Laura Drake Gill Explained

Laura Drake Gill (August 24, 1860 – February 3, 1926)^[1] was an American educator. She was the third dean of Barnard College, serving in that role from 1901 to 1907, and president of the Association of Collegiate Alumnae.

Early life and education

Gill was born in Chesterville, Maine, the daughter of Elisha Gill and Huldah H. Capen Gill. Her father died in 1873. She graduated in 1881 from Smith College with a degree in mathematics. She continued at Smith to earn a master's degree in 1885.^[2] She later earned a law degree from the Sewanee College.

Career

Gill taught mathematics at Miss Capen’s School in Massachusetts, from 1881 to 1898. In 1898, she went to Cuba among the first group of nurses sent by the Red Cross, and she headed the Cuban Orphan Society.

Gill succeeded Emily James Smith to become the third dean of Barnard College, a position she held from 1901 to 1907.^{[3] [4]} She was succeeded by Virginia Gildersleeve in 1911.

After Barnard, Gill became national president of the Association of Collegiate Alumnae,^[5] and organized the Vocational Bureau for College Women in America.^[6] She was education chair of the General Federation of Women's Clubs.^[7] She worked for Sewanee College beginning in 1911,^[8] to develop plans for a Women's College of the South. She was an administrator at Berea College In Kentucky in her last years.^{[9] [10]}

Publications

• "Kindergarten and Industrial Training in Cuba" (1901)^[11]
• "Service of Organized Women to the Public School" (1909)^[12]
• "The Woman in Higher Education" (1914)^[13]

Personal life

Gill died in 1926, in Berea, Kentucky, at the age of 65.^[14] Columbia University owns a portrait of Gill, painted by Julia Redding Kelly.^[15]

External links

• Photograph of Laura Drake Gill, in the New York Public Library Digital Collections

Notes and References

1. Web site: Bashaw . Carolyn Terry . 2000 . Gill, Laura Drake . 2018-09-27 . American National Biography Online . 10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.0900298.
2. Web site: McCaughey . Bob . 2017-09-04 . Laura Drake Gill . 2024-03-23 . Barnard 125 . en-US.
3. Walton, Andrea. "Achieving a Voice and Institutionalizing a Vision for Women: The Barnard Deanship at Columbia University, 1889-1947." Historical Studies in Education/Revue d'histoire de l'éducation (2001): 113-146.
4. News: March 16, 1908 . Dean Won't Return Who Expelled Girl; Miss Gill of Barnard Denies Miss Elder's Reinstatement Caused Her Retirement . 2024-03-23 . The New York Times . 1 . en.
5. News: 1908-09-07 . College Alumnae Delegates Arrive . 2024-03-23 . Los Angeles Evening Express . 6 . Newspapers.com.
6. Sartorius . Kelly C. . 2020-11-01 . Counseling US women for economic citizenship: Deans of women and the beginnings of vocational guidance . Paedagogica Historica . en . 56 . 6 . 831–846 . 10.1080/00309230.2020.1818798 . 0030-9230.
7. News: 1913-01-12 . Great College for Women Planned for the South . 2024-03-23 . The Birmingham News . 25 . Newspapers.com.
8. News: 1911-06-14 . Sewanee Will Have a College for Women . 2024-03-23 . Nashville Banner . 1 . Newspapers.com.
9. News: Smith . John F. . February 9, 1926 . The Late Laura Drake Gill; Former Dean of Barnard Gave Her Life for Poor Mountain Students . 2024-03-23 . The New York Times . 24 . en.
10. News: 1926-03-04 . Noted Woman Dies . 2024-03-23 . Baptist and Reflector . 8 . Newspapers.com.
11. Book: Gill . Laura Drake . Kindergarten and industrial training in Cuba . Cuban Orphan Society. . 1901 . Cuban Orphan Society . Cuban Orphan Society. Report ;no. 11 . New York.
12. Gill . Laura Drake . 1909 . Service of Organized Women to the Public School . The Journal of Education . 70 . 3 (1738) . 69–70 . 10.1177/002205740907000310 . 42812015 . 0022-0574.
13. Gill . Laura Drake . June 1914 . The Woman in Higher Education . Religious Education . en . 9 . 3 . 272–278 . 10.1080/0034408140090308 . 0034-4087.
14. News: 1926-02-05 . Dr. Laura D. Gill Dies; Ex-Dean of Barnard . 2024-03-23 . The Brooklyn Daily Eagle . 18 . Newspapers.com.
15. Web site: Laura Drake Gill . 2024-03-23 . National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution . en.