Open House for the Chestertown Female Seminary

In late 1857 “Col. Joseph Wickes & Lady” were invited to a January open house for the Chestertown Female Seminary run by Mrs. P. Trible.

Thirty-four years before women were allowed to attend Washington College, we can see what women’s education entailed. The courses are mainly Art, Music, and Languages, the gentle pursuits. Trible promised, “Special attention will be given to impress the mind with the useful as well as the ornamental qualifications.” One of the few positives was the newly decreased tuition rates.

Some of you will be entering your second semester here while others are about to begin their final semester, and just over 60% of you identify as female earning degrees that are more than just “ornamental.” Learning languages, an instrument, or art is never a bad pursuit, but it’s nice to have the option of learning about the social sciences.

The school talks about how Chestertown’s location is linked to Maryland’s principal cities and how students could board at the school, but the exact location of the school is unknown. It was most likely close to downtown. One has to wonder how much contact the boys at Washington College had with the seminary girls. There must have been social events for young people of quality to enjoy the social scene of the time.