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Pennsylvania Trails History and Genealogy

Curtis, Rev. William Franklin

"REV. WILLIAM FRANKLIN CURTIS, Litt. D., president of the Allentown College for Women, is of English extraction. He was born February 12, 1873, in Hilltown Township, Bucks County, the son of William H. and Elizabeth (Miller) Curtis. He attended the town ship schools and the Sellersville High School, and entered into the profession of teaching. After four years of this work, lie entered Franklin and Marshall College, from which he was graduated in 1898 with the degree of A. B. In 1901 he was graduated from the Eastern Theological Seminary of the Reformed Church at Lancaster. Doctor Curtis’ only charge before coming to Allentown was in Kansas City, Mo. It was on May 31, 1908, that lie resigned his western charge and accepted the presidency of the Allentown College for Women. Fraternally Doctor Curtis is a thirty-second degree Mason, being a member of Gate City Lodge, No. 522, F. and A. M.; Bloomsburg Consistory, and Rajali Temple.

With the determination and tact which not only won the confidence of the church, but also of the city of Allentown and the public at large, Doctor Curtis has made the Allentown College for Women one of the leading institutions of its kind in the East. When he became president of the college, new life sprang from old hope and with him came the inspiration to higher aims and better things. It was the ever-ready willingness of Doctor Curtis to work and to work hard that has brought the present condition of the college to pass. Before long the number of students had outgrown the accommodations provided for in the old building at Fourth and Turner Streets, and steps were taken for the erection of a new and greater college on what is known as Cedar Crest, lying immediately west of Allentown. This building was ready for occupancy with the opening of the fall term of 1916, and represents the latest word in school design and architecture. Part of the cost of the erection was paid by the people of Allentown, who responded liberally in a campaign for $100,000. It was largely through the wonderful personality displayed by Doctor Curtis that the campaign was such a decided success.

Above all, Doctor Curtis is the ideal college president. He has the trust and confidence of his students, and ranks high in the educational world.

On June 10, 1901, he married Anna Frances Denlinger, of Lancaster."