An historical novel about Betsey Colt Foot, founder of the Albany Academy for Girls, by Louise Copeland Marks. Set in 1814 Albany, NY, this is the story of one woman's radical quest to give girls an education.
The book is available for $20.00. Purchases can be made directly with Louise (email at lcmarks3 at gmail.com) or through mail by clicking the "Buy Now" button below.
Betsey Colt Foot believes men and women are intellectual equals. She assumes The Albany Academy, chartered in 1813, will include girls. She is wrong. For the daughters of the American Revolution, the War of Independence is not over. In 1814 Albany, girls were not considered capable of higher learning. Men feared education would make girls too independent. It would interfere with their role as wife and mother.
This fictional journal of Betsey Colt Foot provides a picture of her social sphere and the obstacles she overcomes to found what is today one of the country’s oldest schools for the education of girls. For two hundred years, Albany Academy for Girls has provided a place for “female scholars”; a place to elevate and adorn the mind.
This fictional journal of Betsey Colt Foot provides a picture of her social sphere and the obstacles she overcomes to found what is today one of the country’s oldest schools for the education of girls. For two hundred years, Albany Academy for Girls has provided a place for “female scholars”; a place to elevate and adorn the mind.
NEW IN 2015!
After the first printing of To Elevate and Adorn the Mind, descendants of Betsey Foot provided new evidence of her primary role as the founder of Albany Academy for Girls. In addition to photographs, family pieces, and a genealogy chart naming her as the founder, it was revealed the family owns the original portrait of Betsey Foot, painted in the studio of Ezra Ames, one year after Ebenezer’s untimely death.
There is no record of who commissioned the painting, but someone thought it important to acknowledge her power. Later, an unknown artist, reproduced the Ezra Ames portrait and presented it to the school in 1912, in memory of Betsey Foot’s granddaughter, Martha Booth Seelye, an honorary member of the AAG Alumnae Association. The plaque acknowledges: “BETSEY FOOT whose zeal in behalf of her daughter’s education suggested and promoted the founding of the school long known as the Albany Female Academy.”
Because of Ezra Ames’ ability to capture the spirit and power of Betsey Foot, her ability to inspire endures. Today, the portraits and family notes of her descendants tell a new generation what she could not.
READERS' COMMENT on To Elevate and Adorn the Mind.
"A great escape back into local history. Wonderfully written. Seamlessly woven to bring real facts and real people back to life as if we were right there in the 1800's. The author captures you and takes you on the journey. You feel as if you are fighting her ups and downs at that time, in that place, and with those people."
"I thought the book was cleverly written, weaving the snippets of the day into Betsey Foot's diary and making it all believable. It was clearly a huge amount of work researching---culling, selecting, rejecting---the wonderful tidbits appropriate to the story. The "will she or won't she succeed, and how will it happen?" thread of starting the Girls' Academy carries it forward making you turn the page."
"The book brings Betsey Foot to life. She is wry, realistic, and smart. Although she lived in a different time, her feelings are the same as anyone today who asks questions about the status quo. The journal format allows the reader into her private and secret world and learn her thoughts and feelings about people and the current events of the time.
"As a student at AAG, I never knew anything about Betsey Foot except that she was "the founder" of our school. I was surprised that so much of the practical impetus for the girls' school was from her husband and the other "men" of the town. The reality at that time, I guess, was that the women weren't really in a cultural position to take the lead, but were the energy behind the idea.
"The book opened my eyes about the situation of women at that time. It really is pretty scary that was ONLY 200 years ago."
After the first printing of To Elevate and Adorn the Mind, descendants of Betsey Foot provided new evidence of her primary role as the founder of Albany Academy for Girls. In addition to photographs, family pieces, and a genealogy chart naming her as the founder, it was revealed the family owns the original portrait of Betsey Foot, painted in the studio of Ezra Ames, one year after Ebenezer’s untimely death.
There is no record of who commissioned the painting, but someone thought it important to acknowledge her power. Later, an unknown artist, reproduced the Ezra Ames portrait and presented it to the school in 1912, in memory of Betsey Foot’s granddaughter, Martha Booth Seelye, an honorary member of the AAG Alumnae Association. The plaque acknowledges: “BETSEY FOOT whose zeal in behalf of her daughter’s education suggested and promoted the founding of the school long known as the Albany Female Academy.”
Because of Ezra Ames’ ability to capture the spirit and power of Betsey Foot, her ability to inspire endures. Today, the portraits and family notes of her descendants tell a new generation what she could not.
READERS' COMMENT on To Elevate and Adorn the Mind.
"A great escape back into local history. Wonderfully written. Seamlessly woven to bring real facts and real people back to life as if we were right there in the 1800's. The author captures you and takes you on the journey. You feel as if you are fighting her ups and downs at that time, in that place, and with those people."
"I thought the book was cleverly written, weaving the snippets of the day into Betsey Foot's diary and making it all believable. It was clearly a huge amount of work researching---culling, selecting, rejecting---the wonderful tidbits appropriate to the story. The "will she or won't she succeed, and how will it happen?" thread of starting the Girls' Academy carries it forward making you turn the page."
"The book brings Betsey Foot to life. She is wry, realistic, and smart. Although she lived in a different time, her feelings are the same as anyone today who asks questions about the status quo. The journal format allows the reader into her private and secret world and learn her thoughts and feelings about people and the current events of the time.
"As a student at AAG, I never knew anything about Betsey Foot except that she was "the founder" of our school. I was surprised that so much of the practical impetus for the girls' school was from her husband and the other "men" of the town. The reality at that time, I guess, was that the women weren't really in a cultural position to take the lead, but were the energy behind the idea.
"The book opened my eyes about the situation of women at that time. It really is pretty scary that was ONLY 200 years ago."