| Henry N. Snyder | |
| Birth Date: | 14 January 1865 |
| Birth Place: | Macon, Georgia, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Spartanburg, South Carolina, U.S. |
| Office: | 4th President of Wofford College |
| Termstart: | 1902 |
| Termend: | 1942 |
| Predecessor: | James Henry Carlisle |
| Successor: | Walter Kirkland Greene |
| Education: | Vanderbilt University |
Henry Nelson Snyder (January 14, 1865 - September 18, 1949) was an American Methodist educator and author. He served as president of Wofford College from 1902 until his retirement in 1942.
Henry Nelson Snyder was born on January 14, 1865, in Macon, Georgia.[1] He attended Vanderbilt University, where he was a member of the Chi Phi Fraternity, graduating in 1887.[2] He also studied at the University of Göttingen, Germany earned Snyder a Ph.D.[1]
Snyder taught Latin at his alma mater, Vanderbilt University, from 1887 to 1890.[3] He arrived in Spartanburg, South Carolina, in September 1890 to become professor of English literature. In 1902, he succeeded James H. Carlisle as president of Wofford College.[1]
Snyder was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South Joint Commission, in which capacity he argued in favour of racial segregation.[4] Snyder served on the Board of Trustees of Spartanburg Junior College from its inception in 1911 until his death and was chairman of that board several times. He served on the Methodist unification commission as well the joint hymnal commission. A Phi Beta Kappa, Snyder was a member of the Modern Language Association and the Religious Education Association [5]
Snyder's autobiography, An Educational Odyssey, was published in 1947.[6]
He married Lula Eubanks (1867-1956). Their only child Hugh McCrea Snyder pre-deceased his parents, dying in 1936.
He died at the Mary Black Hospital at the age of 84 on September 18, 1949, one day short of the fifty-ninth anniversary of his arrival in Spartanburg. After funeral services at the Wofford College Chapel (now known as the Leonard Auditorium, in the Old Main building), Dr. Snyder was buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Spartanburg, South Carolina.[1]