author

Harriett Bradley

b. 1892

An early 20th-century economist and essayist, she wrote a thoughtful study of England’s enclosure movement and later published work in The Atlantic. Her career linked scholarship, teaching, and public writing in a way that still feels refreshingly direct.

1 Audiobook

The Enclosures in England: An Economic Reconstruction

The Enclosures in England: An Economic Reconstruction

by Harriett Bradley

About the author

Born in 1892, Harriett Bradley Fitt studied economics at Columbia University, earning an M.A. in 1915 and a Ph.D. in 1917. Her best-known book, The Enclosures in England: An Economic Reconstruction (1918), grew out of that academic work and was published in Columbia University’s studies in history, economics, and public law series.

The book itself presents her as Assistant Professor of Economics at Vassar College, showing that she moved from graduate research into teaching early in her career. Vassar’s digital collections also preserve student letters written by Harriet Bradley in 1910, offering a glimpse of her earlier connection to the college.

She also wrote beyond the classroom. The Atlantic published her piece “The Ancient Virtue” in July 1926, and archival records connect her with a family background shaped by an Army doctor father and life at several military posts. I couldn’t confirm a suitable portrait image from reliable page images, so no profile photo is included here.