William Benfield Pressey

William Benfield Pressey was a native of Ashton, R.I., and a graduate of Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, and Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Pressey was a former chairman of the English department at Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire. Pressey, who retired in 1961, came to Dartmouth as an instructor in 1919 after serving in the Marine Corps in World War I. He taught courses in drama, Shakespeare, poetry, advanced composition and motion-picture writing. He became a full professor in 1930 and subsequently was named Willard Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory. He headed the department from 1935-38. His movie-writing course, begun in 1939, led to the establishment of the Irving Thalberg Library of the Motion Picture at Dartmouth. He also wrote extensively on American and English literature for The New International Year Book and other publications and was co-author of more than 20 textbooks, mostly on drama. Source: NY Times