Between 1837 and 1891, young women aged twelve to eighteen attended a nationally-renowned finishing school in Ellicott City, Maryland that taught subjects as varied as botany, chemistry, foreign languages, literature, math, and music. The Patapsco Female Institute, formerly located in a Greek-revival building at the highest point of the city in Howard County, was only the second of its kind in the nation that aimed to provide women with the training necessary for becoming teachers. Originally founded to educate young women in a basic curriculum of literature, foreign languages, classics, and the sciences, the Patapsco Female Institute's history as a woman-led school expanded the curriculum in the 1840s and became the first to teach women mathematics in 19th century America.
Figures 1+2: Volume of compositions written by students at Patapsco Female Institute including Emile R. Jones, Laura Johnson, Elvira Jones, Margaret Chrisman, January 1-June 9, 1846
The Patapsco Female Institute Collection (0499-MDHC) comprises materials from the school's history, highlighting the accomplishments of its students through the 1860s, as well as its unusual method for receiving funding from the state of Maryland through a lottery system in the 1850s where participants helping to fund the school could win prizes ranging from $3.00 to $23,000. The school's location, below the Mason-Dixon Line, is marked for its relevance for Southern American (White) women in particular, including such alumni as Jefferson Davis' daughter, Varina Anne "Winnie" Davis, the so-called "daughter of the Confederacy." Other notable individuals, including the Institute's principal and famed botanist, Almira Hart Lincoln Phelps, expanded the school's curriculum and broadened its scope as a successful institution in girl's education.
Figure 2: Broadside advertising drawing of the Trust Fund Lottery, Patapsco Institute Lottery, May 7, 1853
The Patapsco Female Institute, like many institutions of its time, witnessed the changing landscape of the United States' early history. From affording women an education during a period when women were still barred from owning property, working outside of the home, or voting, the school is noteworthy for its approach to women's agency. However, the nation's changing tides during the Civil War also mark the role that the nation's conflicting politics had on all facets of life–from the secession of the Southern states, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the continuing limitations of freedom. Enrollment in the school after the Civil War reduced greatly, in part because of Southern families' reluctance to send their daughters in what was deemed a "Northern" part of the country–especially after Maryland's adoption of the Emancipation Proclamation on November 1, 1864. The Patapsco Female Institute remained an educational institution, despite its decreased enrollment, under the principalship of Sally Randolph, Thomas Jefferson's great granddaughter, until it finally closed its doors in 1891.
Figure 3: Hand colored lithograph by E. Weber & Co., Baltimore - Patapsco Female Institute , undated
Today, the Patapsco Female Institute can be remembered for its individual approach to educating nineteenth century women. However, the Patapsco Female Institute collection also serves to highlight the ways that even when betterment of women's education became a foundational goal for the growing nation, the underpinnings of racial inequality and injustice also influenced the most basic of institutions. Outside of schools like the Patapsco Female Institute intended for White students, opportunities for Black students like the contemporary Normal School for Colored Girls (now the University of District of Columbia) and the Bowie Normal School (now Bowie State University) existed, but teaching institutions often remained segregated and unintegrated until the 1970s, well after the Patapsco Female Institute had closed its doors nearly a century before.
Mal Haselberger is a student in the Masters of Library and Information Sciences program and a student assistant for Maryland and Historical Collections in Special Collections and University Archives.
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