December 1, 2025

Eliza Harriot O'Connor, Exemplar, and the Summer of 1787

Key Points

Eliza Harriot O'Connor's advocacy advanced women's education and intellectual capacity, influencing constitutional discourse.
Her public lecture in May 1787 suggests a notable presence and influence on the gender-neutral language of the Constitution.
Analysis emphasizes the connections to a transatlantic movement for female representation and education alongside figures like Macaulay and Wollstonecraft.
Examining opposition from Benjamin Rush underscores the backlash against female genius and constitutional exclusions affecting women and people of color.

Abstract

Abstract: This essay recounts the inspiring story of Eliza Harriot O'Connor, the first female lecturer in the United States and an advocate for ambitious women's education. Through her lectures, newspaper advertisements, and plans for a female academy, Eliza Harriot advanced the idea of "female genius"—the belief in women's equal intellectual and political capacity. Her public lecture in May 1787, attended by George Washington, and her persistent presence in Philadelphia during the Constitutional Convention, suggest her influence on the gender-neutral language of the Constitution. The essay briefly situates Eliza Harriot within a broader transatlantic movement for female education and representation involving women such as Catharine Macaulay and Mary Wollstonecraft. It also traces Benjamin Rush's opposition to her model of education and the larger backlash to female genius that culminated in constitutional exclusions of women and people of color. By recovering Eliza Harriot's example, the essay suggests a reimagined constitutional history beyond the men inside Independence Hall.

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