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Edmund Fisher and Myron Fisher, the brothers who founded the Winter Hill Business College in 1903.
This beautiful house in Somerville was acquired in the 1920s. It was first used as Fisher's main campus, then as a satellite campus for male students until the 1950s.
Medical Assisting was a popular program at Fisher during the 1940s and '50s.
In the late 1940s the Fisher School held its graduation ceremonies at the Hatch Shell bandstand on the Esplanade.
This Phi Theta Kappa induction in the mid-sixties was a glamorous affair.
A History of Excellence
Fisher College--now located in Boston's Back Bay--was originally opened in what was predominantly the working-class city of Somerville, and had its beginnings with educational entrepreneurs who believed the immigrants of that city in the early 1900s needed a way out of their unskilled employment. In 1897, brothers Myron C. Fisher and Edmund H. Fisher moved from Shenandoah, Iowa, to Somerville, Massachusetts. They had studied education in a midwestern normal school but, unlike many others of their day, sought new opportunities in the east. While teaching at Burdett College in Boston, the brothers saw a need to start a different kind of school. And so in 1903, they opened the doors of Winter Hill Business College. The brothers went door-to-door selling courses; the curriculum was individualized and students could study whatever they needed to land the job they were seeking.
When it was founded, Fisher College emphasized vocational preparation for its first few decades. Since then curriculum plans and objectives have expanded. In 1952, Fisher was approved as a two-year college by the Board of Regents of Higher Education of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and, in 1957, was given degree-granting powers. In 1970, Fisher gained membership in the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, Inc., with accreditation. Today, students from all parts of America and from numerous foreign countries attend Fisher's Day School.
The Division of Continuing Education was established in 1975 to serve the adult population of Boston and Eastern Massachusetts. Our branch campuses in Boston, North Attleborough, and New Bedford provide convenient access to students, local businesses, and organizations. Our Fisher Online division began in 1998, and now serves students from all over the United States and around the world.
Fisher College provides courses leading to baccalaureate degrees, associate's degrees, and certificates for traditional-age college students from around the world as well as to continuing education students. Although the College no longer sells courses door-to-door, a Fisher College degree is available to many students via our online education, and students still receive the individualized attention that Fisher College is known for.