Scott Nearing was born in Morris Run, Pennsylvania, on 6th August, 1883. While at the University of Pennsylvania, Nearing became a socialist and pacifist.

He graduated in 1909 and worked as a university lecturer but was fired from the University of Pennsylvania (1915) and Toledo University (1917) for his opposition to United States involvement in the First World War. Later Nearing found work teaching at Rand School.

Nearing was active in the campaign for black civil rights and wrote two books on racism, Black America (1924) and Free Born (1932).

Scott Nearing died in Harborside, Maine, on 23rd August, 1983.