Alexander Brown Mackie Explained

Alexander Brown Mackie
Birth Date:1 May 1894
Birth Place:Gazaam, Pennsylvania
Death Place:Salina, Kansas
Player Sport1:Football
Player Years2:1913
Player Team2:Dickinson Seminary
Coach Sport1:Football
Coach Years2:1921–1937
Coach Team2:Kansas Wesleyan
Coach Sport3:Basketball
Coach Years4:1921–1938
Coach Team4:Kansas Wesleyan
Admin Years1:1921–1938
Admin Team1:Kansas Wesleyan
Overall Record:79–52–13 (football)
113–161 (basketball)
Championships:Football
6 KCAC (1927, 1929, 1931, 1934–1936)

Alexander Brown Mackie (May 1, 1894 – June 5, 1966) was an American football and basketball coach, college athletics administrator, professor, and college founder and president. He served as the head football coach at Kansas Wesleyan University in Salina, Kansas from 1921 to 1937, compiling a record of 79–52–13. He was also the head basketball coach at Kansas Wesleyan from 1921 to 1938, tallying a mark of 113–161. Mackie was the co-founder of Brown Mackie College, also in Salina, for which he served as president from 1938 until his retirement in 1963.

Early life and education

Mackie was born on May 1, 1894, in Gazaam in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Dickinson Seminary in Williamsport, Pennsylvania and Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio.[1] Mackie played football for Dickinson Seminary in 1913.[2]

Mackie served in the United States Navy as an ensign during World War I.[3]

Coaching career

Mackie coached athletics at Athens High School in The Plains, Ohio for two years before he was hired to head the athletic department at Kansas Wesleyan University of Salina, Kansas in 1921.[4] He was the ninth head football coach for Kansas Wesleyan University in Salina, Kansas, serving for 17 seasons, from 1921 to 1937, compiling a record of 79–52–13.

Mackie's 1922 team was considered having "no great strengths" by football legend Walter Camp.[5] As he spent more time with the program, his teams encountered more success. Mackie's teams won the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference championship five times during his tenure.[6] In 1931, his team was one of the few undefeated teams in the country.[7]

Academic contributions

Mackie was the co-founder of Brown Mackie College in Salina, Kansas. He and Perry E. Brown founded the school as a business college, taking what was a part of Kansas Wesleyan's school of business.[8]

Notes and References

  1. https://books.google.com/books?id=uaI4AAAAMAAJ&dq=%22alexander+brown+mackie%22&pg=PA1 Seventy-Second Catalogue of Ohio Wesleyan University
  2. http://www.accesspadr.org:2005/cgi-bin/showfile.exe?CISOROOT=/lycnews&CISOPTR=4889&CISOMODE=print The Dickinson Union
  3. News: . A. B. Mackie Funeral Will be Thursday . . . June 5, 1966 . 1 . November 1, 2020 . .
  4. News: . New Teachers For Wesleyan University . The Salina Daily Union . . July 17, 1921 . 2 . November 1, 2020 . .
  5. https://archive.org/stream/officialnational07nation/officialnational07nation_djvu.txt The Official National Collegiate Athletic Association football guide
  6. http://www.kwu.edu/athletics/football/2006mediaguide/2006mg-52-58.pdf Kansas Wesleyan University
  7. News: . Only Five Teams Undefeated and Untied . . . . November 30, 1931 . 6A . November 1, 2020 . .
  8. http://www.brownmackie.edu/bmHistory.aspx Brown Mackie College