George M. Steele

George McKendree Steele (1823-1902) was born in Strafford, Orange County, Vermont, on April 13, 1823. He would go on to attend Wesleyan University in Middleton Connecticut, where he graduated in 1850. Later in 1863, Steele would become president of Lawrence University at Appleton Wisconsin. Steele would remain there until 1879, before transferring to Wesleyan Academy at Wilbraham, Massachusetts, where he served as principal. After 17 years at the Wesleyan Academy, Steele would resign to take up a position at Lasell Seminary in Auburn, also in Massachusetts. At the Lasell Seminary, Steele would serve as both a chaplain and a teacher, where he taught political economy, in addition to ethics, bible studies, and psychology. It was during this time that Steele published his major work on political economy, Outline Study of Political Economy, which was later enlarged and retitled, Rudimentary Economics for Schools and Colleges. As the title suggests, this treatise was designed to assist high schools and colleges in the teaching of political economy from an American Protectionist perspective. The work draws heavily upon the ideas of Henry Charles Carey, but also Peshine Smith and Francis Bowen. In addition to his academic pursuits, Steele was also a prominent clergyman with the Methodist Episcopal Church for more than fifty years. Steele would pass away on January 14, 1902, at his son’s residence in Kenilworth, Illinois.