Born in Central Falls, Rhode Island, to Fredrick E. and Louisiana N. Fish on October 17, 1876. He claimed later in life that he wanted to be a professor since he was four years old. He graduated from Brown in 1897, and completed his Masters and Doctoral degree at Harvard University, finishing in 1898 and 1900, respectively. He was appointed Professor of History later that year at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He served in a factory during World War I, then visited England in the fall of 1917 to direct the AmericanUniversity Club. There he met Rudyard Kipling, John Masefield, John Singer Sargent, Lady Astor, and James Bryce, all of whom he considered friends. After he returned, he married Jeanne l'Hommedieu of Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1919. They met while he was overseas. He was again a professor at University of Wisconsin–Madison upon his return to the United States. He remained at Wisconsin until his death of pneumonia after finishing teaching his summer semester classes in 1932. He had a variety of opportunities for teaching elsewhere, and sometimes did teach summers on other campuses, but for the most part he remained at Wisconsin because he found its democratic atmosphere unsurpassed. He was a fellow of the Royal Historical Society of Great Britain, and a member of Beta Theta Pi, Phi Beta Kappa, and Sigma Delta Chi fraternities, as well as the University and Madison clubs at the University. Fish was known for a bright red jacket he used to wear, especially when he spoke before school football games. He could sometimes be seen running cross country on campus, which he did for exercise. Courses he taught included American History, and "Representative Americans," about specific figures in American history. The latter course was his most popular one. It looked at United States history in terms of the country's leaders. He was widely acclaimed as a professor by his students, who said he made history live, and that he always had another anecdote about a famous historical figure.
Fish wrote racist fiction about slaved Americans under the guise of history. For example, in History of America, Fish wrote that Black Americans who were enslaved were actually "a merry race" because they "sang songs around the fire" and had a "real affection" for the slaveholders that kept them in bondage.
Personal influence
The Growth of American Nationality, by Professor Fred W. Wellborn, was dedicated to Fish.
