Martha Emily Foote Crow (May 28, 1854 – January 1, 1924) was an American educator and writer. Born in Sackets Harbor, New York,[1] she played an important role in the development of higher education for women in the United States.[2]

Martha Foote Crow
Born
Martha Emily Foote

(1854-05-28)May 28, 1854
Sackets Harbor, New York
DiedJanuary 1, 1924(1924-01-01) (aged 69)
Chicago, Illinois
EducationSyracuse University
Occupation(s)Educator, writer
Spouse
John M. Crow
(m. 1885; died 1891)

Biography

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Martha Foote Crow was born in Sackets Harbor, New York, to Reverend John B. and Mary Pendexter (Stilphen) Foote on May 28, 1854.[3]

In 1872, while studying at Syracuse University, she was one of the founding members of the sorority Alpha Phi.[4] She earned a Ph.B. in 1876 and Ph.M. in 1878, and finally her Ph.D. in English literature in 1886, all at Syracuse.

In 1885, she married John M. Crow, an archaeologist.[1] John Crow joined the faculty of Iowa College (now Grinnell College) in 1884, and Martha Foote Crow became "Lady Principal" of the college (1884–1891) and preceptress (1884–1888) of the academy that operated under the college's auspices.[5] While at Iowa College, she participated in the work of the Association of Collegiate Alumnae,[6] coordinating an international survey of women's higher education.[7][8] She also served as the Association's President from 1893 to 1895.

Upon her husband's death from tuberculosis in 1891, Martha Foote Crow left Grinnell to become assistant professor of English literature at the University of Chicago. In 1900, she became Dean of Women at Northwestern University. While at Northwestern, she participated in the formation of an association of deans of women, organizing the 1903 Conference of Deans of Women of the Middle West.[9][10]

On January 1, 1924, Martha Foote Crow died in Chicago, Illinois.[1] In 1996, Alpha Phi published a biography of Martha Foote Crow.[11]

Publications

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  • Elizabethan Sonnet Cycles (1896)
  • The World Above (1905)
  • Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1907)
  • Harriet Beecher Stowe, a Biography (1913)
  • The American Country Girl (1915)
  • Lafayette (1916)
  • Christ in the Poetry of Today (1917)

Alpha Phi

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Martha Foote Crow was one of the 10 founders of Alpha Phi International Fraternity.[12]

References

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  1. ^ a b c KM. "Martha Foote Crow Papers: an inventory of her papers at Syracuse University". Syracuse University, May 1990.
  2. ^ Rossiter, Margaret W. "Doctorates for American Women, 1868-1907". History of Education Quarterly 22, no. 2 (Summer): 159–183.
  3. ^ The Alpha Phi Quarterly. Vol. 50. January 1938. p. 39. Retrieved February 11, 2023 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ "Founders." Alpha Phi Fraternity, n.d. "About Us", Alpha Phi. Archived 2017-05-08 at the Wayback Machine.
  5. ^ Nollen, John Scholte. "Grinnell College". Cedar Rapids, Iowa: The State Historical Society Of Iowa, 1953.
  6. ^ "Association of Collegiate Alumnae Records, 1882-1917?" Archived April 2, 2015, at the Wayback Machine.
  7. ^ Крау, Марфа Фут. (Joseph Gottwald, trans.) Letter, December 8, 1890. Рукопись 2897 ар. КФУ НБ им Лобачевского ОРРК.
  8. ^ Crow, Martha Foote. "The status of foreign collegiate education of women. A partial abstract of the Report on Educational Progress presented by the Special Committee to the Association of Collegiate Alumnae on Oct. 24, 1891". Series II, no. 37; History of women, reel 945, no. 8751. [N.p.]: Association of Collegiate Alumnae, 1891.
  9. ^ "Minutes of the Conference of Deans of Women of the Middle West". Chicago, Evanston, November 3, 1903. NAWE Archives at the National Student Affairs Archives, Center for Archival Collections, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio.
  10. ^ Gerda, Janice J. "The 1903 Conference of Deans of Women of the Middle West". 2004.
  11. ^ Kramer, Julia. The ever-widening life : the story of Martha Foote Crow. Evanston Ill. Alpha Phi International Fraternity Foundation, 1996.
  12. ^ "History". Alpha Phi. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
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