Introduction
Born: October 5, 1879, New York City.
Died: June 2, 1951, New York.
Buried: Ferncliff Cemetery and Mausoleum, Hartsdale, New York.
Born: October 5, 1879, New York City.
Died: June 2, 1951, New York.
Buried: Ferncliff Cemetery and Mausoleum, Hartsdale, New York.
John was the son of James Morrison Erskine and Eliza Jane Hollingsworth.
He married twice, to Pauline Ives (1910) and Helen Worden (1946). He was the grandfather of actress Lindsay Crouse, and great-grandfather of actress Zosia Mamet.
He grew up in Weehawken, New Jersey, and was educated at Columbia University (BA, 1900, MA 1901, PhD 1903 and DLitt 1929). He also earned a DLitt degree from Amherst in 1923.
He was an English professor at Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts (1903–09), then a professor of literature at Columbia University, New York City (1909–37).
He served as the first president of the Juilliard School of Music (1928–37), and was a director for the Metropolitan Opera.