Myrtilla Miner

Miner was educated at the Young Ladies' Domestic Seminary in Clinton, New York,[1] and at the Clover Street Seminary in Rochester, New York She taught at various schools, including the Newton Female Institute in 1846–1847 at Whitesville, Mississippi, where she was denied permission to conduct classes for African-American girls.

Contributions from Quakers continued to arrive, and Harriet Beecher Stowe gave $1,000 of her Uncle Tom's Cabin royalties.

The school was forced to move three times in its first two years, but in 1854 it settled on a 3-acre (1.2-hectare) lot with house and barn on the edge of the city.

[3] The school was eventually reopened after her death and merged with other local institutions to become the University of the District of Columbia.

Miner guided the school through its fruitful early years but had to lessen her connection because of failing health.