Julia Rebecca Rogers
Julia Rebecca Rogers (born July 24, 1854 in Baltimore , Maryland , † December 22, 1944 ) was an American suffragist and philanthropist .
life and work
Rogers was born the daughter of steel merchant Evan Rogers and was raised by her aunt after her mother's death. As an autodidact, she spoke fluent German, French and Italian. From 1881 to 1882 she attended Newnham College in Cambridge , England . She passed the entrance exams to Harvard University , but as a woman was not allowed to study there. In Maryland, women were banned from most universities, including Johns Hopkins University, Loyola College of Maryland, and the University of Maryland . In Baltimore, she was part of a group of prominent women who met regularly to discuss literature and politics. That group included Mary Garrett , Martha Carey Thomas , Mary Gwinn, and Elizabeth King (Ellicott) . These women devoted themselves and their considerable financial resources to promoting women's education. In 1885 they founded the Bryn Mawr School for Girls, the first college preparatory school for girls in Baltimore. The five women took control of all the affairs of the new school and created an advanced academic curriculum to provide girls with educational opportunities previously denied them. When Johns Hopkins University needed funds to build its medical school in 1892, they raised funds and provided their own money to help the school open. The Women's Fund was awarded on the condition that women enter medical school on the same terms as men and that the college would be a graduate-level institution. In 1893, the Johns Hopkins Medical School opened as the first medical school in the country to be co-educational and provide college-level medical education.
In 1891 she helped set up the evening section for working women and girls, which provided medical services to working class women and girls. In 1898 she helped found the Baltimore Association for Promoting the University Education of Women and advocated women's suffrage through her positions on the Executive Committee of the Arundel Club and on the board of the Baltimore Civic League. In 1914, Rogers was one of the founders of the Baltimore Museum of Art and served as a trustee for many years. She was also a member and vice president of the Baltimore Chapter of the Archaeological Institute. Rogers got to know Goucher College, then the Women's College in Baltimore, through her friend Lilian Welsh , who taught as a professor of physiology and hygiene at Goucher College. In 1939 she was an honorary co-chair of the Goucher College Building Fund Citizens Committee with former First Lady Lou Hoover . A total of nearly $ 950,000 from Roger's estate was donated to Goucher College. In 1952 the Julia Rogers Library was built there with these funds.
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| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Rogers, Julia Rebecca |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American suffragist and philanthropist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 24, 1854 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Baltimore , Maryland |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 22, 1944 |