Louise Helen Coburn (September 1, 1856 – February 7, 1949) was one of the five founders of Sigma Kappa sorority, a pioneer for women's education at Colby College, where she served as the first female trustee, and an accomplished scientist and writer known for writing the two volumes of Skowhegan on the Kennebec.

A professor tested her one day from nine in the morning to five in the afternoon on her skills in Latin and Greek to see if she could measure up to Colby's standards.

[1] Due to these conflicts, President Albion Small introduced a plan to end coeducation at Colby and separate women and men into different classes.

Coburn, along with her old friend Mary Low Carver, drafted a petition along with 17 other female graduates of Colby to protest the move.

Mary Low Carver knew that Coburn's name had to be on the petition in order to give it weight with the college.

Even with a Coburn name on the petition, however, the proposal passed and Colby College split into two separate educational establishments, one for men and one for women.

Colburn excelled in an academic environment and became the second woman to graduate from Colby, with Phi Beta Kappa status .

Along with Elizabeth Gorham Hoag, Ida Fuller, Frances Elliott Mann Hall and Coburn, Low created Sigma Kappa sorority at Colby on November 9, 1874.

They were instructed by the college administration that they would need to present a constitution and bylaws with a petition requesting permission to form Sigma Kappa Sorority.

However, Colby has since prohibited sororities and fraternities, ensuring that the Alpha chapter of Sigma Kappa which Coburn initiated cannot exist for the foreseeable future.

Coburn was trained as a botanist, and she wrote science books and pamphlets in addition to being the editor of the "Maine Naturalist."

The museum is still open for visitors and many relics of Louise Coburn's life can be seen, such as a doll house her father made for her and gifts from her grandfather.