Education and Women - General Information

Thomas Wentworth Higginson. a 19th century activist and writer, was an advocate for women's rights. In this essay, first published in 1853 and addressed to the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention, Higginson presents an early argument for women's rights and particularly for equal education.

Mrs. Albert Webster, in 1851, writes of the advantages of dance in education, especially "the very best safeguard against the evils of over mental education."

From this essay: "I have often thought of it as one of the most barbarous customs in the world... that we deny the advantages of learning to women."

A detailed survey of the post-Civil War work by the churches in educating freedmen. Author: Harriet Beecher Stowe, of Uncle Tom's Cabin fame.

Elisabeth Showalter Muhlenfeld on the education of women in the 19th century South (US). Informative and, because this was originally a speech, informal.

Subtitle: "The education of upper-class Englishwomen in late medieval and early modern England." A bibliography compiled by Sharon Deborah Michalove.

If you think violence in the schools is something new, read this account of the 1870 stoning of Etta Barstow in Canton, Massachusetts.

In this lesson plan from the New York Times for grades 6-12, students look at philosophies in different nations about the education of girls. The lesson has a special focus on girls in Afghanistan.

An essay, circa 1912, arguing that teachers, who educate male students to cast ballots, ought to themselves be allowed to vote.

An 1894 reflection on the purpose and effects of education for women.

Excellent course materials from the University of Arizona -- students post their papers on the web at the end of the course.

European travelers (including De Tocqueville, Dickens, Harriet Martineau) comment on American education. Dates range from 1828-1842.