Cunningham, William A. (William Alexander), 1930-2019
Dates
- Existence: 1930 - 2019-01-16
Biography
William Alexander "Bill" Cunningham (1930-2019) was a convinced Friend and philosophy professor from Philadelphia who spent much of his career at Cheyney University. He was active in various social concerns.
William was the eldest child of Alexander and Elise Cunningham of Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. He grew up as a Presbyterian, and as a young man he briefly pursued a career in that church's ministry. William attended Maryville College in Maryville, Tennessee, where he was active in the choir and studied religion and philosophy, but he left school around 1955 before completing his degree requirements. In 1956 he married Elizabeth Ault, and in 1958 the couple joined the Society of Friends. William's difficulty finding employment and the birth of the couple's first three children spurred him to return to Maryville, finishing his degree in 1961 with a major in philosophy and minor in music. On returning to Philadelphia, he enrolled in master's degrees in religion and philosophy at Temple University, completing them in 1964. William spent the next several years working in Temple's financial aid office, and in 1969 he obtained a position in the philosophy department of Cheyney University, where he taught until 1994. He died January 16, 2019.
Found in 1 Collection or Record:
Elizabeth Cunningham family papers
Elizabeth Cunningham (1934-2020) was a Quaker who held administrative positions at Philadelphia Yearly Meeting in the 1980s and 1990s. He husband William Cunningham (1930-2019) was a philosophy professor at Cheyney University. This collection documents the couple's lives, as well as that of Elizabeth's mother Jennie Ault, with a focus on the 1950s and 1960s.
