title: George Barrell Emerson
text: # George Barrell Emerson
  
  George Barrell Emerson (September 12, 1797 – March 14, 1881) was an American educator and pioneer of women's education.
  
  ## Biography
  
  He was born in Kennebunk, Maine. He graduated from Harvard College in 1817, and soon after took charge of an academy in Lancaster, Massachusetts. Between 1819 and 1821, he was the tutor in mathematics and natural philosophy at Harvard, and in 1821 was chosen principal of The English High School for Boys in Boston. In 1823 he opened the Emerson School for Girls in the same city, which he conducted until 1855, when he retired from professional life. He was for many years president of the Boston Society of Natural History, and was appointed by Governor Everett chairman of the commissioners for the zoological and botanical survey of Massachusetts. He died in Newton, Massachusetts.
  
  ## Family
  
  He was a cousin of Ralph Waldo Emerson.
  
  ## Legacy
  
  * Emerson Preparatory School in Washington, D.C. was named in his honor.
  