Geek of the Week -- Emma Willard

In conjunction with the Detention Badge (get those projects in by February 23!),  this week we will be profiling a pioneer in the fields of women's rights and education.

At a time when many in power thought it was against God's will to educate females,  Emma Willard was lucky enough to be born into a family that valued her intelligence.  Though he was a farmer, her father encouraged all of his children to read and think for themselves.  Emma was allowed to take part in dinner-table discussions on subjects such as mathematics, politics, and philosophy, which were thought unsuitable for women at the time.  She attended and soon taught at a school in her home town of Berlin, Connecticut.

Willard went on to work at a number of girl's schools, but decided to found her own school when she became disillusioned with what passed for women's education.  She wanted young women to be able to learn the same subjects as young men, not just the finishing school niceties that were thought suitable for them.  With help from New York Governor DeWitt Clinton, she was able to open the Troy Female Seminary in 1821.  The school, which still exists, was renamed the Emma Willard School in her honor in 1895.

Emma Willard retired from the school in 1838 and traveled the world promoting education for women.  She fought for the right of women to have "primary existences...not (as) the satellites of men."  In addition to her women's rights work, she wrote several books on history, science, geography, and other academic subjects.  She also published poetry and a book about her travels. The proceeds from the last were donated to fund a women's academy in Greece.

Emma Willard valued education and fought all her life so that other women could be educated, too.  She believed that women's minds were equal to men's, and that, whether they became housewives or scientists, women deserved the opportunity to study challenging subjects, whether or not men thought they were suitable.  For those reasons, I am happy to name her a Ravenclaw Geek of the Week.

Learn more about Emma Willard:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_Willard
https://www.emmawillard.org/about-emma/emma-hart-willard
https://www.nwhm.org/html/exhibits/education/Biographies_Willard.htm

Photo: Public Domain