Women’s History Month: Celebrating Our Founders

March marks the beginning of Women’s History Month, presenting us with an opportunity to acknowledge the contributions of women throughout America’s history that have sometimes been overlooked.

The origins of Women’s History Month as a national commemoration trace back to 1981 when Congress proclaimed a week for the recognition.  Since 1995, American presidents have issued proclamations each year to designate the month of March to recognize the role that women have played in advancing our country in a variety of fields.

On a very local level, at Moravian Academy we have much to be proud of with respect to the contributions that women have made to advancing our school.  We can trace our beginnings back to 1742 when a 16-year-old girl, Countess Benigna Zinzendorf, founded Moravian Seminary for Girls.  She came to America with her father, Count Zinzendorf, who traveled to the Lehigh Valley and founded the town of Bethlehem.  Starting a girls school was quite progressive for its time because the predominant belief in our country then was that the place for women was in the home to take care of children and that education wasn’t needed. Moravians on the other hand believed that it was precisely because women were front and center in the lives of children that they should be educated. Because of the powerful role that women played, supporting their education would help ensure that children would be educated as well. 

According to the history written about our school for our 250th anniversary, education was to include, “fundamental skills, cultural appreciation, vocational training, civic and social instruction, and spiritual development.” John Amos Comenius, a Moravian philosopher and theologian who is considered the father of modern education, held that women are “endowed with equal sharpness of mind and capacity for knowledge,” as men.  Providing for all women to be educated was a priority for the Moravians.  The Moravian Seminary for Girls was the first all-girls school in America and was known as one of the most prestigious Moravian schools at a time when many other religious denominations did not believe in educating women.

The Swain School was founded just under one hundred years ago by another remarkable woman, D. Esther Swain. Swain merged with Moravian Academy in August of 2020 and is now known as the Swain Campus, in continued tribute to the ideals of D. Esther Swain.  In 1929, Ms. Swain moved to Allentown where her husband had taken a position at Muhlenberg College.  She had left a post as a teacher and principal at the Lansdowne Friends School in Philadelphia to relocate with her husband.  It wasn’t too long after, however, that several spouses of Muhlenberg professors urged her to start a school. 

It began as a kindergarten in October 1929, located in a bedroom of the home of Reverend and Mrs. Stine on Allen Street in Allentown.  Four boys and four girls were part of the first class, a year that ended prematurely when a February visitor exposed students to whooping cough, closing the school for the remainder of the year. The school grew, however, with 19 students the next year and relocated to rooms at the Masonic Temple Building.  In the years ahead, the school continued to grow and relocated two more times to land where it remains today.  Ms. Swain was known for creating a progressive school experience that emphasized both learning and ethical values, with an education that extended beyond the classroom and into the community. Like the teachers at Moravian Seminary for Girls founded by Countess Benigna, Ms. Swain hired teachers who believed that strong, familial relationships between the students and the teachers helps each child reach their full potential.  A quote from Ms. Swain exemplifies this belief,  “We nurture the collective joy of learning and individual spirit within each child.”

There are many more women who have had a profound impact on the history of Moravian Academy, individuals who have dedicated their lives to the growth and development of young people. Our students are the beneficiaries of the love and support from incredible women! How fortunate we are! And we celebrate them this Women’s History Month.