Catharine Esther Beecher
Personal Information
Born: 1800
Died: 1878
Country of Birth: USA
Nationality: USA
Ethnicity: White
Education
home schooled till age 10: Litchfield Female Academy from ages 10-16; predominantly self-taught
Professional Life
Field of Study: Educator
Institution/Corporation: None found
Degrees & Memberships: Member & founder American women's Educational Association (1852)
Awards & Achievements
Awards: 1994 Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame
Achievements: known for her forthright opinions on female education as well as her vehement support of the many benefits of the incorporation of kindergarten into children's education; published the advice manual The American Woman's Home with her sister Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1869; promoted equal access to education for women & advocated for their roles as teachers & mothers; advocated for self-sacrifice, modesty, & frugality with children & cooking; opposed woman's suffrage as it interferred with their roles as mothers & educators; 1829 & 1830 led a woman's movemen to protest the Indian Removal Bill of President Andrew Jackson that was unsuccessful; was instrumental in the founding of women's colleges in Burlington Iowa, Quincy Illinois, & Milwaukee Wisconsin
oldest of 9 children born to her parents, had 4 half-siblings from father's 2nd marriage; sister of Harriett Beecher Stowe & Henry Ward Beecher
all her siblings were pastors &/or activists in the suffrage & anti-slavery movements
her mother died when she was 16 & Catharine left school to assume the management of the household
as a ten wrote poetry that was publishe in the Christian Spectator under the name C. D. D.
at age 22 was engaged to Yale University Professor alexander Fisher but he died in a shipwreck before they could be married; she never married or had children, devoting herself to the education of others
was educated at home until age 10 when she attended the Litchfield Female Academy
subsequently taught herself math, Latin, & philosophy
retired from administrative work in 1837
believed the work of a teacher was more important to society than the work of a lawyer or doctor
believed women should stay out of politics & the issue of slavery
believed the anti-slavery movement would anger the South & lead to violence
3 Universities have named buildings after her
some of her letters to family members are housed at the University of Iowa Library Beecher Family Papers Collection