As the first woman supervisor in the Boston Public Schools, appointed in 1876, Lucretia Crocker (1829–86) pioneered the discovery method of teaching mathematics and the natural sciences during her decade-long tenure. Earlier, she joined Abby May (1829–88) and three other women in their successful drive to be the first women elected to the Boston School Committee. Previously, Crocker’s ten years of service to the Teachers’ Committee of the Freedmen’s Aid Society included visits to schools in the South as well as selecting and training teachers and providing curriculum. She also taught at Antioch College under Horace Mann’s presidency to illustrate her belief in women’s right to higher education.
