Elizabeth Irwin Moore (1832–1930) was an American educator and principal of the Woodburn Female Seminary in

Morgantown, West Virginia Morgantown is a city in and the county seat of Monongalia County, West Virginia, Monongalia County, West Virginia, United States, situated along the Monongahela River. The largest city in North-Central West Virginia, Morgantown is best known as th ...

from 1865–1866.

Career

Civil War

In 1863, Moore invited Confederate troops intent on invading Morgantown to obtain horses, in for "bread, butter, and coffee". Her action was credited with saving the Woodburn Female Seminary from being burned. While working as the principal at Woodburn Female Seminary, Mrs. Elizabeth I Moore was cited to be one of the only female teachers at the school. In the 1870 Morgantown census, Moore was only one of the very few working women mentioned, alongside Prissie Clark, to be working in a field other than housework. This opportunity to work outside the house was rarely granted to women at this time, making Moore's accomplishments extremely revolutionary in 1870's West Virginia.

Legacy and ghost

Jason Burns, educator, journalist and West Virginia storyteller, calls Elizabeth Moore a figurehead symbolizing the women's rights movement in West Virginia. The construction of

Elizabeth Moore Hall Elizabeth Moore Hall is a historic women's physical education building associated with West Virginia University and located in Morgantown, Monongalia County, West Virginia. It was built between 1926 and 1928, and is a three-story, red brick build ...

marked an increase in "the role of women," ... and the "need for facilities for women students and the new realization of their role" at

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State College ...

. The ghost of Elizabeth I. Moore is repeatedly reported to appear to women in Elizabeth Moore Hall, the building named for her.Paranormal W.Va: E. Moore Hall and Mountainlair Ghosts. By Shyla Parsons and Shayla Klein. WBOY News. Updated September 28, 2021. https://www.wboy.com/only-on-wboy-com/paranormal-w-va/paranormal-w-va-e-moore-hall-and-mountainlair-ghosts/.

References

Resources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Elizabeth People from Morgantown, West Virginia People from Monongalia County, West Virginia 1832 births 1930 deaths Schoolteachers from West Virginia 19th-century American women educators 19th-century American educators American school principals Women school principals and headteachers Burials at Oak Grove Cemetery (Morgantown, West Virginia)