Fannie Fern Andrews

American writer

Fannie Fern Andrews (Phillips), PhD (1867–1950) was an American lecturer, teacher, social worker, and writer.

Fannie Fern and Frank Edward Phillips were twins, born on 25 September 1867 at Middleton, Annapolis (Nova Scotia) to Annie M. (née Brown) and William Wallis Phillips. Between 1871 and 1880, the family, which included 5 children, migrated from Middleton to Lynn, Massachusetts. Later, they moved to Salem, where she attended the public schools and graduated from the Salem Normal School. On July 16, 1890, she was married to Edwin G. Andrews. She taught for six years before receiving a degree in psychology and education from Radcliffe College in 1902. Through her work in the public schools in Boston, she became convinced that differing ethnic and economic backgrounds spurred conflict, and that each must be taught to understand the others in order to communicate and negotiate on peaceful terms. In 1908, Andrews founded the American Peace League. This organization sought peace by teaching the principles of 'international justice' in American schools. She envisioned an international bureau of education, which would promote understanding among all nations. When World War I broke out, Andrews changed the name of her organization from the "American Peace League" to the "American School Citizenship League" in 1918. In 1918, after being selected by President Woodrow Wilson, Andrews attended the Paris Peace Conference. The rejection reasoning was there was too much diversity in the cultures of the different countries to have a standard curriculum that would work for all. Her ideas eventually led to the founding of the International Bureau of Education in Geneva. In 1920, Andrews earned a Master of Arts degree and in 1923 completed her PhD at Harvard.