Ernest Sutherland Bates
Ernest Sutherland Bates (October 14, 1879 – December 4, 1939) was an American academic and writer. He was born in Gambier, Ohio, and earned degrees from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1908.
Bates taught English and philosophy at Oberlin College (1903–1905), the University of Arizona (until 1915), and the University of Oregon (1915–1925). After teaching, he became the literary editor of the Dictionary of American Biography and worked as an editor and writer for Modern Monthly and the Saturday Review of Literature.
His notable work is Mary Baker Eddy: The Truth and the Tradition (1932), co-authored with John V. Dittemore, tracing the life of Christian Science founder Mary Baker Eddy. The book relies on original sources, including Eddy’s letters and letters from her students.
Bates married Rosalind Goodrich Bates in 1914; they had two sons and divorced in 1919. He died in 1939 at age 60.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 13:36 (CET).