13 Facts About Emily Howland

Emily Howland was a philanthropist, humanitarian, and educator.

Emily Howland was a strong supporter of women's rights and the temperance movement.

Howland personally financed the education of many black students and contributed to institutions such as the Tuskegee Institute, Henry Damon Davidson's Centerville Industrial Institute, and Kowaliga Institute in Kowaliga, Alabama, where Howland Hall was named for her.

Emily Howland was born at Sherwood in Cayuga County, New York, on November 20,1827.

Emily Howland was the daughter of Slocum and Hannah Tallcot Howland, who were prominent in the Society of Friends.

Emily Howland was educated in small private schools in the community, and the Margaret Robinson School, a Friends school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

An active abolitionist, Emily Howland taught at Normal School for Colored Girls in Washington, DC, from 1857 to 1859.

Emily Howland continued to maintain an active interest in African-American education, donating money and materials as well as visiting and corresponding with administrators at many schools.

Emily Howland was active in women's suffrage, peace, and temperance movements and was a member of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union.

Emily Howland has been credited with persuading Ezra Cornell that, as a Quaker, he should make Cornell University a coeducational institution.

Emily Howland was the author of an historical sketch of early Quaker history in Cayuga County, NY: Historical Sketch of Friends in Cayuga County.

Emily Howland became one of the first female directors of a national bank in the United States, at the First National Bank of Aurora in Aurora, New York, in 1890, serving until her death, at age 101.

Emily Howland's papers are held by several universities, including Cornell University, Haverford College, and Swarthmore College.