Ancestry of
Elizabeth Cabot Agassiz
1st President of Radcliff College
Who was Elizabeth Cabot (Cary) Agassiz?
Elizabeth Cabot (Cary) Agassiz was a trailblazing educator, author, and the first president of Radcliffe College, which evolved from Harvard’s “Annex” program for women into a respected institution of higher learning. A member of Boston’s elite Cabot and Cary families, she was also the wife of Swiss-born naturalist Louis Agassiz, one of the 19th century’s foremost scientists.
Elizabeth co-founded the Harvard Annex in 1879, which offered Harvard-level instruction to women at a time when they were barred from formal enrollment. Through her strong administrative leadership and fundraising abilities, she was instrumental in transforming the Annex into Radcliffe College, where she served as president from 1894 until her retirement in 1903. Her diplomatic leadership helped forge a working relationship between Radcliffe and Harvard that would eventually lead to the integration of women into the university.
In addition to her educational work, Agassiz assisted her husband with scientific expeditions and edited many of his writings. After his death, she continued to publish scientific and autobiographical works, including A First Lesson in Natural History and A Journey in Brazil.
A respected intellectual and advocate for women’s education, Elizabeth Cabot Agassiz left an enduring legacy in American academia. Her contributions helped lay the groundwork for the full inclusion of women in elite higher education.
Some of the most recently added connections of famous kin for Elizabeth Cabot Agassiz
George Albert Smith
8th President of the Mormon Church
7th cousin 2 times removed
via Edward Winslow
George Albert Smith
8th President of the Mormon Church
12th cousin 3 times removed
via Richard Sherburne
Leverett Saltonstall
55th Governor of Massachusetts
18th cousin 2 times removed
via Sir William de Ros
Charles Carroll
Signer of the Declaration of Independence
17th cousin 2 times removed
via Sir William de Ros
View entire list of famous kin for Elizabeth Cabot Agassiz
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