[1] Blount College, the forerunner of the University of Tennessee, was chartered in 1794, and was originally open to both male and female students.

By the time it was rechartered as East Tennessee College in 1807, however, it was an all-male institution, and Knoxville's leaders began making preparations to establish a school for the city's young women.

The Knoxville Female Academy was chartered in 1811, but its trustees struggled for several years to raise enough money to hire faculty and rent a building in which to conduct classes.

[1] In 1826, East Tennessee College made a much-publicized move to a permanent location atop Barbara Hill, and interest in the Knoxville Female Academy was reinvigorated.

[1]In 1885, suffragist Lizzie Crozier French and her sister, Lucy, leased the building and reopened the East Tennessee Female Institute.

During this period, the Ossoli Circle, a women's club founded by Crozier-French in 1885, held its initial meetings at the institute.

"[2] With the rise of free public education in Knoxville in the late 19th century, the institute had difficulty attracting students willing to pay tuition.

After it was rechartered as the East Tennessee Female Institute in 1846, the school conferred "Mistress of Polite Literature" degrees upon its graduates.