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Title: Edgar Jacob Fisher papers
Date (inclusive): 1888-1933
Collection Number: 79037
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
3 manuscript boxes
(1.2 Linear Feet)
Abstract: The collection relates to Robert College and other American schools in Turkey and elsewhere in the Near East, social and political
conditions in Turkey, and ethnic minorities in Turkey. It consists of correspondence, newspaper clippings, reports, student
essays, and printed matter.
Creator:
Fisher, Edgar J. (Edgar Jacob), 1885-1968
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual
or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 1979.
[Identification of item], Edgar Jacob Fisher papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Edgar Jacob Fisher was born in 1885. He earned his PhD from Columbia University in 1911, where he authored
New Jersey as a Royal Province, 1738 to 1766 (New York: Columbia University). As a proponent of international education, Fisher worked as a professor of social studies
and dean of Robert College in Constantinople (Istanbul) from 1917 to 1933. In 1924, Fisher was briefly dismissed by the Turkish
Minister of Education for allegedly speaking unfavorably about the government to a group of tourists, only to be rehired in
1925. In his time in Turkey, Fisher wrote a number of short articles that appeared in professional journals and
The New York Times about the state of affairs during the first World War and international education. He also worked as the assistant director
of the Institute of International Education. He died in 1968.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection relates to Robert College and other American schools in Turkey and elsewhere in the Near East, social and political
conditions in Turkey, and ethnic minorities in Turkey. It consists of correspondence, newspaper clippings, reports, student
essays, and printed matter.
Although mainly focused on events surrounding American schools in the Near East, the collection includes a number of clippings,
professional journal articles, writings, and correspondence about Turkey's history, culture, and ethnic minorities, as well
as the burgeoning Nationalist Movement, Treaties of Sèvres and Lausanne, formation of the Republic, and Kemalist reforms;
all of which appear in the
Turkey subject file. Some of the folder titles used in this part of the collection are from the records' creator, hence archaic forms of place
names.
In an effort to standardize curricula, secure funding, and encourage cooperation among the heads of American schools in the
Near East, Fisher worked on the Advisory Committee on Education of the Committee of Cooperation on American Education in the
Near East, the correspondence and reports of which appear in the
Robert College file. Also included in this file is correspondence regarding Fisher's expulsion from Robert College by the Minister of Education,
and student research papers on Turkey's ethnic minorities, including Bulgarians, Persians, Gypsies, Greeks, and Armenians.
The collection is organized into 2 series: Turkey subject file and Robert College file
Edgar J. Fisher collection, Ohio State University Libraries
Edgar J. Fisher archive, Fine Arts Library, Harvard University
Mary Mills Patrick papers, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Ernest W. Riggs papers, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Education -- Turkey
Minorities -- Turkey
Education -- Middle East
Robert College (Istanbul, Turkey)