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Henry Skinner West

(187-1961) 5th Principal of Maryland State Normal School

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 2, 2026
Entity authorityQ15999697 ↗
Source-derived summary

Henry Skinner West (December 23, 1870 – April 9, 1961) was the fifth principal of Maryland State Normal School (now Towson University).

Early life

Henry Skinner West was born on December 23, 1870, in Baltimore. He attended schools in Maryland. He graduated from both the Baltimore City College and the University of Maryland in 1890. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1893 and a PhD in 1899 from Johns Hopkins University.

Career

From 1890 to 1891, West taught at a Baltimore elementary school. He then worked as a professor at Baltimore City College from 1894 to 1897 and again in 1900. He was an instructor at Johns Hopkins University from 1899 to 1900. He was principal at Western High School from 1900 to 1906. West was the special assistant superintendent for schools in Baltimore from 1906 to 1911.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Henry Skinner West” as (187-1961) 5th Principal of Maryland State Normal School. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA strong contextual entry point for chronology, institutions and public events when official records are distinguished from later interpretation. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1870, 1961, 1890, 1893—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1870-12-23. The account is most persuasive where Henry, Skinner and West can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the history & society register because the source frames it as (187-1961) 5th Principal of Maryland State Normal School. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Contemporary correspondence, administrative files and participant testimony can test how later narratives organized the event or institution. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q15999697. VIAF identifies the subject as 5676165326476516290008. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1870, 1961, 1890 and 1893.

Critical limits

Later summaries often reconcile disputed chronology or motive more neatly than the contemporary record permits. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Compare institutional narratives with records created by participants and affected communities. Dates and formal titles are useful anchors, but not substitutes for context.

Best used for
  • Event chronology
  • Institutional context
  • Locating named record creators
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Contemporary correspondence, government or organizational records, oral histories and cited historical scholarship.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Henry Skinner West”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Henry Skinner West primary sources, Henry Skinner West archive and Henry research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Henry Skinner West”?
  2. What chronology connects this entry to wider political or social change?
  3. Who created the surviving record, and for what administrative purpose?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Henry Skinner West” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.