Emma Willard and the Birth of Higher Education for Women

A little more than 200 years ago, a young woman from Bristol, Vermont, entered one of
the first institutions dedicated to educating women in the same subjects that men
enjoyed. This new school was the creation of Emma Willard and the result of her own
desire for an education beyond the simple “dame school” instruction available to girls at the time. From Middlebury to Waterford and then on to Troy, Emma Willard’s vision for “female learning” took shape, grew, and gave birth to a whole new world for women in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Susan Ouellette is a professor emeritus of History at Saint Michael’s College and the
Executive Director of the Burden Iron Works Museum in Troy, NY. She has studied,
written, and given presentations on women’s history, immigrant history, and the period of the American Revolution.

You may also like the following events from Brunswick Community Library:

• Next Saturday, 10th May, 12:00 pm, Fabric Swap in Troy
• This month, 13th May, 04:00 pm, Nature Play in Troy
• This month, 14th May, 06:00 pm, Chinese Brush Painting with Zhong-hua Lu in Troy