![]() ![]() She structured the school day to include time for study, meals, exercise, and free time. Troy Female Seminary (Rennselaer County Historical Society)Įmma set out to prove that girls’ health and happiness would not be undermined by education. She liked hiring former students because they knew how hungry girls were for knowledge. Emma offered financial aid in exchange for an agreement to teach after graduation. The Troy Female Seminary opened in September 1821, attracting 90 students from seven different states, including 29 Troy residents. Emma jumped at the chance and moved Waterford Academy into a remodeled 22 room coffee house. The City Council of Troy, NY, a progressive manufacturing town, asked if Emma would open a girls’ academy there, and passed a special tax to raise $4000 to fund it. ![]() Much of society still believed that educating girls was dangerous. Emma feared she would not receive public funding unless she could grow public demand for girls’ education. The school was so successful, and her students so accomplished, that she had been confident of success this time, even breaking her usual rule to not spend more than tuition could cover. The New York Legislature again had refused to provide her school, the Waterford Academy for Young Ladies, with a public endowment after years of promises. ![]()
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