St Louis Hegelian Women

The St Louis Hegelian women and women associated with the Concord School of Philosophy are sometimes overlookedby those writing histories of philosophy in the United States.

The women philosophers in St. Louis, Missouri and those of Concord Massachusetts formed two movements embracing idealismthat greatly affected the character of early philosophical work in the United States. They created and supported the first journal of philosophy in the United States, Journal of Speculative Philosophy and they offered lectures and reading groups to the general public.

William Torrey Harris (1833 - 1909) was the originating and sustaining force for these groups. His goal wasto "make Hegel talk English" ie., to adapt Hegel to the situation of the States.

But it should be noted that Hegel was not the only philosophical interest of the members. The group in Missouri sustained a Kant Circle AND some St Louis Hegelian women translated the work of Rosenkranz. These translations appeared in Journal of Speculative Philosophy .

What is important to anyone who wants an accurate picture of the history of philosophy in the United States is that women were active in this first philosophical movement. Their work is often overlooked by many of the histories of American philosophy but if you consult the actual record, you will find that they not only participated in the movement's study groups,but they lectured at the Concord School and had work published in the Journal of Speculative Philosophy. Correspondence of the time shows that St Louis Hegelian women were most active and they were involved in all aspects of the movement's philosophical undertakings.

Given the social conditions of the time, some of thesse women philosophers took jobs in education, teaching in Normal Schools, heading up departments of education or establishing private academies in order to support themselves. Others didsecure college or university faculty positions - both in women's colleges and at co-educational institutions.

If you have any interest in the beginnings of academic philosophy in the United States, it would be important to include these female philosophers as well as their male counterparts in your studies.

This web site covers only a few of the women.

St Louis Hegelian women : Grace Bibb

Susan Blow

Anna Brackett

Marietta Kies

For additional reading I heartily recommend Dorothy G. Rogers, America's First Women Philosophers Continuum, 2005 to anyone wanting greater understanding of these and other women associated with the St. Louis Hegelian movement.

I do believe that Parker's book belongs in every college and university library and should be read by anyone teaching or taking a course in American philosophy or American thought.

If you wish to read about the men of this movement, go to St. LouisHegelians - men from this movement