June 29, 1998
D. Canfield Fisher.
[Dorothea Frances Canfield; D. Canfield; D; D.C.F.; DCF; D. Canfield Fisher, D. Fisher; Mrs. D. Canfield Fisher; Fisher; Mrs. Fisher; Mrs. John R. Fisher]
[source: Compiled by Kathleen M. Zakri and edited by Roger Hiemstra]
Granville Hicks Papers, George Arents Research Library for Special Collections, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY; Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.; Special Collections Department, Abernethy Library, Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT; Special Collections Department, Bailey/Howe, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT; Vermont Historical Society, Montpelier, VT
[source: Kathleen M. Zakri--see references]
Born in Lawrence, Kansas, daughter of James Hulme and June [Flavia] A. (Camp) Canfield. Named after the main female character in Middlemarch. Married John Redwood Fisher, May 1907. Children: Sally (b. 1909) and James [Jimmy] (b. 1913; d. 1945). Died of a stroke at Arlington, Vermont, a farm she inherited from her great-great grandfather. Prolific writer of fiction and nonfiction for children and adults. (See Publications for more detail.) Won second prize in O. Henry Prize Stories contest (1940). Received Constance Lindsay Skinner Award from Womenâs National Association (1951). Supported women's rights, racial equality, and lifelong education.
[sources: Fisher, D. C. (1927). Why stop learning? New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company; Madigan, M. J. (Ed.). (1993). Keeping fires night and day. Columbia: University of Missouri Press.]
February 17, 1879
[http://www.biography.com/search/article.jsp?aid=9295853&search=dorothy+canfield+fisher
http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?eu=106500&tocid=0&query=dorothy%20canfield%20fisher&ct=]
November 9, 1958
[Madigan, M. J. (Ed.). (1993). Keeping fires night and day. Columbia: University of Missouri Press. (p. xx)]
1899 - Received bachelor's degree (with a concentration on languages and literature, particularly French) from Ohio State University.
1904 - Received Ph.D. (in French) from Columbia University with a dissertation on Corneille and Racine (published in May 1904 by Columbia University).
1921 - Received Honorary Ph.D. from Middlebury College.
1922 - Received Honorary Ph.D. from Dartmouth College; Received Honorary Ph.D. from University of Vermont.
1929 - Received Honorary Ph.D. from Columbia University.
1931 - Received Honorary Ph.D. from Northwestern University.
1934 - Received Honorary Ph.D. from Rockford College.
1935 - Received Honorary Ph.D. from Ohio State; received Honorary Ph.D. from Swarthmore College; received Honorary Ph.D. from Williams College.
1939 - Received Honorary Ph.D. from Mt. Holyoke College; received Honorary Ph.D. from University of Nebraska.
1951 - Received Honorary Ph.D. from Marlboro College.
1953 - Received Honorary Ph.D. from Smith College.
[source: Madigan, M. J. (Ed.). (1993). Keeping fires night and day. Columbia: University of Missouri Press]
1904 - For family reasons, refused a professorship at Case Western Reserve University. Accepted job as secretary at Horace Mann School.
1907 - First novel published.
1957 - Last publication of work before death.
[source: Madigan, M. J. (Ed.). (1993). Keeping fires night and day. Columbia: University of Missouri Press]
Adult education
American writer
Children's book writer
Lifelong learning
Montessori method of childhood education
Woman of letters
American writer
Children's book writer
[source: Madigan, M. J. (Ed.). (1993). Keeping fires night and day. Columbia: University of Missouri Press]
Cather, Willa, D. Canfield Fisher's friend and literary collaborator.
Cleghorn, Sarah N., D. Canfield Fisher's friend and literary collaborator.
Roosevelt, Eleanor, wrote an "Introduction" for D. Canfield Fisher's A Fair World for All (1952).
Montessori, Maria Dr. met with D. Canfield Fisher in Rome and shared methods of educating children; Fisher wrote many books about the Montessori method. (See Publications.)
[source: D. Canfield Fisher's letters (Madigan, 1993)]
Adult Education Association
American Youth Commission of the American Council of Education, 1936-1940
Book-of-the Month Club Committee of Selection, 1926 until 1951
Honorary Committee of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, 1935
The Lighthouse Organization, 1917
National Institute of Arts and Letters, 1931
Vermont Board of Education, 1921
[source: D. Canfield Fisher's letters (Madigan, 1993)]
Endorsed Montessori method of child education, 1911-1917.
Founded Braille Press for blind French World War I soldiers, 1917.
Supported Mirram Van Waters, superintendent of Massachusetts State Reformatory for Women at Farmington. Supported rehabilitation instead of punishment (e.g., special education for inmates), 1931-1957.
Spoke to the State Commissioners of Education Convention in Grand Rapids, Michigan to promote the Children's Crusade for Children, a fund-raiser to help European children who were casualties of war, 1939-1940.
Spoke at the annual Convention of the Teachers of Social Science. Discussed social pressures placed on girls and women, 1946.
[source: D. Canfield Fisher's letters (Madigan, 1993)]
Bennington College, Bennington, VT
[source: Bradford Smith, 1958 (See References)]
[Fiction (First Printing)]
Canfield, D. (1907). Gunhild. New York: Henry Holt.
Canfield, D. (1912). The squirrel-cage. New York: Henry Holt.
Canfield, D. (1915). Hillsboro people. New York: Henry Holt.
Canfield, D. (1915). The bent twig. New York: Henry Holt.*
Canfield, D. (1916). The real motive. New York: Henry Holt.
Canfield, D, & Cleghorn, S. N. (1916). Fellow captains. New York: Henry Holt.
Canfield, D. (1917). Understood betsy. New York: Henry Holt.*
Canfield, D. (1919). The day of glory. New York: Henry Holt.
Canfield, D. (1921). The brimming cup. New York: Henry Holt.*
Canfield, D. (1922). Rough-hewn. New York: Harcourt, Brace.
Canfield, D. (1923). Raw material. New York: Harcourt, Brace.
Canfield, D. (1924). The home-maker. New York: Harcourt, Brace.
Canfield, D. (1925). Made-to-order stories. New York: Harcourt, Brace.
Canfield, D. (1926). Her son's wife. New York: Harcourt, Brace.
Canfield, D. (1930). The deepening stream. New York: Harcourt, Brace.
Canfield, D. (1933). Bonfire. New York: Harcourt, Brace.
Canfield, D. (1937). Fables for parents. New York: Harcourt, Brace.
Canfield, D. (1939). Seasoned timber. New York: Harcourt, Brace.
Canfield, D. (1949). Four-square. New York: Harcourt, Brace.
Canfield, D. (1956). A harvest of stories. New York: Harcourt, Brace.
[Fiction (Second Printing)]
Canfield, D. (1981). The bent twig. Cutchogue, NY: Buccaneer Books.
Canfield, D. (1983). The home-maker. Chicago: Academy Chicago.
Canfield, D. (1987). The brimming cup. New York: Virago.
Canfield, D. (1987). Her son's wife. New York: Virago.
Canfield, D. (1987). Understood betsy. New York: Dell.
[Published Fiction Under Married Name]
Fisher, D. Canfield. (1934). Tourists accommodated. New York: Harcourt, Brace.
[Published Nonfiction Under Maiden Name]
Canfield, D. (1904 Reprint). Corneille and Racine in England. New York: AMS Press.
[Nonfiction]
Fisher, D. Canfield. (1912). A Montessori mother. New York: Henry Holt.
Fisher, D. Canfield. (1913). A Montessori manual. New York: Henry Holt.
Fisher, D. Canfield. (1914). Mothers and children. New York: Henry Holt.
Fisher, D. Canfield. (1916). Self-reliance. New York: Bobbs-Merrill.
Fisher, D. Canfield. (1927). Why stop learning? New York: Harcourt, Brace.
Fisher, D. Canfield, & Cleghorn, S. N. (1940). Nothing ever happens and how it does. Boston: Beacon Press.
Fisher, D. Canfield. (1940). Tell me a story. Lincoln, NE: University Publishing.
Fisher, D. Canfield. (1943). Our young folks. New York: Harcourt, Brace.
Fisher, D. Canfield. (1946). American portraits. New York: Henry Holt.
Fisher, D. Canfield. (1947, December 21). Novelist remembers blue-and-gold Christmas in Pittsburgh. New York Herald Tribune, 42.
Fisher, D. Canfield. (1950). Our independence and the constitution. New York: Random House.*
Fisher, D. Canfield. (1950). Paul revere and the minutemen. New York: Random House.
Fisher, D. Canfield. (1952). A fair world for all. New York: Whittlesey House.
Fisher, D. Canfield. (1953). Vermont tradition. Boston: Little Brown.*
Fisher, D. Canfield. (1957). Memories of Arlington Vermont. New York: Duell, Sloan, and Pearce.
Fisher, D. Canfield. (1985). What mothers should know about the Montessori method of evolution. New York: American Institute of Psychology.
[Nonfiction (Second Printing)]
Fisher, D. Canfield. (1964). Our independence and the constitution. New York: Random House.
Fisher, D. Canfield. (1987). Vermont tradition. Marietta, GA: Cherokee Books.
[English Translation of Nonfiction]
Papini, G. (1923). Life of Christ (D. Canfield Fisher, Trans.). New York: Harcourt, Brace.
Tilgher, A. (1932). Work: What it has meant to men through the ages (D. Canfield Fisher, Trans.). New York: Harcourt, Brace.
Tilgher, A. (1977). Work: What it has meant to men through the ages (D. Canfield Fisher, Trans.). New York: Harcourt, Brace.
[source for all publications: Mark J. Madigan (1993)]
[References]
Madigan, M. J. (Ed.). (1993). Keeping fires night and day. Columbia: University of Missouri Press.
Madigan, M. J. (In Press). D. Canfield Fisher. New York: Twayne Publishers.
Washington, I. H. (1982). D. Canfield Fisher: A biography. Shelburne, VT: New England Press.
[Miscellaneous]
Madigan (1993, p. 22) states: "D. Canfield Fisher was born into a distinguished and cultivated family that gave her a fine education and a sense of self-worth. Her strong principles underpin her beliefs and writing; that she was to extend these concerns to independent women, to new forms of education, and to issues of racial oppression and respect for individual merit was the core of her achievement."
Kutner, N. (1943, November). If you worked for D. Canfield Fisher. Good Housekeeping, 117(41), 196-197.
Lovering, J. (1980). The friendship of Willa Cather and D. Canfield. Vermont History, 48, 144-154.
Madigan, M. J. (Ed.). (1993). Keeping fires night and day. Columbia: University of Missouri Press.
Smith, B. (1958, November 29). D. Canfield Fisher: A presence among us. Saturday Review, 41, 13-14.
Smith, B. (1959, August). D. Canfield Fisher. Atlantic Monthly, 204, 73-77.
[*For complete citation see listing of first printing]
Web sites:
http://www.system.missouri.edu/upress/fall1997/madigan.htm
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