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Mary
Lyon
History of Christianity is a six part survey designed to stimulate your curiosity by providing glimpses of pivotal events and persons in the spread of the church.
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 t was a novel idea: educating women. But
times were changing. It was the nineteenth century already, an age of
growth for the young United States of America. After the War of 1812--Britain's
failed attempt to undo the American Revolution--it was pretty clear that
the USA was here to stay. Commerce and industry were developing, and the
country was expanding westward. Many realized that America needed an educated
citizenry in order to attain its lofty dreams and measure up to its potential.
Some, like Mary Lyon, dared to think that this education should include
females.
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Nowadays, educational opportunities abound for women. College enrollment
in the U.S. is roughly equal for males and females. But that wasn't always
the case. Women couldn't vote until the early 1900s. Decades before the
Industrial Revolution, most households at that time were mini-corporations--with
women functioning as Chief Operating Officers--but it was rare to see
a woman working outside the home, at least in any respectable position,
besides school teaching.
Mary Lyon was born in 1797 in western Massachusetts, the sixth of eight
children. Her parents, strong Christians, traced their lineage back to
the earliest days of the colony, but they were struggling to make a living
from the land. Life got even tougher for the family: Mary’s father
died when she was six. Mary grew up learning the skills necessary for
a girl of her day--spinning, weaving, sewing, as well as helping on the
farm--but she also had a thirst for learning. In her teens she began teaching,
saving her money to be able to continue her own studies in the various
academies and schools of the region (at age 20 she earned 75¢ a week
plus board). As she worked and pursued her studies, often she would have
only four hours of sleep a day.
A minister named Joseph Emerson ran a school in the town of Byfield,
which turned out to be a key influence on Lyon's life. Emerson actually
"talked to ladies as if they had brains," she said later. He
encouraged Mary to begin a school of her own, specifically for women.
As her plans developed, Mary aimed to provide a school affordable for
common folks. Perhaps the students themselves could do much of the domestic
work at the school, thus cutting costs.
Even more than serving women, though, Mary Lyon devoted herself to serving
Christ. She wanted her pupils to become active Christians, with a missionary
spirit and a dedication to God in whatever task He would lead them into.
With money raised from interested Christians, Lyon finally realized
her dream. Mount Holyoke Female Seminary opened in South Hadley, Massachusetts,
in 1836. (The founder specifically insisted the school not be named after
her, so it took the name of a nearby peak.) Its motto, "That our
daughters may be as cornerstones, polished after the similitude of a palace"
(Psalm 144:12). It was the first college in America specifically for women.
The Christian Core
The curriculum was rigorous, including science, mathematics, history,
and theology. Lyon herself served as principal for the first dozen years,
establishing a model of excellence and Christian living. She spoke with
conviction and magnetism, her radiant personality shining through. Students
appreciated the timeless spiritual advice and practical applications of
her chapel lectures from Proverbs, as well as her other addresses. By
preparing women to take part in the development of a young nation, Mary
Lyon hoped Mount Holyoke would help to carry the Christian message to
the world.
To that end, she put great emphasis on the development of the spiritual
life of the students. Mary Lyon and her teachers actively prayed for the
conversion of each of the students, and periods of revival were seen as
definite answers to prayer. Twice a day, half-hour periods were set aside
for the students to have a private time of prayer and meditation. Teachers
went from room to room visiting, conversing, and praying with the students.
Special prayer meetings were held, as were regular and special fast days.
The first Monday in January was set aside to pray for the conversion of
the world. On the last Thursday in February, they prayed for revival in
colleges and religious institutions. A half hour each Saturday was spent
studying the activities of various missionary agencies, and missionary
leaders were brought in to address the students.
In an age of burgeoning missionary spirit, Mount Holyoke played an important
part. Many graduates became foreign missionaries, and many others became
missionaries to the American West. Some even established academies for
female education on the frontier. In the following decades, other colleges
were established for women, which attained a reputation for high academic
standards. But it started in South Hadley, Massachusetts, as Mary Lyon
polished cornerstones for God's service.
Quaint Fact
The practice of awarding honorary degrees began in 1692. Harvard bestowed
a doctorate on Rev. Increase Mather before he went to England on a
fund raising trip. Harvard thought the title would make Mather's trip
more successful! |
Plain Talking
Mount Holyoke student, Eliza Hubbell, who attended from 1840-1844, took
these notes from Mary's teaching:
- Religion is fitted to make us better in every situation in life. Our
common duties will be more perfectly discharged if we are under the
control of the Holy Spirit's influence.
- She inculcated the duty of committing Scripture to memory and of having
a plan for self-teaching in regard to it.
- Character is made up of little things, and it is greatly important
that we know ourselves in little things. Avoid trifling, volatility,
anything which will lessen self-respect if you would retain the respect
of others. See how the Bible regards small things: Eve, Achan, etc.
- She did not wish us to be like soap stone which crumbles as it is
rubbed, but like gold which shines brighter, the more it is used.
A Higher Calling; The Christian Roots
of Ivy League Schools
Of course Mary Lyon wasn't the only Christian pushing education.
Some of the most prestigious universities in the U.S. were founded
with the expressed purpose of training Christians for ministry.
Harvard
Harvard was a school built around a library. Rev. John Harvard always
wanted to encourage literacy, both in general learning and in the
Scriptures. So when he died in 1638, his will designated half his
estate, including about 400 books, for the starting of a new educational
enterprise. Just two years earlier, the Massachusetts colonists
had voted to start a college with their own taxes, but nothing much
had happened until Rev. Harvard's legacy was received.
The Rules and Precepts set forth at the college's founding echoed
the late minister's concerns. Let every Student be plainly instructed
and earnestly pressed to consider well the main end of the scholar’s
life and studies is to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal
life, John 17:3, and, therefore, to lay Christ in the bottom as
the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning.
In the first 100 years, all members of the Harvard faculty were
ministers. And during its first 60 years, more than one half of
its alumni would become ministers.
Yale
In 1701, the colonists of Connecticut established Yale College.
Its founding parallels that of Harvard in many respects. Strong
emphasis was placed on fervent prayer as a means of receiving wisdom
from God and biblical study for understanding God’s will.
During its first twelve years, almost three-fourths of Yale's graduates
entered ministerial service.
Princeton
With revival stirring spirits throughout America in the 1730s and
1740s, the need for new church leaders was never greater. Concerned
about a drift toward Arminian theology, several ministers in Pennsylvania
and New Jersey joined in 1730 to begin the Log College. The first
president, Jonathan Dickinson, a Presbyterian pastor and Yale graduate,
began official instruction of several students in his own log cabin
home in Elizabethtown, NJ. A key figure in this school's founding
was William Tennent, a noted preacher in the Great Awakening and
a confidant of George Whitefield. Several Log College leaders then
were involved in the development of the College of New Jersey, chartered
in 1746. This school later became known as Princeton.
While the new college expanded its focus beyond just training for
ministry, the Christian emphasis was still strong. Reports indicate
that, in those early decades, the college faculty and staff became
intimately involved in the students' spiritual lives by inquiring
of them directly, praying for them regularly, and biblical preaching.
As a result, about 47% of Princeton's first 21 graduating classes
became involved in Christian service as a vocation (158 students).
Brown
While Harvard and Yale had Puritan roots and Princeton reflected
Presbyterian perspectives, Brown would become the first Baptist
institution in America, begun in 1762 by James Manning, an alumnus
of Princeton. He would gather many other Baptists--along with a
few from other denominations--to jump start this school.
A charter was passed that provided that a majority of the trustees
and fellows would be "forever Baptists." This stipulation
did not include the students, teachers, or other officers, although
the president had to be Baptist.
Of Brown's first 10 graduating classes (165 graduates) under Manning's
leadership, nearly one fourth embarked on full-time Christian service.
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