LUCY
ANN SEYMOUR PARSONS began the Milwaukee Female Seminary in 1848, with
a progressive curriculum, prestigious backers, and a building on Broadway
and Wells. As the wife of the Reverend William Leonard Parsons, she supported
the work of the abolitionist church, an active part of the Underground
Railroad, on what later became Milwaukee's Grand Avenue. Then it was the
Free Congregational Society with a mission to help free slaves reach Canada.
Today that Church is a Milwaukee landmark, which houses the Irish Community
Center.
Highly respected as an educator, Lucy Parsons had teaching experience from upstate New York, known as the "burnt-over district" for its evangelical fervor. She brought this spirit to her school and the philosophies of Emma Willard, Mary Lyon, and the Beecher family of Boston.
