Howard, Ada Lydia (1829–1907)
Howard, Ada Lydia (1829–1907)
American educator . Name variations: Mrs. A.L. Howard. Born on December 19, 1829, in Temple,New Hampshire; died on March 3, 1907, in Brooklyn, New York; attended New Ipswich Academy; graduated from Lowell High School; graduated from Mount Holyoke Seminary (now Mount Holyoke College), 1853; never married; no children.
Ada Howard, who would devoted her life to teaching and educational administration, was born in Temple, New Hampshire, in 1829. She graduated from Mount Holyoke Seminary in 1853. After a period of study under private tutors, she returned to her alma mater in 1858 as a teacher. She then took a teaching post at Western College for Women (now Western College) in Oxford, Ohio, and also served as principal of the women's department at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois (1866–69). In 1869, she opened her own school, Ivy Hall, in Bridgeton, New Jersey.
Upon the inauguration of Wellesley College in September 1875, Howard was selected by founder and treasurer Henry F. Durant to serve as its first president. In her post, Howard presided over a faculty of approximately 30 women, though her job was limited to executing the policies set by Durant. After Durant's death in October 1881, Howard herself became ill and was forced to retire before she had the opportunity to run the college on her own. The presidency passed to Alice Freeman Palmer . Ada Howard, who spent her final years in Methuen, Massachusetts, and Brooklyn, New York, died on March 3, 1907.