Harris Francis Fletcher (23 October 1892 – July 1979) was an American academic, professor of English at the University of Illinois for 36 years from 1926 to 1962, an author, and a leading authority on the work of John Milton.

Early life

He was born in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Fletcher received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1925.

Career

Fletcher was Professor of English at the University of Illinois from 1926 to 1962, and Associate Dean of Liberal Arts and Sciences from 1931 to 1938. Fletcher played a major role in the establishment of the university's Rare Book and Special Collections Library, which now include the largest collection of the works of the poet John Milton in the United States. He died in Champaign, Illinois in 1979.

Selected publications

Personal life

On July 8, 1915, he married Mary Ellen Davis in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Mary Ellen Davis died of influenza in the flu pandemic October 20, 1918. On 22 June 1922, he married Dorothy Bacon in Coldwater, Michigan.