Welthy Blakesley Honsinger was born in Rome, New York, on September 18, 1879.
Education and early work
After graduating from Syracuse University in 1900, Welthy became a teacher at Rosebud College, a one-room school in Haverstraw, New York, where she was in charge of 15 students. In 1906, Welthy become the headmistress of the Baldwin Memorial School in Nanchang. While there, she encouraged her girls to develop into new, modern Chinese women, often against the wishes of their 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, they could change the face of China.
Personal life
In 1924 she married Frederick Bohn Fisher. The Fishers were well-acquainted with and respected by Gandhi and other prominent leaders of the Indian Independence movement. Following her husband's death in 1938, she wrote her husband's biography and traveled widely, returning to China and then to India.
Literacy work
During the 1940s, Welthy spent "semesters" studying the educational systems of Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, India and the Middle East. During this time she studied women and educational systems, and lectured throughout the U.S. on women of the world and Chinese Industrial Cooperatives. In December, 1947, six weeks before his death, Gandhi urged Welthy to return to his country to continue her work in education in India's villages. In 1952, at the age of 73, Welthy returned to India to work with Frank Laubach, the Christian Evangelical missionary and literacy pioneer. Deciding that literacy training linked with agricultural and industrial development was a key strategy to eradicate poverty, Welthy broke with Laubach. In 1953, she founded Literacy House at Allahabad, a small, non-formal school that combined literacy with vocational training. In 1956, Literacy House moved to Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, where it became famous for its effectiveness. Realizing the need for literacy programs linked with social and economic development throughout the world, Welthy and her fellow literacy pioneers started two non-profit organizations, World Education and the World Literacy of Canada. Welthy closely involved in both organizations for many years, either as President or an advisor. Throughout her nineties, she traveled throughout the world. Welthy made her final trip to India as a government guest in 1980, shortly before her death at the age of 101 in Southbury, Connecticut. Fisher was honored by the Indian government, which based its village literacy programs on her ideas, and issued a stamp in her likeness.
