Emma Willard ( Hart; February 23, 1787 – April 15, 1870) was an American

female education Female education is a catch-all term for a complex set of issues and debates surrounding education (primary education, secondary education, tertiary education, and health education in particular) for girls and women. It is frequently called girls ...

activist who dedicated her life to education. She worked in several schools and founded the first school for women's higher education in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, the Troy Female Seminary in

Troy, New York Troy is a city in and the county seat of Rensselaer County, New York, United States. It is located on the western edge of the county, on the eastern bank of the Hudson River just northeast of the capital city of Albany, New York, Albany. At the ...

. With the success of her school, Willard was able to travel across the country and abroad to promote education for women. The seminary was renamed the

Emma Willard School Emma Willard School, originally called Troy Female Seminary and often referred to simply as Emma, is an independent university-preparatory day and boarding school for young women located in Troy, New York. Located on Mount Ida, it offers grade ...

in 1895 in her honor.

Early life

Emma Willard was born on February 23, 1787, in

Berlin, Connecticut Berlin ( ) is a town in the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, United States. The population was 20,175 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It was incorporated in 1785. The geographic center of ...

. She was the sixteenth of seventeen children from her father, Samuel Hart, and his second wife Lydia Hinsdale Hart."Person Detail Emma Hart Willard." Vermont Women's History Project. http://womenshistory.vermont.gov/?Tabld=61&personID=15. No longer online at this address; not found (yet) at Archive.org Her father was a farmer who encouraged his children to read and think for themselves. At a young age, Willard's father recognized her passion for learning. At that time women were only provided basic education, but Willard was included in family discussions such as politics, philosophy, world politics and mathematics that were primarily male subjects."Emma Hart Willard – People of Connecticut." 50 States – Capitals, Maps, Geography, State Symbols, State Facts, Songs, History, Famous People from NETSTATE.COM. http://www.netstate.com/states/peop/people/ct_ehw.htm At age 15, Willard was enrolled in her first school in 1802 in her hometown of Berlin. She progressed so quickly that just two years later at the age of 17 she was teaching there. Willard eventually took charge of the academy for a term in 1806."Emma Willard." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2011. Web. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/643922/Emma-Willard.

Career

In 1807, Willard left Berlin and briefly worked in

Westfield, Massachusetts Westfield is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, Hampden County, in the Pioneer Valley of western Massachusetts, United States. Westfield was first settled by Europeans in 1660. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield metrop ...

, before accepting a job offer at a female academy in

Middlebury, Vermont Middlebury is the shire town (county seat) of Addison County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,152. Middlebury is home to Middlebury College and the Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History and the adjacent ...

. She held the position of principal at the academy from 1807 to 1809. She was unimpressed by the material taught there and opened a boarding school for women, the Middlebury Female Seminary in 1814, in her own home."WILLARD, Emma." (n.d.): Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia. EBSCO. Web. She was inspired by the subjects her nephew, John Willard, was learning at

Middlebury College Middlebury College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont, United States. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists, Middlebury w ...

and strove to improve the curriculum that was taught at girls' schools. Willard believed that women could master topics like mathematics and philosophy rather than just subjects taught at

finishing school A finishing school focuses on teaching young women social graces and upper-class cultural rites as a preparation for entry into society. The name reflects the fact that it follows ordinary school and is intended to complete a young woman's ...

s. This passion for women's education led her to fight for the first women's school for higher education. Emma Willard

Her success inspired her to share her ideas on education and to write ''A Plan for Improving Female Education'' in 1819, a pamphlet that she presented to the members of the

New York Legislature The New York State Legislature consists of the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York: the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly. The Constitution of New York does not designate an offici ...

. Her pamphlet rejected contemporary ideas that women did not need a literary or scientific education. For example, the year before,

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

wrote a letter in which he suggested women should not read novels, calling them a "mass of trash" with few exceptions, and added that "For a like reason too much poetry should not be indulged." In her speech to the legislature, Willard said that existing women's education was inadequate both in the amount girls received compared to boys and in its foundational principles. One issue she took was that women's education "has been too exclusively directed, to fit them for displaying to advantage the charms of youth and beauty". Another was "it has been made the first object in educating our sex, to prepare them to please the other" while "reason and religion teach, that we too are primary existencies... not the satellites of men." Her plan included a proposal for a women's seminary to be publicly funded just as men's schools were. Willard did not receive a response from the legislators, several of whom believed women's education to be contrary to God's will. Willard finally received support from New York Governor

DeWitt Clinton DeWitt Clinton (March 2, 1769February 11, 1828) was an American politician and Naturalism (philosophy), naturalist. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator, as the mayor of New York City, and as the sixth governor of New York. ...

, who invited her to open a school there. Originally Willard opened an institution in

Waterford, New York Waterford is a town in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 8,208 at the 2020 census. The name of the town is derived from its principal village, also called Waterford. The town is located in the southeast corner of Sara ...

but she did not receive the promised financial support and therefore moved her school to

, where she received more support and funding. The Troy Female Seminary opened in September 1821 for boarding and day students."Emma Willard Biography – Facts, Birthday, Life Story – Biography." Famous Biographies & TV Shows – Biography.com. http://www.biography.com/people/emma-willard-9531676 This was the first school in the United States to offer higher education for women. The curriculum consisted of the subjects she had longed to include in women's education: mathematics, philosophy, geography, history, and science. Willard led the school to success, and in 1831, the school had enrolled over 300 students. The school attracted students from wealthy families or families of high position. Although most of the students would still end up as housewives, Willard never hindered her students' pursuit towards women's education and continued to fight for their rights. Despite her reputation today in women's history, Willard was not a supporter of the

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

movement during the mid-19th century. Willard believed that women's education was a much more important matter.

Marriage and family

While working at the academy in Middlebury, Willard met her future husband John Willard. He was a physician and 28 years her senior. John Willard brought four children to the marriage from his previous marriages. His nephew, also named John Willard, lived with them while attending Middlebury College, which gave Emma Willard much inspiration in forming her educational views. Emma Willard's younger sister,

Almira Hart Lincoln Phelps Almira Lincoln Phelps (; July 15, 1793 – July 15, 1884) was an American scientist, educator, author, and editor. Her botany writings influenced more early American women to be botanists, including Eunice Newton Foote and her daughter, A ...

, joined Emma in 1823, after the death of her first husband, Simeon Lincoln, and taught at Troy Female Seminary for eight years. Emma and John Willard had one son together, named John Willard Hart, who received the management of the Troy Female Seminary when Willard left it in 1838. Emma's first husband died in 1825, and in 1838, she married Christopher C. Yates but was divorced from him in 1843.

Works

Along with the profits made from the Troy Female Seminary, Willard also made a living from her writing. She wrote several textbooks throughout her lifetime, including books on history and geography. Some of her works are ''History of the United States, or Republic of America'' (1828), ''A System of Fulfillment of a Promise'' (1831), ''A Treatise on the Motive Powers which Produce the Circulation of the Blood'' (1846), ''Guide to the Temple of Time and Universal History for Schools'' (1849), ''Last Leaves of American History'' (1849), ''Astronography; or Astronomical Geography'' (1854), and ''Morals for the Young'' (1857). Willard's history and geography texts included women as well as men and emphasized the status of women as the primary determinant in whether a society could be described as civilized. Willard also published a book of poetry, ''The Fulfilment of a Promise'' (1831), with her most popular poem entitled "Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep," which she reportedly wrote while on an ocean voyage in 1839. In 1830, she made a tour of Europe. Three years later, she donated the proceeds from her book about her travels to a school for women that she helped to found in

Athens, Greece Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. This book ''Letters from France & Britain'' was reviewed alongside Abby Jane Morrell's account of her travels in the sub Antarctic, and they were described as "the productions of our self-taught countrywomen who re... creditable to their sex".

Atlas and geography textbooks

Willard cowrote ''The Woodbridge and Willard Geographies and Atlases'' (1823) with American geographer William Channing Woodbridge. She co-authored with him ''A System of Universal Geography on the Principles of Comparison and Classification''. Willard and Woodbridge created the first widely used historical atlas of the U.S. The maps, graphs, and pictures integrated the details of the nation's geography into the broad popular image of the country as a large, powerful complex nation. Her map-drawing geographic pedagogy became popular in the United States and also influential in American missionary schools in South Asia during the nineteenth century.

Later life and death

John Willard, Emma's husband, died in 1825. She headed the Troy Female Seminary until she remarried in 1838, and left the school in the hands of her son and daughter-in-law. She married Dr. Christopher Yates and moved to Boston with him. He gave up his career, but after nine months of marriage they separated, and a

Decree nisi A decree nisi or rule nisi () is a court order that will come into force at a future date unless a particular condition is met. Unless the condition is met, the ruling becomes a decree absolute (rule absolute), and is binding. Typically, the con ...

was granted in 1843. She spent her later years traveling across America and throughout Europe to promote women's education. In support of her efforts, she published a number of articles and presented lectures across the country to promote the cause. Her personal assistant was Celia M. Burleigh. Willard's efforts helped to establish a school for women in

. Emma Willard died on April 15, 1870, in Troy, New York and was interred at Oakwood Cemetery.

Legacy and honors

The Troy Female Seminary was renamed the

in 1892 in her honor and today is still promoting her strong belief in women's education. A statue honoring her services to the cause of higher education was erected in Troy in 1895 and stands on what is now the

Russell Sage College Russell Sage College (often Russell Sage or RSC) is a co-educational college with two campuses located in Albany and Troy, New York, approximately north of New York City in the Capital District. Russell Sage College offers both undergraduat ...

campus. A marble

memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects such as home ...

was erected in Middlebury in 1941. In 1905, Willard was inducted into the

Hall of Fame for Great Americans The Hall of Fame for Great Americans is an outdoor sculpture gallery located on the grounds of Bronx Community College (BCC) in the Bronx, New York City. It was the first such hall of fame in the United States. Built in 1901 as part of the U ...

in the

Bronx, New York The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

. In 2013, Willard was inducted into the

National Women's Hall of Fame The National Women's Hall of Fame (NWHF) is an American institution founded to honor and recognize women. It was incorporated in 1969 in Seneca Falls, New York, and first inducted honorees in 1973. As of 2024, the Hall has honored 312 inducte ...

. She has been the subject of several biographies. Her geographies are discussed by Calhoun and her histories by Baym.Baym, N. "Women and the Republic: Emma Willard's Rhetoric of History" American Quarterly 43:1 (1991) 1–23

References

External links

Emma Willard School, Emma (Hart) Willard Collection, 1809–2004
* Schulten, Susan
"Emma Willard's Maps of Time "
'' The Public Domain Review'', January 22, 2020. * *
Emma Hart Willard Family Papers
at the Amherst College Archives & Special Collections; includes a detailed chronology of her career. {{DEFAULTSORT:Willard, Emma 1787 births 1870 deaths Activists from New York (state) American textbook writers American women textbook writers American women's rights activists Burials at Oakwood Cemetery (Troy, New York) Emma Willard School Founders of American schools and colleges Hall of Fame for Great Americans inductees People from Berlin, Connecticut People from Middlebury, Vermont People from Troy, New York Women and education Activists from Connecticut Activists from Vermont Educators from New York (state) 19th-century American women educators 19th-century American educators 19th-century American philanthropists Women cartographers