Springfield Art & Historical Society

Daniel Ladue of Plattsburg, NY, author of Bold and Courageous: 25 North Country Women and Their Exceptional Contributions, will tell us about this remarkable local woman, whose life spanned two continents and, up until now, was literally unknown. Marcia Brown was born in Springfield in 1835; granddaughter of Elisha Brown who came to Vermont in 1790. Her “North Mowing” Brown family includes Horace Brown, the painter, and Dr. Jeremy Brown, educator, who left land for the sports fields at Riverside. Her education began in the local schools and went beyond to become a certified teacher. Through the 1870s, she taught in Springfield, Rutland, and Burlington, Vermont, Plattsburgh, New York, and Malden, Massachusetts. In 1888 the government of Brazil, S. A. decided to overhaul their entire educational system. Due to her impressive background, she was invited to join a team of other Americans and Brazilians on this project. The program was a success and resulted in two schools being named after her: one in Malden, MA and one in Sao Paolo, Brazil. Marcia Brown died on April 6, 1923. Her estate left $2,000 to the Springfield Town Library, in memory of her grandfather, and two female scholarships to the University of Vermont