William Allison Shimer

William Allison Shimer (1894-1983) was an American professor of philosophy. From 1932 to 1943 he served as the first editor of the Phi Beta Kappa Society's literary journal, The American Scholar. After a stint as president of Marietta College, he spent the latter part of his life teaching in Hawaii and working for the World Brotherhood, an international organization founded under the auspices of the National Conference of Christians and Jews.

Early life

Shimer was born in Freed, West Virginia in 1894, and in 1914 he graduated from the Glenville State Normal School (now Glenville State College) in Glenville, West Virginia. Continuing his education, he "worked his way through Harvard".^[1] A 1945 biographical sketch described him as having been a "West Virginia farm boy who dared start Harvard University with only $50 in his pocket, insufficient credits", and went on to complete "four and a half years' work . . . in three years' time while living in an unheated room, living on a dollar's worth of food a week, and working for 25 cents an hour at all kinds of jobs in order to keep alive." In 1917 he received his A.B. degree from Harvard.^[2]

Shimer subsequently received a master's degree from the University of Rochester (1922), followed by a second master's degree (1923) and a Ph.D. (1925) from Harvard,^[3] where he wrote his dissertation on "The History and Validity of the Concept of Relativity".^[1] He taught philosophy at Ohio State and at Bucknell, where he also served as dean of the faculty.^[3] He met his first wife, Edith Richmond, when he was a Harvard undergraduate and she was a Radcliffe student; according to a 1940 New Yorker magazine profile, she was responsible for his being elected to Phi Beta Kappa in absentia while he was away from Harvard during World War I.^[1]

Phi Beta Kappa and The American Scholar

In 1930 Shimer accepted the position of executive secretary of the United Chapters of Phi Beta Kappa. He conceived the idea for The American Scholar as a publication collecting scholarly work for a general audience, and he worked to gain support from a variety of publishers and academics, ultimately receiving approval from the Phi Beta Kappa Senate in September 1931. The first issue was released in January 1932. Shimer was the journal's editor for 12 years.^[4] In 1943 he resigned to join the armed services^[5] and served as a lieutenant in the United States Navy,^[2] commanding a unit of the V-12 Navy College Training Program.^[6]

Marietta College

After World War II, Shimer was selected to become president of Marietta College in Ohio. Serving during a period of rapid post-war growth, he worked to expand the school's enrollment and physical plant. He hired the distinguished Swiss philosopher Fritz Marti to start a philosophy department at the college.^[7]

Shimer became embroiled in personal controversy after he was divorced from his first wife, and a year later married Dorothy Blair, the college's dean of women. The controversy was covered in the national media, and ultimately led to the board of trustees' July 1947 decision to force him from office, despite expressions of support from faculty, students, and townspeople.^{[2][8][9][10][11]}

Hawaii and the World Brotherhood

Shimer and his wife Dorothy moved to Hawaii in 1947, and he taught at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.^[6][12] The Shimers also became involved with the World Brotherhood (later renamed the Council on World Tensions), an international organization founded under the auspices of the National Conference of Christians and Jews to promote understanding among different religions and cultures. They headed the Asia Pacific chapter of the organization, spent several years in Asia on its behalf, and edited its quarterly journal Brotherhood.^[13][14] Later, Shimer became a professor and librarian at Mauna'olu College, a now-closed^[15] community college near Paia, Maui; he retired in 1968.^[3]

Writings

Along with many articles over the years,^[3] Shimer wrote a book entitled Conscious Clay: From science via philosophy to religion, published in 1948 by Charles Scribner's Sons, in which he argued for the existence of God as "the eternal all-inclusive reality".^[16]

References

1. "Phi Beta Kappa", The New Yorker, June 8, 1940, pp. 11-12 (subscription required).
2. "William Allison Shimer (1945-1947)", Marietta College (accessed 2016-05-19).
3. "Shimer, Moyers are Alumni-Of-The-Year", The Glenville Mercury, April 16, 1970.
4. Betsy Saunders, A Note on the History of The American Scholar in Hiram Haydn & Betsy Saunders, eds. (1960). The American Scholar Reader. Atheneum Press, reissued by Transaction Publishers 2012). pp. xvi-xx.
5. Tracy Chevalier (2012). Encyclopedia of the Essay. Routledge. p. 23. ISBN 978-1-135-31410-1.
6. "Dr. William Shimer Joins Faculty: Visiting Professor Not Only Good Philosopher, But Also Proficient In Making Knick-Knacks", Ka Leo O Hawaii, October 10, 1947.
7. Judith Baumrin (2015). Fritz Marti: Immigrant, A Biographical Memoir. UPA. p. 73. ISBN 978-0-7618-6599-5.
8. "College President Asked to Resign", Associated Press in St. Petersburg Times, July 29, 1947.
9. "Prexy Must Quit, Trustees Repeat", United Press International in Pittsburgh Press, July 30, 1947.
10. "'Inspiration to Students'", The Day, July 30, 1947.
11. Education: Willie Loves Dottie", Time, August 11, 1947 (subscription required).
12. "Prof's Wife Thrilled By Racial Harmony of Students", Ka Leo O Hawaii, January 16, 1948.
13. Moses Jung (1963). Relations Among Religions Today: A Handbook of Policies and Principles. Brill Archive. pp. 155–157. ASIN B000P0KDR0.
14. Martin Erdmann (2005). Building the Kingdom of God on Earth: The Churches' Contribution to Marshal Public Support for World Order and Peace, 1919-1945. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 142. ISBN 978-1-59752-135-2.
15. "Maunaolu College", Maui Attractions, November 2014.
16. John Gardner, Book notice for Conscious Clay, Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Volume XVII, Issue 3, p. 211 (1949).