Georgetown Female Seminary
Georgetown Female Seminary (later, Waverley Seminary) was an American school for young women located in Georgetown, Washington, D.C.
Miss English's Female Seminary
[edit]Lydia S. English founded the school in 1826 when she was only sixteen years old.[1] English's father had recently remarried and she founded the school as a way to live apart from her new stepmother.[1] English received no support from her family for her new endeavor.[1] The first class included just three students: Jane Wann, Eliza Henderson, and Miss Perry.[1]
The school quickly expanded to serve the daughters of Washington politicians.[1] In 1835, the school had 130 pupils.[citation needed] Under English, the curriculum included botany.[2] Noted writer Caroline Healey Dall taught at the school in the Fall and Winter of 1842.[3]
According to the papers of Andrew Johnson, it cost $33.81 for Martha Johnson Patterson to attend Miss English's Female Seminary between December 2, 1844 and February 12, 1845.[4] Lodging and laundry service brought the total to $39.99.[5]
The seminary was three floors high and contained 19 bedrooms, a library, several parlors, and porches on the wings.[6] It even had running hot water.[6] The Union Army confiscated the seminary in 1861 during the Civil War and turned it into a hospital for officers.[6] It is believed that Mary Edwards Walker, the first woman to win the Medal of Honor, served here.[6]
English was a secessionist.[6] Enslaved people helped run the school under English.[3] While the school was being used as a hospital, English moved out of sight around the corner to 2812 N Street.[6]
Lydia S. English died on February 24, 1866. She is buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C.[7]
Georgetown Female Seminary
[edit]On September 12, 1868, Mary E. Bibb and Miss S. A. Lipscomb organized the Georgetown Female Seminary.[8] Bib and Lipscomb were sisters from a family of teachers.[8] Their brother, Andrew Adgate Lipscomb, was chancellor of the University of Georgia for fifteen years.[8] Both women were graduates of Lydia S. English's school.[8]
The school increased in thrived under the new management and continued to educate the daughters of prominent families.[8] After three years, Bibb retired.[8] Lipscomb ran the school after 1871.[8]
In The Yearbook of Education for 1879 the Georgetown Female Seminary is described as "A Select Boarding and Day School for Young Ladies and Children."[9] The school began with a kindergarten department and ended with a collegiate department.[9] Courses offered included modern languages, music, drawing and bookkeeping.[9] The principals were Mrs, Zelia D. Butcher and Miss Mary C. Douglas.[9] The school was located at 1023 12th St NW, Washington DC.[9]
Waverly Seminary
[edit]After 10 years, Lipscomb renamed the school as Waverley Seminary and relocated to a more central area of Washington DC.[8] Dolly Blount Lamar attended around 1878 and she described it as a "combination preparatory and finishing school for young ladies from the South."[10]
According to The Yearbook of Education for 1879, French conversation was a specialty of the school.[9] At this point, Waverly Seminary was located at 1412 H St NW, Washington DC.[9]
Alumni
[edit]- Jessie Benton Frémont (writer and political activist, daughter of Senator Thomas Hart Benton)[1]
- Martha Johnson Patterson (daughter of President Andrew Johnson)[4]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f Mackall, Sally Somervell (1899). Early days of Washington. The Neale Company.
- ^ Vedder, Sarah E. (1909). Reminiscences of the District of Columbia: Or, Washington City Seventy-nine Years Ago, 1830-1909. Press A.R. Fleming Print. Company.
- ^ a b Dall, Caroline Wells Healey (September 2006). Daughter of Boston: The Extraordinary Diary of a Nineteenth-century Woman, Caroline Healey Dall. Beacon Press. p. 59. ISBN 9780807050354.
lydia english.
- ^ a b Schroeder-Lein, Glenna R.; Zuczek, Richard (2001). Andrew Johnson: A Biographical Companion. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781576070307.
- ^ Johnson, Andrew (1967). The Papers of Andrew Johnson: 1822-1851. Univ. of Tennessee Press. ISBN 9780870490798.
- ^ a b c d e f "Georgetown Civil War Walking Tour - Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 2018-03-15.
- ^ "Oak Hill Cemetery, Georgetown, D.C. (Chapel Valley) - Lot 349" (PDF). oakhillcemeterydc.org. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-03-02. Retrieved 2022-08-14.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Coffin, John P. (1887). Washington: Historical Sketches of the Capital City of Our Country. p. 176.
Miss Lydia S. English georgetown.
- ^ a b c d e f g Kiddle, Henry; Schem, Alexander Jacob (1879). The Yearbook of Education for 1878 [and 1879]. E. Steiger.
- ^ Lamar, Dolly Blount (2010-05-01). When All Is Said and Done. University of Georgia Press. ISBN 9780820335414.
Bibliography
[edit]
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Coffin, John P. (1887). Washington: Historical Sketches of the Capital City of Our Country (Public domain ed.).
