Old Dartmouth Historical Society Archives - Lighting the Way, Historic Women of the SouthCoast

Ida M. Eliot

Educator, author, and entomologist Ida Mitchell Eliot (1839-1923) taught throughout the United States, co-edited the much-celebrated Poetry for Home and School in 1877, and co-authored one of the first books on caterpillars and moths in 1902.

Florence Waite

The humble philanthropist Florence Waite (1861-1946) left the bulk of her estate worth more than $7.5 million in today’s dollars to be carefully distributed among more than 20 hometown organizations, many of which she had helped for decades.

Helen Elizabeth Ellis

What do a tea room in Westport, a bookstore in New Bedford, special exhibits at the New Bedford Whaling Museum, and a children’s museum in Dartmouth all have in common?

Emily Howland Bourne

Emily Howland Bourne (1835-1922) showed the same careful planning in her inspired philanthropy as her father Jonathan showed as one of New Bedford’s most successful whaling merchants.