EMERSON DAVID FITE
1874 - 1953
Emerson David Fite, professor-emeritus of Political
Science at Vassar College, died in Poughkeepsie on May
17th at the age of seventy-nine.
Professor Fite was born in Marion, Ohio, in l874. He
received the bachelor's degree from Yale in 1897, and
the doctor's degree from Harvard in 1905. Before com-
ing to Vassar in 1913, Professor Fits had held teaching
positions at the Mt. Hermon School, Harvard University,
and Yale. He was Vassar's first professor of Political
Science and he remained at Vassar until his retirement
in
Professor Fite was a distinguished scholar. He broke
new ground with his Social and Industrial Conditions
in the North during the Civil War (1910) and The Presidential Campaign of 1860 (1911). His History of
the United States, published in 1916, was widely used
in secondary schools in the United States. Many an
American schoolboy knew his "Fite." Professor Fite's
other publications included The United States (with
Archibald Freeman, 1923); A Book of Old Maps (1926);
and Government by Cooperation (1932).
Professor Fite was not only a scholar; he was also an
indefatigable public servant. He was elected Justice
of the Peace in 1928; and from l934 to l943 he served
the Poughkeepsie area as a member of the New'York State
Legislature. His outstanding achievement as Assembly-
man was what is known as the Fits Civil Service Law.
Mr. Fite stimulated in his students a genuine interest
in Political Science, particularly in the fields of
international law and constitutional law; and in his
teaching of American government, because of his first-
hand experience with politics and politicians, he was
able to bring life and substance into fine classroo.
Professor Fite shall long be remembered by his students
and his colleagues as a good teacher, a gentle friend,
a kindly neighbor, and a wise counselor.
Evelyn Clark
Helen D. Lockwood
C. Gordon Post
XIII - 405