Sophia Smith

I, Sophia Smith of Hatfield, in the County of Hampshire, and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, do on this 8th day of March, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and seventy, make and publish this, my last Will and Testament....

So began the famous document that would establish Smith College. Not a seminary or academy, the college defined itself in Sophia Smith's will as a new kind of female institution--a college with the same curriculum and the same intellectual standards as those of Harvard and Amherst. "It is my opinion," wrote Smith in her will, "that by the higher and more thorough....education of women, what are called their 'wrongs' will be redressed, their wages of society will be greatly increased, as teachers, as writers, as mothers, as members of society, their power for good will be greatly increased." Ironically, it was not this revolutionary redefinition of woman's role that made Smith's will initially controversial. Instead, it was the location of her proposed school. In an earlier version of her will, Smith had planned to set the college in her own beloved community of Hatfield. Advised by her friend and neighbor George Hubbard that the air on Main Street was unhealthful for young ladies, Smith changed the venue to Northampton. Even Smith's former pastor, John M. Greene, was unaware of the changed will. As executor of her estate, Greene was shocked to encounter the new placement of the college when he read the final will aloud to family and friends. A brief legal action ensued, as Hatfield residents contested that "the Testatrix was not of sound and disposing mind at the time of the alleged execution." The final will prevailed as written, however, and the city of Northampton has since reaped the many rewards of having Sophia Smith's college in its community.

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