Mary Lyon, an unyielding champion of education for girls, founded the nation’s oldest women’s college, which began as the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in 1837. Lyon’s educational mission was inseparable from her sense of duty to God, and she challenged students not only to excel academically but to grow spiritually. Read more about Lyon’s work in this month’s column by Dr. Spencer Kuchle, Associate Director of Collections and Interpretation.