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Mary Mason Lyon (28 February 1797 - 5 March 1849) was the founder of the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in South Hadley, (now Mount Holyoke College), Massachusetts and a pioneer in women's education in America.
Background Lyon was born in Buckland, Franklin County. Her father, Aaron Lyon, died when she was five, so her mother, Jemima Shepard Lyon, taught her farm trades until she remarried. She left, putting Aaron Jr., Mary's older brother, in charge of the house, and forcing them to fend for themselves. Lyon was thirteen at the time. Afterwards, she kept house for her brother, who paid her one silver dollar a week for her services. Throughout this time, Lyon was lucky to attend school in Buckland year-round. She stayed with relatives and did household chores for them, in exchange for board. At that time, girls would usually be able to attend school during the summer, when the boys were needed in the fields, and the teacher was momentarily unemployed. Lyon was an avid learner, as shown by her mastery of English grammar in four days and Latin grammar in three. Lyon's fairly extensive education was enough to get her a teaching job in the neighboring town of Shelburne Falls when she was 17. She was paid 75 cents a week, while her male counterparts were making 2 to 3 dollars. At the time, female teachers were somewhat in demand, as men were moving west and were therefore harder to find. Womens education Now that she was teaching, Lyon felt she needed further education. At the time, there were many female seminaries in the New England area, but their curricula did not interest her. These seminaries taught arts which they thought pertinent to ladies, such as embroidery, and theorem painting (painting on velvet). Moreover, the tuitions at such schools were high, as they were meant to train wealthy young women, and Mary was not of the upper class. Lyon was more engaged by the subjects taught at men's schools, such as mathematics, science, Latin, and history. She therefore collected money from her inheritance, wages, and from making blankets and coverlets to receive a part-time education at Amherst and Ashfield academies. She attended the Reverend Joseph Emerson's Female Seminary at Byfield, Massachusetts, a pioneer in its way, where she found a curriculum considered by many too intellectual and strenuous for "young ladies." Lyon developed the reputation as an excellent teacher. She was invited to be part of many schools throughout New England, and was soon at the forefront of women's education. As Lyon's experience grew, so too did the clarity of her philosophy. She saw the inequality of education between man and woman, and decided to create an institution for the higher education of women which would be on par with the existing colleges for men. She thus raised funds for the development of her school over the next three years, traveling from Boston all the way to Detroit for money despite the severe economic depression the country was experiencing (see Panic of 1837). Mount Holyoke College|Mount Holyoke Female Seminary Lyon first created the initial curriculum at Wheaton College (then called Wheaton Female Seminary) in 1836. On November 8, 1837, she founded Mount Holyoke Female Seminary. Buildings were capable of holding up to 80 pupils, but in the first year the attendance was greater than the capacity. Students were told to bring a Bible, an atlas, a dictionary, and two spoons. Mount Holyoke was a great success, and in its second year, had to turn away more than half of its applicants. During the last 12 years of Lyon's life, attendance increased to 300. She wrote an account of the seminary and a book called The Missionary Offering. In 1888 it became Mount Holyoke College. Death Mary Lyon died in 1849 and is buried on the grounds of Mount Holyoke. She is a member of the Hall of Fame for Great Americans. Honors | ||||||||
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