Date & Context
The announcement of Fisher's appointment appeared in the Rock Island Argus on May 11, 1914. The Rock Island school board had received close to one hundred applications for the position and reportedly conducted personal investigations of five or six leading candidates before settling on Fisher. (Source: rock-island-argus-1914-05-11-image12)
The vacancy arose when H. B. Hayden, who had held the Rock Island superintendency for fourteen years, resigned and reportedly planned a year-long trip to Colorado before relocating. Fisher's selection came during the Progressive Era, a period when school systems across Illinois were actively expanding vocational, scientific, and public-health programming. Dundee, situated in the suburban orbit of Elgin, IL, was regarded as a notably progressive district for a community of its size, in part because of reforms Fisher had introduced. (Source: rock-island-argus-1914-05-11-image12)
Fisher was forty-three years old at the time of the appointment. His academic background included graduation from Eden Valley, Missouri high school, a three-year course at Missouri State Normal University, and three years of medical study at Illinois Medical College — training that appears to have informed his interest in health-oriented school programming. Prior to Dundee, he had served six years as superintendent in McHenry, IL. (Source: rock-island-argus-1914-05-11-image12)
Participants
E. C. Fisher
Fisher was the central figure in this event. During his eight years in Dundee he oversaw a substantial expansion of the school system's facilities and curriculum. Among the improvements attributed to his tenure:- Construction of a gymnasium at a reported cost of $6,500
- Installation of chemical laboratories
- Establishment of fully equipped manual training and domestic science departments
- Introduction of medical and dental inspection in the schools
- Addition of a two-year business course and a two-year industrial course to the curriculum
- Planning of a night school for non-graduates employed during the day, scheduled to open in September 1914
Fisher's salary in Dundee was described in the article as the largest paid to any school superintendent in Illinois for towns of comparable size — a claim that underscores the value Dundee's community placed on retaining him. Indeed, approximately one year before the Rock Island appointment, Fisher had reportedly been offered the superintendency in Aurora, IL, and Dundee retained him by raising his annual salary by $600. (Source: rock-island-argus-1914-05-11-image12)
Outside of his professional role, Fisher was a member of the Masons, the Knights Templar, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF), the Eastern Star, and the Modern Woodmen of America. He was married with three children at the time of the appointment. (Source: rock-island-argus-1914-05-11-image12)
H. B. Hayden
Hayden had led the Rock Island public schools for fourteen years before his resignation. His departure created the vacancy that Fisher was chosen to fill. The Rock Island Argus reported that Hayden planned a vacation to Colorado lasting approximately one year before relocating, though his subsequent movements are not documented in this source. (Source: rock-island-argus-1914-05-11-image12)Significance
Fisher's departure was a notable moment for Dundee's institutional life. The breadth of reforms he introduced — spanning facilities, curriculum, vocational training, and public health — reflected the Progressive Era's emphasis on schools as engines of community improvement, and Dundee's willingness to pay a premium salary to retain him suggests the community recognized the value of that work.
The competitive nature of the Rock Island appointment (nearly one hundred applicants, personal investigations of finalists) also indicates that Fisher's record in Dundee had earned him a reputation well beyond Kane County. His selection reinforced Dundee's standing as a district capable of producing — and, for a time, holding — administrators of regional note.
The planned night school, still only in the organizational stage at the time of Fisher's departure, is worth noting separately: whether it opened as scheduled in September 1914 under new leadership, or was delayed, is not addressed in this source and remains a point for further local research.
Sources
- rock-island-argus-1914-05-11-image12 — Rock Island Argus (Rock Island, Ill.), May 11, 1914, Home Edition, Image 12. Library of Congress, Chronicling America. [https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn92053934/1914-05-11/ed-1/?sp=12](https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn92053934/1914-05-11/ed-1