.jpg)
Helen L. Webster (August 1, 1853 – January 4, 1928) was an Americanphilologist and educator. She taught atVassar College, 1889–90, at the same time giving a course of lectures oncomparative philology atBarnard College. She served as professor of comparative philology atWellesley College. 1890–9; and was the principal of theWilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Institute, 1899–1904. Webster was the author of:A Treatise on the Guttural Question in Gothic (doctoral dissertation). She edited,The Legends of the Micmacs, 1893. Additionally, she lectured and contributed to educational periodicals. Webster made her home inFarmington, Connecticut.[1]
Helen Livermore Webster was born inBoston,Massachusetts, August 1, 1853.[1] In her childhood, her family removed toSalem, Massachusetts.[2]
Webster was educated in the public schools of Salem,[1] and graduated in the normal school of that city.[2]
After graduation, she taught for several years in the high school inLynn, Massachusetts, during which time she kept up a course of study with a tutor in Boston. She aimed to win recognition, which would give her equal standing with regularly graduated collegians, as she was unable to take a college course. In her private studies, she was preparing to take the examinations of theUniversity of London, England. When ready to sail for England, she was detained at home by illness in her family. Afterwards, she went toZürich, where she entered theUniversity of Zurich. She studied there for more than three years, and she passed with the highest credit the examinations for the degree of Ph.D. (1889).[1] The examinations covered the comparative grammar ofSanskrit, Greek, Latin, Gothic, Anglo-Saxon, Old Norse, Old and Middle High German, and German literature. She handed in to the faculty a dissertation, entitledZur Gutturalfrage im Gotischen, which attracted general comment by its wide research and scholarly handling. After receiving her degree, she traveled in Europe for a time.[2]
In 1889, she returned to the United States, and, in the winter of that year, lectured inBarnard College, inNew York City. During the last half of that college year, she taught atVassar College. In 1890, the chair of comparative philology was established in Wellesley College, and she was called to fill it,[2] remaining until 1899.[3]
Webster read her paper entitled, "The Education of the Future" at the National Woman's Council atAtlanta,Georgia, October 1895.[4] From 1899 to 1904,[5] she served as the principal of the Wilkes-Barre Institute, a home and day school for girls and young women including Academic, Intermediate, Primary, and Kindergarten departments.[6] Subsequent positions included teaching at Miss Porter's school inFarmington, Connecticut, and then philologist and academic head at theNational Cathedral School for Girls,Washington, D.C.[3]
After being ill for several months, Webster died in Washington, D.C., on January 4, 1928.[7][3] She left an estate valued atUS$100,000.[8]
WilkesBarreSemiWeeklyRecord-21jun1904
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain:Leonard, John William; Marquis, Albert Nelson (1910).Who's who in America (Public domain ed.). A.N. Marquis. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain:Osterhout Free Library (1899).The Library News-letter. Vol. 9–11 (Public domain ed.). The Library. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain:Willard, Frances Elizabeth;Livermore, Mary Ashton Rice (1893). "Helen L. Webster".A Woman of the Century: Fourteen Hundred-seventy Biographical Sketches Accompanied by Portraits of Leading American Women in All Walks of Life (Public domain ed.).Charles Wells Moulton.
Works related toWoman of the Century/Helen L. Webster at Wikisource| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Other | |
