Bertha M. Stiles becomes first woman faculty member at Washington College

On January 1, 1893, Bertha M. Stiles entered the faculty of Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland, becoming the institution’s first woman faculty member. Washington: The College at Chester notes that she was appointed an instructor in English, mathematics, and German, an unusually wide teaching portfolio that underscored both her competence and the small college’s need for versatile educators.[7] In an era when most American colleges were only beginning to grapple with coeducation, and when women with advanced education still faced intense skepticism, her appointment marked a decisive institutional commitment to including women in the academic workforce.

This event is historically significant because it shifted women’s presence at Washington College from students or "special" enrollees to intellectual authorities in the classroom. Her role helped normalize the idea that women could teach core subjects, mentor male and female students alike, and participate in the professional culture of the faculty. The appointment also anticipated the gradual expansion of women’s roles on campus—from teaching to student life and administration. Later, Stiles would become the college’s first housemother, further integrating women into the residential fabric of the institution. Her pioneering faculty post in 1893 therefore stands as an early and visible breach in the gendered boundaries of collegiate labor on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.