From collection Member List
Founder Frances Elliot Mann (Hall) was born on October 6, 1853 in the seaport town of Yarmouth, Maine.
Devoted not only to her own education, but the education of others, Frances would be a life-long educator. She served as both a teacher and a student at the Hebron Academy in nearby Hebron, Maine as a teen. After graduating, she taught high school and served as a principal in Rockport, Maine. In 1873, she enrolled at Colby College.
Unfortunately, Frances E. Mann was forced to leave Colby College in her junior year due to frequent severe headaches and did not graduate. Even more tragic, the cause of her headaches - astigmatism - could have been easily remedied with glasses had it been known at the time!
Frances married George Washington Hall, a Colby graduate, in 1877. After a few years in Maine, Frances and George Hall moved west and Frances continued her lifelong vocation as a teacher. She also never lost her love for learning, continuing her studies at the University of Minnesota. In recognition, Colby College awarded Frances Mann Hall an AM degree in 1891.
In 1884, the Halls moved to Washington, D.C. where Frances taught Latin at one of the area high schools. In 1904, co-founded the Hall-Noyes School of Washington, one of the finest preparatory schools in the country. With a commitment to continued education that we might speculate came from Frances herself, the Hall-Noyes School included an evening school for Senate pages.
Frances Elliott Mann Hall died on February 6, 1935 at the age of 81. She is buried in the Old Ledge Cemetery in Yarmouth, Maine.
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