Mount Vernon College For Women - Founding of Mount Vernon Seminary and 204 F Street, NW

Founding of Mount Vernon Seminary and 204 F Street, NW

Mount Vernon College was founded in 1875, but its roots trace back to 1868, when Elizabeth J. Somers began tutoring the young daughters of prominent Washington men in her house at 204 F Street, NW in Washington, DC. At the time, there were no schools for the education of girls in Washington, DC. Her first three students were the daughters of Judge Dennis Cooley—Clara, Minnie and Mary. Their father, Judge Cooley, approached Mrs. Somers and asked her to teach his daughters in preparation for their attendance at Vassar College. When Mrs. Somers began teaching the Cooley girls, she began receiving similar requests to teach other children. Her small school grew.

Seven years later, in 1875, Elizabeth Somers officially opened Mount Vernon Seminary, a day school for young ladies, that offered a six year course of instruction, including four high school and two post high school, college years. The school was named after Mount Vernon Place Methodist Church in Baltimore, which was founded by Somers' brother, Thomas Eddy. The school included in its students the daughters of prominent men in Washington, including senators and congressmen. The school and students took full advantage of their Washington, DC location to further their education. Students reportedly visited the Volta Place laboratory of Alexander Graham Bell, to test the newly invented telephone. Bell's daughters, Elsie Bell Grosvenor (class of 1897) and Marian Bell Fairchild (class of 1895) all attended Mount Vernon Seminary, as well as several of his granddaughters and nieces.