To the editor:

As one who had lived in Lawrence for eight years — and Lawrence having lived in my heart ever since — I was also surprised to learn of the Wilcox museum. The article brought to light much forgotten KU history with the exception of the museum’s namesake who seems to be equally forgotten.

Alexander Martin Wilcox was born in Baltimore in 1849. He attended that city’s college and went on to earn an advanced degree in classical studies at Yale. He completed his training at the American Academy of Classical Studies in Athens, Greece. First hired by Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, he established the classical museum at that location. Hired in 1885 by KU Chancellor James Marvin, it was almost certainly a response to the challenge from “the Athens of the Plains” (Mizzou).

Wilcox married Marvin’s daughter, Mina, at Lawrence in 1889 (Mina’s brother, Frank, was the dean of engineering at KU during this period). Alexander appears to have become a de facto member of the Marvin family as he was the only member of his very prominent family to ever leave Baltimore. He would hold his position at KU for 40 years. He died in Lawrence on Jan. 3, 1929. Oddly enough, there doesn’t appear to be an obituary published in Lawrence, although one was in Baltimore and Council Grove, Kansas (go figure). All the people mentioned here are buried in the Marvin family plot in Lawrence’s Oak Hill Cemetery.

Jeff Page,

Shawnee