Lydia J. Newcomb Comings (, Newcomb; July 25, 1850 – September 21, 1946) was an American educator, lecturer, and author. Comings was the co-founder of the School of Organic Education,

Fairhope, Alabama Fairhope is a city in Baldwin County, Alabama, United States, located on the eastern shoreline of Mobile Bay. The population was 22,477 at the 2020 census. Fairhope is a principal city of the Daphne-Fairhope-Foley metropolitan area, which in ...

, 1905. She was in charge of the Normal School of Expression and Physical Culture, Moravian Seminary and Colleges for Young Women (

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Bethlehem is a city in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, Northampton and Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Bethle ...

); Physical Culture Department, Mt. Chautauqua,

Mountain Lake Park, Maryland Mountain Lake Park is a town in Garrett County, Maryland, United States. The population was 2,147 as of the 2020 census. History Mountain Lake Park Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. Creedmore wa ...

; and Physical Culture and Expression,

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Chautauqua Chautauqua ( ) is an adult education and social movement in the United States that peaked in popularity in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. The Cha ...

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. She was the author of ''Muscular Exercises for Health and Grace''.

Biography

Lydia Jane Newcomb was born in

Spring Lake, Michigan Spring Lake is a village in Ottawa County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,497 at the 2020 census. The village is located within Spring Lake Township; the two share a ZIP code. History In 1837, Captain Benjamin Hopkins p ...

, July 25, 1850. She was the daughter of John H. and Frances (Sinclair) Newcomb. She received her education at

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

grammar and high school and at Mrs. L. H. Stone's Seminary, in

Kalamazoo, Michigan Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in Kalamazoo County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 73,598. It is the principal city of the Kalamazoo–Portage metropolitan are ...

. Comings taught at Ravenswood (Chicago) public school, 1876–85; and at the Moravian Seminary, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 1895-98 (

elocution Elocution is the study of formal speaking in pronunciation, grammar, style, and tone as well as the idea and practice of effective speech and its forms. It stems from the idea that while communication is symbolic, sounds are final and compel ...

and physical culture). She was a lecturer on physical culture, dress, voice, and similar subjects from 1898 before lecturing on Organic Education. Comings was the founder and incorporator (with five other women) of the School of Organic Education,

, 1907. She served as president of the Board of Trustees from its inception. This was an experimental school for both day and boarding pupils where there were no requirements for the younger pupils and but few for the older ones, where no books were used until pupils were 9 or 10 years of age, and health and individuality were preserved, and cultivated above all else. She was the author of ''Muscular Exercises for Health and Grace'' 1893. In Chicago, in 1902, she married Samuel Huntington Comings (died 1907). She served as president of the Fifth Thursday Club of Falrhope, since its beginning in 1904, this club being a federation of the various clubs in Falrhope. Her recreations included an eighteen-month stay In Europe, Italy,

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, and Germany, with a series of lectures in Naples and

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. She was also the president of the Library Association of Falrhope. Comings favored

woman suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to 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 suffrage was in effect during ...

. Lydia Jane Newcomb Comings died September 21, 1946.

Selected works

As Lydia J. Newcomb

* ''Muscular exercises for health and grace'', 1893

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Comings, Lydia J. Newcomb 1850 births 1946 deaths 19th-century American writers 19th-century American women writers People from Spring Lake, Michigan Educators from Michigan American women educators