All Scholars
FRANKLIN, Susan Braley
- Date of Birth: June 06, 1868
- Born City: Newort
- Born State/Country: RI
- Parents: William Barker, a baker, & Mary Adeline Braley F.
- Date of Death: April 24, 1955
- Death City: Newport
- Death State/Country: RI
- Education:
A.B. Bryn Mawr, 1889; Ph.D., 1896.
- Dissertation:
"Traces of Epic Influence in the Tragedies of Aeschylus" (Bryn Mawr, 1896).
- Professional Experience:
Fellow in Greek, Bryn Mawr, 1889-90; fellow by courtesy in Greek & grad student, 1890-1903; American fellowship, Association of Collegiate Alumnae, 1892-3; student at ASCSA & Berlin, 1888-90; instructor. Latin, Vassar, 1893-7; teacher Greek & Latin, Miss Florence Baldwin's School, (Bryn Mawr), 1897-8, 1899-1904; head, classical dept. Ethical Culture School (NY), 1904-33.
- Publications:
"Public Appropriations for Individual Offerings and Sacrifices in Greece," TAPA 32 (1901) 72-82; Selections from Latin Prose Authors for Sight Reading,with E.C. Greene (New York: American Book Co., 1903); "A Short History of the West Ferries of Jamestown," JHSB 8 (1941) 3-16.
- Notes:
Susan B. Franklin came from an old Newport, RI, family. After graduating in the first class at then-new Bryn Mawr Colllege, she studied and traveled widely in Europe. On her return she settled in to teaching at Vassar, but felt her true calling was in preparatory schools. She supported her graduate studies at Bryn Mawr by teaching at Vassar. In 1901 she became the first woman to publish an article on a classical subject in TAPA. In 1904 she joined the staff of a school founded in 1878 by the 24-year-old Felix Adler (1851-1933) as The Workingman's School, a school for the children of the lower classes. Its reputation grew quickly and by 1890 the school began accepting the children of the wealthy and charging tuition. In 1895 its name was changed to the Ethical Culture School and in 1903 it began to be supported by the New York Society for Ethical Culture. Franklin joined the faculty the next year, when it moved into its landmark Manhattan building at 33 Central Park West. The school maintained its reputation for economic diversity, but is recognized as an Ivy Preparation School. Franklin's devotion to Virgil and to her students made her a popular and effective teacher. Franklin retired to her family home in The Hill section of Newport, where she met a tragic end at the age of 86, raped and murdered in her home. She left her estate to Brown and Bryn Mawr for student scholarships.
- Sources:
The News-Review (Roseburg, OR) (25 April 1955) 1; Woman's Who Was Who 1914-45, 305; John O.C McCrillis, "Thanks to Susan Braley Franklin, Scholar and Mentor," Newport History 64 (1991) 183-8.
- Author: Ward Briggs
