Albert Perry Brigham papers, A1064

Geologist, clergyman, and educator Albert Perry Brigham was born in Perry, New York, on January 12, 1855. Educated at Colgate University (AB 1879; AM 1882) and Harvard University (AM 1892), he also received honorary degrees from Colgate (LLD 1925), Syracuse University (Doctor of Science 1918), and Franklin College (Doctor of Humane Letters 1921).

After ordination as a Baptist minister at Stillwater, New York, in 1882, Brigham preached in Stillwater (1882-1885) and Utica (1885-1891), before enrolling as a graduate student in geology at Harvard in 1891. In 1892 he began his role as a professor of geology and natural history at Colgate University, where he remained as both a professor of geology and curator of the University museum until 1926. During this same period he spent his summers lecturing on geology at Harvard, Cornell University, the University of Wisconsin, Oxford University School of Geography, and the University of London.

In addition to his teaching activities, he also served as the secretary (1904-1913) and president (1914) of the Association of American Geographers, president of the National Council of Geography Teachers (1918-1919), and as an honorary member of the Royal Geographic Society. He published numerous books and articles on geography and geology, including A Text-book of Geology (1900), Geographic Influences in American History (1903), From Trail to Railway through the Appalachians (1907), and Essentials of Geography (1916).

He married Flora Winegar at Amsterdam, New York, on June 27, 1882, with whom he had a daughter, Elizabeth, in 1895. He died on March 31, 1932.

"Brigham, Albert Perry," The National Cyclopedia of American Biography (New York: James T. White, 1920): 287.Colgate University, General Catalogue (Hamilton, New York: Colgate University, 1939): 14.