Many people thought girls didn’t need school in the 1700s. They said it wasn’t important for girls to learn. But one woman had a different idea. Benigna Zinzendorf helped open the first American for girls. Her work created more opportunities for students. The school led the way for women’s .
Benigna Zinzendorf was born on December 28, 1725, in Berthelsdorf, Saxony. That is part of the country Germany today. Her full name was Countess Henrietta Benigna Justine Zinzendorf von Watteville. Her father was Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf. He was a leader in the Moravian church. That’s a Christian religion.
Ludwig let a group of Moravians settle on his land. So, Benigna Zinzendorf grew up learning about community and religion from the Moravians. Sometimes, she traveled with her parents to spread their beliefs.
In December 1741, the family traveled to the United States. Ludwig said Zinzendorf should create a girls’ school. Zinzendorf worked with two helpers. They opened a school on May 4, 1742, in Germantown, Pennsylvania. She was only 16 years old.
The Germantown school was a boarding school for girls. It was the first in the British American . Many people thought women didn’t need school. They thought women should stay at home and watch their children. However, the Moravians believed learning was important for everyone.
There were 25 students at the Germantown school. They learned reading, writing, and religion. They also learned home skills like cooking, sewing, and childcare. The school was for young students starting at 5 or 6 years old.
The school moved from Germantown to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, after seven weeks. Zinzendorf left that year. The school moved again to Nazareth, Pennsylvania. Zinzendorf returned in 1748. She grew the school’s , and she helped it get attention from other Moravians. She also helped move the school back to Bethlehem in 1749.
Zinzendorf continued traveling. She got married and had children. She returned to the school in 1784. She helped organize it. The school got the name Moravian Female Seminary in 1785. The school started allowing students who weren’t in the Moravian religion. Students between the ages of 8 and 15 could go there too. Zinzendorf died in 1789, but her continued through the school.
In 1954, the women’s school joined with a men’s school to become Moravian College. Students went there after high school. It was the first college in the area that taught women and men. The school changed its name in 2021. It is now Moravian University.
Moravian University celebrated a milestone on July 26, 2024. The UNESCO World Heritage List added Moravian settlements in Bethlehem. That included the school. This list helps protect historic sites. Bethlehem became the 26th World Heritage site in the United States. It honors the history of the Moravians and the work of Benigna Zinzendorf.
By Hannah Marcum
Updated March 3, 2025, 5:00 P.M. (ET)
