Fifield was born in Weymouth in 1838 and moved to Dorchester after her marriage to Dr. William Fifield. Starting in 1879, Massachusetts women were allowed to run and vote for School Committee even though they could not vote in any other elections. Fifield was the second woman elected to the Committee and served for sixteen years. Fifield was particularly interested in manual training and gave lectures on this topic throughout the country. She was an important supporter of the Mechanical Arts School in Boston and instrumental in organizing the Boston educational exhibit at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. Fifield was active in national affairs of the Unitarian Church including serving as recording secretary of the National Alliance, the Church’s women’s organization.
In Dorchester, she worked with the Benevolent Society of the First Parish Church which enabled women to earn money through sewing projects and then distributed the proceeds to charitable organizations throughout Boston. Fifield and her husband had three children. She is buried in the Village Cemetery in Weymouth. The Emily A. Fifield School on Dunbar Avenue, which closed in 2012, was named after her.
