Lelia Bascom
1875-1968
Professor of English
Bascom was the first Board Secretary of UW Credit Union in 1931.
Bascom enrolled at the University of Wisconsin in 1898. It was reported that her grandfather was a cousin of the former University President John A. Bascom. After graduation, she taught at high schools in Michigan, Colorado and Wisconsin before returning to the University in 1901 as an instructor of English while also pursuing an M.A. degree (which was awarded in 1911). In 1920, she became an assistant professor of English and worked with the UW Extension Division from 1927 until her retirement in 1940.
Bascom's professional work focused on the lack of fluency in English faced by so many immigrant laborers and the barrier it created to education and employment. She pioneered the development of correspondence-study in English, and in 1920, published Elementary Lessons in English Idiom: A Textbook for Students in Correspondence-Study, prepared in the Extension Division of the University of Wisconsin. With her passion for the success and assimilation of immigrant workers, she traveled the state promoting community awareness to the educational needs of new Americans.
Bascom was a Quaker and an advocate for peace. She served a term as president of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, and in 1924 was appointed to the program committee for the Peace Council for Education. At age 90, a Capital Times newspaper story titled "Her Wit and Lifelong Concern for the Unfortunate Remain," she said of herself, "I don't have a personality, I just have a loud voice!" Bascom used that voice in service to the cause of peace, the education of immigrants and to aid those in need.
Bascom was a strong advocate of women's rights and in 1919 helped form a local branch of the Business and Professional Women's League. She was a leader in many community organizations including the YWCA, the College Club, the Madison Civics Club, and also served a two-year term on the Dane County Board.
Following her death, her colleagues recalled that, "She accepted the Wisconsin Idea as a way to live out her explicit faith in the brotherhood of man and the fatherhood of God."