author
Annie Nathan Meyer
1867–1951
Best remembered as the driving force behind Barnard College, she paired literary ambition with fierce public advocacy. Her novels, plays, and essays show a writer deeply engaged with women’s education, social debate, and New York intellectual life.
1 Audiobook
Robert Annys: Poor Priest. A Tale of the Great Uprising
by Annie Nathan Meyer
About the author
Born in New York City in 1867, Annie Nathan Meyer became an author, educator, and one of the key figures behind the founding of Barnard College. Reliable reference sources consistently describe her as the moving force in creating New York’s first liberal arts college for women, and she remained closely involved with Barnard for decades.
She also built a substantial literary career. Meyer wrote fiction, drama, essays, and memoir, often drawing on questions of women’s place in public life and the pressures of family and society. Sources also note that she took public positions that can feel striking to modern readers, including opposition to woman suffrage, which makes her a complex and sometimes surprising historical figure.
Remembered today both for her writing and for her role in expanding women’s higher education, she stands out as a determined and influential presence in American cultural life. Her story links literature, philanthropy, Jewish community history, and the long debate over what opportunities women should have in education and beyond.