author
Lyman Beecher Tefft
b. 1833
A Baptist educator and writer from Rhode Island, he is best remembered for helping found Hartshorn Memorial College in Richmond, one of the first colleges created for African American women. His books ranged from moral philosophy to popular science, showing a teacher’s urge to explain big ideas clearly.
1 Audiobook
Curiosities of Heat
by Lyman Beecher Tefft
About the author
Born in Exeter, Rhode Island, in 1833, Lyman Beecher Tefft studied at Brown University and later at Rochester Theological Seminary. Reference works and archival records describe him as a Baptist minister, teacher, and author whose career joined religious work with education.
He is especially associated with Hartshorn Memorial College in Richmond, Virginia, founded in 1883 for the education of African American women. Sources identify Tefft as a cofounder and the school’s first president, a role that made him an important figure in the history of Black women’s higher education in the late nineteenth century.
Tefft also wrote a number of books, including Curiosities of Heat and Institutes of Moral Philosophy. Those titles suggest the range of his interests: he wrote both for readers looking for practical, readable knowledge and for those interested in ethics and Christian thought.