Georgetown Female Seminary

Georgetown Female Seminary (later, Waverley Seminary) was an American school for young women located in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. Miss English's Female Seminary Lydia S. English founded the school in 1826 when she was only sixteen years old. English's father had recently remarried and she founded the school as a way to live apart from her new stepmother. English received no support from her family for her new endeavor. The first class included just three students: Jane Wann, Eliza Henderson, and Miss Perry. The school quickly expanded to serve the daughters of Washington politicians. In 1835, the school had 130 pupils. Under English, the curriculum included botany. Noted writer Caroline Healey Dall taught at the school in the Fall and Winter of 1842. According to the papers of Andrew Johnson, it cost $33.81 for Martha Johnson Patterson to attend Miss English's Female Seminary between December 2, 1844 and February 12, 1845. Lodging and laundry service brought the total to $39.99.