Collection context
Summary
- Creators:
- Fisher, Edgar J. (Edgar Jacob), 1885-1968
- 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.
- Extent:
- 3 manuscript boxes (1.2 Linear Feet)
- Language:
- English
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Edgar Jacob Fisher papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
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.
- Biographical / historical:
-
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.
- Acquisition information:
- Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library Archives in 1979.
- Arrangement:
-
The collection is organized into 2 series: Turkey subject file and Robert College file
- Physical location:
- Hoover Institution Library & Archives
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Indexed terms
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
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.
- Terms of access:
-
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Edgar Jacob Fisher papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
- Location of this collection:
-
Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford UniversityStanford, CA 94305-6003, US
- Contact:
- (650) 723-3563