Julia Sears
Encyclopedia
Julia Sears was a pioneering academic and suffragette
. She achieved a milestone early in her career when in 1872 she became the first woman in the U.S. to head a public college, Minnesota State Normal College at Mankato, now Minnesota State University, Mankato
. The University named a recently built residence hall after Sears.
Her first address to its female graduates was forthright, telling them “You are stepping out into life at a time when you hear not the sound, ‘thus far in education may you go and no farther, this place you may fill, but not that’; but, instead, universities and colleges open wide their doors and bid you enter, and any place you are fitted to fill is no longer denied you.”
However, such frankness was still controversial, and she was forced to leave the university after only a year. She retained considerable support among the students and the Mankato
community, however, and the whole affair became so heated that it resulted in expulsions and was known as the Sears Rebellion.
She then took a post as professor of mathematics at Peabody Normal School (now Peabody College of Vanderbilt University
) in Nashville, Tennessee
. In Nashville, she worked tirelessly as an advocate of women's rights and in particular the right to vote. She remained at Peabody until her retirement in 1907, and a portrait of her, painted in 1904, hangs today in the Peabody library.
At her death in 1929, the campus newspaper said, "Her precision, her accuracy, her fairness, her brilliant demonstrations, and, above all, her ability to inspire the ambition of all those she taught became famous incidents of her instruction at Peabody."
That quote is located in the new Julia Sears Residential Building.
Suffragette
"Suffragette" is a term coined by the Daily Mail newspaper as a derogatory label for members of the late 19th and early 20th century movement for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, in particular members of the Women's Social and Political Union...
. She achieved a milestone early in her career when in 1872 she became the first woman in the U.S. to head a public college, Minnesota State Normal College at Mankato, now Minnesota State University, Mankato
Minnesota State University, Mankato
Minnesota State University, Mankato is a public four-year university located in Mankato, Minnesota, a community of 53,000 located southwest of Minneapolis-St. Paul. As of Fall 2011, the student body is the third-largest in the state of Minnesota with over 15,000 students...
. The University named a recently built residence hall after Sears.
Her first address to its female graduates was forthright, telling them “You are stepping out into life at a time when you hear not the sound, ‘thus far in education may you go and no farther, this place you may fill, but not that’; but, instead, universities and colleges open wide their doors and bid you enter, and any place you are fitted to fill is no longer denied you.”
However, such frankness was still controversial, and she was forced to leave the university after only a year. She retained considerable support among the students and the Mankato
Mankato, Minnesota
Mankato is a city in Blue Earth, Nicollet, and Le Sueur counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 39,309 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth largest city in Minnesota outside of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. The county seat of Blue Earth County, it is located...
community, however, and the whole affair became so heated that it resulted in expulsions and was known as the Sears Rebellion.
She then took a post as professor of mathematics at Peabody Normal School (now Peabody College of Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University is a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the...
) in Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
. In Nashville, she worked tirelessly as an advocate of women's rights and in particular the right to vote. She remained at Peabody until her retirement in 1907, and a portrait of her, painted in 1904, hangs today in the Peabody library.
At her death in 1929, the campus newspaper said, "Her precision, her accuracy, her fairness, her brilliant demonstrations, and, above all, her ability to inspire the ambition of all those she taught became famous incidents of her instruction at Peabody."
External links
- Employee Guide, MSU Mankato (PDF document, quoting Sears in preface)
- The Sears Rebellion
- References from Biographical Index of Tennessee Women
- Art Collection of Peabody Library
- Department of Residential Life— Minnesota State University, Mankato at www.mnsu.edu
That quote is located in the new Julia Sears Residential Building.