Mary Frances Farnham was an important member of the Pacific University faculty, who taught English Literature and served as the Dean of Women in the early twentieth century. Born in Maine in 1847, she graduated from Mount Holyoke College in 1868. After serving as a teacher in various schools and universities in the United States and South Africa, she returned to study history at Radcliffe College in 1895-96. One year later, she became the principal of the Ladies Department at Tualatin Academy, which was the college prepatory department of Pacific University. She held that position until the closing of the prepatory school in 1915, when she was given a new position as dean of women at Pacific University. In the meantime, she was awarded a doctorate in English literature at Mount Holyoke in 1912. She was a distinguished and beloved lecturer and faculty member. Mary Frances Farnham retired in 1924.
From the guide to the Mary Frances Farnham Collection, 1895-1943, (Pacific University Archives)
