Cappon, Alexander Patterson, 1900-

Alexander Patterson Cappon, professor and writer. The Alexander P. Cappon papers consist of two short manuscripts, book reviews of Action, Organism and Philosophy in Wordsworth and Whitehead and About Wordsworth and Whitehead: A Prelude to Philosophy, and interviews.

Born May 11, 1900, Alexander Patterson Cappon obtained three degrees from the University of Chicago, a Bachelor of Philosophy in 1925, Master of Arts in 1926, and Doctor of Philosophy in 1935, the latter two in Humanities. His master’s thesis was The Relation of Wordsworth to Matthew Arnold in the Development of Arnold’s Poetic Genius (1926) and his dissertation was The Scope of Shelley’s Philosophical Thinking (1935). He published three books, including About Wordsworth and Whitehead: a Prelude to Philosophy (1982), Aspects of Wordsworth and Whitehead: Philosophy and Certain Continuing Life-Problems (1983), and Action, Organism and Philosophy in Wordsworth and Whitehead (1985).

Cappon taught literature, with a focus on 19th century literature, at the University of Missouri – Kansas City. While teaching, he spent 36 years as the editor of The University of Kansas City Review, also known as The University Review and now known as New Letters. He wrote several articles for the journal between the years 1934 and 1985, including "Idealism in F. Scott Fitzgerald" (1963), "Melville Cane and John H. Wheelock" (1956), and "Wordsworth’s Summer Vacation Reflection: Its Connection with Alfred N. Whitehead’s Thought" (1985). Also at UMKC, he brought Langston Hughes, the first African-American speaker, to address the campus. Cappon’s wife, Dorothy Churchill Cappon, taught world literature at UMKC.

Established in 1986, New Letters gives out the annual prizes in honor of the Cappons, the "Alexander Patterson Cappon Fiction Prize" for best short story and the "Dorothy Churchill Cappon Essay Prize" for best essay.

Alexander Patterson Cappon died on January 25, 1997.