page_title: William Mann Irvine
section_title: Career
hierarchical_section_title: William Mann Irvine / Career
caption_attribution_description: English: The Chapel is the culmination of 30 years’ worth of dreaming, planning, and working by Dr. William Mann Irvine, founder and first headmaster (1893–1928) of Mercersburg Academy, and his wife Camille. Designed by Ralph Adams Cram (1863-1942; of Cram and Ferguson), the Chapel was dedicated in 1926 to the memory of Mercersburg alumni killed in World War I. It was rededicated at the Centennial Celebration of the Academy in 1993 as the Irvine Memorial Chapel. The Chapel spire, a replica of St. Mary the Virgin at Oxford, contains one of 163 traditional carillons in the United States. This is an image of a place or building that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the United States of America. Its reference number is 84003374
context_page_description: William Mann Irvine was an American academic and founding headmaster of Mercersburg Academy in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania.
context_section_description: Irvine contemplated becoming a pastor but was persuaded to enter teaching after completing his own formal education. He joined the faculty of Franklin & Marshall College as a professor of social science in 1892. In addition to teaching, Irvine helped establish the school's football program. He served as both the team's head coach and as a player and team captain.
  At the age of 28, after only one year of teaching at Franklin & Marshall, Irvine was recruited by the Board of Regents of what was then Mercersburg College in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania to serve as that institution's president. By Irvine's account, the College was foundering. In July 1893, three months into his tenure, Irvine changed the name of the institution to Mercersburg Academy, establishing a preparatory school in the model of his alma mater, Exeter, and similar schools throughout New England.
  Under Irvine's leadership, Mercersburg Academy developed dramatically. As enrollment increased, Irvine expanded the campus from four acres to over 120, constructing numerous new buildings along the way. The groundbreaking of one such building, the Eighty-eight Dormitory, was attended by Woodrow Wilson in 1903. Irvine met Wilson at Princeton, where Wilson was a professor and ultimately university president. The two kept in touch after Wilson was elected President of the United States. Irvine and his wife also enjoyed a relationship with President Calvin Coolidge and First Lady Grace Coolidge, whose sons, John and Calvin, Jr., attended Mercersburg. Grace Coolidge stayed at the Irvines' home when visiting her sons, and the Irvines stayed at the White House during Calvin Coolidge's presidency.
  One of Irvine's most ambitious undertakings as headmaster was the construction of a chapel on Mercersburg's campus. Irvine engaged noted architect Ralph Adams Cram to design the building and spent decades overseeing its planning and construction. Construction was completed in 1926, and the chapel was dedicated to Mercersburg alumni killed in World War I. Grace Coolidge attended the dedication ceremony. The spire is a replica of that of University Church of St Mary the Virgin in Oxford, and it contains a traditional carillon.
  Irvine was active in professional associations, serving as president of The Headmasters Association in 1921, president of the Association of Colleges and Schools of the Middle States and Maryland in 1922, and president of the Headmasters' Club of Philadelphia in 1923.
  Irvine served as headmaster of Mercersburg for 35 years, until his death in 1928.
caption: Irvine Memorial Chapel
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