author
Henry M. (Henry Miller) Pierce
1831–1902
Best known for a commencement address delivered at Rutgers Female College in 1867, this 19th-century educator wrote in support of serious academic opportunities for women at a time when that idea was still being debated. His surviving published work offers a small but vivid glimpse of the era’s arguments about education and social progress.
1 Audiobook
Address to the First Graduating Class of Rutgers Female College
by Henry M. (Henry Miller) Pierce
About the author
Published records from library catalogs and digitized editions identify him as Henry M. Pierce, or Henry Miller Pierce, born in 1831 and died in 1902. He is chiefly remembered today for Address to the First Graduating Class of Rutgers Female College, printed in 1867.
That address was delivered while he served as president of the college, and it centers on the value of women’s education. Even in this brief work, his voice comes through clearly: formal, earnest, and deeply engaged with one of the major cultural questions of his day.
Little else about his literary career is easy to confirm from the sources available here, so his reputation rests mainly on this single surviving publication. Still, it makes him an interesting figure for readers curious about 19th-century education, public speaking, and the history of women’s higher learning in the United States.