From the Archives: John C. (Daddy) Stone

Constructed in 1956, on the former site of College Heights (perhaps for future a “From the Archives!”), Stone Hall was named and dedicated to John C. Stone, a mathematics professor and department head at the New Jersey State Normal School at Montclair.

Professor Stone started at Montclair around 1909 after working as an associate professor of mathematics at Michigan State Normal School. Throughout his years, he became a highly respected member of the Montclair faculty and was affectionately known as “Daddy Stone”.

In his time, he had many accomplishments, including co-organizing a student organization known as Aphesteon alongside fellow faculty member Virgil S. Mallory (another familiar name) in 1931. Aphesteon was a society established “to provide an outlet for interest in advanced mathematics, and to encourage the most capable students to do extended individual research work in the field.”

Stone also authored and co-authored at least 75 textbooks, several of which with his aforementioned colleague Mallory. Many of these textbooks can be found today in University Libraries Special Collections. 

You can read more about Stone’s career in the June 19, 1934 edition of The Pelican, the student newspaper now known as The Montclarion.