Flora Bridges

American college professor

Flora Bridges

Flora Bridges, from a 1904 publication

Born| February 8, 1859

Salisbury, Illinois

Died| June 13, 1912

South Hadley, Massachusetts

Occupation(s)| College professor, college dean

Flora Bridges (February 8, 1859 – June 13, 1912) was an American college professor. She taught Greek and English at Mount Holyoke College, and was Dean of Women at Yankton College and Olivet College.

## Early life[edit]

Bridges was born in Salisbury, Illinois, the daughter of Vernon Roe Bridges and Mary Elizabeth Boyd Bridges. Her father was a physician. She trained as a teacher, then earned a bachelor's degree in 1887 and a master's degree in 1888,[1] all at Oberlin College, with further studies at the University of Zürich and the University of Chicago.[2]

## Career[edit]

Bridges was a high school principal in Mattoon, Illinois as a young woman. She taught Greek at Mount Holyoke College from 1887 to 1892. She taught English and Greek at Butler College (1894 to 1898),[3] Olivet College (1892 to 1893 and 1899 to 1901),[4] and Yankton College (1901 to 1904) and served as Dean of Women at Olivet and Yankton.[5] In 1905 she returned to Mount Holyoke to teach English.[2] She donated a large Greek-English lexicon to the college's library in 1906.[6] She worked closely with Marietta Kies at Mount Holyoke.[7]

## Personal life[edit]

Bridges was living with her colleagues, sisters Clara F. Stevens and Alice Porter Stevens,[8] at the time of her death in 1912,[9] aged 53 years, from gastrointestinal tuberculosis.[10][11] Clara Stevens wrote a detailed obituary about Bridges for the Oberlin Alumni Magazine.[1] A portion of Bridges' personal scholarly library, mostly involving Greek language and literature, was donated to the Mount Holyoke College library after her death.[12]

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b Stevens, Clara F. (October 1912). "Flora Bridges". The Oberlin Alumni Magazine. 9: 7–10.
2. ^ a b "Department Notes" The Mount Holyoke (October 1905): 69-70.
3. ^ "Personal". Indiana School Journal and Teacher. 39: 429. June 1894.
4. ^ Michigan (1893). "Olivet College". Joint Documents of the State of Michigan. p. 203.
5. ^ Michigan Department of Public Instruction (1900). Annual Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of the State of Michigan: With Accompanying Documents, for the Year ... Superintendent of Public Instruction. p. 129.
6. ^ "Library Notes". The Mount Holyoke. 16: 25. June 1906.
7. ^ Rogers, Dorothy G. (April 16, 2005). America's First Women Philosophers: Transplanting Hegel, 1860-1925. A&C Black. pp. 142–143. ISBN 978-0-8264-7475-9.
8. ^ Albino, Donna (April 1, 2001). Mount Holyoke College. Arcadia Publishing. p. 93\. ISBN 978-0-7385-0518-3.
9. ^ "Educator Called by Death". The Indianapolis Star. June 24, 1912. p. 7. Retrieved June 24, 2021 - via Newspapers.com.
10. ^ "Miss Flora Bridges Dies in New England". Journal Gazette. June 15, 1912. p. 4. Retrieved June 24, 2021 - via Newspapers.com.
11. ^ "Gastrointestinal tuberculosis" was listed as the cause of death on Bridges' official death certificate, which was signed by Clara F. Stevens as informant; from Ancestry
12. ^ "Gifts". Annual Report of the President to the Board of Trustees of Mount Holyoke College: 30. November 1913.

## External links[edit]

* Flora Bridges, "Co-education in Swiss Universities" Popular Science Monthly 38(February 1891).

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