World Education, Inc.

Our Founder: Welthy Honsinger Fisher

Chronology | Honors | Films | Publications

World Education Founder, Welthy Honsinger Fisher

If World Education is a tree, with branches currently reaching out all over the world, then its root, buried deep in the soil of Lucknow, India, is Literacy House. The light, heat and water that nurtured its growth was Welthy Honsinger Fisher, the founder of Literacy House and World Education. That an American woman campaigned for women's literacy and women's independence in India in the 1950s is extraordinary. That Welthy Fisher began the enterprise that would become World Education at the age of 73, in the midst of a life that would include teaching and traveling on almost every continent for the next eighteen years, sheds light on just how extraordinary she was.

Welthy Honsinger began her life in 1879 in Rome, New York. After receiving her college education from Syracuse University, she traveled to China as a Methodist missionary to become principal of Bao Lin, a girls' school in Nanchang Province. The year was 1906, fourteen years before American women would have the right to vote. While there, she encouraged her girls to develop into new, modern Chinese women, often against the wishes of their more traditional parents. She was committed to the idea of women's independence, however, and knew that if she could give them the tools they needed through education, then there would be no stopping them from changing the face of China. In her words:

In fact, when the Chinese revolution occurred that put Chiang Kai-Shek in power, some of Welthy's female students were there to help make it happen.

Prime Minister Indira Ghandi, Governor of Uttar Pradesh, Mr. Akbar Ali Khan, and Welthy Fisher celebrating the 20th Founder Day of Literacy House, Lucknow, 1973.

In 1924, after working for the YWCA during World War I and traveling the world for pleasure, Welthy married Frederick Bohn Fisher, a Methodist bishop with a passion for life, freedom, and mutual respect among all peoples. For the next fourteen years these two amazing personalities joined forces to campaign for cooperation among peoples and cultures in order to eradicate suffering and promote peace. Throughout their travels, they came to realize that lack of education and poverty were the cause of much suffering in the world, and they both spoke publicly throughout the U.S. to raise awareness of such problems. The Fishers spent much of their time in India, where Fred's sermons drew standing-room-only crowds. Despite Fred's powerful Christian message, and both Fred and Welthy's dedication to their Christian faith, they had the ability to see beyond the boundaries of individual religions. They embraced all races, cultures, and faiths equally. It was this "spiritual color-blindness" that drew the attention of Gandhi, a man who would remain both friend and inspiration to the Fishers throughout their lives. In the times they met with Gandhi, they engaged in philosophical debate and discussed how best to solve the multitudes of problems India was facing in the twentieth century. Welthy was impressed with Gandhi's dedication and self-sacrifice. "There was no one with whom I could compare him except Christ himself," she once said.

While traveling in the U.S. in 1938, Welthy, at 59 years of age, lost her favorite companion and great love when Fred Fisher died of heart complications. Although she felt an overwhelming sense of loss and loneliness, she carried on her life's work with the positive outlook that characterized every aspect of her life. Once again, she was off to make her place in the world, first traveling to China and India as a journalist, and then to South America and the Middle East to study women and educational systems. On a trip to India in 1947, she was asked by Gandhi himself to return permanently to India and continue her work in education there. Her life came full circle, as it was in India that she decided beyond all doubt that the only way to eradicate poverty was through literacy training. As Welthy said at that time:

Dedicated to improving the chances of men and women's survival, advancement and independence in "new India" through education, Welthy began Literacy House, a small, nonformal school that would combine literacy with agricultural training. However, it was not long before Welthy and other literacy pioneers realized that "new India" could be replaced with "new Asia," "new Africa" or even "new America," and World Education was born in New York City, dedicated to providing literacy training to those who needed it most throughout the world.

Welthy Honsinger Fisher was deeply involved with World Education either as president or advisor from 1951 until 1972, when she gave up all official duties. At the age of 93 she was once again free to travel as she pleased. In 1973 she visited China for the first time in years, and returned to Peking in 1978 as the oldest foreign guest of the government. She made two "farewell" trips to India in 1973 and 1977, but returned one last time in 1980 before dying at the age of 101 in Southbury, Connecticut. (Read her memoriam.)

Two things are certain about Welthy: she was a woman of action, and she had a personality so large and multi-faceted it is almost impossible to portray accurately in words. While she fought tirelessly for education for the poor and was dedicated to the notion of Christian charity, she never gave up her personal pleasures, including her collection of stylish dresses and hats, her desire to be hopelessly in love with her husband, and her delight in singing in her renowned voice. She had an amazing ability as a fundraiser, yet she paid her own way every time she traveled internationally. She lived her entire life on the very modest wages she made through working for various organizations, yet she never wanted for anything. Above all else, she was ready at a moment's notice to speak, campaign, raise money, or travel for the people she helped in India. She had an amazing energy that persisted until the day she died of natural old age. World Education still benefits from that energy. Thanks to the tireless efforts of Welthy Fisher, World Ed was built with enough vision and strength to carry on her work into the twenty-first century, and to expand to reach more and more larger numbers of women, girls, and men. As Welthy knew, there is still much work in the world to be done--she herself was planning for a century.

from Sally Swenson, Welthy Honsinger Fisher: Signals of a Century, 1988.

CHRONOLOGY

HONORS

FILMS

BOOKS AND ARTICLES PUBLISHED BY WHF