Joseph Wright Taylor (1810 – 1880) is best known for being the financial catalyst for the founding of Bryn Mawr College.
[1] In 1879, Taylor had begun to give physical shape to his idea for a women's college.
He was involved in the planning of the practical and conceptual aspects of the new institution, including the selection of a site, an architect, and a landscape designer.
Among the practical considerations for the final site selection were the location's healthfulness and proximity to the railroad, Haverford College, and Philadelphia.
The original campus, a small segment of the Thomas-Humphries Tract and part of a larger property deeded by William Penn to Edward Pritchard and Co. in 1682, comprised thirty-two acres between Merion, Roberts, Gulph and Yarrow roads.