Ripley, Sophia Willard Dana (1803-1891)

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Jane Addams's Own Story of Her Work: Fifteen Years at Hull House (First of Three Installments), March 1906

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Birth Date

1803-07-06

Death Date

1861-02-04

Birthplace

Cambridge, MA

Biographical Text

Sophia Willard Dana Ripley and her sisters opened a girls' school in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with Ripley working as the principal teacher. She befriended women's rights activist Margaret Fuller and became one of the few female guests in the male-dominated Transcendental Club. While a member of this club, Ripley published an essay on women in the club magazine, The Dial, where she discussed how women are only treated as half-species. In the 1840s she co-founded an experimental Utopian community called Brook Farm with her husband. There she oversaw the community's primary school, using a progressive child-centered pedagogy similar to the reforms of John Dewey.

Ripley married George Ripley in 1827. Ripley died in 1861.

Occupation

Educator

Philosopher

Teacher

Women's rights activist

Source

Image from New Brook Farm website.

Collection

People

Map

Edited By

Hajo, Cathy Moran

Lichon, Sara Catherine

Rights

Public domain

Gender

Female

First appears

1906

Bibliography and Links

"Women of Brook Farm," History of American Women.

Find-a-Grave

SNAC

Wikipedia

Citation

“Ripley, Sophia Willard Dana (1803-1891),” Jane Addams Digital Edition, accessed July 27, 2024, http://mail.digital.janeaddams.ramapo.edu/items/show/4222.