Photo of Byfield Female Seminary on Elm Street at Center Street. Photo courtesy of the Newbury Historical Commission.
Join Miriam Boylan for a fun evening where she will present and dramatize the life and philosophy of Mary Lyon (1797-1849), a pioneer in women's education with local ties.
Born in Buckland, MA, Lyon came to the Byfield Female Seminary in her late teens. Here, she fell under the tutelage of Rev. Joseph Emerson and Zilpah Polly Grant whose training emphasized rigorous learning for women with a Christian commitment as Emerson advocated in his Discourse on Female Education (1822). Thereafter, carrying these ideas forward, Lyon taught variously at female academies in Buckland, Adams, and Ipswich.
In 1834 Laban Wheaton sought Lyon's help to establish Wheaton Female Seminary in Norton MA where she labored for three years. Lyon created the first curriculum with the goal that it be equal in quality to those of men's colleges. This would later become Wheaton College.
Then, in November,1837 Lyon opened Mount Holyoke Female Seminary with hopes to attract to its curriculum and values women of diverse backgrounds.
Our presenter, Miriam Boylan, attended Gordon College and taught for seven years at local elementary schools. She remains an active teacher at the Sunday school of the Byfield Parish Church.
Photo: Byfield Female Seminary, built c. 1797 (Elm Street near Central Street, Byfield). Courtesy of the Newbury Historical Commission.