Emma Willard: The School Girl

The School Girl

Emma Willard, school starter and the farmer’s daughter. Willard was a vocal supporter of female education. In Troy, New York, Willard opened a school for girls that is still in business to this day. Willard’s father was a farmer that made her work, she was not fond of that treatment. Willard decided to get an education. Willard is known for her tribal-zing efforts for women’s education. The daughter of a farmer and women’s rights activists.

Education was important in her life. Born in Berlin, Connecticut, on February 23, 1787 Willard started her life. Her maiden name was Hart and her full name was Francis Elizabeth Caroline Willard. She got an education and graduated when she was eighteen; then moved to Troy, New York, where

Willard started her education at Middlebury, where she spent five years getting her education. Willard spent ten to twelve hours a day in class. When she studied for exams she spent up to fifteen hours studying. Besides her learning, she was looking into a new subject, she brought studies into the class room to continue learning (Lord). Willard strove hard to complete her education.

In 1809, she married Dr. John Willard, a widow with four young children. Although he supported her learning, it was not acceptable for married women to be educators. She left her career and had a child but while taking care of these five children, Willard continued her education by studying college books of a male relative. No colleges anywhere in the world let women attend in the early 1800s, and as Willard studied these college textbooks, she became aware of what women were missing out on.

In 1812, the bank at that Willards husband had a job at was robbed. Insurance didn’t exist yet, and the family went bankrupt. Dr. Willard’s practice as a physician was not a good source of income as it would be today. Since insurance did not exist, or the need for medical practices, both often were financially unstable. Because the family needed income, Willard opened a school in her former hometown Middlebury. Its beginning was very unstable, so the family moved to Waterford, New York, and then to Troy, New York. It was there that

She did catch the attention of the governor and especially of men in Troy. The town raised taxes to help pay for the school, and in September of 1821 Troy Female Seminary opened. In the first year, 90 girls enrolled. Even though the school was quite expensive, costing $200 tuition it still did better than some expected. At this price, only the richest of families could afford to send their daughters, but the school still showed how much young women wanted a good education. The school attracted the daughters of wealthy families from all over the nation, and their spending eventually repaid the town’s investment. It would not be until 1837, when Mary Lyon opened Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in Massachusetts, that middle-class girls could easily afford the