Eleanor Bisbee (July 22, 1893 – April 18, 1956) was an American journalist, Universalist minister, philosopher, and college professor, best known for her works on Turkish history, politics, and culture.

Early life and education

Bisbee was born in

Beverly, New Jersey Beverly is a City (New Jersey), city in Burlington County, New Jersey, Burlington County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 2,499, a decrease of 78 (−3.0%) from the 2010 United Stat ...

(one source says she was born in

Ocean City, New Jersey Ocean City is a City (New Jersey), city in Cape May County, New Jersey, Cape May County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is the principal city of the Ocean City metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses all of Cape May County, and is ...

), the daughter of Frederick A. Bisbee and Martha Gally Bisbee. Her father was a Universalist minister and editor of ''The Universalist Leader''. She graduated from Jackson College (part of

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university in Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, with additional facilities in Boston and Grafton, as well as Talloires, France. Tufts also has several Doctor of Physical Therapy p ...

) in 1915, and a Bachelor of Sacred Theology degree in 1917; she and her brother John were the only Theology School graduates at Tufts that year. She earned a Ph.D. in philosophy at the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...

, with a dissertation titled "Instrumentalism in Plato's philosophy: A functional theory of ideas and of God" (1929). In college Bisbee was president of the Christian Guild, a tennis champion and a member of the

Alpha Omicron Pi Alpha Omicron Pi (, AOII, Alpha O) is an international sorority founded on January 2, 1897, at Barnard College on the campus of Columbia University in Manhattan, New York City. The main archive URL iThe Baird's Manual Online Archive homepage "AO ...

sorority.

Career

Between college and graduate school, Bisbee was a Universalist minister working in Minnesota and Ohio, and a journalist and newspaper editor in

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

. After completing her doctoral studies, she was a professor of philosophy and civilization at the University of Cincinnati from 1930 to 1931, and a professor of philosophy at

Robert College The American Robert College of Istanbul ( or ), often abbreviated as Robert or RC, is a Selective school, highly selective, Independent school, independent, mixed-sex education, co-educational, Education in Turkey#Private schools, private Second ...

in Istanbul from 1936 until 1942. On her return to the United States, Bisbee concentrated on writing about Turkey, especially her book ''The New Turks: Pioneers of the Republic, 1920-1950'' (1951). Her book was described as a "lively and sympathetic book to explain the Turkish people and to describe their recent achievements." Bisbee was a columnist at the ''

San Jose Mercury ''The Mercury News'' (formerly ''San Jose Mercury News'', often locally known as ''The Merc'') is a morning daily newspaper published in San Jose, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is published by the Bay Area News Group, a subsidi ...

'' in her later years, and worked at the Hoover Institution Library, organizing the Turkish section. She spoke about the Middle East before community and campus audiences.

Publications

* "The A B C and X Y Z of Tennis" (1921) * "The Parmenides in the Light of the Propositional Function" (1933) * "Confusion about exclusive and exceptive propositions" (1937) * "Objectivity in the social sciences" (1937) * ''The People of Turkey'' (1946) * "Test of Democracy in Turkey" (1950) * ''The New Turks: Pioneers of the Republic, 1920-1950'' (1951, republished 2016)

Personal life

Bisbee died in 1956, in San Francisco, at the age of 62. There is a collection of her papers in the Hoover Institution Library and Archives.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bisbee, Eleanor 1893 births 1956 deaths Academics from New Jersey Journalists from New Jersey People from Beverly, New Jersey Philosophers from New Jersey Tufts University alumni University of Cincinnati alumni University of Cincinnati faculty Writers from Burlington County, New Jersey American women writers 20th-century American philosophers American journalists American Universalists