Leonard, Elizabeth Perkins

Elizabeth Perkins Leonard – First Professor, Activist (1828-1905); Lawrence

By Campbell Leitch, Watkins Museum of History, 2026

In Brief:

Elizabeth Perkins Leonard became KU’s first female full-time faculty member in 1869. Two years later, she founded the Friends in Council Literacy Club, an organization dedicated to the cultural enrichment of its members. Meetings were held in her home while they planned to create a space for cultural activities for Lawrence women.

Many women’s clubs were developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These clubs promoted female education and provided them a community outside of the domestic sphere. Many women’s groups became centers for social and political activism. Friends in Council became more service oriented in the late 1920s, providing money for social services for women and maternity loans, and participating in hospital auxiliary and public welfare work. Local women’s organizations such as this group founded by Elizabeth Perkins Leonard had strong positive effects on their communities.

More Information:

Elizabeth Perkins Leonard became KU’s first female full-time faculty member in 1869, a time when women were largely excluded from higher education. Two years later, Leonard founded the Friends in Council Literacy Club, an organization dedicated to the cultural enrichment of its members. Leonard felt that women in Lawrence missed cultural activities prevalent in the East and began opening up her home and holding planning meetings to create a space for Lawrence women.

In the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries there was a rise in women’s clubs, with groups predominantly composed of white middle and upper-class women emerging out of the progressive moment. These clubs not only promoted female education but provided a community outside of the domestic sphere to which women were previously confined. Many women’s groups became centers for social and political activism. Friends in Council became more service oriented in the late 1920s, providing money for social service women, money for maternity loans, and participating in hospital auxiliary and public welfare work. Having a space to engage in intellectual discourse fostered the development of women’s voices in the public sphere.