Myra Bradwell in Kenosha

Myra Colby received part of her education in Southport, Wis., in the late 1840s, before the community was renamed Kenosha in 1850. Surviving accounts do not identify the school she attended.

Part of this building, erected in 1840, housed Southport’s first academy, opened by Martin P. Kinney. The building later became the National Hotel and the Kenosha Water Cure.

Myra’s time in Southport placed her in a young community that attached unusual importance to education. The town supported academies and select schools, lyceums and other intellectual gatherings, while its civic leaders pushed for the expansion of public education. That environment would have offered a striking contrast to the limited educational opportunities generally available to young women in the 1840s.

Sources: Jon Martens, Collections and Exhibitions Specialist, Kenosha County Historical Society; Kenosha History Center.