Abby Leach
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Abby Leach (May 28, 1855 – December 29, 1918) was born in Brockton, Massachusetts. She was an American educator and professor of Greek and Latin at
Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely follo ...
in
Poughkeepsie, New York Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsi ...
from 1883 until December 29, 1918 where she died due to cancer at the age of 63 and was buried in Brockton.


Education and career

She was one of the first female students at
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
, enrolling in a "Plan for Private Collegiate Instruction of Women" upon its establishment in 1879 at her behest. The "Plan" led to the later establishment of
Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and functioned as the female coordinate institution for the all-male Harvard College. Considered founded in 1879, it was one of the Seven Sisters colleges and he ...
. Because Harvard at that time did not grant degrees to women, Vassar College granted her bachelor's and master's degrees after they appointed her to the Vassar faculty. She was a member of the Greek Conference of the
Committee of Ten The National Education Association of the United States Committee on Secondary School Studies known as the NEA Committee of Ten was a working group of educators that convened in 1892. They were charged with taking stock of current practices in Amer ...
called by the
National Education Association The National Education Association (NEA) is the largest labor union in the United States. It represents public school teachers and other support personnel, faculty and staffers at colleges and universities, retired educators, and college stude ...
in 1894, the only female member of any conference of the Committee of Ten. In 1899, she became the first female president of the American Philological Association. From 1899 to 1901, Leach was president of the
Association of Collegiate Alumnae The American Association of University Women (AAUW), officially founded in 1881, is a non-profit organization that advances equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, and research. The organization has a nationwide network of 170,000 ...
which later became the
American Association of University Women The American Association of University Women (AAUW), officially founded in 1881, is a non-profit organization that advances equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, and research. The organization has a nationwide network of 170,000 ...
.


Early Personal Life

Abby Leach was one of five children of Marcus and Eliza Paris Bourne Leach. Marcus Leach was an owner of a shoe making business. She began reading Latin at an early age at Brockton High School. She graduated Brockton at age fourteen in 1869, and attended
Oread Institute The Oread Institute was a women's college founded in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1849 by Eli Thayer. Before its closing in 1934, it was one of the oldest institutions of higher education for women in the United States. According to the ''Worcester ...
, where she learned Greek. At the age of sixteen, Leach briefly taught at Brockton High, then went back to Oread, where she taught from 1873-1878.


References


Further reading

*National Education Association, ''Report of the Committee of Ten on Secondary School Studies: with the reports of the conferences arranged by the committee.'' New York: American Book Company, 1894.


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leach, Abby Radcliffe College alumni Vassar College faculty Vassar College alumni American classical scholars Women classical scholars 1855 births 1918 deaths