{{Short description|American businessman, educator (1882–1961)}} {{Distinguish|William A. Bell|William Abraham Bell}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = William Augustus Bell | office = 11th President of Miles College | term_start = 1936 | term_end = January 24, 1961 | office2 = 4th President of Miles College | term_start2 = 1912 | term_end2 = 1913 | birth_place = Elbert County, Georgia, U.S. | birth_date = February 16, 1882 | spouse = Helen Matile Caffey | children = 3 | occupation = Businessman, educator, academic administrator, university president | death_date = January 24, 1961 | death_place = Fairfield, Alabama, U.S. | education = Paine College,<br/> Columbia University | image = William Augustus Bell.jpg | caption = Bell (c. 1906) }} '''William Augustus Bell''' (1882–1961) was an American businessman, educator, academic administrator, and university president.<ref name="Caldwell">{{Cite book |last=Caldwell |first=Arthur Bunyan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kaYTAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA395 |title=History of the American Negro: Georgia Edition |date=1920 |publisher=A. B. Caldwell publishing Company |pages=395– |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Murphy">{{Cite book |last=Murphy |first=Larry G. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fxsmAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA76 |title=Encyclopedia of African American Religions |last2=Melton |first2=J. Gordon |last3=Ward |first3=Gary L. |date=2013-11-20 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-51338-2 |pages=76 |language=en}}</ref> He served two terms as president of Miles College, a private historically black college in Fairfield, Alabama.
== Early life and education == William Augustus Bell was born on February 16, 1882, in Elbert County, Georgia, to parents Mary J. (née Thompson) and Luther H.A. Bell.<ref name="Caldwell" /> His father was a farmer and real estate developer.<ref name="Caldwell" /> Since his early childhood, the Bell family was part of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church and attended St. Paul CME Church.<ref name="Caldwell" /><ref name="Murphy" /> He attended Elberton Public School.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o_USAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA11-IA5 |title=Who's Who in Colored America |date=1927 |publisher=Who's Who in Colored America Corporation |volume=1 |pages=12 |language=en}}</ref>
Bell attended Paine College (high school degree 1901, A.B. degree 1906) in Augusta, Georgia; and Columbia University in New York City.<ref name="Caldwell" /><ref name="Murphy" /><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Bell, William Augustus, 1882– |url=https://crdl.usg.edu/people/bell_william_augustus_1882 |access-date=2023-10-09 |website=Civil Rights Digital Library |publisher=Digital Library of Georgia}}</ref> In 1913, he married Helen Matile Caffey from Charleston, South Carolina, and together they had three children.<ref name=":0" />
== Career == From 1908 until 1912, Bell was the chair of the mathematics department at Miles Memorial College (now Miles College).<ref name="Caldwell" /> He became president of Miles College in 1912, a role he served for one year.<ref name="Caldwell" /> From 1913 to 1917, Bell went back to Paine College, his alma mater, and became dean of the college and served as the chair of the sociology and economics department.<ref name="Caldwell" />
During World War I in 1917, Bell volunteered at the Army Y.M.C.A. and worked at Camp Jackson in Alabama.<ref name="Caldwell" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_yBaPm_7wwUC&pg=PA35 |title=Miles College: The First Hundred Years |date=2005 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |others=Miles College Centennial History Committee |isbn=978-0-7385-1793-3 |pages=35 |language=en}}</ref> In 1919 he became secretary of the Interchurch World Movement.<ref name="Caldwell" /> Bell went back to Paine College as field secretary in 1930 during the Great Depression, and then was appointed in 1934 secretary of education for the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church (now the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church). After two years in that position he returned to Miles College as president, where he served until his death in 1961.<ref name="Caldwell" /> He guided Miles College from the brink of bankruptcy following the Great Depression and helped establish a foundation.<ref name=":1" />
He died in his sleep on January 24, 1961, in Fairfield, Alabama.<ref>{{Cite news |date=January 28, 1961 |title=Impressive Rites Held for Dr. William Augustus Bell |pages=1 |work=The Huntsville Mirror}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, William Augustus}} Category:1882 births Category:1961 deaths Category:African-American academic administrators Category:African-American mathematicians Category:Columbia University alumni Category:People from Elbert County, Georgia Category:People from Fairfield, Alabama Category:Paine College alumni Category:People of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church Category:Presidents of Miles College Category:20th-century American mathematicians Category:20th-century African-American academics Category:20th-century American academics Category:Miles College faculty