Professor of Natural History/Paleontologist
Centurion, 1878–1908
Born 4 November 1844 in Newtown, New York
Died 24 January 1908 in New York (Manhattan), New York
Buried Calvary Cemetery, Woodside, New York
Proposed by J. Howard Van Amringe and Woolsey Johnson
Elected 2 March 1878 at age thirty-three
Seconder of:
Century Memorial
William Stratford, for thirty years an associate of ours, was of the teacher’s guild, and a Long Islander by birth. He was a graduate and a professor of the City College, a physician by training in the New York University, and an indefatigable collector in the field of palæontology. For half a century he served this city in the education of himself, and thousands of young men; in their training at the age when education tells, and he served with eminent success. Not merely the mind but the life and morals of his students were his special care, for he was the trusted and special adviser in that prickliest department of college training, the conduct of athletics, both intra- and extra-mural. He enriched the material of his department museum, aided substantially in the revision of the college course of study, and was altogether an organic member of high importance in the development of a great educational plan. To many of us he was well known as an interesting companion and a trustworthy friend. In the four learned societies to which he belonged he was a force, and the community suffers a loss that will be long felt.
William Milligan Sloane
1909 Century Association Yearbook