Lizzie Crozier French and GFWC Ossoli Circle

Lizzie Crozier French and GFWC Ossoli Circle. . In 1811, influential citizens supported the building of the Knoxville Female Academy on the present corner of Main and Henley, now the site of Church Street United Methodist Church across the street. However, the school wasn't to open until 1827., The first principal was Rev, Joseph Davis, soon to be followed by Massachusetts-born Dr. Joseph Estabrook who was later to be President of the nearby university. After occupation by Union troops during the Civil War, the academy stood abandoned until 1881, when it was reopened by Lizzie Crozier French as the East Tennessee Female Institute. , Lizzie Crozier French and her two sisters instructed girls and young women during an era when they were excluded from colleges and schools of higher learning. The institute became popularly known as "Miss French's School"., A formidable speaker, French was provocative for the times. Her favorite saying was "If you're going to say it at all, say it loud." She also published a notable text, A Manual of Elocution., After an inspiring visit to the Sorosis Women's Club in New York City in 1855, French returned to Knoxville and invited women to form a similar literary organization. Ossoli Circle is named for noted American journalist and social activist, Margaret Fuller Ossoli. It's now considered the oldest federated chub in the south., Knoxville's leading suffragist and social activist, Lizzie Crozier French was instrumental in organizing many Knoxville organizations and ran, although unsuccessfully, for City Council in 1923, three years before her death. She is immortalized in bronze as part of the the Tennessee Women's Suffrage Memorial statue on Market Square., Ossoli Circle is a charter member of the General Federation of Women's Clubs and still meets every Monday at the Ossoli Circle clubhouse at 2511 Kingston Pike. An active, vital organization, Ossoli Circle supports local, regional, national, and international causes., Learn more at gfwcossolicircle.com, Courtesy Ossoli Collection .