This student blog post was written by Lauren Danielowski (IAC 2014-15). Lauren wrote about Mount Vernon History Night with Robin Delaloye. Thanks Lauren!
At symposium, we were given a history of Elizabeth J. Somers, an early advocate for women’s education. She established the Mount Vernon Seminary for women in 1875, and this school eventually became Mount Vernon College. The college merged with George Washington University in 1999 as a part of the GW community. It was so cool to see the dress Elizabeth Somers wore for the portrait hanging in Post Hall! One of my favorite parts of the symposium was learning about the life of Mount Vernon College students. Although the schedule they followed was definitely much more restrictive than ours, they took advantage of studying in DC just like GW students and especially like girls in WLP!
This picture of the field trip in front of the Capitol building is great! It was especially “close to home” because that day we had just taken a field trip to the American History museum. Some things never change! These last weeks of getting to know everyone in my cohort and discussing the progression of women in arts, literature, and politics have definitely influenced the way I see Elizabeth Somers and her legacy.
