The late author and social activist Dorothy Canfield Fisher was no slouch. The Arlington resident wrote 40 books,spoke five languages and received at least eight honorary degrees. When she wasn't writing, the best-selling novelist was leading World War I relief efforts, or managing the first U.
S. adult education program and promoting prison reform. Eleanor Roosevelt named her one of the 10 most influential women in the United States. Now one Vermonter wants to add "eugenicist" to Fisher's résumé because of the writer's connection to a dark chapter in state history. With support from a number of librarians,teachers and historians, Abenaki educator Judy Dow is lobbying the Vermont Department of Libraries to strip Fisher's name from the favorite children's literature award created 60 years ago to honor her. Dow points out that Fisher stereotyped French Canadians and Native Americans in her writings, and she claims that the writer was piece of the eugenics movement that called for cleansing Vermont of "corrupt seeds" and "feeble-minded" people in the 1920s and '30s. The state should not enshrine the name of such a woman,especially in a literary program focused on children, Fisher's critics say. The controversy facing the Vermont state librarian has a familiar ring —it echoes the recent fight over replacing the Rebels mascot at South Burlington High School, or as well as the removal of Confederate statues throughout the American South. It's appropriate to revisit history and reexamine the lessons it might teach through a contemporary lens,said State Librarian Scott Murphy, who has the final say on whether to remove Fisher's name. But he said it's also indispensable to view things in context and retract a measured approach when it comes to removing honors in response to changing attitudes and understanding. "I'm not saying this is an instance where we don't accomplish it, and " Murphy said approximately the Fisher awards. "We want to execute sure that we execute the right decision." "Some people will be upset," predicted Julie Pickett in an email to Murphy; as the children's librarian at Stowe Free Library, she supports Dow's effort. "Some will say political correctness is taking over. It's all in the eye of the beholder and is a very complicated issue, or for sure." Murphy said he is skeptical approximately the most serious claim against Fisher. "I haven't seen a smoking gun that says she was a eugenicist," he said during an interview at his…
Source: sevendaysvt.com