William Birdsall

William Wilfred Birdsall (1854–1909) was a Quaker educator who was president of Swarthmore College from 1898 to 1902.

Birdsall was born in Indiana in 1854, the son of Mary and Thomas Birdsall. His mother, Mary Birdsall, was a premiere suffragist, woman’s rights advocate, and editor in Indiana. She was one of the first women to address the Indiana State Legislature, demanding equal rights to men. Birdsall received a BS from Earlham College in 1873 and then went on to teach at Richmond High School in Indiana. Birdsall became the president of the Boys High School in Wilmington, Delaware. In 1880 at age 26 Birdsall married Viola Isabel McDill. In 1885 he became a teacher at Friends’ Central School in Philadelphia, and soon after was promoted to president of the school.

In 1898 he was selected to be the President of Swarthmore College. Birdsall’s selection was an attempt by the Board of Managers to emphasize the Quaker qualities of the college.