All Middlebury tours, even the virtual ones, start from the Emma Willard House.
When Middlebury officials kept Emma Hart Willard from observing, much less attending, classes in the 1810s, she set out to improve women’s education herself.
While currently the Admissions Office, the building originally housed Willard, her husband, and the women’s seminary she started in 1814. From her home, she taught as many as 70 women at a time, and penned her paradigm-shifting work, A Plan for Improving Female Education.
Willard’s perseverance planted the seed for more equitable education at Middlebury and across much of the nation. We honor her mission by continuing the fight and making her home the doorstep to our institution.
131 South Main St.
Middlebury, VT 05753