Oliver Elwin Wells (July 2, 1853 – December 26, 1922) was an American educator. Born in

Lamartine, Wisconsin Lamartine (originally called Seven-Mile-Creek or Seven Mile Creek) is a town in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,616 at the 2000 census. The unincorporated communities of Lamartine, Rogersville, and Woodhull are l ...

, Wells lived in

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

from 1858 to 1862, but moved back to

Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin Fond du Lac County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 104,154. Its county seat is Fond du Lac. The county was created in the Wisconsin Territory in 1836 and later organized in 1844. Fond du La ...

; Wells went to the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

, but did not graduate. He moved to

Waupaca County, Wisconsin Waupaca County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 51,812. The county seat is Waupaca. The county was created in 1851 and organized in 1853. It is named after the Waupaca River, a Menominee la ...

where he was principal of a school in

Manawa, Wisconsin Manawa is a city in Waupaca County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,441 at the 2020 census. Geography Manawa is located at (44.460563, -88.919253). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of ...

and then moved to

Appleton, Wisconsin Appleton ( mez, Ahkōnemeh) is a city in Outagamie, Calumet, and Winnebago counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. One of the Fox Cities, it is situated on the Fox River, southwest of Green Bay and north of Milwaukee. Appleton is the c ...

, where he was a superintendent of public schools. Then he moved to

Wausau, Wisconsin Wausau ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Marathon County, Wisconsin, United States. The Wisconsin River divides the city into east and west. The city's suburbs include Schofield, Weston, Mosinee, Maine, Rib Mountain, Kronenwetter, and ...

, where he help set up the Wausau Normal School. He served as the

Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction The Superintendent of Public Instruction, sometimes referred to as the State Superintendent of Schools, is a constitutional officer within the executive branch of the Wisconsin state government, and acts as the executive head of the Department of ...

from 1891 to 1895. Wells died in Wausau and was buried in Manawa.

Sifting and winnowing incident

In 1894, Wells, as an ''ex officio'' member of the

University of Wisconsin Board of Regents A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

, attempted to have

Richard T. Ely Richard Theodore Ely (April 13, 1854 – October 4, 1943) was an American economist, author, and leader of the Progressive movement who called for more government intervention to reform what they perceived as the injustices of capitalism, especia ...

, professor of

political economy Political economy is the study of how Macroeconomics, economic systems (e.g. Marketplace, markets and Economy, national economies) and Politics, political systems (e.g. law, Institution, institutions, government) are linked. Widely studied ph ...

and director of the School of Economics, Political Science, and History at the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

, expelled from his position at Wisconsin for purportedly teaching

socialistic Socialism is a left-wing Economic ideology, economic philosophy and Political movement, movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to Private prop ...

doctrines. This effort failed, with the state Board of Regents issuing a ringing proclamation in favor of

academic freedom Academic freedom is a moral and legal concept expressing the conviction that the freedom of inquiry by faculty members is essential to the mission of the academy as well as the principles of academia, and that scholars should have freedom to teac ...

, acknowledging the necessity for freely " sifting and winnowing" among competing claims of truth. The television series ''Profiles in Courage'' did an episode in 1964 titled "Richard T. Ely" about the controversy. Wells was played by

Edward Asner Eddie Asner (; November 15, 1929 – August 29, 2021) was an American actor and former president of the Screen Actors Guild. He is best remembered for portraying Lou Grant during the 1970s and early 1980s, on both ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' an ...

.''Profiles in Courage'' (tv series): "Richard T. Ely"
Full Cast & Crew

IMDb.com IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, p ...

Notes

1853 births 1922 deaths People from Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin People from Wausau, Wisconsin University of Chicago alumni Educators from Wisconsin Superintendents of Public Instruction of Wisconsin School superintendents in Wisconsin {{Wisconsin-politician-stub