This Article First Appeared In The Scroll On July 08, 2023
In 1904, his very first year in India, Sam Higginbottom found himself teaching economics and biology at Allahabad Christian College. It wasn’t what he wanted. As a missionary of the Presbyterian Church, Higginbottom believed his real work was to spread the Gospel.
Yet, he gamely took on the challenge, adopting an experiential teaching style. Through visits to a railway workshop, a brick kiln, the Naini Central Jail, among other places, he gave his students an understanding of the economics of production and the restraints placed on it by the caste system.