Flora Bridges (February 8, 1859 – June 13, 1912) was an American college professor. She taught Greek and English at

Mount Holyoke College Mount Holyoke College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in South Hadley, Massachusetts, United States. It is the oldest member of the h ...

, and was Dean of Women at

Yankton College Yankton College was a private liberal arts college in Yankton, South Dakota, United States, affiliated with the Congregational Christian Churches (later the United Church of Christ). Yankton College produced nine Rhodes Scholars, more than any ...

and

Olivet College The University of Olivet, formerly known as Olivet College, is a private Christian college in Olivet, Michigan, United States. The college is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. It was founded in 1844 by missionaries from Oberlin Coll ...

Early life

Bridges was born in

Salisbury, Illinois Salisbury is an unincorporated community located in Sangamon County, Illinois. It is located on Illinois Route 97 Illinois Route 97 (IL 97) is a north–south state highway in the central and western portions of the U.S. state of Ill ...

, the daughter of Vernon Roe Bridges and Mary Elizabeth Boyd Bridges. Her father was a physician. She trained as a teacher, then earned a bachelor's degree in 1887 and a master's degree in 1888, all at

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...

, with further studies at the

University of Zürich The University of Zurich (UZH, ) is a public university, public research university in Zurich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of the ...

and the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

."Department Notes"
''The Mount Holyoke'' (October 1905): 69-70.

Career

Bridges was a high school principal in

Mattoon, Illinois Mattoon ( ) is a city in Coles County, Illinois, United States. The population was 16,870 as of the 2020 census. The city is home to Lake Land College and has close ties with its neighbor, Charleston, Illinois, Charleston. Both are principal cit ...

as a young woman. She taught Greek at Mount Holyoke College from 1887 to 1892. She taught English and Greek at

Butler College Lee D. Butler College is one of the seven residential colleges of Princeton University, founded in 1983. It houses about 500 freshmen and sophomores, 100 juniors and seniors, 10 Resident Graduate Students, a faculty member in residence, as wel ...

(1894 to 1898),

(1892 to 1893 and 1899 to 1901), and

(1901 to 1904) and served as Dean of Women at Olivet and Yankton. In 1905 she returned to Mount Holyoke to teach English. She donated a large Greek-English lexicon to the college's library in 1906. She worked closely with Marietta Kies at Mount Holyoke.

Personal life

Bridges was living with her colleagues, sisters

Clara F. Stevens Clara Frances Stevens (December 5, 1855 – October 18, 1934) was an American college professor, head of the English department at Mount Holyoke College. Early life and education Stevens was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, the daughter of ...

and Alice Porter Stevens, at the time of her death in 1912, aged 53 years, from gastrointestinal tuberculosis. Clara Stevens wrote a detailed obituary about Bridges for the ''Oberlin Alumni Magazine''. A portion of Bridges' personal scholarly library, mostly involving Greek language and literature, was donated to the Mount Holyoke College library after her death.

References

External links

* Flora Bridges,
"Co-education in Swiss Universities"
''Popular Science Monthly'' 38(February 1891). * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bridges, Flora 1859 births 1912 deaths Oberlin College alumni Olivet College faculty Yankton College people Butler University faculty Mount Holyoke College faculty American women classical scholars People from Sangamon County, Illinois Place of death missing