George Barrell Emerson (September 12, 1797 – March 14, 1881) was an American educator and pioneer of women's education.
Biography
He was born in
Kennebunk,
Massachusetts
Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
(since 1820 in Maine). He graduated from
Harvard College
Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...
in 1817, and soon after took charge of an academy in
Lancaster, Massachusetts
Lancaster is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Incorporated in 1653, Lancaster is the oldest town in Worcester County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the town population ...
. Between 1819 and 1821, he was the tutor in mathematics and natural philosophy at Harvard, and in 1821 was chosen principal of
The English High School for Boys in
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
. In 1823 he opened the Emerson School for Girls in the same city, which he conducted until 1855, when he retired from professional life. He was one of the founders of the
Boston Society of Natural History, which he became the president of. Later he was appointed by
Governor Everett chairman of the commissioners for the zoological and botanical survey of
Massachusetts
Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
. He died in
Newton, Massachusetts
Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located roughly west of Downtown Boston, and comprises a patchwork of thirteen villages. The city borders Boston to the northeast and southeast (via the neighborhoods of ...
.
Family
He was a cousin of
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, minister, abolitionism, abolitionist, and poet who led the Transcendentalism, Transcendentalist movement of th ...
.
He married his first wife, Olivia Buckminster on May 9, 1824. After her death on July 10, 1832, he married Mary Rotch Flemming on November 24, 1834.
["Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States records," images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9Q1-Q7B4?view=explore), image 229 of 409; Boston (Massachusetts). City Registrar.]
Legacy
*
Emerson Preparatory School in
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
was named in his honor.
Further reading
Works by Emerson
* An address, delivered at the opening of the Boston Mechanics' Institution, February 7, 1827.
* ''The school and the schoolmaster''. Part I by
Alonzo Potter; Part II. by George Emerson. Boston: W.B. Fowle & N. Capen, 1843.
* ''Report on the Trees and Shrubs growing naturally in the Forests of Massachusetts'' (Boston, 1846)
* ''Manual of Agriculture'' (with C. Flint; 1861)
* “Education in Massachusetts: early legislation and history,” a lecture of a course by members of the
Massachusetts Historical Society
The Massachusetts Historical Society (MHS) is a major historical archive specializing in early American, Massachusetts, and New England history. The Massachusetts Historical Society was established in 1791 and is located at 1154 Boylston Street ...
, delivered before the
Lowell Institute, February 16, 1869.
* “What we owe to
Louis Agassiz
Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz ( ; ) FRS (For) FRSE (May 28, 1807 – December 14, 1873) was a Swiss-born American biologist and geologist who is recognized as a scholar of Earth's natural history.
Spending his early life in Switzerland, he recei ...
, as a teacher.” An address by George B. Emerson, before the
Boston Society of Natural History, January 7, 1874.
* ''Reminiscences of an Old Teacher'' (1878)
Works about Emerson
Biography at Harvard.edu- Biography and story of the founding of the Arnold Arboretum
Notes
References
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Externet Links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Emerson, George Barrell
1797 births
1881 deaths
American educators
Harvard University faculty
Educators from Boston
19th century in Boston
Harvard College alumni
People from Kennebunk, Maine