (1884) and was himself the author of The Great English Writers from Chaucer to George Eliot (1889) and the Outlines of Literature, English and American (1897). He served as civil service commissioner in Brooklyn under two mayors. He held office, also, as president of the board of managers of the Long Island State Hospital, president of the Head Masters Association of New York City, and president of the Association of Colleges and Preparatory Schools of the Middle States and Maryland.

Achievements

• He is remembered as a far-sighted and tactful educator, who proved the wisdom of higher training for women substantially equal to that of men.

Works

More photos

• book

  • The Outlines of Literature, English and American; Based Upon Shaw's Manual of English Literature

    (Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We h...)

  • New History of English Literature

    (This work has been selected by scholars as being cultural...)

  • The Great English Writers From Chaucer To George Eliot: With Selections Illustrating Their Work...

    (This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)

Connections

On January 9, 1866, he married Sarah Glass of Syracuse.

Father:

Jay Spicer Backus

Mother:

Mercy (Williams) Backus

Wife:

Sarah Glass