Mary Desha

Mary Desha (March 8, 1850 – January 29, 1911) was a founder of Daughters of the American Revolution. Early life Mary Desha attended the University of Kentucky (at that time known as "Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky"), after which she taught at a private school which she and her mother had founded. Career After attending the University of Kentucky, she obtained a job with the Lexington public school system until December 1885, when she began work as a clerk in Washington, D.C. In 1888, she began teaching in Sitka, Alaska. She wrote to the government in Washington about the poor living conditions of the Alaskan natives, which resulted in a federal investigation. Also while in Sitka she whipped a student, and his father and others went to the school board to complain; this may have helped lead to the end of corporal punishment in Alaskan public schools. A note appeared in the Tacoma Ledger in January 1889, stating, "The Board of Education of Alaska has abolished flogging in the public school. This is a green laurel in the frosty crown of our northerly sister that will distinguish her as a leader in humanitarianism. Flogging school children is a relic of barbarism that casts a sad reflection upon our boasted civilization and scientific achievements."