Lucretia Crocker (December 31, 1829 – October 9, 1886) was an American science educator. Crocker founded the

Women's Education Association Women's Education Association (WEA) was an American organization focused on better education of women. Founded in 1872, it did a large and varied work. Among other good things, it established training schools for nurses, diet kitchens, and cooking s ...

in 1872.

Early life

Although there is not much information available about Lucretia Crocker's childhood, we know that her family has long standing roots in New England. Researchers claim that her ancestors settled in the "Old Common Wealth" which is better known now as the state 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 ...

. Crocker was born on 31 December in 1829, daughter of county sheriff and businessman Henry, and Lydia E. Crocker (née Ferris) in Barnstable,

. Crocker had ancestors that had settled in the old Commonwealth. Throughout her adolescence she attended Boston public schools. Her family moved to Shawmut Avenue in Boston, where she attended the Normal School for Girls. The school system was established in Lexington, Mass in 1839. She then went on to graduate from the Massachusetts State Normal School in West Newton in 1850. Crocker graduating in 1850 indicates that she likely began her schooling at Massachusetts State Normal School in 1847 or 1848. She attended lectures by

J. L. R. 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 ...

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

, although at the time women could only attend Harvard as guests. Crocker was progressive in her views on education as she promoted science and valued it as useful knowledge.

Career

She taught at the State Normal School from 1850 to 1854 when she fell ill and resigned. After leaving Massachusetts she continued her teaching career in Ohio where she started a job as an educator, from 1857 to 1859, she was professor of mathematics and astronomy at

Antioch College Antioch College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1850 by the Christian Connection and began operating in 1852 as a non-secta ...

. The State Normal school in West Newton moved to

Framingham Framingham () is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. Incorporated in 1700, it is located in Middlesex County and the MetroWest subregion of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. The city proper covers with a popula ...

, Massachusetts in 1853. It is presently known as Framingham State College, and includes Crocker Hall, a building name in Lucretia Crocker's memory. The construction of this addition began in 1886, the year she died. In 1859, she returned to Boston to care for her parents, and become involved in educational activities there at the Newbury Street School. From 1865 for some years she assisted in selecting the

American Unitarian Association The American Unitarian Association (AUA) was a religious denomination in the United States and Canada, formed by associated Unitarian congregations in 1825. In 1961, it consolidated with the Universalist Church of America to form the Unitarian ...

's Sunday School books. From 1866 to 1875 she was a member of the New England Freedman's Aid Society's Committee on Teaching. In 1869, she toured the freedmen's schools. She was also teaching botany and mathematics in a private school at around this time. Crocker founded the

, Boston, in 1872. She was elected to the Boston School Committee in 1873. From 1873 to about 1876 she was head of the science department of the Society to Encourage Studies at Home, serving on the board of school supervisors from 1876 to 1886. Crocker died October 9, 1886, in Boston. Her home is featured on 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 ...

Accomplishments

Throughout her life, Lucretia Crocker achieved various accomplishments as one of the first well known female educators in the United States. She was also the first woman elected into the Boston School Committee, and was the first female supervisor in the Boston Public Schools District. Additionally, she was an associate member of the Boston Society of Natural History. She was most well known for her teachings of mathematics and natural science. Around this time her and Mary L Hall co-authored her first book ''Our World'' (1864)., Crocker founded the Women's Education Association in 1872. From 1873-1876 she served as the Head of the Science Department of The Society to Encourage Studies at Home. This was also known as The Silent University. In addition she was also appointed as a member of the committee on Teacher's for the New England. In 1880 Crocker was elected to the America Association of Science. Crocker served the disabled as a member of the executive committee for the Boston School for Deaf Mutes. Later in life (1883), she wrote another book, ''Methods of Teaching Geography''.

Works

* ''Our World'' (1864) * ''Methods of Teaching Geography'' (1883) * ''Lessons on Color in Primary Schools'' (1883)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crocker, Lucretia 1829 births 1886 deaths 19th-century American women scientists Place of birth missing 19th-century American educators People from South End, Boston 19th-century American women educators