Franklin Carter

Franklin Carter (September 30, 1837 – 1919) was an American professor of Germanic and romance languages and served as President of Williams College from 1881 to 1901.

Carter was born September 30, 1837 in Waterbury, Connecticut, the third son of Deacon P. W. Carter and Ruth Holmes Carter. He attended Phillips Academy Andover, then matriculated at Yale College in 1855. He became sick and retreated to Florida, until 1860, when he entered Williams College. Graduating in 1862, he received a professorship in French and German the following year.

He married Sarah L. Kingsbury on February 24, 1863, departing for Europe before assuming his appointment at Williams. He took up teaching in 1865, becoming head of the Latin department in 1868 before becoming Professor of German at Yale College in 1873.

Franklin was the head of a language scholar organisation called the Modern Languages Association. He later became president of the Williams College in 1881, the first president of the university to also be a scholar. As president, Carter doubled the size of the faculty and completed eight buildings. He brought his friend John Haskell Hewitt to Williams, who became acting president upon Carter's retirement in 1901.