Alice Robinson Boise Wood (May 15, 1846 – March 28, 1919) was a classicist and poet, and the first woman both to attend classes at 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 ...

and to matriculate and graduate from the Old University of Chicago.

Early life

Alice Robinson Boise Wood was born in Providence, Rhode Island, to James Robinson Boise, a professor of Classics, and Sarah Goodyear Boise, on May 15, 1846.

University studies

Alice Robinson Boise Wood became the first woman to attend the

when she joined several Classics classes, including her

father A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fathe ...

's Greek recitations, in September 1866, although she was not allowed to matriculate; the first woman to matriculate as a Michigan student was Madelon Stockwell in 1870. In 1867 she joined the Old University of Chicago, where she was allowed to attend classes and in 1872 became the first woman to graduate from the university with a B.A.; she earned her M.A. from the same university in 1875. Boise Wood was one of only eight women inaugural members of the American Philological Association when it was founded in 1869. Her pioneering status in women's university education led to her being described as 'The Entering Wedge for Women'.

Career

After graduating, Boise Wood worked as a teaching assistant in Classics at the Old University of Chicago, as well as assisting her father with publications including an edition of

Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; grc, Ξενοφῶν ; – probably 355 or 354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian, born in Athens. At the age of 30, Xenophon was elected commander of one of the biggest Greek mercenary armies o ...

's ''

Anabasis Anabasis (from Greek ''ana'' = "upward", ''bainein'' = "to step or march") is an expedition from a coastline into the interior of a country. Anabase and Anabasis may also refer to: History * ''Anabasis Alexandri'' (''Anabasis of Alexander''), a ...

''. From 1877 to 1884 she taught Greek, French, and German at the Wayland Academy in

Beaver Dam, Wisconsin Beaver Dam is a city in Dodge County, Wisconsin, United States, along Beaver Dam Lake and the Beaver Dam River. The population was 16,708 at the 2020 census, making it the largest city primarily located in Dodge County. It is the principal city ...

, of which her husband Nathan Eusebius Wood (1849-1937; the couple married in 1873) was Principal. Boise Wood was also a poet and hymn-writer, publishing in periodicals such as ''

St. Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-day Demre ...

''. She died in Arlington, Massachusetts on March 28, 1919.

External links

An account
written by Alice Robinson Boise Wood of her studies at Michigan and Chicago
Hymns
by Alice Robinson Boise Wood

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Alice Robinson Boise University of Michigan alumni Old University of Chicago Classics educators American women educators 1846 births 1919 deaths Women classical scholars American classical scholars American women poets 19th-century scholars 20th-century scholars 19th-century American educators 20th-century American educators 20th-century American women