Excerpted from the Idaho Statesman

John Ford Sollers, born: 24 Aug 1904, Baltimore, Baltimore City, Maryland, USA. Died: 17 May 1999, Caldwell, Canyon County, Idaho, USA

John was born Aug. 24, 1904, in Baltimore, Md, a son of Basil and Lucy Ford Sollers. His maternal grandfather was John T. Ford, who owned and managed many theatres, including Ford's Theatre where President Lincoln was assassinated in 1865.

He graduated from Baltimore City College High School in 1932. He attended Johns Hopkins University and Yale University before graduating from Carnegie Institute of Technology as a Bachelor of Arts in 1932, and a Master of Arts in 1933. Using original documents from his grandfather's estate, John wrote his dissertation, The Theatre Career of John T. Ford, and earned his Ph.D. in Drama from Stanford University in 1962.

John taught theatre at the University of Idaho, 1937-43; Stanford University, 1943-46, and 1954-55; Lawrence College, 1946-53; and The College of Idaho, from 1955 to his retirement in 1969.

During the summer of 1936, at the Summer Theatre in Rye Beach, N.H., that John met Grace Newton. John and Grace Newton were married on July 28, 1937, in Manchester, N.H.

After his retirement from the College of Idaho, John continued his involvement with the arts. For two years he worked as a teacher and scenic designer at the University of Wisconsin in Superior, at the request of the drama department head who was his former student. He also continued his work with the Ford's Theatre documents.

He and Grace wrote and performed a dramatic reading with slides of the history of Ford's Theatre. Their last performance was on the stage of the National Theater in Washington, DC, in 1987. Thereafter, John donated his grandfathers papers to the Library of Congress, and donated to the permanent collection of the White House, a chair which had originally been there.

His long-standing interest in and contribution to the Idaho arts community was recognized when he received the Governor's Award for Excellence in Arts in 1976. This award was John's favorite of the honors he received throughout his life.

The Idaho Statesman, Thursday, May 20, 1999 Local 5B