William Estabrook Chancellor
| William Estabrook Chancellor | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
September 25, 1867 Dayton, Ohio, United States |
| Died | February 12, 1963 (aged 95) Wooster, Ohio, United States |
| Occupation | Academia and Writer |
| Language | English |
| Nationality | American |
| Citizenship | American |
| Alma mater | Amherst College |
William Estabrook Chancellor (September 25, 1867 – February 12, 1963) was an American academic and writer. An opponent of the 1920 Republican presidential candidate, Warren G. Harding, Chancellor gained notoriety when he allegedly wrote a study of Harding's ancestry just prior to the election, asserting that Harding had an African-American ancestor. Chancellor denied authorship, and it has never been proved. Two years later, a biography of Harding was published under Chancellor's name, but Chancellor denied authorship of that as well.
William Estabrook Chancellor was born in Dayton, Ohio, in 1867. After graduating in 1889 from Amherst College, where he was Phi Beta Kappa, editor of the college newspaper and class orator, he went into teaching. In 1906, while serving as superintendent of schools of Paterson, New Jersey, he was appointed superintendent of schools in Washington, D.C. He also served as superintendent of schools in Bloomfield, New Jersey; and Norwalk, Connecticut. He wrote prolifically, publishing around 40 books and hundreds of articles between 1904 and 1920. He married into the family of Harriet Beecher Stowe. He was a Democrat. From 1914 to 1920, he was a professor of economics, politics, and social science at the College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio.
In 1920, Chancellor, a student of the American presidency who had authored Our Presidents and their Office, helped gather biographical information on Republican presidential candidate Warren G. Harding. His investigations included Harding's racial lineage. Chancellor concluded that Harding had some black ancestry. A firestorm erupted around Professor Chancellor when some pamphlets were published about Harding's ancestry, which Chancellor was accused of writing even though he denied it. The scandal cost him his professorship at the College of Wooster, and, subjected to continuing harassment, he fled to Canada in 1921.
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