Leslie Henry Fishel, Jr., was born on November 14, 1921 in New York City. He grew up in New York and graduated from Oberlin College in 1943 with an AB in History. Shortly after graduation he married Barbara Richards and then enlisted in the Navy. Fishel spent 24 months in the Atlantic Theatre, first commanding a subchaser and then a destroyer escort. Released from active duty in 1946 with the rank of lieutenant, Fishel subsequently enrolled at Harvard University. He completed his A.M. in History in 1947 and his Ph.D. in 1954. Both degrees focused on African-American history.
From 1948 to 1955 Fishel taught at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1955 he returned to Oberlin to head the Alumni Association, at the same time teaching one of the first college courses that focused entirely on African-American history. In 1959 Fishel became the director of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin in Madison. During his tenure, the Society expanded its historic sites and its Social Action Collection began to collect the papers of civil rights workers. The Society itself completed a physical expansion, growing by 100,000 square feet.
In Madison Fishel was involved with the University YMCA and the First Congregational Church, and he was active in the effort to establish a local Urban League chapter. With Benjamin Quarles, in 1967 Fishel wrote The Negro American: A Documentary History, later renamed The Black American, a standard text for high schools and colleges.
In 1969 Fishel became president of Heidelberg College in Tiffin, Ohio. During his presidency (1969-1980) the college experienced rising enrollments. In 1970 President Richard Nixon appointed Fishel to the National Endowment for the Humanities. During this period he also served on the Council for Higher Education of the United Church of Christ and as a trustee of the Ohio Historical Society.
In 1980 Fishel left Heidelberg to become director of the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center in Fremont, Ohio. In 1980 he retired to Madison where he resumed his active historical career and involvement with the First Congregational Church.
