Fitch, Florence Mary, 1875-1959

Florence Mary Fitch was born in Stratford, Connecticut in 1875. She graduated from Oberlin College in 1897 and taught high-school for three years in her home town of Buffalo, New York. In 1900, she went to the University of Berlin to undertake advanced study in philosophy, psychology, and biblical theology, attending the lectures of Adolf von Harnack and other eminent scholars then transforming the field of biblical criticism. She received the M.A. and Ph. D. degrees in 1903 from Berlin. Returning to Oberlin College, she held the posts of Instructor in Philosophy (1903-04), Associate Professor of Philosophy (1904-06), Professor of Philosophy (1906-11) and Professor of Biblical Literature (1911-40). She served as Dean of College Women from 1904 to 1920. Fitch traveled extensively throughout her career in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, interviewing Mohandas K. Gandhi in 1936. She wrote seven books on world religions for children. Fitch died in Oberlin in 1959 at age 84.