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Otis Caldwell

American botanist, science writer, university teacher and football coach (1869-1947)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 24, 2025
Entity authorityQ7108765 ↗
Source-derived summary

Otis William Caldwell (December 18, 1869 – July 5, 1947) was an American botanist, college football coach and science writer.

Biography

Caldwell was born in Lebanon, Indiana. He was educated at Franklin (Ind.) College and obtained his B.S. degree in 1894. He studied botany and obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1898.

He was professor of botany at the Eastern Illinois State Normal School from 1899 to 1907. In 1907 he was named associate professor of botany at the University of Chicago. While at Eastern Illinois, Caldwell served as head coach of the school's football team for three seasons, from 1899 to 1901. He served on the board of trustees for Science Service, now known as Society for Science & the Public, from 1944 to 1947.

Caldwell was Chairman of the Committee on Science of the Commission on The Reorganization of Secondary Education. He was director of the Lincoln School at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Otis Caldwell” as american botanist, science writer, university teacher and football coach (1869-1947). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA productive starting point for separating a subject’s documented career from later reputation and commemoration. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1869, 1947, 1894, 1898—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1869-01-01. The account is most persuasive where Otis, Caldwell and American can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as american botanist, science writer, university teacher and football coach (1869-1947). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 24, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q7108765. VIAF identifies the subject as 31056329. The Library of Congress control number is n87827115. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1869, 1947, 1894 and 1898.

Critical limits

Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. 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

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Otis Caldwell”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Otis Caldwell primary sources, Otis Caldwell archive and Otis 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 “Otis Caldwell”?
  2. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
  3. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Otis Caldwell” 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.