Olympia Brown

Olympia Brown (January 5, 1835 - October 23, 1926) was an American minister and suffragist. She was the first woman to be ordained as clergy with the consent of her denomination. Brown was also an articulate advocate for women's rights and one of the few first generation suffragists who were able to vote with the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment. Olympia Brown was born on January 5, 1835 in Prairie Ronde Township, Michigan. Brown was the oldest of four children. Her parents, Lephia and Asa Brown, were farmers in what was then considered frontier land. They were the great-great-aunt and -uncle, respectively, of U.S. President Calvin Coolidge. Lephia raised her children in a household that regarded religion and education as very important. This is evident from the building of a schoolhouse on the Brown territory. The drive for education instilled by Brown's mother had compelled her to finish high school and advance to the university level. Brown and her younger sister Oella decided to attend Mount Holyoke Female Seminary. Mount Holyoke and a college education were what Brown had hoped for. Her excitement was tempered by the restrictions placed on women at Mount Holyoke. These restrictions included a list of forty rules, the abolition of a literacy society founded by the Browns, and religious restrictions. Perhaps the best example of the school's thinking was the words of a Chemistry professor, "You are not expected to remember all of this, but only enough to make you intelligent in conversation." Brown, who already knew she could meet the challenges of a higher education, looked elsewhere. Putting aside her experiences at Mount Holyoke, Brown enrolled at Antioch College. Once Brown began her education at Antioch, she realized she had to catch up to higher standards. Brown also learned that despite the progressive nature at Antioch, there were still forms of discrimination. For example, in Brown's English class, women were not required to have speeches memorized. In a defiant act, Brown delivered her speeches from memory, just as the men had. Perhaps the crowning achievement of Brown’s time at Antioch was her ability to persuade her hero, Antoinette Brown Blackwell, to speak at Antioch. Once Brown finished her schooling at Antioch, she decided her calling was to be a minister. After countless rejections, she was accepted to the Theological School of St. Lawrence University, although the school's president, Ebenezer Fisher, made it clear he did not believe women should be ministers. She arrived on campus in 1861and graduated in 1863, becoming the first woman to graduate from an established theological school. Once again, Brown faced opposition from many sides. This included fellow students and the wives of the faculty. Brown took it all as a challenge. After her first year, Brown had gained acceptance and finished her schooling.