M. Woolsey Stryker

Who was M. Woolsey Stryker?

M. Woolsey Stryker, D.D., Litt. D., LL.D., an American clergyman, was Pastor of the Fourth Presbyterian Church, Chicago and President of Hamilton College from 1892-1917. He distanced Hamilton form the Presbyterian Church, moving it towards becoming a more secular institution.

Stryker was born in Vernon, Oneida County, New York to Rev. Isaac Pierson Stryker, a Presbyterian minister, and Alida Livingston Woolsey. He married Clara Elizabeth Goss and had the following children: Goss Livingston Stryker, Alida Livingston Stryker, Robert McBurney Stryker, Lloyd Paul Stryker, Evelyn Stryker, Elizabeth Woolsey Stryker and Hamilton Stryker.

Stryker was a liberal, who spoke out against prejudice against Jews, basing "his argument on the fact that our spiritual and religious perceptions have been first taught by Jews, and that the Old as well as the New Testament we owe entirely to men of that race. "

Stryker was a popular speaker, and was widely quoted in his day. As President of Hamilton, he strongly defended the traditional approach to a liberal arts education, and preserved the teaching of the classics.