Henry Lawrence Southwick


Henry Lawrence Southwick was the third president of Emerson College of Oratory, located in the Back Bay, Boston, MA. In addition to teaching at the college, he was a noted international performer of Shakespeare. With his wife, Jessie Eldridge Southwick, he created and directed The Southwick Recital Series, popular with contemporary literary audiences of Boston and continuing as an Emerson College event today.

Life and career

Henry Lawrence Southwick had graduated from Emerson College in 1887 and became a financial partner of its founder, Charles Wesley Emerson, in 1889. He taught dramatics at the college and later formed a Shakespearean company composed of himself and Emerson students. In 1900, Henry and Jessie Southwick had joined with William H. Kenney to purchase the school from Charles Emerson. Referred to as Doctor Emerson and Dean Emerson, he served as Emerson's president from 1908 until his death in 1932.

He married Jessie Eldridge, a teacher at the college, in 1889 in Philadelphia, PA. They had three daughters: Ruth who also taught at Emerson College ; Mildred, ; and Jessie.