author
Allan Hoben
1874–1935
A Baptist minister, teacher, and college president, he wrote with a practical eye for faith, citizenship, and work with young people. His books reflect an early 20th-century belief that religion should shape everyday character and community life.
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About the author
Born in 1874 and remembered as Dr. Allan Hoben, he was a Baptist minister and educator whose career moved between church life, teaching, and academic leadership. Records from Kalamazoo College identify him as the college's eighth president, serving from 1922 until his death in 1935, while archival material from the College of Charleston describes earlier ministry work in Milwaukee, Waupun, and Detroit.
As an author, he is best known for works such as The Minister and the Boy, The Virgin Birth, and The Church School of Citizenship. These titles suggest the concerns that ran through his writing: religious education, moral formation, and the role of the church in public life. His books were published by major institutions of the period, including the University of Chicago Press, and they continue to survive in library and archive collections.
Hoben's writing feels rooted in service rather than literary showmanship. Even now, it offers a window into how Protestant ministers and educators in the early 1900s thought about youth, citizenship, and the social responsibilities of the church.