Margaret Hamilton (educator)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Margaret Hamilton (June 13, 1871 – July 6, 1969) was an educator and headmistress at
Bryn Mawr School Bryn Mawr School, founded in 1885 as the first college-preparatory school for girls in the United States, is an independent, nonsectarian all-girls school for grades PK-12, with a coed preschool. Bryn Mawr School is located in the Roland Pa ...
, Maryland, United States.


Early life

Hamilton was born on June 13, 1871, in
Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne is a city in Allen County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 at the 2020 census ...
, the daughter of Gertrude Pond (1840–1917) and Montgomery Hamilton (1843–1909). Her older sister Edith Hamilton (1867–1963) was an internationally-known author who was one of the most renowned classicists of her era;
Alice Hamilton Alice Hamilton (February 27, 1869 – September 22, 1970) was an American physician, research scientist, and author. She was a leading expert in the field of occupational health, laid the foundation for health and safety protections, and a pione ...
(1869–1970) was one of the founders of industrial medicine; Norah Hamilton (1873–1945) was an artist;
Arthur Hamilton Arthur Hamilton Stern (October 22, 1926 – May 20, 2025) was an American songwriter. He is best known for the song " Cry Me a River", first published in 1953 and recorded by Julie London and numerous other artists. Life and career Arthur "Ar ...
(1886–1967) was a writer, professor of Spanish, and assistant dean for foreign students at the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...
. Alice says of Margaret "Margaret is two and half years younger than I, but because she was the only one of us who had ill health as a child, she did not seem really younger." She grew up in Fort Wayne, and worked in its first library, the Women's Reading Room. Hamilton attended
Miss Porter's School Miss Porter's School (MPS) is a private college preparatory school for girls founded in 1843 in Farmington, Connecticut. The school draws students from many of the 50 U.S. states, as well as from abroad. International students comprised 14% i ...
in Farmington, Connecticut, and graduated in 1890. From 1893 to 1897 she attended
Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh language, Welsh: ) 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 Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as a ...
, Philadelphia. She obtained a bachelor's degree in Biology and Chemistry in 1897. She was elected European fellow for the academic year 1897-8. In 1899 Hamilton studied biology in Paris and Munich and, back in the United States, anatomy at
Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...
. Her target to become a physician was interrupted when she was involved in a carriage accident while at Johns Hopkins. She was severely injured and remained slightly lame for the rest of her life.


Career

In 1900 Hamilton was back home to Fort Wayne, where she took care of her younger 4-year-old brother, Quintus, and then joined the faculty at
Bryn Mawr School Bryn Mawr School, founded in 1885 as the first college-preparatory school for girls in the United States, is an independent, nonsectarian all-girls school for grades PK-12, with a coed preschool. Bryn Mawr School is located in the Roland Pa ...
, Baltimore, as Science teacher. In 1907 she became Associate Head Mistress to her sister Edith. From 1910 to 1933 she was Head of the Primary School. She was Headmistress of the entire School from 1933 to 1935.


Personal life

Clara Landsberg, a close colleague and longtime family friend, studied in Europe with Margaret Hamilton for a summer in 1899 and was to become her lifetime companion. The daughter of a Reform rabbi from Rochester, New York, and a graduate of Bryn Mawr College, Landsberg became a resident at Hull House, where she was in charge of its evening education programs and shared a room with Alice Hamilton. Landsberg eventually left Hull House to teach Latin at Bryn Mawr School, where Edith Hamilton was headmistress. Margaret Hamilton also became a teacher at Bryn Mawr School and took over as headmistress before retiring in 1935. Alice Hamilton considered Landsberg part of the Hamilton family, one remarked, "I could not think of a life in which Clara did not have a great part, she has become part of my life almost as if she were one of us." The Hamilton sisters, their mother, Edith's companion, Doris Fielding Reid, and Landsberg, spent their retirement years in Hadlyme, Connecticut, at the house they purchased in 1916. The house was near
Miss Porter's School Miss Porter's School (MPS) is a private college preparatory school for girls founded in 1843 in Farmington, Connecticut. The school draws students from many of the 50 U.S. states, as well as from abroad. International students comprised 14% i ...
in Farmington, Connecticut, that all four of the Hamilton sisters had attended. Margaret Hamilton was the head of the household and managed the finances. With her sister Alice, she traveled to Morocco, Spain and Guatemala. Hamilton died on July 6, 1969. She is buried with Landsberg at Cove Cemetery in Hadlyme, Connecticut, in the same cemetery as Hamilton's mother (Gertrude) and her sisters (Alice, Norah, and Edith), and Edith's life partner, Doris Fielding Reid.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Margaret 1871 births 1969 deaths 20th-century American educators Bryn Mawr School people American headmistresses 20th-century American women educators