The Most Interesting Woman You’ve Never Heard Of –The Life and Work of San Francisco’s Sarah B. Cooper

If this were 1897, most all of us would be familiar with the name Sarah B. Cooper of San Francisco.  Initially with aspirations of being a fiction writer, Cooper found her calling as an educational reformer and essayist.  She was largely responsible for the establishment of kindergartens on the West Coast; had the largest adult Sunday School class in San Francisco for many years, yet was tried for heresy; was initially opposed to women having a vote, yet became an ardent suffragette who met a tragic death in 1896.  Throughout the 1880s and ‘90s, Cooper regularly made national news, yet today she has been largely forgotten by history.  This presentation comes from an ongoing biographical research project that examines both Sarah Cooper’s significance in late 19th century American culture and reasons for the failure of her legacy to endure.