LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION commending Welthy Blakesley Honsinger Fisher
posthumously upon the occasion of being inducted into the Rome Arts Hall
of Fame on June 10, 2011

WHEREAS, It is the custom of this Legislative Body to call attention to
individuals and organizations that devote their time and energies to the
cultural enrichment of the Empire State; and
WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern, and in full accord with its long-
standing traditions, this Legislative Body is justly proud to commend
Welthy Blakesley Honsinger Fisher upon the occasion of being inducted
into the Rome Arts Hall of Fame at its Annual Induction Ceremony at the
Capitol Theatre, in Rome, New York, on June 10, 2011; and
WHEREAS, The Rome Arts Hall of Fame was created in 2005, and is housed
in the mezzanine foyer of the Capitol; each year, nominations are
collected from community members and arts organizations, and a committee
made up of individuals from Rome's arts community chooses inductees; and
WHEREAS, Born in Rome, New York, on September 18, 1879, Welthy Blakes-
ley Honsinger went on to attend Syracuse University from which she grad-
uated in 1900; she became a teacher at Rosebud College, a one-room
school in Haverstraw, New York, where she was in charge of 15 students;
and
WHEREAS, She sailed to China in 1906, and became the headmistress of
the Bao Lin School in Nanchang Province, which was the only school for
girls in the province of 45 million people; committed to the idea of
women's independence, Welthy Blakesley Honsinger Fisher encouraged her
girls to develop into new, modern Chinese women, often against the wish-
es of their traditional parents; and
WHEREAS, Upon returning to the United States in 1917, she became a
YWCA war worker and the editor of World Neighbors, a Methodist mission
magazine; and
WHEREAS, In 1924, Welthy Blakesley Honsinger was married to Frederick
Bohn Fisher; both were well respected by Gandhi and other prominent
leaders of the Indian Independence Movement; upon her husband's death in
1938, she wrote his biography and studied educational systems throughout
the world; she lectured throughout the United States on women of the
world and Chinese Industrial Cooperatives; and
WHEREAS, Six weeks before his death, in 1947, Gandhi asked her to
return to India and continue her work on education in India's villages;
at the age of 73, she returned to India in 1952, to continue her vital
mission; and
WHEREAS, This remarkable woman helped start two non-profit organiza-
tions, World Education and World Literacy in Canada; she was closely
involved in both organizations for many years, either as President or an
advisor; and
WHEREAS, Throughout her nineties Welthy Blakesley Honsinger Fisher
traveled throughout the world and made her final trip to India as a
government guest in 1980, shortly before her death at the age of 101;
and
WHEREAS, Welthy Blakesley Honsinger Fisher was honored by the Indian
government, which based its village literacy programs on her ideas, and
issued a stamp in her likeness; and
WHEREAS, It is most fitting that we take time to celebrate the arts of
our Nation, to honor our artists, and to express our appreciation to
everyone who patronizes the arts; and as we celebrate the arts, we cele-
brate and give thanks to our American freedom, the only atmosphere in
which artists can truly create and in which art is truly the expression
of the soul; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
commend Welthy Blakesley Honsinger Fisher posthumously upon the occasion
of being inducted into the Rome Arts Hall of Fame on June 10, 2011; and
be it further
RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to the family of Welthy Blakesley Honsinger Fisher.