""On first examination of this record of the varied contributions of Beecher to the cause of women's education, professionalization, common schools, training of teachers, physical health, and hygiene of the school and of the family, the reader will probably wonder that Beecher has not had earlier biographers. This book will not only raise the question, but will, by its faithful chronicle of Miss Beecher, as she rushes from Hartford to Cincinnati, to Milwaukee, to Quincy, to Dubuque, and back again to Hartford, by its careful analysis of her emotional and intellectual development, and its disclosure of the relations between her and those whom she sought to enlist in the cause of womens' intellectual emancipation, suggest at least some of the reasons why Miss Beecher has not been given as much attention as Emma Willard, Mary Lyon and others of the same period. Dr. Harveson's narrative is founded on careful examination of the literary remains of her subject, both published and in manuscript form, personal visitation to the scenes of Miss Beecher's labors, and assiduous collection of local data, both in the East and West. As a record of the work of one of the most influential educators of the nineteenth century, the book merits the examination and approval of all students of education"--Introduction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)."