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• 1 2020-10-27T16:00:58+00:00 Florence Fitch 3 plain 2020-10-27T17:06:22+00:00 Florence Mary Fitch (1875-1959, OC 1897) was an educator, college administrator, and author. She enrolled at Oberlin College in 1892 and graduated in 1897 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. After graduating, she worked at Masten Park High School from 1897 to 1900, where she taught English, mathematics, and Latin. She received a fellowship from the American Association of University Women in 1900 to continue her studies. Fitch traveled to Germany and studied at the University of Berlin from 1900 until 1903 and at the University of Munich in 1901. She studied psychology, philosophy, and biblical theology at those universities. Fitch received M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Philosophy from the University of Berlin in 1903. She was one of the first American women to graduate from a German university.
  
  Florence Fitch returned to Oberlin College in 1903, where she came an instructor in philosophy and the secretary for President Henry Churchill King. She was later appointed as an instructor in the Department of the Bible and Christian Religion in 1904. That year, she also became an associate professor of philosophy. Fitch held that position until 1906, when she began work as a professor of philosophy. In 1911, she became a professor of biblical literature.
  
  While working as a professor of biblical literature, Fitch continued her studies at the Union Theological Seminary in 1916. She later enrolled at the American School for Oriental Research in Jerusalem from 1926 to 1927. She conducted research in Syria, Greece, Egypt, and Israel while studying at that university. Fitch enrolled at the University of Chicago Divinity School in 1930. Between 1936 and 1937, she travelled to China, Japan, Hawaii, Sri Lank, Burma, India, and Thailand to study the religions of those countries. While in India, she had the opportunity to interview Mohandas Gandhi in 1937.
  
  In addition to her work as an educator, Fitch was the dean of College and Graduate Women from 1904 to 1920. She was also the secretary of the Advisory Committee of the Oberlin College Y.M.C.A. during those same years. From 1922 to 1925, Fitch was the president of the Oberlin branch of the American Association for University Women. Additionally, she became the president of State Federation of the American Association for University Women in 1925. She held that position until 1926 and later served as president again from 1935 to 1936.  Fitch was a member of the Oberlin Shansi Memorial Association Board of Trustees between 1926 and 1958.
  
  Fitch was president of the Association of Deans of Women, vice president of the state section of Teachers of Bible and Religion between 1934 and 1935, and 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 retired from Oberlin College in 1940. In 1947, the college awarded her an honorary Litt. D. During her retirement, Fitch wrote religious books for children, including One God: the Ways We Worship Him (1944). That book won Fitch the Ohioana Library Award in 1945. As a result of her work and career, Oberlin College awarded Fitch the Alumni Medal in 1956.
  
  Sources:
  Florence Mary Fitch Papers, 1807-1959. Oberlin College Archives. October 2020. http://oberlinarchives.libraryhost.com/index.php?p=collections/controlcard&id=41&q=florence+fitch