Abigail Rogers (1818–1869) was an American advocate for

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

and

women's education Female education is a catch-all term of a complex set of issues and debates surrounding education (primary education, secondary education, tertiary education, and health education in particular) for girls and women. It is frequently called girls ...

. She founded the Michigan Women's College, and was posthumously inducted into the

Michigan Women's Hall of Fame The Michigan Women's Hall of Fame (MWHOF) honors distinguished women, both historical and contemporary, who have been associated with the U.S. state of Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regi ...

in 2007.

Biography

Rogers spent her whole life advocating for the admittance of women into Michigan universities. In September 1855, she founded the Michigan Women's College in

Lansing, Michigan Lansing () is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is mostly in Ingham County, although portions of the city extend west into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. The 2020 census placed the city's population at 112,644, making ...

with Delia Rogers and pioneer James Turner, with the stated goal "to keep before the public mind as constantly as they could, the duty of the State to provide for the education of its daughters as it had already provided for the education of its sons." The college held daily sessions in the

Michigan State Capitol The Michigan State Capitol is the building that houses the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is in the portion of the state capital of Lansing which lies in Ingham County. The present structure, at the interse ...

until acquiring a location of their own in 1857. Ten years later over 1000 students had been educated. In 1869, Rogers died. Later that same year, in part as a result of her work

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

(in 1869) admitted women, and the next year, the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

(in 1870) admitted women. The Michigan Women's College would eventually become the Michigan School for the Blind.

References

1815 births 1869 deaths Women academic administrators American women's rights activists Education activists Academics from Michigan American academic administrators 19th-century American women {{feminism-activist-stub