Female Genius

2023 George Washington Prize Finalist In Female Genius, historian Mary Sarah Bilder uncovers the groundbreaking story of Eliza Harriot Barons O’Connor, a pioneering female educator whose courage and intellect intersected with the founding of the United States. Set in the 1780s, the Age of the Constitution, Harriot delivered one of the first public lectures by a woman at the University of Pennsylvania, attended by George Washington and other Constitutional Convention delegates—an act that may have influenced the gender-neutral language of the Constitution. Bilder traces Harriot’s transatlantic life, from Lisbon to Charleston, SC, highlighting her founding of academies that inspired countless young American women to pursue higher education and political engagement. By 1792, Harriot’s struggles mirrored broader societal backlash against women and people of color, showing how early American legal frameworks both enabled and constrained opportunities. Richly illustrated and deeply resea