True Life Tuesday: Harriette Cooke

Harriette Cooke was born on December 1, 1829 in Sandwich, New Hampshire. Her parents were Josiah and Jane (Cox) Cooke. She graduated from the New Hampshire Conference Seminary (now Tilton School) in 1853. After graduation she taught in Massachusetts for several years. 

In 1857 she became a teach at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa the same year the school opened. In 1860 she was named the dean of women and the college's preceptree. In 1871 she was named a full profoessor of German and history. By becoming a full professor she was the first woman in the United States to earn the same wage as her male colleagues. At the school she started the Lady's Batallion in 1889. The ladies would perform their drills in skirts and with wooden wands in lieu of rifles. She resigned from the college in 1890 and travelled to England. While in England she studied history at University College London. When she returned to the United States she became the superintendent of a settlement house in Boston. She died on July 27, 1914 at the age of 84.