Mary Harriott Norris

Mary Harriott Norris
Born(1848-03-16)March 16, 1848
Boonton, New Jersey
DiedSeptember 14, 1918(1918-09-14) (aged 70)
Morristown, New Jersey
NationalityAmerican
EducationA.B.
Alma materVassar College
Occupation(s)Writer, Educator
Parent(s)Charles Bryan Norris
Mary L. Kerr

Mary Harriott Norris (March 16, 1848 – September 14, 1918) was an American author and educator.[1]

Born in Boonton, New Jersey to Charles Bryan Norris and Mary Lyon Kerr, she was educated at Vassar College, where she graduated with honor, receiving an A.B. degree in 1870.[2] Two years later in 1872 she was invited back to deliver the annual commencement address to the college.[3] She became a writer of short stories, novels, and educational articles; she edited several works and gave a number of lectures.[3] Norris was a regular contributor to the Boston Journal of Education.[2]

In 1879, she became principal of a private school she founded in New York City, serving at that post until 1891. From 1898–9, she served as Dean of Women at Northwestern University,[4] being the first regularly elected representative to hold that post.[3] Three times she travelled to Europe, visiting Great Britain, Italy, the Scandinavian countries, Netherlands, and Switzerland.[2]

Bibliography

Her published works include the following:[2][3]

  • Fräulein Mina (1872)
  • School-life of Ben and Bentie (1884)
  • Dorothy Delafield (1886)
  • A Damsel of the Eighteenth Century (1889)
  • Phoebe (1890)
  • Silas Marner (1890), editor
  • Marmion (1891), editor
  • Afterward (1893)
  • The Nine Blessings (1893)
  • John Applegate, Surgeon (1894)
  • Lakewood (1895)
  • Evangeline (1897), editor
  • Kenilworth (1898), editor
  • The Gray House of the Quarries (1898)
  • Quentin Duward (1899), editor
  • The Grapes of Wrath (1901)
  • The Story of Christina (1907)
  • The Veil (1907)
  • The Golden Age of Vassar (1915)

References

  1. ^ Schlup, Leonard C.; Ryan, James Gilbert, eds. (2003), Historical Dictionary of the Gilded Age, M. E. Sharpe, ISBN 0765621061.
  2. ^ a b c d Scannell's New Jersey's First Citizens and State Guide, J. J. Scannell, 1918.
  3. ^ a b c d Leonard, John William, ed. (1914), Woman's Who's who of America: A Biographical Dictionary of Contemporary Women of the United States and Canada, vol. 1, American Commonwealth Company, p. 579.
  4. ^ Johnson, Rossiter; Brown, John Howard, eds. (1904), The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, vol. 8, Biographical Society.