Mary Allan (British academic)

Mary Miller Allan (12 August 1869 – 1 November 1947)[1] was a Scottish academic and educator.[2] From 1903 to 1935, she was Principal of Homerton College, Cambridge.[3]

Biography

Allan was born and raised in Glasgow, the daughter of William Allan and Margaret Young.[4] She was educated at the University of St Andrews, graduating with a "Lady Literate in Arts" (LLA) degree in 1894 (before women were allowed to earn standard degrees at the university).[3] She became principal of Homerton College, Cambridge in 1903.[5] She appointed female lecturers, and became the first female president of the Training College Association in 1916.[6] She retired from Homerton in 1935.[3][7]

Death

Mary Miller Allan died in 1947 in Cambridge. There is a Mary Allan Building at Cambridge, named in her memory.[8] A 1919 portrait of Allan, by Hugh Goldwin Rivière, is in the college's collection.[1]

References

1. "Mary Miller Allan, Principal of Homerton College (1903–1935)". Art UK. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
2. Women in Teacher Training Colleges, 1900–1960: A Culture of Femininity. Edwards, E pg. 77: London: Routledge (2001); ISBN 0203259394
3. "Mary Miller Allan". Homerton 250. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
4. Scotland, Select Births and Baptisms, 1564–1950
5. Edwards, Elizabeth. "Mary Miller Allan: The Complexity of Gender Negotiations for a Woman Principal of a Teacher Training College" in Pam Hirsch and Mary Hilton, eds., Practical Visionaries: Women, Education, and Social Progress, 1790-1930 (Routledge 2014): pp. 149-164; ISBN 9781317877226
6. Edwards, Elizabeth (1 June 1995). "Homoerotic friendship and college principals, 1880-1960". Women's History Review. 4 (2): 149–163. doi:10.1080/09612029500200080. ISSN 0961-2025.
7. Warner, Peter. "Homerton: A Brief History"; pg. 3.
8. "Mary Allan Building". Map of the University of Cambridge. Retrieved 28 July 2020.

Academic offices
Preceded by John Charles Horobin	Principal of Homerton College, Cambridge 1903–1935	Succeeded by Alice Havergal Skillicorn