Mary Lyon

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Mary Lyon
Portrait of Mary Lyon
1st President of Mount Holyoke College (Founder and Principal)
Term	1837 – 1849
Predecessor	none
Successor	Mary C. Whitman
Born	1797
Died	1849
Profession	Professor

Mary Mason Lyon (28 February 1797 - 5 March 1849) was a pioneer in women's education in America. She established the Wheaton Female Seminary in Norton, Massachusetts, (now Wheaton College). Within two years, she raised $15,000 to build the Mount Holyoke School. She also established Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in South Hadley, (now Mount Holyoke College), Massachusetts and served as its first president (referred to at that time as "principal"), and led the school for 12 years. She made the schools daily curriculum based on intellectual challenges and moral purposes. ^[1] Her name was also given to the girls' school that become the Mary Lyon dorm at Swarthmore College. Mary died March 5, 1849 due to illness she contracted from an ill student in her care.

1. ^ Mary Lyon passed away from erysipelas on March 5, 1849. Mary Lyon's purpose in life was to educate girls of poor families and give them an education. List

[edit] External links

• Biography at Mount Holyoke
• A Biography from the Mount Holyoke Website
• Another Biography
• Eliza Wheaton Strong
• [1]