Nearly 150 Years Ago, Smith College was Pioneered by a Self-Educated Woman

Written by Melissa Karen Sances

Sophia Smith, Photo Courtesy of Smith College

Smith College was chartered in 1871 and opened in 1875. The college is named after Sophia Smith, a precocious and passionate woman who bequeathed her inheritance to the groundbreaking institution.

Born in Hatfield on August 27, 1796, Sophia was the fourth of seven children. Like many girls of her era, she was given a meager education, yet she read avidly throughout her life. Such passion – which included poetry and prose, and newspapers and magazines of social, political and literary commentary – portended her future contributions.

Sophia's father, Joseph, was both prosperous and frugal. After his death, his son Austin shrewdly invested his inheritance in the New York stock market. By 1861, her siblings’ deaths had left Sophia wealthy but alone. Deeply religious, Sophia turned to her pastor, John Morton Greene, to discuss what she might do with the money.

The "Last Will and Testament of Miss Sophia Smith" was completed three months before she died in 1870. This final version supported "the establishment and maintenance of an Institution for the higher education of young women, with the design to furnish for my own sex means and facilities for education equal to those which are afforded now in our Colleges to young men."

It continued: "I would have it a perennial blessing to the country and the world."

Special Thanks to Smith College