Troy Female Seminary
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Emma Willard School, originally called Troy Female Seminary and often referred to simply as Emma, is an independent university-preparatory day and
boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...
for young women located in
Troy, New York Troy is a city in and the county seat of Rensselaer County, New York, United States. It is located on the western edge of the county, on the eastern bank of the Hudson River just northeast of the capital city of Albany, New York, Albany. At the ...
. Located on Mount Ida, it offers grades 9–12 and postgraduate coursework. The first women's higher education institution in the United States, it was founded by women's rights advocate Emma Willard in 1814 (first in Middlebury, Vermont, as Middlebury Female Seminary, later moved to Troy and renamed Troy Female Seminary). As of 2022, it had an endowment of $179 million. In 2018, the school was ranked by ''
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'' as the #1 private school in
Upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region of New York (state), New York that lies north and northwest of the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area of downstate New York. Upstate includes the middle and upper Hudson Valley, ...
.


Academics

Emma Willard is an independent college-preparatory day and boarding school enrolling students in grades 9–12 and post-graduate studies. Class sizes are kept at a 16-student maximum; the typical student to teacher ratio is 6 to 1. 83% of the faculty hold advanced degrees.
Advanced Placement Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board. AP offers undergraduate university-level curricula and examinations to high school students. Colleges and universities in the US and elsewhere ...
classes are no longer offered as the school switched to their own system of advanced courses called Advanced Studies (AS) classes. Most students take five courses each semester. Classes meet three times each week for fifty to seventy minute periods, though seminars, art classes, and other elective sections may for varying lengths of time. An ESL program offers intermediate and advanced-level curriculum for international students. Core requirements for graduation include a minimum of four units of English; three units of history, foreign language, mathematics; two units of lab science (one each in biology and physics), two units in the arts, and one-fourth unit in health. All students must fulfill a community service requirement and take physical education or its equivalent each semester in the ninth, tenth, and eleventh grades. Seniors must take at least ten weeks. Emma Willard offers inquiry-based classes across all disciplines. In the fall of 2005, Emma Willard began its Physics First program for all incoming ninth-grade students. It has students take a basic physics course in the ninth grade rather than the biology course that is standard in most public schools.


Educational philosophy

The guiding educational philosophy at Emma Willard School is based on three pillars: intellectual flexibility, purpose & community, and equity & justice. Each student is encouraged to develop fully in all areas of life: as a strong intellectual in a variety of disciplines, as a practitioner of her chosen passions, as a social member of the community, and as a responsible global citizen in her future. In keeping with that philosophy of personal development providing its own benchmarks, class rank is not provided. The grading system uses letter and number grades: A, A−, B+, B, B−, C+, C, C−, etc., usually accompanied by a number indicating where on the spectrum the individual student falls. Emma Willard's independent-study program, Practicum, allows students to pursue coursework at area colleges, career internships, community service, and individualized athletic training and competition off-campus for academic credit. Over one-third of the students participate in Practicum each year. Emma Willard students worked to make Emma Willard School the first fair trade high school in the United States in 2010.


History

Emma Willard School traces its roots to the Middlebury Female Seminary, founded by Emma Hart Willard in 1814. In 1821, Willard moved her school to
Troy, New York Troy is a city in and the county seat of Rensselaer County, New York, United States. It is located on the western edge of the county, on the eastern bank of the Hudson River just northeast of the capital city of Albany, New York, Albany. At the ...
, and opened it as the Troy Female Seminary to provide young women with the same higher education as their male peers. Prior to the school's founding, young women had been unable to pursue the advanced curricular offerings in mathematics, classical languages, and the sciences that were taught to their male counterparts. Her husband, John Willard managed the school's finances and served as the in-house physician until his death in 1825. Having taught for several years, Emma Willard perceived the egregious disparity in what girls learned compared to boys. In 1819, Willard promoted a comprehensive secondary and post-secondary female educational institution, which would require funding by the State of New York. Her address to the office of New York's "innovative" governor
DeWitt Clinton DeWitt Clinton (March 2, 1769February 11, 1828) was an American politician and Naturalism (philosophy), naturalist. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator, as the mayor of New York City, and as the sixth governor of New York. ...
met with initial success. However, the New York State legislature at Albany, on hearing her request, responded with mixed sentiment, and ultimately rejected her proposal. Many of the wives of prominent men steadfastly supported and promoted her educational agenda to their friends and associates. Thereafter, the City's Common Council eventually raised $4,000 that would facilitate Willard's purchase of a suitable flagship building for her proposed seminary for young women. She had already obtained inexpensive accommodation in a nearby historic (already for the 1800s)
Waterford, New York Waterford is a town in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 8,208 at the 2020 census. The name of the town is derived from its principal village, also called Waterford. The town is located in the southeast corner of Sara ...
, landmark farm. There, she rented two nondescript long and narrow stone structures, former pre-Colonial Dutch estate's outbuildings in a picturesque setting along the
Mohawk River The Mohawk River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 3, 2011 river in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is the largest tributary of the Hudson R ...
. The property's border still abuts the
Erie Canal The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east–west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigability, navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, ...
's first but long-defunct stone lock, near a major point of the Mohawk's primary arterial confluence into the
Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...
. However, in early 1821, a critical funds shortage from to a brief economic downturn that had affected the region forced her to close her Waterford Academy. Toward the close of 1821, Willard secured $4,000 in funding and relocated to Troy, downstream from Watertown along the Hudson River. The Albany Academy for Boys had been established just downstream in March 1813 by Philip Schuyler Van Rensselaer, who founded the
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (; RPI) is a private university, private research university in Troy, New York, United States. It is the oldest technological university in the English-speaking world and the Western Hemisphere. It was establishe ...
(RPI), a college for men, in Troy in 1824. Willard was able to formally found the Troy Female Seminary "for young ladies of means", becoming "the first school in the country to provide girls the same educational opportunities given to boys". From its establishment in 1821 until 1872, the seminary admitted 12,000 students. The Troy Female Seminary promoted the education of young girls as well as women teachers in training. The seminary provided tuition on credit for students who could not afford it, with the agreement that those students would be teaching assistants and eventually become teachers themselves. That type of on-credit tuition led to the growing reputation of the Troy Female Seminary as the demand for female teachers increased during the nineteenth century. Willard advocated for publicly supported female seminaries by asserting the necessity of educating as many women as possible in the United States, a task, she pointed out, that was too large for private institutions alone to undertake. Willard also promoted educational reform by emphasizing that women were capable of intellectual evidence in any field and demanded for women to be trained for professions.Scott, Anne F. "The Ever Widening Circle: The Diffusion of Feminist Values from the Troy Female Seminary 1822–1872" ''History of Education Quarterly'' 19 (1979): 3–25 The school was immediately successful, and it graduated many great thinkers, including noted social reformer and suffragist
Elizabeth Cady Stanton Elizabeth Cady Stanton ( Cady; November 12, 1815 – October 26, 1902) was an American writer and activist who was a leader of the women's rights movement in the U.S. during the mid- to late-19th century. She was the main force behind the 1848 ...
. Willard remained the head of the seminary until 1838, when she handed it over to her son. In 1895, the school was renamed The Emma Willard School for Girls. In 1910, a new campus was built for the school on Mount Ida.


Educational philosophy and academics

Her educational philosophy for the Troy Female Seminary was to "educate the women for responsible motherhood and train some of them to be teachers," with a curriculum that was similar to the contemporary men's colleges. The curriculum included courses in mathematics, science, modern languages, Latin, history, philosophy, geography, and literature. The Troy Female Seminary School also provided the services of Normal Schools by giving women the opportunity to become teacher's assistants and spread women's education throughout the United States. The alumnae of the Troy School were unusual among contemporary women in their pursuit of work beyond the "private sphere" of the home. These alumnae established numerous Normal Schools, institutions that promoted the study of arts and sciences, and expanded into other professions involving the sciences and law.


Co-curricular pursuits

Co-curricular pursuits include sports, choir, orchestra, a cappella groups, the student newspaper, a literary arts magazine (''Triangle''), model UN, county-champion Mock Trial team, speech and debate, quiz team, various clubs, and the yearbook, among others. As it is a fair trade school, students from EcoEmm Fair Trade Club study global social justice issues and help educate the community, as well as sell fair trade goods at the school. Students also sign petitions fighting human rights abuses worldwide. Each year, students and faculty take service trips to countries in the developing world so Emma's women can see the world and make the changes they discuss in their classrooms throughout the year. Emma Willard is also the first boarding school to become a member of the international Round-Square program. In 2009, students and faculty traveled to Africa and to Casa de los Angeles in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, to care for the children of poor working mothers.


Traditions

Every year the senior class conduct a play called Revels. The plot mimics a medieval Christmas celebration set in a manor house. The parts are kept secret until the play. The first Revels performance was in 1915. The seniors also control a triangular patch of grass in the center of campus called the Senior Triangle. Only seniors and alumnae are permitted to walk on the grass unless invited by a senior or alumna. Juniors "take over" this patch of grass after the seniors leave for senior retreat at the end of the year during Triangle Takeover. Juniors receive their class ring through their ring sister, who dresses them up throughout Ring Week and gives a half a quote to a member of the faculty for them to find before the week commences with Ring Dinner in which the ring is presented. Other traditions include hall tea where once a week students gather with their halls to bond; Eventide, the winter concert; sophomore tree decorating; Peanuts and Shells (a version of secret Santa); May Day, in which freshman participate in a maypole dance and a May Queen who is voted on by the student body is crowned; and Principal's Play Day, a secret day chosen by the head of school in which class is cancelled.


Student demographics

Girls currently hail from 24 states, and over 36 foreign countries."Emma Willard School Profile." https://bbk12e1-cdn.myschoolcdn.com/ftpimages/1098/misc/misc_173685.pdf In fall 2010 enrollment increased by 3%; the total student population was 319 (203 boarding, 116 day). It has a diverse population: of the 339 students, 55 are students of color (according to guidelines established by the National Association of Independent Schools), 88 are international students, and 45 have an alumna or current sister relationship to the school. It maintains 13 Davis Scholarships, and 10 Capital District Scholarships. Of the 440 applicants for fall 2010, 149 (34%) were offered admission and 102 enrolled. As of 2019, 42% of students are on financial aid.


Notable alumnae

'' List of Emma Willard Alumnae'' * Eunice Newton Foote: the first scientist known to have experimented on the warming effect of
sunlight Sunlight is the portion of the electromagnetic radiation which is emitted by the Sun (i.e. solar radiation) and received by the Earth, in particular the visible spectrum, visible light perceptible to the human eye as well as invisible infrare ...
on different gases * Laura Benét: Poet and author *
Elizabeth Cady Stanton Elizabeth Cady Stanton ( Cady; November 12, 1815 – October 26, 1902) was an American writer and activist who was a leader of the women's rights movement in the U.S. during the mid- to late-19th century. She was the main force behind the 1848 ...
: Leader of the women's suffrage movement * Olivia Slocum Sage: Founder of the Sage Colleges * Mary Arthur McElroy: Sister and First Lady during her brother President Chester Arthur's term * Lily Spencer-Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough (born Lillian Price of Troy, NY): American heiress and socialite, also known as the Duchess of Marlborough during her marriage to George Charles Spencer-Churchill, 8th Duke of Marlborough and Lady William Beresford during her marriage to Lord William Leslie de la Poer Beresford * Cynthia Roberts Gorton: writer * Nancy Fowler McCormick: Philanthropist, member of the
McCormick family The McCormick family of Chicago and Virginia is an Americans, American family of Scottish and Scots-Irish descent that attained prominence and fortune starting with the invention of the McCormick reaper, a machine that revolutionized agriculture ...
*Nannie Scott: Wife of American entrepreneur and founder of Marshall Field and Company,
Marshall Field Marshall Field (August 18, 1834January 16, 1906) was an American entrepreneur and the founder of Marshall Field's, Marshall Field and Company, the Chicago-based department stores. His business was renowned for its then-exceptional level of qua ...
* Frances Adeline Seward : Wife of William Henry Seward. * Annie Jack, the first Canadian professional woman garden writer *
Solita Solano Solita Solano (born Sarah Wilkinson; October 30, 1888 – November 22, 1975) was an American writer, poet and journalist. Biography Early life Sarah Wilkinson came from a middle-class family and attended the Emma Willard School in Troy, New ...
: American writer, poet, and journalist * Jennifer von Mayrhauser: Emmy-nominated costume designer who has received an Obie for Sustained Excellence * Casey Johnston: Fitness writer and influencer * Justine Johnstone: Broadway and silent movie star * Sara Lee Schupf : Namesake of Sara Lee baked goods *
Jane Fonda Jane Seymour Fonda (born December 21, 1937) is an American actress and activist. Recognized as a film icon, Jane Fonda filmography, Fonda's work spans several genres and over six decades of film and television. She is the recipient of List of a ...
:
Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
-winning actress * Jane Wales: CEO of the Global Philanthropy Forum, president and CEO of the World Affairs Council and vice president of Philanthropy and Society at the
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, co-host of the NPR interview show ''It's Your World'' *
Kirsten Gillibrand Kirsten Elizabeth Gillibrand (; ; born December 9, 1966) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator from New York (state), New York since 2009 ...
: United States Senator from New York * Ruth Pine Furniss: Author of short stories and novels * Molly Paris: Civil rights attorney * Clara Harrison Stranahan, author; founder and trustee of
Barnard College Barnard College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college affiliated with Columbia University in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a grou ...
* Jean Buttner: businesswoman, former CEO of Valueline and trustee of
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* Kendra Stearns O'Donnell: first female head of
Phillips Exeter Academy Phillips Exeter Academy (often called Exeter or PEA) is an Independent school, independent, co-educational, college-preparatory school in Exeter, New Hampshire. Established in 1781, it is America's sixth-oldest boarding school and educates an es ...
* Mary Lake Polan: First female chair of clinical department at Stanford University Medical School * Elizabeth L. Colton: Founder/executive director, International Museum of Women, San Francisco * Jessica Todd Harper: photographer * Elizabeth Cody Kimmel: children's book author * Erminnie A. Smith: geologist and an anthropologist at the Smithsonian Institution's
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* Peggy Ellliot Wayburn: author, wife of environmentalist and recipient of the
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Edgar Wayburn * Sarah Brown Ingersoll Cooper: philanthropist and educator * Martha Reed Mitchell: philanthropist and socialite * Harriet Maria Allen Jackson: water-colourist and mother of American painter,
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veteran, geological survey photographer and an explorer
William Henry Jackson William Henry Jackson (April 4, 1843 – June 30, 1942) was an American photographer, American Civil War, Civil War veteran, painter, and an explorer famous for his images of the American West. He was a great-great nephew of Samuel Wilson, t ...
* Alma Lutz: feminist and activist for equal rights and woman suffrage * Constance Roseblum: biographer and author, editor for ''
the New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' * Susan Daitch: writer and novelist * Mary Heimann: historian and professor at
Cardiff University Cardiff University () is a public research university in Cardiff, Wales. It was established in 1883 as the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire and became a founding college of the University of Wales in 1893. It was renamed Unive ...
* Melissa Zink: artist and sculptor


Campus

Emma Willard's 137-acre (55 ha) campus on Mount Ida, above the city of Troy, contains 30 buildings. The three oldest buildings, all of
collegiate Gothic Collegiate Gothic is an architectural style subgenre of Gothic Revival architecture, popular in the late-19th and early-20th centuries for college and high school buildings in the United States and Canada, and to a certain extent Europ ...
style, include a cathedral-like reading room, classrooms, offices, a main auditorium, a dance studio, a lab theater, three residence halls, dining facility, a student center, and a chapel. The buildings were designed by the Olmstead Brothers. A modern art, music, and library complex opened in 1967. The library holds more than 34,000 volumes and 77 print and online periodical subscriptions. Athletic facilities include a gymnasium with two basketball/volleyball/ indoor tennis courts, full facilities for fitness training and aerobic dance, a weight room, an aquatics center housing a competition-size pool, three large playing fields, and an all-weather track. The three-story Hunter Science Center houses laboratories and teaching facilities for chemistry, biology, physics, and mathematics. Approximately 75 percent of the faculty reside on campus in houses and apartments. There are two main dormitory halls, Kellas and Sage. There are 10 residential faculty members. Students may also live in Cluett House, a "residential experience for students who are interested in creating positive world change". The school was used as a filming location for the films ''
The Emperor's Club ''The Emperor's Club'' is a 2002 American drama film directed by Michael Hoffman and starring Kevin Kline. Based on Ethan Canin's 1994 short story "The Palace Thief", the film follows a prep school teacher and his students at a fictional Eas ...
'' (as St. Benedict's Academy) and '' Scent of a Woman'' (as Baird School). In both films, the school is portrayed as an all-boys school, and becomes co-ed in the later-years section of ''The Emperor's Club''. It is also the setting in the novel ''City of Girls'' by
Elizabeth Gilbert Elizabeth Gilbert (born July 18, 1969) is an American journalist and author. She is best known for her 2006 memoir '' Eat, Pray, Love'', which has sold over 30 million copies and has been translated into over 30 languages. The book was also mad ...
.


Athletics

Emma Willard has thirteen interscholastic sports teams: badminton, field hockey, soccer, volleyball, tennis, cross country, swimming, diving, basketball, lacrosse, softball, crew, and track (indoor and outdoor). In 2019, there were 29 athletic coaches and affiliated personnel at Emma Willard. Facilities include an aerobics studio, pool, weight room, two athletics fields, an all-weather track, seven tennis courts, two
pickleball Pickleball is a racket or paddle sport in which two or four players use a smooth-faced paddle to hit a perforated, hollow plastic ball over a net until one side is unable to return the ball or commits a rule infraction. Pickleball is played i ...
courts, and woodlands with paths for biking or running.


Affiliations

Emma Willard School is a member of the International Coalition of Girls' Schools, The Association of Boarding Schools (TABS), the New York State Association of Independent Schools, and the
National Association of Independent Schools The National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) is a U.S.-based membership organization for private, nonprofit, K-12 schools. Founded in 1962, NAIS represents independent schools and associations in the United States, including day, board ...
.


Sexual abuse

In April 2017, Emma Willard released a comprehensive report on sexual misconduct by faculty members that spanned almost seven decades. As a result, the school established the "Healthy Boundaries Initiatives" to address the prevention of and response to sexual misconduct and abuse. Changes and revisions were made to policies, procedures, and programming, and the school stated its commitment to safety on campus and within the community.


See also

* Emma Willard, the school's founder and namesake * Female seminaries * Women in education in the United States


Citations


General and cited references

* Scott, Anne Firor. "What, Then, Is the American: This New Woman?" ''The Journal of American History''. Vol. 65, no. 3 (December 1978): 679–703. . . * Scott, Anne Firor. "The Ever Widening Circle: The Diffusion of Feminist Values from the Troy Female Seminary, 1822–1872". ''History of Education Quarterly'' Vol. 19, no. 1 (Spring 1979): 3–25. . . * Woody, Thomas
''A History of Women's Education in the United States''
. New York: Octagon Books, 1929.


External links

*
Emma Willard School, Emma (Hart) Willard Collection, 1809–2004

Renovations to the historic building site

The Association of Boarding Schools profile
{{Authority control 1821 establishments in New York (state) Boarding schools in New York (state) Educational institutions established in 1821 Female seminaries in the United States Georgian architecture in New York (state) Girls boarding schools Girls' schools in New York (state) National Register of Historic Places in Troy, New York Preparatory schools in New York (state) Private high schools in New York (state) Private schools in Capital District (New York) Schools in Troy, New York