Julia Harrington Duff (November 30, 1859 – 1932) was an American educator and community leader, known as the first Irish-American woman to serve on the

Boston School Committee The Boston School Committee serves as the school board for Boston Public Schools. Precursors In 1647, the Massachusetts General Court passed a law requiring the establishment of schools, it dictated that responsibility for the schools would be gr ...

Early life

Julia Elizabeth Harrington was born in

Charlestown, Massachusetts Charlestown is the oldest Neighborhoods in Boston, neighborhood in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States. Also called Mishawum by the Massachusett, it is located on a peninsula north of the Charles River, across from downtown Bost ...

, the eldest of her parents' seven children. Her father, John Harrington, a hatter, was from Ireland (he was known as Harrington the Hatter); her mother Mary Agnes Noonan Harrington was American-born. Julia Harrington attended Boston Girls' High School and graduated from the

Boston Normal School Boston State College was a normal school from 1852 to 1872 and a public university from 1872 to 1982 in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was merged into the University of Massachusetts Boston in 1982. History Boston State College' ...

in 1878. Her brother Arthur Harrington was a lawyer who served in the Massachusetts legislature.

Career

After normal school, Julia Harrington taught school in Boston for fourteen years, until marriage disqualified her from continuing that employment. In 1901, she was elected to the

, where she served for four years, and was the first Irish Catholic woman to hold a seat on the committee. She worked for equal employment opportunities for local, often Irish Catholic teachers in Boston schools, with the slogan "Boston Schools for Boston Girls". She also supported school sports for girls, at a time when many educationists were opposed to the idea. "The girl who goes into athletics is likely to be equally quick mentally," she explained. "With proper safeguards for their health, I believe school athletics to be an excellent thing for schoolgirls." She had a reputation as a forceful, argumentative committee member. Her husband made a practice of being present at all the school board meetings to "join in the fight" when she was quarrelling. Julia Harrington Duff lost her seat on the school board in 1905 when its membership was reduced from 24 seats to five; she ran again for the board in 1906, (and again in 1907), saying "I shall run not as a representative of any race or creed, but as a representative of the 60,000 mothers of children in the city of Boston." In 1910, she supported a boycott of the Boston opera house to express disapproval for recently divorced

Lina Cavalieri Natalina "Lina" Cavalieri (25 December 1874 – 7 February 1944) was an Italian operatic dramatic soprano, actress, and monologist. Biography Lina Cavalieri was born on Christmas Day at Viterbo, some north of Rome. She lost her parents at the ...

Personal life

Julia Harrington married John Duff, a medical doctor educated at Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. They had three children. She died in 1932, aged 73 years. Her home is part of the

Boston Women's Heritage Trail The Boston Women's Heritage Trail is a series of walking tours in Boston, Massachusetts, leading past sites important to Boston women's history. The tours wind through several neighborhoods, including the Back Bay and Beacon Hill, commemorating w ...

in Charlestown. Her son Paul Harrington Duff became a noted surgeon in Boston. His son,

Brian Barnett Duff Brian Barnett Duff (September 15, 1930 – February 25, 2016) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Education and career Duff was born on September 15, 1930, in Dallas, Texa ...

, was a U. S. federal judge in Illinois. Her great-granddaughter, Eileen Duff, has served on the Massachusetts

Governor's Council The governments of the Thirteen Colonies of British America developed in the 17th and 18th centuries under the influence of the British constitution. The British monarch issued colonial charters that established either royal colonies, propriet ...

since 2012. Many of her grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren have gone on to be public school teachers. A large number of the Duff family still reside in New England.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duff, Julia Harrington 1859 births 1932 deaths Educators from Massachusetts American women educators Boston State College alumni People from Charlestown, Boston Boston School Committee members