Montgomery, Walter Alexander

3 Aug. 1872–6 Jan. 1949

Walter Alexander Montgomery, educator, was born in Warren County, the son of Walter A. and Lizzie Holman Wilson Montgomery. He attended Wake Forest College and received bachelor's, master's, and doctor of philosophy degrees from Johns Hopkins University. His first teaching position was in the city schools of Asheville, but in 1906 he joined the faculty of the College of William and Mary to teach Latin and Greek. This was followed by seven years at Richmond College, after which he returned to William and Mary as head of the Greek and Latin department.

For a time Montgomery also served in the National Bureau of Education in Washington, D.C., and between 1919 and 1921 he published studies on various aspects of education in Italy, Japan, Spain, Canada, Belgium, Great Britain, India, and Latin America. Among his other publications were scholarly works in his field of interest, including one on Johannes Gutenberg and the invention of printing from movable type and a Latin grammar. Montgomery was active in the preservation of historic buildings and sites in Virginia, and he wrote and acted in pageants depicting historical events. His wife was the former Gertrude Smith of Fayetteville, Ark., and he was survived by a daughter, Mrs. M. S. Niminger. He was buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery, Williamsburg, Va.