Henrietta “Etta” A. Kelly (1844-1916)

Henrietta “Etta” A. Kelly (1844-1916)
“Miss Kelly” opened her Female Seminary in 1870 after three years as a teacher and vice principal for the State Normal School for Girls (Memminger) on Beaufain Street. Charleston’s white elite sent their daughters to her school, which operated on St. Philip until 1882, when it relocated to 151 Wentworth St. Three daughters of Professor F. S. Holmes graduated from her seminary in 1874, 1883, and 1886. The Rev. A. Toomer Porter, founder of Porter Academy for white boys, said in 1880, “If I had fifty daughters I would send them all to you.” Her well-respected curriculum included not only science, French, and elocution, but also physical education. Miss Kelly closed her seminary in 1896. She did not live to see women, even those as well-prepared as graduates of her private school, admitted to the College of Charleston. She died in 1916, and the first female students entered the College in 1918. Courtesy of the Charleston Museum Archives, Charleston, South Carolina.
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