Agatha Tiegel Hanson: Our Places in the Sun

Barely fifteen years old in 1888 Agatha Tiegel entered the nations only college for deaf students after the college tentatively opened its doors to women. Amid male student and faculty hostility and skepticism Agatha achieved exemplary academic success and became the first female to earn a BA degree from the college. Upon facing the most stringent campus restrictions and exclusion from male only organizations and activities at the college Agatha cofounded a society for women students. Her prerequisite graduation presentation the Intellect of Woman was a powerful oratory urging womens right to their places in the sun. Agathas journey marked by struggles and achievements highlight the life of an extraordinary deaf woman in the early years of history.