John Miller Marquess
23 Feb 1882, AR
3 May 1936, Philadelphia PA
1902 Fisk (A.B.)
Born 23 Feb 1882, AR Degree A.B.
Died 3 May 1936, Philadelphia PA Other Degrees
College athlete (track), college president, and active in national political parties
John Miller Marquess, exalted ruler of Quaker City Lodge of Elks, Philadelphia, dropped dead while chatting with a friend in his private office at the lodge home, 1943 Christian St., May 3, 1936. Born at Helena, Ark., February 23, 1882, he graduated from Fisk University, Nashville, Tenn., in 1902, and then entered the junior class at Dartmouth. At once he took an active part in the life of the college, taking part in prize speaking and being a member of the college choir, the Glee Club, and the varsity track team.
After graduation he entered educational work, and was professor of mathematics at Shorter College, Argenta, Ark., in 1904-6, and at Kittrell College, Kittrell, N. C, in 1906-8. He then became principal of Sumner High School, Kansas City, Kans., and remained there eight years. From 1916 to 1923 he was president of the Colored Agricultural and Normal University at Langston, Okla.
He then removed to Philadelphia and engaged in real estate business, devoting much time to the Quaker City Lodge of Elks, which at the time of his death had more than 5000 members. August 28, 1908, he was married to Anna Dickson of Springfield, Ohio, who survives him, with their three children, Mrs. Jean Alexander of Sapulpa, Okla., John M. Marquess Jr., a student at the Bordentown Industrial School, and Anna Marquess.
Necrology. (Jun 1936). Dartmouth Alumni Magazine, 28(9), 29.
Cromwell, Adelaide M. (2007). Unveiled Voices, Unvarnished Memories : The Cromwell family in slavery and segregation, 1692-1972 (p. 169). Columbia: University of Missouri Press.
Marquess, John Miller. (1915). In Frank Lincoln Mather (Ed.), Who's Who of the Colored Race (Vol. 1, pp. 184). Chicago: F. L. Mather.
John Miller Marquess. (1919). In Clement Richardson (Ed.), The National Cyclopedia of the Colored Race (Vol. 1, pp. 283-284). Montgomery, Ala.: National Publishing Company, Inc.