Mary Ann Brigham (6 December 1829 – 29 June 1889) was an American educator who, after teaching for a few years, was elected President 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. ...

in 1889, but died in a railway accident before she could take up her appointment."

Biography

Mary Ann Brigham was born 6 December 1829 in Westborough, Massachusetts to Dexter Brigham and Mary Ann (Gould) Brigham. She was a descendant of Thomas Brigham and

Edmund Rice Edmund is a masculine given name or surname in the English language. The name is derived from the Old English elements ''ēad'', meaning "prosperity" or "riches", and ''mund'', meaning "protector". Persons named Edmund include: People Kings an ...

, early immigrants to

Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as the ...

.pp. 210 & 353 In: Brigham, W. I. Tyler. The History of the Brigham family, a record of several thousand descendants of Thomas Brigham the emigrant, 1603-1653. New York: Grafton Press, 1907 She was educated at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, as part of the 1849 class. Brigham began her academic career in 1855, teaching at Mount Holyoke. In 1858 she was named assistant principal at

Ingham University Ingham University in Le Roy, New York, was the first women's college in New York State and the first chartered women's university in the United States. It was founded in 1835 as the Attica (NY) Female Seminary by Mariette and Emily E. Ingham, who ...

, remaining in that post until 1863. From 1863 to 1889 she served as a teacher and associate principal at Brooklyn Heights Seminary. She served for several years as president of the Mt. Holyoke Alumnae Club in New York City, and shortly after the 1888 charter of

, she was elected as 7th President of her ''alma mater''. On 29 June 1889, as she was traveling from New York to

South Hadley, Massachusetts South Hadley (, ) is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 18,150 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. South Hadley is home to Mount Holyoke Colleg ...

to assume her post, the train crashed at

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

. She died in the wreck. In 1897 a dormitory was erected by the New York Alumnae Club on the Mt. Holyoke campus. It was named The Mary Brigham Hall.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brigham, Mary A. Mount Holyoke College faculty Presidents and Principals of Mount Holyoke College 1829 births 1889 deaths Women heads of universities and colleges People from Westborough, Massachusetts Mount Holyoke College alumni Railway accident deaths in the United States