Julia Sears was born in Massachusetts in 1839. She became a committed educator, studying and teaching at normal schools in New England. In 1871, the thirty-two-year-old Sears was hired to teach at the new Mankato State Normal School. There she joined many other women, both students and faculty. In 1872, the Normal School Board hired Sears to replace its first "principal," or president, putting her in a position no other woman in the country had attained. However, her annual salary was set at a thousand dollars less than her male predecessor's.
Sears operated the school with all the experience her years of teaching had given her. Under her care, the school was "running smoothly and making excellent advancement." A local newspaper wrote, "We must score one for woman." Sears ended her first term as principal with a graduation speech aimed directly at her female pupils. She pointed out the privileges that they could enjoy as professional women, stating, "Colleges open wide their doors and any place you are fitted to fill is no longer denied to you."
--excerpted from https://www.minnpost.com/mnopedia/2015/04/mankato-s-teacher-college-was-19th-century-pioneer-women-s-rights-about-year/
Sears operated the school with all the experience her years of teaching had given her. Under her care, the school was "running smoothly and making excellent advancement." A local newspaper wrote, "We must score one for woman." Sears ended her first term as principal with a graduation speech aimed directly at her female pupils. She pointed out the privileges that they could enjoy as professional women, stating, "Colleges open wide their doors and any place you are fitted to fill is no longer denied to you."
--excerpted from https://www.minnpost.com/mnopedia/2015/04/mankato-s-teacher-college-was-19th-century-pioneer-women-s-rights-about-year/
Julia Sears was born in Massachusetts in 1839. She became a committed educator, studying and teaching at normal schools in New England. In 1871, the thirty-two-year-old Sears was hired to teach at the new Mankato State Normal School. There she joined many other women, both students and faculty. In 1872, the Normal School Board hired Sears to replace its first "principal," or president, putting her in a position no other woman in the country had attained. However, her annual salary was set at a thousand dollars less than her male predecessor's.
Sears operated the school with all the experience her years of teaching had given her. Under her care, the school was "running smoothly and making excellent advancement." A local newspaper wrote, "We must score one for woman." Sears ended her first term as principal with a graduation speech aimed directly at her female pupils. She pointed out the privileges that they could enjoy as professional women, stating, "Colleges open wide their doors and any place you are fitted to fill is no longer denied to you."
--excerpted from https://www.minnpost.com/mnopedia/2015/04/mankato-s-teacher-college-was-19th-century-pioneer-women-s-rights-about-year/
Sears operated the school with all the experience her years of teaching had given her. Under her care, the school was "running smoothly and making excellent advancement." A local newspaper wrote, "We must score one for woman." Sears ended her first term as principal with a graduation speech aimed directly at her female pupils. She pointed out the privileges that they could enjoy as professional women, stating, "Colleges open wide their doors and any place you are fitted to fill is no longer denied to you."
--excerpted from https://www.minnpost.com/mnopedia/2015/04/mankato-s-teacher-college-was-19th-century-pioneer-women-s-rights-about-year/
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