In this prospectus for a Philadelphia school for women, an anonymous writer, presumably Elizabeth Harriot Barons O’Connor, lays out the school’s governance structure and the core curriculum of the belle lettres, which includes oratory, written composition, and the critical analysis of texts. It is unclear whether the advertisement yielded students or subscribers, and there is no evidence that O’Connor’s school was ever established. O’Connor’s mention of a “celebrated institution already established for the education of ladies” is probably referring to the Young Ladies’ Academy of Philadelphia, governed by men, which was established the same month.
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