Sophia Smith (August 27, 1796 – June 12, 1870) founded Smith College in 1870 with the substantial estate she inherited from her father, who was a wealthy farmer, and her six siblings, who had all predeceased her.
An avid reader, Smith attended schools in Hatfield, Massachusetts, and Hartford, Connecticut. She later attended Hopkins Academy in Hadley, Massachusetts. After the death of her mother, the care of the household became the sole responsibility of her sister Harriet. After Harriet's death, she relied on her eldest brother, who acquired a sizable fortune. Smith accrued the fortune following his death in 1861, which she later used to found Smith College.
Founding Smith College
Deaf since age 40 and unmarried, Smith initially considered endowing her fortune to an institute for the deaf, but changed her mind when the Clarke School for the Deaf opened in Northampton, Massachusetts, in 1868. Encouraged by the Reverend John Morton Greene, she decided to endow a women's college instead. Upon her death on June 12, 1870, her fortune of $387,468 was willed to endow Smith College, and opened its doors in 1875 with 14 students.
In 2000, Smith was inducted posthumously to the National Women's Hall of Fame.