Mary Mason Lyon was born in Buckland, Massachusetts back in 1797. Her father died when she was five and her mother remarried when she was thirteen moving away, leaving Mary in Buckland with her brother. She attended various schools and in 1814, began teaching in them as well.
She was able to attend two secondary schools, the Sanderson Academy in Ashfield and Byfield Seminar in eastern Massachusetts. after graduation, she taught at several academies including Sanderson. She was an early believer in the importance of daily exercise for women, requiring them to “walk one mile after breakfast”. During the winter months she required the students to do calisthenics for 45 minutes. She died in 1849 from erysipelas (a disease caused by a bacterial infection), she was 52.
What you may not know about Mary is that she established the Wheaton Female Seminary in Norton, Massachusetts (now Wheaton College) in 1834. She then established Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (now Mount Holyoke College) in South Hadley, Massachusetts in 1837 she served as its first president for twelve years.
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