Newton Female Seminary – Equal, Accessible Education for All

Authored by Pamela C. Zacher

Cover page of the Third Annual Catalogue of Newton Female Seminary, for the 1856-1857 academic year. Printed by Francis Hart, Printer and Stationer, New York, NY

America’s Antebellum period brought with it a fervor to see its women educated, despite previously held beliefs that women’s education was not as important as men’s (Sweet 1985, 41). Thus, a movement began to provide quality education for the nation’s females, that would be available for women of all socio-economic classes, would be of quality parallel to that offered to men, and expand beyond etiquette and instruction in domestic duties. “Feeling the call of God to educate women, America’s Evangelical denominations…with passionate engagement built female seminaries” (Sweet 1985, 41).

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