Willard Clark Fisher

Willard C. Fisher was an American economist, professor, and politician. A specialist in institutional economics, he taught economics and social science at Brown University, Wesleyan University, Harvard University, and New York University. He also served two terms as mayor of Middletown, Connecticut.

Fisher was known for his sociopolitical views and controversial public statements. In 1913, he was forced to resign from Wesleyan after national outrage over remarks he made to a meeting of Hartford's Get Together Club in which he, according to the Connecticut State Historian, "wondered aloud how society might benefit if churches instead of businesses were ordered closed on Sundays."

Per the State Historian:

"... After weathering a storm of bad P.R., angry alumni and donors, Wesleyan University President William Shanklin called for a private meeting with Fisher on January 27, where he proceeded to ask the professor about his reported comments. Fisher admitted that while many of the newspaper stories were exaggerated, they contained 'a large underlying element of truth.' Shanklin, feeling that Fisher had done the Methodist-affiliated university 'a great injury,' asked for Fisher’s resignation, and the intransigent professor instantly (and by his own account, 'cheerfully') complied. ..."

The forced resignation/firing was condemned by the American Economic Association and led in large part to the formation of the American Association of University Professors in 1915.

Sources

• Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., Death Index, 1852-1956 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2017.
  • Name: Willard C. Fisher; Death Date: 23 Apr 1933; Death Place: Westerlo, New York, USA; Certificate Number: 24630.
• Asher, Robert and Willard Clark Fisher. "Willard Clark Fisher's Views on Political Economy: Commentary and Document." Connecticut History Review 37, no. 1 (1996): 51–60. < link > Accessed 27 January 2022.
• Dunne, Thomas. "Willard C Fisher." FindAGrave, published 26 April 2009. < link > Accessed 27 January 2022.
• "Former Mayor Fisher Of Middletown Dead." The Hartford Courant via Newspapers.com, published 25 April 1933, p. 6. < link > Accessed 27 January 2022.
• Woodward, Walter. "His Big Idea Didn’t Have a Prayer." Today in Connecticut History, published 27 January 2022. < link > Accessed 27 January 2022.