Arthur E. Bestor

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Arthur E. Bestor
Born
Arthur Eugene Bestor

1879
DiedFebruary 3, 1944
OccupationEducator
SpouseJeanette Lemon
ChildrenArthur E. Bestor Jr.
Mary Francis Bestor Cram
Charles Lemon Bestor

Arthur Eugene Bestor (1879 – February 3, 1944) was an educator. He served as the President of Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York, from 1915 to his death in 1944.

Biography[edit]

Early life[edit]

Arthur Eugene Bestor was born in 1879 in Dixon, Illinois.[1]

Career[edit]

Bestor became assistant director of the Chautauqua Institution in 1905. Two years later, in 1907, he became director.[2] Since 1915, he served as the President of Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York, until 1944.[3] He was a proponent of adult education. Under his twenty-nine year administration, the Institution grew from an assembly for teachers and ministers with modest facilities to a wide-ranging summer program with a symphony orchestra, an opera company, a resident repertory theater company, and celebrated lecturers.

Personal life[edit]

He was married to Jeanette Lemon.[1] They had three children:

  • Arthur E. Bestor Jr.[1] He was a distinguished professor of American intellectual and constitutional history, and an important critic of American educational practices.
  • Mary Francis Bestor Cram.[1] She was a leader of lay organizations in the American Baptist Church and the Young Women's Christian Association, serving as president of the U.S. organization.
  • Charles Lemon Bestor.[1] He was a composer of contemporary classical music, a music educator, and professor of music (emeritus) at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Death[edit]

He died on February 3, 1944, in New York City.[1]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f "A. E. Bestor Dies; Chautauqua Head" (PDF), The New York Times, New York, New York, February 5, 1944
  2. ^ [1] Tampa Bay Times (St. Petersburg, Florida), 8th Feb 1944
  3. ^ Archive