This 4.5"x6.5" black and white photograph is a portrait of the Reverend David Brainerd Perry, the first president of Doane College in Crete, Nebraska. The dark-haired Perry sports a full beard and mustache and wears a dark three-piece suit with a tie. His white shirt has a stiff, upright collar.
Rev. David Brainerd Perry became the first president of Doane College shortly after it's incorporation in 1872. He came to Nebraska as a travelling missionary and helped in organizing the Congregational churches. As well as being the college's chief administrator, Perry also served as Professor of Greek and Latin. Rev. Perry later married Thomas Doane's daughter Helen and lived with his family in the Doane family home near the college campus. He served Doane for 40 years until his death in 1912.
Sources: 1) Thomas D. Perry, History of Doane College 1872 to 1912 Crete, Nebraska (Doane College Crete, Nebraska, 1957), 12. 2) Janet L. Jeffries, Images of America, Crete (South Carolina, Arcadia Publishing, 2012), 64.
