Georgetown Female Seminary facts for kids
The Georgetown Female Seminary was a school for young women in Georgetown, a historic part of Washington, D.C. It was also known as Waverley Seminary later on. This school helped educate many daughters from important families in the 1800s.
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Miss English's School for Girls
Lydia S. English started this school in 1826 when she was only sixteen years old. She began the school to live independently. Her family did not help her with this new adventure. At first, there were only three students: Jane Wann, Eliza Henderson, and Miss Perry.
The school quickly grew and taught the daughters of important politicians in Washington. By 1835, it had 130 students! Miss English's school taught subjects like botany, which is the study of plants. A famous writer named Caroline Healey Dall even taught there in 1842.
One of the students was Martha Johnson Patterson, the daughter of future President Andrew Johnson. Records show that she attended the school in 1844-1845.
The school building was large, with three floors. It had 19 bedrooms, a library, and several sitting rooms. It even had modern features like running hot water. During the American Civil War in 1861, the Union Army took over the seminary. They turned it into a hospital for officers. It is believed that Mary Edwards Walker, the first woman to win the Medal of Honor, worked there as a doctor.
While the school was a hospital, Lydia English moved to a nearby house. She passed away on February 24, 1866, and is buried in Washington, D.C.
The New Georgetown Female Seminary
On September 12, 1868, two sisters, Mary E. Bibb and Miss S. A. Lipscomb, reopened the school as the Georgetown Female Seminary. Both sisters had attended Lydia S. English's school themselves. They came from a family of teachers; their brother, Andrew Adgate Lipscomb, was a leader at the University of Georgia for many years.
Under their leadership, the school became very successful. It continued to educate young women from important families. After three years, Mary Bibb retired, and Miss Lipscomb ran the school by herself after 1871.
In 1879, a book called The Yearbook of Education described the Georgetown Female Seminary as a "Select Boarding and Day School for Young Ladies and Children." This means it was a special school where students could live there or just attend during the day. The school had classes for very young children (kindergarten) all the way up to a college-level department. Students could study modern languages, music, drawing, and even bookkeeping. At this time, the school was located at 1023 12th Street NW in Washington, D.C.
Waverley Seminary
About 10 years later, Miss Lipscomb changed the school's name to Waverley Seminary. She also moved it to a more central part of Washington, D.C. Dolly Blount Lamar, a student around 1878, described it as a school that prepared young women from the South for college and also taught them important social skills.
According to The Yearbook of Education for 1879, speaking French was a special focus at Waverley Seminary. At this point, the school was located at 1412 H Street NW in Washington, D.C.
Famous Students
Some notable young women who attended the school include:
- Jessie Benton Frémont: A writer and political activist. She was the daughter of Senator Thomas Hart Benton.
- Martha Johnson Patterson: The daughter of President Andrew Johnson.
Images for kids
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Miss English's Seminary for Young Ladies was located in this building from 1820 to 1861.
