Florence Mary Fitch Papers

Collection

Identifier: RG 30-037

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Fitch papers are arranged into seven records series: I. Fitch Family Correspondence; II. Fitch Family Miscellany; III. Correspondence of Florence Fitch; IV. Diaries and Account Books of Florence Fitch and Anna Haskell Fitch; V. Writings; VI. Photographs and Postcards; and VII. Miscellany.

Fitch family correspondence dates from an 1807-08 exchange between Spencer Coleman (B.A. 1805, Williams College) and Hannah McKeown Coleman, Frances Fitch's paternal great-grandparents. The Coleman's daughter, Eliza Hudson Coleman, was the wife of Martin Luther Fitch (1815-1893), Florence's paternal grandfather, a Staff Sergeant in the Civil War. This collection contains forty letters (1861-64) from Martin L. Fitch to his family written while serving with Company "C" of the First Regiment of the Ohio Light Artillery. A calendar of these letters is located in the case file of this collection. Also present in Series I is courtship correspondence (1870-72) between Frances' father and mother, the Rev. Frank S. Fitch (1846-1918) and Anna Haskell Fitch (1847-1936), as well as a small group of letters from the Rev. Fitch to his wife and children written during his trips to Europe (1888), the Holy Land, Egypt, Greece, and Turkey (1893), and to Edinburgh (1908). Items of a miscellaneous nature relating to Frances Fitch's parents are housed in Series II, and family photographs are housed in Series VI.

The outgoing correspondence of Florence Fitch (1881-1957, undated) largely constitutes letters written home to her parents ("Dear ones at Home"). These letters (returned to her upon the death of Florence's parents) provide a nearly unbroken account of her activities over a seventy-year period. The bulk of her letters are concentrated between 1892 and 1917. Early letters (1881-1892, n.d.), again written to her parents, describe her schoolwork and church activities and hint at a career as a foreign missionary. Letters dating from Fitch's undergraduate days at Oberlin College (1892-93; 1894-97) pertain to her studies, social events, and Y.W.C.A. work. There are no letters for the year 1893-94 or for the years 1897-1900, as these were periods of residence with her family in Buffalo, New York. Later letters, 1903-1916, report on campus-wide activities, events, and faculty and friends.

Florence Fitch's doctoral work at the Universities of Berlin and Munich is documented in weekly correspondence written between 1900 and 1903 to her family in Buffalo. Letters are richly detailed and offer an excellent resource for examining the experience of one of the first women to study philosophical theology in the German universities. Letters (July-October 1900) describe Fitch's travels in England and Germany prior to settling in Berlin, her living quarters in Berlin, the library, other women students, other foreigners studying or living in Berlin, social gatherings, her impressions of her professors and various cultural and bureaucratic obstacles to be faced, Prof. Harnack's lectures on the New Testament, her study of the works of philosopher William James (1842-1910), and her successful completion of her thesis and oral examinations in July 1903.

Florence Fitch traveled widely during her student days and later as a research scholar. Diaries (1901-02) kept by Florence and her mother, housed in Series IV, describe their travels together in England, France, Italy, and Germany during Florence's residence abroad. Subsequent travels to China and Japan (1915), to Israel, Syria, Greece, and Egypt (1926-27), and to India, Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, China, Japan, and Hawaii (1936-37) are recorded in correspondence and depicted in hundreds of labeled photographs and postcards, housed in Series VI. Of special interest are her ms. notes of an interview she conducted in December 1936 with Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948) in Benares, India, together with a letter to her sister, Anna (1873-1946), describing her impressions of Gandhi. Also included are notes for an interview with Miss Margaret Slade, the British follower of Gandhi. A published account of the Gandhi interview appears in the Oberlin Alumni Magazine for December 1937.

Well documented in this collection is the immense popularity of the books Florence Fitch wrote to introduce children to world religions. Files include manuscript typescripts of A Book About God (1950-51), A Little Boy Learns About God (1953), and Daughter of Abd Salam (1931-32); correspondence received from readers, and press reviews of the books. The bulk of incoming correspondence relates to the highly acclaimed One God: the Ways We Worship Him (1944). Other writings of Florence Fitch, housed in Series V, include drafts of articles, research notes, outlines for two Oberlin courses, "Introduction to the Study of the Bible" and "Early Christian Life and Thought," pamphlets, scripts for radio broadcasts, and addresses on various subjects, including her travels to India, Japan, China, and to Oberlin's Shansi mission at Taigu. Ms. talks given by Dean Fitch to entering Oberlin College freshmen (1904-14) offer insight into Fitch's views on relations between men and women students. Filed with these are photocopies (1914-18) of Oberlin News Tribune articles on the debate over the "Women's Rules," which occurred during Fitch's tenure.

Dates

Creation: 1807-1959
Creation: Majority of material found in 1892-1917
Other: Date acquired: 04/17/1969

Creator

Fitch, Florence Mary (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Unrestricted.

Biographical Sketch

Florence Mary Fitch, daughter of the Rev. Franklin Solomon Fitch (1846-1917; B.A. Oberlin 1870) and Anna Eliza (Haskell) Fitch (1847-1936; Lit. Oberlin 1870), was born in Stratford, Connecticut on February 17, 1875. She had two siblings, Anna Eliza (1873-1947) and Franklin Solomon Jr (1884-1891). The family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio in 1878 and to Buffalo, New York in 1883, where for thirty-three years the Rev. Fitch served as pastor of the First Congregational Church. Florence Fitch entered Oberlin College in 1892, graduating Phi Beta Kappa with the B.A. in 1897. Returning to Buffalo, she taught Latin, mathematics, and English at Masten Park High School from 1897 to 1900.

In July 1900, Fitch resigned her teaching post and went to Germany for further study on a fellowship from the Association of Collegiate Alumnae, now the American Association of University Women (A.A.U.W.). Anna Fitch accompanied her daughter and remained with her until the fall of 1901. Florence became a "guest" student at the Universities of Berlin (1900-03) and Munich (1901), since women were not permitted to matriculate. She studied philosophy and psychology with professors Karl Stumpf (b. 1848), Friedrich Paulsen (1846-1908), and Theodor Lipps (1851-1914) and biblical theology with Adolf von Harnack (1851-1930) and Otto Pfleiderer (1839-1908). On presentation of her thesis, published in 1903 as Der Hedonismus bei Lotze und Fechner, she received the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Philosophy from the University of Berlin, becoming one of the first American woman to do so. Fitch later continued her studies at Union Theological Seminary (1916), the American School for Oriental Research in Jerusalem (1926-27), and the University of Chicago Divinity School (1930). Oberlin College awarded her the honorary Litt. D. in 1947 and the Alumni Medal in 1956.

Florence Fitch's career at Oberlin College spanned thirty-seven years. In 1903, she accepted the dual appointment as Instructor in the Department of Philosophy and Secretary to President Henry Churchill King (1858-1934). During her first year at Oberlin, she co-taught with President King a course on the thought of German philosopher Hermann Lotze (1817-81). In 1904, she began teaching in the Department of the Bible and the Christian Religion (known as the Department of Religion after 1938), serving as Associate Professor of Philosophy (1904-06), Professor of Philosophy (1906-11) and Professor of Biblical Literature (1911-40). Fitch taught the popular "Introduction to the Study of the Bible," as well as courses in Old and New Testament literature, biblical archaeology, and early Christian thought. As the focus in undergraduate religious education shifted from the doctrinal to the humanistic, she offered instruction in world religions and social Christianity, drawing from first-hand knowledge obtained from travel and research in Israel, Syria, Greece, and Egypt (1926-27) and in India, Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, China, Japan, and Hawaii (1936-37). A highlight of her overseas experience was her 1936 interview with Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948).

From 1904 to 1920, Florence Fitch combined teaching duties with service as Dean of College and Graduate Women. During her tenure, the rules governing the social conduct of women students were relaxed in order to allow for greater freedom of association between men and women, a move which attracted national interest. In 1914, Fitch founded the "Women's League" at Oberlin, an organization designed to adjudicate matters relating to the lives of women undergraduates. Her writings from this period include the pamphlet, "What Are Our Social Standards?" (1915) and a book, Principles of Social Conduct (1919).

In addition to her duties as teacher, counselor, and administrator, Florence Fitch served Oberlin and the cause of higher education in numerous capacities. From 1926 to 1958, she was a member of the Oberlin Shansi Memorial Association Board of Trustees. She visited the Shansi mission at Taigu in 1915 and again in 1937. From 1904 to 1920 she was Secretary of the Advisory Committee of the Oberlin College Y.W.C.A., having served as the first Oberlin President of the Y.W.C.A. during her senior year (1896-97). Fitch served as President of the Oberlin Branch of the A.A.U.W. from 1922 to 1925, and as President of the State Federation of the A.A.U.W. in 1925-26 and 1935-36. She was also President of the National Association of Deans of Women. Service to her own professional organizations included terms as Vice President of the State Section of Teachers of Bible and Religion (1934-35) and as President of the National Association of Biblical Instructors (1935). She was a member of the Society of Biblical Literature and Exegesis and the Religious Education Association. Florence Fitch's civic affiliations included the First Church in Oberlin, the Oberlin Community Chest, Community Center, Women's Club, and the League of Women Voters.

After retiring from teaching in 1940, Florence Fitch began writing religious books for children. The books quickly became popular among adults as well. These publications are: The Daughter of Abd Salam (1930); One God: the Ways We Worship Him (1944); Their Search for God: Ways of Worship in the Orient (1947); Allah, the God of Islam (1950), A Book About God (1953), The Child Jesus (1955), and Young Jesus Asks Questions, published posthumously in 1970. Of these, the most popular was One God, which went through twenty-five printings in the fifteen years following publication and won for its author the Ohioana Library Award in 1945. Their Search for God was reviewed in manuscriptby Mohandas K. Gandhi. Other publications of Florence Fitch include The First Church in Oberlin 1842-1942 (1942), a centennial history, and numerous pamphlets and articles.

Florence Fitch died in Oberlin on June 2, 1959 at age 84. Three cousins survived her. Her sister, Anna Eliza Barnum (b. 1873), of Coconut Grove, Florida, died in 1946.

SOURCES CONSULTED

Fitch, Florence M., "Changes of Women's Rules," The Oberlin Alumni Magazine, Vol. X, No. 3, December 1913, pp. 76-78.

Fitch, Florence M., "The Women's League: An Appreciation," The Oberlin Alumni Magazine, Vol. XI, No. 2, November 1914, pp. 47-48.

Student Files of Florence M. Fitch, the Rev. Frank S. Fitch, and Anna Haskell Fitch (28).

Note written by Valerie S. Komor.

Extent

7.60 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

The papers of Florence Mary Fitch relate to Fitch's student years in Oberlin, Munich, and Berlin (1892-97; 1900-03) and her subsequent career at Oberlin College as a biblical scholar and writer of children's books. They also contain materials relating to three preceding generations of the Fitch family (1807-1936). Virtually no record exists in these papers of Florence Fitch's tenure as Dean of Women at Oberlin (1904-20). The records of the Office of the Dean of Students (Record Group 12) commence in 1928, eight years after Fitch resigned that position.

Method of Acquisition

The papers of Florence M. Fitch were transferred to the College Archives from the Oberlin College Library in three accessions, in 1969, 1970, and 1988. Frank S. Fitch's scrapbook was transferred from the Oberlin College Library, Department of Special Collections, in 2001.

Accruals and Additions

Accessions: 75, 167, 1988/138, 1994/26, 2001/94.

Related Materials

Correspondence (1904-06) of Florence Fitch relating to Y.W.C.A. affairs is located in Record Group 29, Subgroup II, Series I. Although Fitch served thirty-two years as a trustee of the Oberlin Shansi Memorial Association (O.S.M.A.), there is no correspondence of hers in Record Group 15. A letter written by Florence Fitch on the retirement of Lydia Lord Davis from O.S.M.A. (1944) is contained in Davis's retirement album, located in Record Group 30/80.

For Florence Fitch's description of the ceremony conferring doctoral degrees at the University of Berlin, see The Oberlin Review for December 17, 1903, pp. 240-41, and a related article in the June 11, 1903 issue, pp. 600-02. The Oberlin College Library and Special Collections department hold first editions of Florence Fitch's books, a college scrapbook (1870) of the Rev. Frank Fitch, and other materials relating to the Rev. Fitch.

Florence Fitch's The First Church in Oberlin 1842-1942: Centennial Celebration is filed in RG 31/4/1 Records of First and Second Congregational Churches, Subgroup I, Series 15, Box 1; and is also available in the Oberlin College Library.