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H. K. Douglas Cotton Memorial Lecture

The annual H. K. Douglas Cotton Memorial Lecture, established by Baltimore businessman Henry Kyd Douglas Cotton, features business and career lectures for students of Gilman School. The program was created by an endowment that Mr. Cotton established shortly before his death in 1979. The program reflects Mr. Cotton's strong belief in education and business.

The objective of the H. K. Douglas Cotton Memorial Lecture is to create a stimulating program to acquaint Gilman students with the various careers that are available to them. Mr. Cotton, aware that there were no specific business courses offered at Gilman, felt that there was a need for a program to "… instill in our students a better understanding of the world of business and economics."

 


 

WATCH THE 41st COTTON LECTURE

Steph Jackson '80 and Brett Hollander '03
March 23, 2023

 


 

H. K. DOUGLAS COTTON

Born in 1900, H. K. Douglas Cotton attended and graduated from St. James School in Hagerstown, Maryland. He continued his education at The Johns Hopkins University, where he distinguished himself by winning the cup as the most outstanding student, being elected to the Omicron Delta Kappa Honorary Society, and graduating Cum Laude. Mr. Cotton worked briefly for a Baltimore publishing company before founding Barton Cotton, Inc., a publishing and lithography firm noted for its promotional work for Catholic fund-raising efforts and other national organizations.

Throughout his life, Mr. Cotton was very supportive of the educational institutions that he attended. He served as president of the St. James School Board of Trustees and developed an association with Gilman while his grandsons attended the School. John Hubner Rice III '74, Douglas Cotton Rice '76, Robert Haldane Swindell III '78, Richard Carew Rice '80, Charles Trimble Swindell '81, Douglas Cotton Swindell '81, and James Parran Swindell '84 are all Gilman School graduates, as are his great-grandsons Wylie C. Rice '14, Taylor A. Swindell '14, and Theodore E. Swindell '14.

 


 

PREVIOUS COTTON LECTURERS