Catharine Beecher
1800 – 1878 American educator, writer
American educator who advanced women's schooling and argued that teaching was women's proper profession.
- Religion
- Protestant, from a Congregationalist family.
- Affiliations
- Founded the Hartford Female Seminary; promoted teaching as a profession for women.
Catharine Beecher founded the Hartford Female Seminary in 1823 and wrote widely on education and domestic life. She argued that women were especially suited to teaching and worked to train and place female teachers, particularly in the expanding western states. Her advocacy helped make teaching one of the first professions widely open to American women.
Connections
- ally of Emma Willard — Contemporary champion of women's education and teacher training.
- ally of Emma Willard — Fellow advocate for women's education in the same era.