Jessica Garretson Finch (August 19, 1871 – October 31, 1949) was an American educator, author, women's rights activist, founder of the
Lennox School for girls, and founding president of
Finch College
Finch College was an undergraduate women's college in Manhattan, New York City. The Finch School opened as a private secondary school for girls in 1900 and became a liberal arts college in 1952. It closed in 1976.
Founding
Finch was founded in ...
.
Early life
Finch was born on August 19, 1871, the daughter of
Congregational
Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...
minister Rev. Ferdinand Van De Vere Garretson and Helen Philbrick Garretson.
[ When she was 12, the family moved from New York, where her father was rector of Grace Chapel on West 22nd Street, to ]Franconia, New Hampshire
Franconia is a town in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,083 at the 2020 census. Set in the White Mountains, Franconia is home to the northern half of Franconia Notch State Park. Parts of the White Mountain Nation ...
.[ She attended Dow Academy and the Cambridge Latin School before entering Barnard College.][ Finch received her A.B. from ]Barnard College
Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...
in 1893, the first graduating class of the new, women's college.[ She applied to attend law school at ]Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, and was formally refused on the grounds that the Law School
A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction.
Law degrees Argentina
In Argentina, ...
did not admit women.[ She earned her LL.B. from ]New York University School of Law
New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it is the oldest law school in New York City and the oldest surviving law school in New ...
in 1898.[
]
Career
She was a well-known suffragette
A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...
, president of the New York Equal Franchise Society
The Equal Franchise Society (EFS) was a state-by-state organization that advocated women's suffrage in the United States. Created and joined by women of wealth, it was a conduit through which the energies of upper-class women could be channeled in ...
. Finch was an advocate of careers for women. Although in 1912 she self-described as an "orthodox Socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
", her views shifted and she was later described as a political "liberal".[
She gave paid, public talks on the subject to young ladies as a part-time job to help support herself when she was a college student in the 1890s.][ She continued to lecture to young ladies on a range of topics, and also worked as a tutor in subjects including ]Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
after graduating from college.[
She was a founding member of the ]Colony Club
The Colony Club is a women-only private social club in New York City. Founded in 1903 by Florence Jaffray Harriman, wife of J. Borden Harriman, as the first social club established in New York City by and for women, it was modeled on similar ...
[ and was an author, penning such books as ''Mothers and Daughters,'' ''Psychology of Youth,'' and ''Flower and Kitchen Gardens.''][
In a February 1908 talk that Finch gave at the Civitas Club in New York City, she said:
]Evolutionary and revolutionary methods f education
F, or f, is the sixth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounced ), and the plural is ''efs''.
Hist ...
will bring the real resurrection, the Renaissance of man! We are passing through an economic age, and though conservative folk are usually the most popular it is our real work to enlarge the social conscience; our ancestors barely kept themselves alive, we have made a living, and our descendants will pass ascetic beautiful lives, never selfishly nor foolishly, but on a solid foundation and for the advancement of all.
In June 1949 she was given a Doctorate of Humane Letters
The degree of Doctor of Humane Letters (; DHumLitt; DHL; or LHD) is an honorary degree awarded to those who have distinguished themselves through humanitarian and philanthropic contributions to society.
The criteria for awarding the degree differ ...
, ''honoris causa,'' by New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, the ...
. The citation described her as a graduate of the university's law school who had founded a women's college, "on the unorthodox postulate that every graduate should mother at least four children and cultivate a non-domestic avocation fore and aft."
Finch College and Lennox School
Finch founded the Finch school in 1900 to provide career training for young women, saying that her own education at Barnard College
Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...
had not given her or her classmates the skills needed to earn a living. Ironically, Finch became not a career-oriented college, but rather "one of the most famed of U.S. girls' finishing schools
A finishing school focuses on teaching young women social graces and Upper class, upper-class cultural rites as a preparation for entry into society. The name reflects that it follows on from ordinary school and is intended to complete the ed ...
."[
Finch founded the Finch School, later Finch Junior College, and, after 1952, ]Finch College
Finch College was an undergraduate women's college in Manhattan, New York City. The Finch School opened as a private secondary school for girls in 1900 and became a liberal arts college in 1952. It closed in 1976.
Founding
Finch was founded in ...
, to enact her conviction that women ought to be prepared for careers. She envisioned a world in which women would work until they wed, at about age 25, bear and rear children for about fifteen years, before resuming paid employment at about age 40 and working for another thirty years.
Finch founded the college as the ''Finch School,'' a secondary school for girls. In 1916 she founded the Lennox School, a primary school to prepare girls to enter the Finch School. Lennox School employed Kitty Kenney
Caroline "Kitty" Kenney (1880 – 1952) was a sister of Annie Kenney, one of the most well-known British suffragettes to go on hunger strike,''The Militant Suffrage Movement : Citizenship and Resistance in Britain'', by Laura E. Nym Mayhall, Ass ...
and Jennie Kenney as joint heads until they retired in 1929. The Kenney sisters had been trained by Maria Montessori
Maria Tecla Artemisia Montessori ( , ; August 31, 1870 – May 6, 1952) was an Italian physician and educator best known for the philosophy of education that bears her name, and her writing on scientific pedagogy. At an early age, Montessori e ...
. They were two of the four sisters who were leading members of the militant Women's Social and Political Union
The Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) was a women-only political movement and leading militant organisation campaigning for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom from 1903 to 1918. Known from 1906 as the suffragettes, its membership and ...
. Kitty and Jennie had run a convalescent home in London for suffragettes recovering after they had been imprisoned and force fed.
Family
She was married to James Wells Finch with whom she had a daughter, Elsie; the couple divorced.[ In 1913 Finch married John O'Hara Cosgrave, an editor of the '']New York World
The ''New York World'' was a newspaper published in New York City from 1860 until 1931. The paper played a major role in the history of American newspapers. It was a leading national voice of the Democratic Party. From 1883 to 1911 under publi ...
'', who died in 1947.[
She was the mother of Elsie Finch McKeogh, a New York ]literary agent
A literary agent is an agent who represents writers and their written works to publishers, theatrical producers, film producers, and film studios, and assists in sale and deal negotiation. Literary agents most often represent novelists, screenwrit ...
.
Death
Finch died at her home in Manhattan on October 31, 1949.
See also
*List of suffragists and suffragettes
This list of suffragists and suffragettes includes noted individuals active in the worldwide women's suffrage movement who have campaigned or strongly advocated for women's suffrage, the organisations which they formed or joined, and the public ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finch, Jessica Garretson
American women's rights activists
Founders of schools in the United States
American suffragists
1871 births
1949 deaths
Barnard College alumni
New York University School of Law alumni
Cambridge Rindge and Latin School alumni
People from Franconia, New Hampshire