William Fincke

William Mann Fincke (January 1, 1878 – May 31, 1927) was an American football player, pacifist minister, and educator. He played college football for the Yale Bulldogs football team and was selected as a consensus All-American in 1900. He later became a Presbyterian minister, pacifist, and proponent of the social gospel. Along with his wife, Helen, he founded both the Brookwood Labor College and the Manumit School.

Fincke was born in New York City in 1878. His father, William Mann Fincke, was a businessman. Fincke attended preparatory school at The Hill School in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. He graduated from The Hill School in 1897. Finke was a step-brother to Lincoln Ellsworth.

Finkce enrolled at Yale University, where he played football in 1899 and 1900. He was also a member of Yale's track team for three years and the captain of the track team during his senior year. In 1900, he was selected as a consensus All-American while playing at the quarterback position for the undefeated Yale Bulldogs football team. Finkce was a member of the Delta Psi fraternity while attending Yale University. He was also a class deacon and the chairman of the Class Supper Committee. He graduated from Yale's Sheffield Scientific School in 1901 with a Ph.B. degree.

After graduating from Yale, Fincke worked for Ellsworth & Company, a Lake Erie ferry service owned by his father. In the position, he was involved in shipping coal to the factories of the Great Lakes region. After several years with Ellsworth & Company, he served from 1906 to 1907 as the general manager of the Pennsylvania-Ontario Transportation Company in . During this time, Fincke reportedly "lost interest in industrial management and was troubled by capitalism's exploitation of the laboring class."