The Education of Colonial Women: Attitudes and Family Influences

Most historians of the education of American colonial women began their studies with the entrance of women into formal institutions of learning. As a result they have neglected significant developments in the history of the education of American women because it was not until the nineteenth century that formal institutions were opened to women. With the growing interest in feminist studies one is very much aware of the problems women had breaking into the educational community of the nineteenth century. While this trend toward formal education for women was important, historians lose a much-needed perspective if they neglect the developments of the colonial period. A knowledge of the advances made by colonial women allows one to better appreciate the academic struggles which women faced in the nineteenth century