Mary Olstine Graham
{{Short description|American educator (1842–1902)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Use American English|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| birth_date = {{birth date|1842|8|13}}
| birth_place = St. Louis, Missouri, United States
| death_date = {{death date and age|1902|3|10|1842|8|13}}
| death_place = La Plata, Partido de La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| burial_place = Bellefontaine Cemetery, St. Louis, Missouri, United States
| education = Winona Normal School
| occupation = educator
| employer = San Juan Normal School
}}
Mary Olstine Graham (August 13, 1842 – March 10, 1902) was an American educator who led the largest normal school in Argentina.
Early life
Graham was born in 1842 in St. Louis, Missouri.{{Cite book |last=Shavit |first=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yWN6AAAAMAAJ&q=Mary+Olstine+Graham |title=The United States in Latin America: a historical dictionary |date=1992 |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=978-0-313-27595-1 |pages=137 |language=en}} Her parents were William Hanna Graham and Catherine Graham ({{Nee|Shaw}}). She attended Winona Normal School.
Career
During her early teaching career, she taught in St. Louis.
In 1879, Graham was personally invited to Argentina by Domingo Faustino Sarmiento{{Cite book |last1=Criscenti |first1=Joseph |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zmYiBWKKsDIC&dq=Mary+Olstine+Graham&pg=PA84 |title=Sarmiento and His Argentina |last2=Criscenti |first2=Joseph T. |date=1993 |publisher=Lynne Rienner Publishers |isbn=978-1-55587-351-6 |pages=84–85 |language=en}} who, following his term as President of Argentina, had been appointed the General Director of Schools for the Province of Buenos Aires and the Senator for San Juan.{{Cite book |last=Galvani |first=Victoria |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OkJuAAAAMAAJ |title=Domingo Faustino Sarmiento |date=1990 |publisher=Instituto de Cooperacion Iberoamericana |isbn=978-84-7232-577-7 |location=Madrid |pages=25 |language=es}} She arrived in Argentina from Boston, Massachusetts.{{Cite book |last=Iparraguirre |first=Soledad |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dZWJEAAAQBAJ&dq=Mary+Olstine+Graham&pg=PT29 |title=Delía: Bastión de la resistencia |date=2022-09-15 |publisher=Marea Editorial |isbn=978-987-8303-93-2 |language=en}}
In Argentina, she was tasked with directing the normal school in San Juan, which had been established by President Miguel Juárez Celman.{{Cite web |title=Novedades Institucionales – Unidad Académica Escuela Normal Superior N° 1 Mary O. Graham |url=https://uanormal1-bue.infd.edu.ar/sitio/novedades-institucionales/ |access-date=2025-03-11 |language=es}} After working for eight years at the San Juan Normal School, Graham transferred to La Plata, where she built a school complex.
Death and legacy
Graham died in 1902 in La Plata, Partido de La Plata, Buenos Aires.{{Cite web |title=Mary O'Graham: su idea rectora, "la formación de formadores" |url=https://www.eldia.com/nota/2025-3-1-0-14-55-mary-o-graham-su-idea-rectora-la-formacion-de-formadores--la-ciudad |access-date=2025-03-11 |website=Diario El Dia de La Plata |language=es}} Her body was repatriated to the United States, and buried in the Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri.{{Cite news |date=September 12, 1902 |title=FUNERAL OF MISS GRAHAM. Body Brought From South America, Where She Died in March. |work=The St. Louis Republic |pages=5}}
Former students established the Mary O. Graham Center in 1906.{{Cite web |date=2020-02-25 |title=Teachers of Sarmiento: Miss Mary Olstine Graham |url=https://www.agendaescolar.com.ar/2024/03/teachers-of-sarmiento-miss-mary-olstine-graham/ |access-date=2025-03-11 |website=Agenda Escolar |language=es}}
Her students include Raquel Camaña.{{Cite journal |last=Southwell |first=Myriam |date=2013 |title=Ciencia y moral: Raquel Camaña y los desafíos abiertos para la nueva educación |url=https://memoria.fahce.unlp.edu.ar/library?a=d&c=libros&d=Jpm833 |journal=Educaçao no Brasil e na Argentina: Escritos de história intelectual. Ponta Grossa: UEPG |language=es |pages=39–57}}{{Cite book |last=Exilart |first=Gabriela Baruffaldi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y9dwEAAAQBAJ&dq=Raquel+Cama%C3%B1a&pg=PT167 |title=El susurro de las mujeres |date=2022-06-01 |publisher=PLAZA & JANES |isbn=978-950-644-623-9 |language=es}}
References
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Category:Educators from St. Louis
Category:American emigrants to Argentina
Category:19th-century American women educators