Mary Lyon (Mary Mason Lyon) was an American pioneer in women’s education. She founded the Norton, Massachusetts Wheaton Female Seminary (now Wheaton College) in 1834. She then set up Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (now Mount Holyoke College) in South Hadley, Massachusetts in 1837 and served for 12 years as her first president (or “principal”). The vision of Lyon combined intellectual challenge with moral purpose. She appreciated socio-economic diversity and sought to make the seminar affordable by modest means to students.
Mary Lyon Biography, Death, Mount Holyoke, Religion and Legacy
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