Lyon, Mary (1797-1849)

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Mount Holyoke College

Mount Holyoke College Commencement Speech, June 19, 1907

Mount Holyoke College Commencement Speech, June 19, 1907 (excerpt)

The Benefit of Suffrage for Working Women, March 19, 1908 (excerpt)

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Birth Date

1797-02-28

Death Date

1849-03-05

Birthplace

Buckland, Massachusetts

Biographical Text

Mary Lyon was born into a farming family. At the age of five, her father died. At thirteen, her mother remarried and moved, while she stayed behind on the farm with her brother. As an adult, Lyon began teaching. In 1834 she helped Laban Wheaton and Eliza Baylies Chapin Wheaton establish Wheaton College in Massachusetts, later helping establish Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in 1837. Lyon served as its first president.

In 1849 she died of erysipelas and was buried on Mount Holyoke's campus.