GREENVILLE TRAILBLAZERS: THE LIVES & LEGACIES OF NOTABLE WOMEN
Greenville Female College, circa 1906.
Mary Judson, from the 1918 Entre Nous yearbook.
MARY JUDSON Mary Judson was born in Clinton, Connecticut on June 27, 1828 to Charles Judson and Abi Sherman. Education played a vital role in Mary Judson’s life. She was sent to a private school at the age of 14 and continued to study with tutors after her family moved to New Haven. Judson could speak Greek, Latin, and French. She studied math and was an avid reader. Her brother, Charles, taught at Furman University, and in 1857, she joined him in Greenville. She was the Lady Principal of the Johnson Female University in Anderson until 1859.
Judson taught English and French at Blythewood Academy near Columbia during the Civil War. As General Sherman’s forces began to invade the area, Judson returned to Greenville. She then returned north and taught at schools in New York and Pennsylvania. Her brother asked her to return to Greenville in 1874 after enrollment at the Female College had drastically decreased. She became Lady Principal of the Female College in 1878. During her tenure, she taught a variety of subjects including English, astronomy, physiology, logic, and French. She formed the Judson Literary Society, a debate club for the students. Under her leadership, the Judson Literary Society founded the school’s first library. Members paid 25 cents per term to help fund the library. The money was used to purchase volumes of poetry and literature. The library was later named in Judson’s honor. Though she retired in 1912, Judson lived at the college until her death in December of 1920.
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LIBRARY NOW // Issue 7 2022
