author
Henry Coppée
1821–1895
A soldier-scholar who moved from West Point and the Mexican-American War into university leadership, he became one of the formative figures in early American higher education. He also wrote widely, bringing the same orderly, teaching-minded approach to history, literature, and biography.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Born in Savannah, Georgia, in 1821, Henry Coppée studied at Yale before graduating from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1845. He served in the Mexican-American War, later taught at West Point, and went on to build a second career in education and writing.
Coppée is especially remembered as the first president of Lehigh University, serving from its founding era in 1866 to 1875 and again as acting president near the end of his life. His background as a teacher, officer, and administrator shaped his public work, and he became known as a steady organizer during the university's earliest years.
As an author, he wrote across a wide range of subjects, including history, English literature, and biography. That mix of military experience, classroom discipline, and broad literary interest gives his books a practical, instructive character that still reflects the ambitions of 19th-century American education.