Fletcher B. Dresslar Papers

Dr. Fletcher Bascom Dresslar was born in Banta, Indiana, September 21, 1858. He received a Bachelor’s degree from Indiana University in 1889, and a Master’s degree from Indiana University in 1892. In 1894 he received a Ph.D from Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts. After a brief period of teaching in public schools, Dr. Dresslar went onto become Professor of Psychology and Education at the State Normal School, Los Angeles California from 1984 to 1897. He was Assistance Professor, Science and Art of Teaching 1897- 1906, and Assistant Professor 1906-1909 at the University of California, He served as Professor of Education and Dean of the School of Education at University of Alabama from 1909 to 1911. Dr. Dresslar became Professor of School Hygiene at the Peabody College for Teachers on December 1, 1912. He retained this position until his death on January 19, 1930

March 3,1922 Dr Dresslar married Minnie Fisher, former Dean of Women at Auburn Polytechnic Institute in Alabama. They had two sons Otis Dresslar and Oscar Dresslar.

A foremost authority in schoolhouse planning, health education, and mental hygiene, Dr. Dresslar authored: The Auxiliary Schools of Germany (1907), Superstition & Education (1907), American Schoolhouses (1911), School Hygiene (1913), Ethics of Trees (1921) as well as: Open Air Schools, Rural Schoolhouses & Grounds, and Bulletins on school architecture & hygiene for the U.S. Department of Education. Dr. Dresslar served as a consultant to Julius Rosenwald in the building of the Rosenwald Schools. He served as the Chairman to the Executive Committee of the Southern State Supervisors of Schoolhouse Construction and was also President of the Tennessee Academy of Science.