Hamilton Holt

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Hamilton Holt (born August 18, 1872, Brooklyn, New York, died April 26, 1951, Woodstock, Connecticut) was an American educator, editor, author and politician.

[edit] Editor

After graduating from Yale University, Holt became the editor and published of the liberal weekly the Independent in 1897 and remained so until 1921. He was an outspoken advocate for reform, temperance, immigrant rights and international peace. In 1906 he published a collection of immigrants' life stories entitled The Life Stories of Undistinguished Americans as Told by Themselves. In 1909 Holt was a founding member of the NAACP. In 1924 he unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate from Connecticut as a Democrat. He was soundly defeated by Hiram Bingham III, 60.4% to 38.6%.

[edit] President of Rollins College

After the Senate race, Holt became President of Rollins College in 1925, serving in that capacity until 1949. He advocated a policy whereby the student body could approve or disapprove of faculty hirings.[1]