Anna Boynton Thompson, 1848-1923

Anna Boynton Thompson, teacher and student of philosopy, was born on September 10, 1948 in Portland, Maine, the daughter of Harriot Boynton (Sawyer) and William A. Thompson. Her earliest years were spent in Iowa and Illinois. Following the accidental death of her father, the family returned East. Her mother ran a boarding house in Boston for school teachers while ABT and her sister Mary Frances attended Boston Girls High School. They were sent by their mother to study in Europe (1871) and then began their teaching careers: MFT taught science at Edward Everett High School in Dorchester and ABT was an influential teacher of Greek and History at Thayer Academy, Braintree, Mass., until her retirement in 1920.

Both sisters studied at Radcliffe: MFT was a non-graduate (1885-1886, 1890-1891); ABT studied between 1884-1902 taking between one and three courses a year. She completed her admission requirements in 1896 and received her A.B. (1898) and A.M. (1899). She continued to do graduate work with Josiah Royce, 1899-1902. She was awarded an honorary D. Lit from Tufts (1902). Her Unity in Fichte's System (1895) was published in the Radcliffe College Monograph Series.

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