Bishop Lawrence, Famous Churchman, Is Dead at 91

Bishop William Lawrence, one of Harvard's oldest and most honored alumni, dies yesterday at the age of 91.

A dry listing of his record only hints at the tremendous influence which the Bishop wielded in the church and in civil life, to the day of his death.

Born in 1850, graduated from Harvard's Class of '71, he became a professor t the Cambridge Theological School in 1884, and Dean of the School in 1888. Then, five years later, he succeeded his close friend, Phillips Brooks, to the Bishopric of Massachusetts. Since 1913 he has been a Fellow of the Corporation.

Always Esteemed Outside Church

Regarded as one of the wisest counsels in the House of Bishops, he was invariably consulted on important questions and his advice valued highly by the churches of the nation, as well as the Episcopal Church of Massachusetts, which he headed.

In 1917, the Bishop supplied initial drive for a church pension fund to take care of the clergy. This fund is still operating, and is taken for granted today. During the last war he was Chairman of the Army and Navy Commission, which dealt with the appointment and oversight of chaplains.

Bishop Lawrence's specific genius was in combining the spiritual and the administrative capabilities. He conceived the idea of a business school for Harvard, and was largely responsible for collecting the endowment to start one because he felt that business should be a profession, with the standards of conduct and level of honesty of other professions.

As a literary figure, he wrote his autobiography and was also noted for biographies of Henry Cabot Lodge and Phillips Brooks. Perhaps the most famous of his writings is an address published in 1923, called "Fifty Years." The work gives the progress of his thought over a half century as a bishop, and shows his changing attitude on the contemporary newspaper called it "one of the most significant books ever written on the subject of religion."

Nor did the Bishop lose touch with current events after reaching his nineties. A strong interventionist, several of his war speeches were printed in the Boston Transcript last year.

At Commencement last June, he was the second man ever to be given the Alumni Medal for Service to Harvard. In presenting this honor to him Governor Saltonstall proudly asserted: "I am one of 144 who can actually call the Bishop 'uncle'."