Florence E. Purington (August 12, 1862 – May 22, 1950) was an American college administrator and mathematics professor. She was the first dean of

Mount Holyoke College Mount Holyoke College is a private liberal arts women's college in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It is the oldest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite historically women's colleges in the Northeastern United States. ...

, holding that office from 1907 to 1929.

Early life and education

Florence Purington was born in

Burnt Hills, New York Burnt Hills is a hamlet within the town of Ballston, in Saratoga County, New York, United States. Its ZIP code is 12027. It is situated along NY 50, approximately 14 miles south of downtown Saratoga Springs, and 8.5 miles north of downtown Schen ...

, the daughter of Lewis Madison Purington and Emily Sherman Purington. She graduated from Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in 1886, and earned a bachelor's degree at Mount Holyoke College in 1896.

Career

Purington was on the faculty of Mount Holyoke College from 1887 to 1929, at first as a mathematics instructor, and then as treasurer from 1902 to 1907, then as the first dean of the college from 1907 to 1929. She was on the board of three women's colleges in India. From 1925 to 1942, she was on the college's board of trustees. In 1926 and 1927 she traveled to India, Ceylon, China, and Japan to visit Mount Holyoke alumnae who were American missionaries working in those countries. She was president of the National Association of Deans from 1925 to 1926, and active in 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 ...

(AAUW). When she retired in 1929, she was replaced by two women, Alice Brown Frame as dean of residence, and Harriet May Allyn as social dean.

Honors

The Florence Purington Prize was established by Mount Holyoke alumnae in 1919, and presented annually to a high-ranking first-year student until 1950. The Florence Purington Lectures at Mount Holyoke featured prominent campus visitors, who are given the Purington Chair;

Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. He had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, ...

held the Florence Purlington Visiting Professorship in 1950. Poet

W. H. Auden Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...

, philosopher

Walter Terence Stace Walter Terence Stace (17 November 1886 – 2 August 1967) was a British civil servant, educator, public philosopher and epistemologist, who wrote on Hegel, mysticism, and moral relativism. He worked with the Ceylon Civil Service from 1910 to 1 ...

, historian

Geoffrey Bruun Geoffrey Bruun (20 October 1898 – 13 July 1988) was a historian and biographer who taught at New York University from 1927 until 1941. He was born in Montreal, Quebec and received a bachelor's degree from the University of British Columbia, and ...

, geneticist Salome Gluecksohn-Waelsch, historian John Conway, and politician

Shirley Chisholm Shirley Anita Chisholm ( ; ; November 30, 1924 – January 1, 2005) was an American politician who, in 1968, became the first black woman to be elected to the United States Congress. Chisholm represented New York's 12th congressional distr ...

later occupied the Purington Chair.

Personal life

Purington lived with her sister Emily in South Hadley. She died in 1950, in Holyoke, Massachusetts, aged 87 years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Purington, Florence 1862 births 1950 deaths Mount Holyoke College alumni Mount Holyoke College faculty American women academics