Elizabeth Female Academy
Elizabeth Female Academy Site (No. 101-3X) | |
![]() The ruins | |
Nearest city | Natchez, Mississippi |
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Coordinates | 31°34′28.9″N 91°17′38.1″W / 31.574694°N 91.293917°W |
Area | 1.5 acres (0.61 ha) |
Built | 1818 |
NRHP reference No. | 77000109[1] |
Added to NRHP | May 6, 1977 |
The Elizabeth Female Academy, founded in 1818 in the town of Washington, was the first female educational institution in Mississippi. It was named after Mrs. Elizabeth Roach (later Greenfield), who donated the land on which the school was located.[2]
History
[edit]The academy received its charter from the State Assembly on February 17, 1819.[3] The school was operated by Methodists, spiritual culture was emphasized over training for a profession. The curriculum included chemistry, biology, natural and moral philosophy, botany and Latin, among other subjects.[4] John James Audubon taught drawing there in May and June 1822.[5]
The school closed in 1845,[6] due in part to the relocation of the state capital from Natchez to Jackson, the general shift in the center of population, and several epidemics of yellow fever in the area. The site was reduced to ruins by a fire in the late 1870s. Part of a brick wall is all that now remains of the Academy buildings.[4]
The site of the Academy was entered on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.[4] A parking area with interpretive signs and a path to the ruins is located at mile marker 4.1 on the Natchez Trace Parkway.[7]
Notable faculty and alumnae
[edit]See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ History of Education in Mississippi, Edward Mayes, 1899, page 38
- ^ Charles Galloway (1898). "Elizabeth Female Academy: The Mother of Female Colleges". Publications of the Mississippi Historical Society. pp. 169–178. Retrieved 25 July 2012.
- ^ a b c William E. Cox (September 11, 1974). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory — Nomination Form: Elizabeth Female Academy (No. 101-3X)" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved 2015-05-10. Two photos
- ^ Rhodes, Richard (Oct 5, 2004). John James Audubon: The Making of an American. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. p. 212. ISBN 978-0-375-41412-1. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
- ^ a b F. Lynne Bachleda (26 April 2011). Guide to the Natchez Trace Parkway. Menasha Ridge Press. p. 77. ISBN 978-0-89732-925-5. Retrieved 25 July 2012.
- ^ "Elizabeth Female Academy - Natchez Trace, Mississippi". exploresouthernhistory.com. Dale Cox.
- 1818 establishments in Mississippi
- 1845 disestablishments in Mississippi
- Defunct private universities and colleges in Mississippi
- Educational institutions established in 1818
- Female seminaries in the United States
- Former women's universities and colleges in the United States
- History of women in Mississippi
- University and college buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Mississippi
- Ruins on the National Register of Historic Places
- National Register of Historic Places in Adams County, Mississippi
- University and college buildings completed in 1818
- Educational institutions disestablished in 1845
- Methodist schools in the United States
- Methodism in Mississippi
- Southern United States university stubs
- Mississippi school stubs