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He
was born on 23rd February 1901 at
Glen Cove
,
New York
to a Quaker
family. His father was Charles Post Valentine and his mother was Annie (nee
Laurie).
The Valentine family originated in Eccles,
Lancashire and emigrated to the
USA
during the 17th century, just after the Pilgrim Fathers. Alan’s
Great (x7) Grandfather, Richard Valentine, emigrated in about 1644 and owned a
600 acre farm on
Long Island
.
Alan was educated at Friend’s Academy,
Locust Valley
,
New York
and at
Swarthmore
College
and then a M.A. degree at
Balliol
College
,
Oxford
University
as a Rhodes Scholar.
Above
Friend’s Academy,
Locust Valley
,
New York
.
Above
Swarthmore
College
Above
Alan Valentine in 1922
Above
Alan Valentine at
Oxford
He
was an
Oxford
rugby blue three times from 1923-25. He was the first American to become an
Oxford
rugby blue and the only
Oxford
man to gain an Olympic gold medal in rugby.
Above
Alan Valentine in 1924
He
was the last player to be chosen to play for the
USA
at the 1924 Olympics. He played twice for the
USA
against
Romania
(won 37-0) and in the final against
France
.
At
the start of the final he tackled the French Adolphe Jauréguy so hard he had to
be stretchered off
“And
that was the end of our French friend,” says Charlie Doe. Oblivious of the
howling crowd, Jauréguy was carted off the field by medics—“like a sack of
potatoes,” according to Doe.
Above
the
USA
squad training in
England
before Olympic Games in
Paris
. Photo taken at Plymouth Rugby Club. Back Row (L-R): Sam Goodman (Manager),
Valentine, Cashel, Williams, B, Slater (Cpt), Farish, Clark, Patrick, N. Slater,
DeGroot, Charles Austin (Coach) Middle Row: Graff, Turkington, Deveraux,
Mannelli, Doe, Cunningham,
Dixon
. Front Row: Rogers, Hyland, Hunter, O'Neill, Cleveland, Muldoon, Scholz.
The
gold medal he won literally proved to be "tarnished." When Valentine
tried to turn it over to the Roosevelt Government in answer to an appeal during
the depression, it was rejected as being "only lead, washed with
gold."
From 1925 to 1928 he worked at the Oxford University
Press.
Returning to
America
, he taught English at Swarthmore, and then became Master of Pierson College at
Yale
University
, a professor of history and chairman of admissions.
Above
Pierson
College
,
Yale
University
On
the 15th March 1928 he married Lucia
Garrison Norton in
New York
. They went on to have three children. Her father was Charles Dyer Norton, who served
as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury under President Taft. His wife’s family
can also trace their origins back to 17th century
England
..
Above
his wife, Lucia, in 1923
At
34, Valentine accepted the offer to become President of the
University
of
Rochester
, the youngest man ever to occupy that post. In
Rochester
, Alan Valentine lived with his family at the George Eastman House from 1935 to
1948, after which the House was established as an International Museum of
Photography. Valentine resigned as university president in November 1949.
Above
Valentine as President of the
University
of
Rochester
Above
George Eastman House. Valentine’s home in
Rochester
.
Above
interior of George Eastman House. Valentine’s home in
Rochester
.
Above
Alan Valentine at
Rochester
University
in 1936
He
had previously taken a year's leave of absence to head up the Marshall Plan in
The Netherlands. In October 1950, President Harry S. Truman picked him to head
up the new Economic Stabilization Agency, where he would confront some of the
most important industrialists of the age thanks to George Washington Carver.
Above
Netherlands
ECA Head, Alan Valentine, attending an ECA meeting in 1949.
Above
Netherlands
ECA Head, Alan Valentine, attending an ECA meeting in 1949.
Later,
Valentine wrote his memoirs "Trial Balance" about the
England
he had known as a Rhodes Scholar three decades earlier. He wrote scholarly
biographies of Lords Germain, North, and
Stirling
, and also penned a number of popular paperbacks under a pseudonym.
He
died on 14th July 1980 at
the
Penobscot
Bay
Medical
Center
in
Rockland
,
Maine
. He was 79 years old and lived in
North Haven
,
Maine
and
Princeton
,
New Jersey
.
http://sites.google.com/site/caseybooks
http://www.cliftonrfchistory.co.uk
References
Life Magazine
The origin of the Valentine family has been documented by Herbert Armstrong Poole between 1905 & 1960, transcribed by AAA Maitland 1998.
See http://www.antonymaitland.com/hptext/hp0290.txt
This is originally from
"The Valentines in America", by T.W. Valentine, New York, 1874: from Bunker`s Long Island Genealogies: from the "Davol-Willets Genealogy', by Josephine C. Frost, New York, 1925:
"The Memorial of Thomas Hicks Seaman", by Mary Thomas Seaman,1927: from "The History of Oyster Bay", by Henry A. Systenburgh, New York, 1900
"Colonial Families in America, by the National American Society of New York, 1936 and 1941.
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The
Rugby History Society