Catharine Beecherdevoted most of her lifeto the cause ofwomen’s education,believing that womenwere responsible for theeducation and moraldevelopment of the nextgeneration."If all females were notonly well educatedthemselves but werepreparedto<strong>com</strong>municate in aneasy manner theirstores of knowledge toothers; if they not only knew how to regulate their ownminds, tempers, and habits but how to effectimprovements in those around them, the face of societywould be speedily changed.""It is to mothers and to teachers that the world is to lookfor the character which is to be enstamped on eachsucceeding generation, for it is to them that the greatbusiness of education is almost exclusively <strong>com</strong>mitted.And will it not appear by examination that neithermothers nor teachers have ever been properly educatedfor their profession?"Catharine Beecher was born in East Hampton, NewYork to the prominent Beecher family; more than anyother family, they influenced American culture andpolitics during the late nineteenth century. Catharinewas the eldest of 13 children born to Dr. LymanBeecher, a Presbyterian minister known for hisevangelism. Her mother, Roxana (Foote) Beecher diedwhen Catherine was sixteen, and the bond between thiseldest child and her father became even stronger. Theyounger children looked up to her as the head of thehousehold, and she remained exceptionally close to herfather even after he married Harriet Porter the followingyear. Eight of Roxana’s children survived infancy; withHarriet, Lyman Beecher fathered three more sons and adaughter.When Catharine was nine and her mother still alive, thefamily moved to Litchfield, Connecticut. Here shestudied at the Litchfield Female Academy, taught by agroundbreaking educator, Sarah Pierce. Pierce hadopened the school in 1792, with plans to only teach afew girls in of her home, but with an increased demandfor education after the American Revolution, the schoolgrew to a much larger entity. Pierce believed that menand women were intellectually equal, and youngCatharine absorbed some of Pierce’s revolutionaryideas..With her sister Mary, she founded a girl’s school inHartford, Connecticut, aimed at training women tobe<strong>com</strong>e mothers and teachers. Some of the subjectsshe hoped to teach Beecher had not yet learnedherself: her brother Edward then was head of theHartford Latin School, and she started taking lessons inLatin with him only weeks before she began teachingit. Her students performed excellently at the yearlyexhibitions and surprised the many people who did notexpect girls to do well. Beecher’s school began toattract so many students that it was hard toac<strong>com</strong>modate them all.In most female schools of that era, students wereexpected to learn little more than the fine arts andlanguages, but Beecher attempted a plethora ofsubjects -- and was keenly aware of the necessarilyinadequate result. In response to the problem that shefound herself encountering, Beecher wrote “Suggestionson <strong>Education</strong>.” She explained: “For the brothers of afamily the well-endowed college, with its corps ofprofessors, each devoted to one department ofknowledge, and with leisure to perfect himself in it andteach it in the most <strong>com</strong>plete manner—for the sisters ofthe family only such advantages as they could get fromone teacher in one room, who had the care of teachingin all branches; and she asked what but superficialknowledge could be the result of such a system.”She successfully sought donations and expanded herschool to be<strong>com</strong>e Hartford Female Seminary, hiringeight teachers who focused on a few subjects so thateach was taught in a “<strong>com</strong>plete manner.” Beecher’sschool gained attention, and she often had visitors whowished to open similar schools; many graduates ofHartford Female Seminary went on to teach in theseschools. She also wrote textbooks used in her schooland in those that emulated it. Even moreunconventional than these educational innovations,however, was the introduction of calisthenics, for shealso believed that girls ruined their health with tightcorsets, poor diets, and culturally-imposed“fragility.” Catherine Beecher arguably can be termedthe pioneer of physical education for females.After operating her Hartford school for eight years, from1823 to 1831, she left it to a colleague and moved westwhen Lyman Beecher became president of LaneTheological Seminary, a progressive Cincinnatiinstitution. Ohio was still a frontier, however, not<strong>com</strong>parable to Connecticut’s affluent and educatedpopulace, and Catherine Beecher’s Western FemaleInstitute soon faced bankruptcy. Her problemsexacerbated by the nation’s first serious depression in1837, she turned to working on the famous McGuffeyreaders, the first nationally-adopted textbooks forelementary students.From then on, Beecher traveled between homes of hernumerous family and friends, supporting herself withlectures and books. The Duty of American Women toTheir Country (1845) argued for free public education toprotect the still-new democracy. She followed up onthat in 1852 by founding the American Woman’s<strong>Education</strong>al Association, which aimed to send teacherswest to build schools to the developing frontier.At the same time, Beecher also expanded the definitionof education to include what later was termed homeeconomics. A Treatise on Domestic Economy (1841)and The Domestic Receipt Book (1846) demonstratedthat although she had be<strong>com</strong>e a traveling, professionalwoman who did not maintain a home, she rememberedfrom her early years how much managerial skill indeedwas required to efficiently run the era’s largehouseholds. Beyond cooking, cleaning, and other work(without electrical appliances), her definition of essentialhousehold knowledge also included the maintenance ofgood health. Her popular sister Harriet joined her inupdating these views with The American Woman’sHome (1869).
mypanchang.<strong>com</strong>July <strong>2013</strong> • North Indian Ashadha-Shravana • Jyestha-Ashadha • Mithuna-Karka • Aani–AadiSUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SATNo Muhurtha for GrahaPravesha, Vasthu, Wedding,or Upanayana from 5th Juneto 5 th July due to Guru Astha.No Muhurtha from 8 th July till15 th August due to Ashadhamasa and Karka Samkranthi.Varsha Rutu (Drik Sid)Jyeshtha KrishnaPanchaka endsNavami 10:54Ashvini 29:10Guru Astha1Dashami 12:26Bharani day/nightGuru Astha2Yogini Ekadashi 14:27Bharani 07:40Guru Astha3Independence DayPradoshamDvadashi 16:48Krittika 10:32Guru Astha4Masa ShivaratriTrayodashi 19:18Rohini 13:35Guru Astha ends: 22:19:185Chaturdashi 21:49Mrigashirsha 16:40678910111213Amavasya TarpanamAmavasya 24:14Aardra 19:41Ashaadha ShuklaPrathama 26:28Punarvasu 22:32Jagannath RathayatraDvitiiya 28:29Pushya 25:10Tritiiya day/nightAslesha 27:32Tritiiya 06:11Magha day/nightChaturthi 07:31Magha 05:32Panchami 08:25P.Phalguni 07:081415161718Harishayani Ekadasi1920Kardama Shashthi 08:49U.Phalguni 08:14Vivasvat Saptami 08:38Hasta 08:45Samkranti PunyahkalaAshtami 07:48Chitra 08:39Sun: Karka 03:10 AadiPunaryatraKaridinaNavami 06:19Dashami 28:12Svaati 07:54Ekadashi 25:30Vishaakha 06:31Anuraadha 28:34Bhagwata Ekadasi (V)Vishnu ShayanotsavaDvadashi 22:19Jyeshtha 26:08Shani PradoshamShani Trayodashi 18:46Mula 23:2221222324252627Chaturdashi 15:01P.shadha 20:26Satyanarayana PujaPurnima 11:15U.shada 17:31Hindi Mangala Gauri Vrat(North Indian Shravana)Ashaadha KrishnaPrathama 07:38Dvitiiya 28:22Shravana 14:49Panchaka beginsTritiiya 25:36Dhanishta 12:32Sankathara ChaturthiChaturthi 23:31Shatabhisha 10:50Panchami 22:13P.Bhadrapada 09:51Shashthi 21:47U.Bhadrapada 09:42Panchaka endsSaptami 22:12Revati 10:2528Ashtami 23:25Ashvini 11:5529Hindi Mangala Gauri VratNavami 25:15Bharani 14:0830Aadi KartikaiDashami 27:32Krittika 16:5031Yogini Ekadasi Jul 3Jagannath Rathayatra Jul 9Harishayani Ekadasi Jul 18Shani Trayodasi Jul 20Guru Purnima Jul 22Sankathara Chaturthi Jul 25
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