Meet Mrs. Vassar

[FLLAC]

This morning, in honor of Matthew Vassar's birthday we brought you a few facts about his life that you might not have known. What we didn't mention is his marriage to Catherine Vassar, who is largely unknown to most Vassar students also.

From the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center's blog:

"Little is known about Catherine Valentine Vassar, Matthew Vassar’s wife of fifty years. Mr. Vassar himself only mentions her twice in his diary...Unfortunately, Mrs. Vassar passed away in 1863 “after a lingering illness which she bore with great meekness and fortitude” so she never saw Vassar College completed. We are left to wonder about this woman and what she thought of her husband’s mission to found a female college."