Catherine Beecher

Personal Statement Hello, my name is Catherine Beecher and I was born on September 6, 1800 in East Hampton, New York. I was educated in a private school which was ran by my mother in our home. I then attended Miss Sarah Pierce's School in Litchfield, Connecticut when my family moved. In 1823 my sister and I opened a girls' school in Hartford. I made it clear that schools for women should be established, because women were moral leaders inside their homes they were capable of being teachers. I fought strongly for education and also got involved in other issues; however, education was what I mainly focused on. In 1852 I founded the American Women's Educational Association which worked for the establishment of women's normal schools in the West. This created institutions in Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois. I believed that women were mothers and teachers which gave them an important role in shaping the national morality.

Issue(s) I urged women to be wives, mothers, and teachers; however, they also needed to accept their social and political subordination. I published multiple books on the temperance movement, but I didn't want to get involved in the abolishionist movement. I wrote an essay in response to the leader Angelina Grimké. I told her I felt that any activity which throws a women into fighting for herself or others does not fall within her appropriate sphere of being a wife and mother. I was also a strong opponent to the women suffrage movement. I believed that women should not participate in politics, but I did believe that women should be allowed economic independence.

Solution(s) My solutions to education was creating schools. I created multiple schools and ran them so women would be able to teach. I mostly wrote letters and books on other issues such as temperance movement. I wrote to leaders on issues such as Angelina Grimké even if I didn't agree with her when women got involved with things that didn't fall in their sphere of being a wife and mother. I believe I was successful by spreading information about how women were perceived 

Relationship to Others I feel strongly about education reform and I would feel comfortable sitting next to others who was also concerned about education. I would also feel comfortable sitting next to anyone who was involved in the temperance movement. I wrote books on the temperance movement so I'd love to know what others did during the temperance movement. I wouldn't feel comfortable sitting next to people who believed women should get involved in politics. I would also feel uncomfortable sitting next to women who were involved in abolitionist movement, because I disagreed with women being involved in this.