Woman of the Century/Emma McAvoy

McAVOY, Miss Emma, author and lecturer, born in Cincinnati, Ohio, 23rd October, 1841. EMMA MCAVOY. She is a daughter of Daniel and Mary B. McAvoy. Her father, a Scotch-Irishman, was born in Belfast, Ireland He was one of the pioneers of Cincinnati. He was a horticulturist and a lover of nature. The Cincinnati Art Museum now stands on the site of the McAvoy homestead. Emma McAvoy was graduated as a gold-medalist from the Woodward high school in 1858. For a number of years she was known as one of the grammar-teachers of Cincinnati. Her reputation as a teacher secured for her early in 1870 the principalship of one of the largest schools in Kansas City, Mo. Illness in her family caused her to return to Cincinnati. She then gave her time to literary pursuits. She was one of the first women who presented parlor lectures on literature in the West The subject of her first lecture was "The Sonnet" "The Ode" was her second presentation to the public. A series of lectures on literature completed her course. Her success in her native city led her to try a new field. In 1880 she started on a literary tour in the West. Her afternoon and evening "literaries" were given in almost every city of note from Cincinnati to Laramie, Wyo. She will publish her aids and helps to the study of English literature in book form. The prolonged illness and recent death of her mother interrupted her literary pursuits.