This Day in Religious History: On November 8, 1836, Mary Lyon opened Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in South Hadley, Massachusetts, today the oldest female college in the United States. Born in 1797 to a deeply Christian family from western Massachusetts, Lyon spent most of her early life following the social convention of the day which held that women should learn all the skills of the house, from sewing to cooking. While she ably learned these tasks, her heart yearned to gain knowledge, not perform housework, and she made sure to take every available opportunity to learn. She began to save every penny she made for schooling, and she soon had enough to enroll herself at the school of Rev. Joseph Emerson. In an age where women were thought to have second rate minds, Emerson broke from the norm, talking to his female students as equals. Early on he was able to recognize the drive and potential in Mary Lyon, encouraging her to open up a school for higher learning specifically tuned for women. This she was able to do after years of persistence and the contributions of several Christian citizens. On November 8, 1836, the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, which drew its name from a nearby mountain, was opened with its motto coming from Psalm 144:12, That our daughters may be as cornerstones, polished after the similitude of a palace.
Posted on: Fri, 08 Nov 2013 16:53:54 +0000
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