The Biographical Dictionary of America/Allen, Calvin Francis

ALLEN, Calvin Francis, civil engineer and educator, was born at Roxbury, Mass., July 10, 1851. He was graduated from the Roxbury Latin school in the class of 1868, and from the Massachusetts institute of technology in civil engineering in the class of 1872. Immediately after his graduation he entered upon the work of civil engineering, devoting especial attention to hydraulic and sanitary engineering. In 1878 he was admitted as member of the American society of civil engineers. Later, in the west, mainly in connection with the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fé railroad, his work was more directly railroad engineering. In 1885 he was admitted to practice before the courts of New Mexico, serving for more than a year as attorney of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fé railroad at Socorro. In 1887 he became assistant professor of railroad engineering at the Massachusetts institute of technology, and in 1893 was made associate professor, and served as secretary of the alumni association. He published, mainly for the use of his own students, two books, "Railroad Curves and Earthwork," and "Tables for the Computation of Earth-work."