Background
Anne Parrish was born on October 17, 1760 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. She was the eldest of eleven children of Isaac and Sarah (Mitchell) Parrish, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As early as 1637 the Parrish name is on record in Maryland, Capt. Edward Parrish of Yorkshire having emigrated to Anne Arundel County. A branch of the family moved to Philadelphia, for John Parrish (1702 - 1745), grandfather of Anne, married Elizabeth Roberts of that city and is recorded a citizen. The community into which Anne was born was a Quaker group, known for its good works and for a faith which, while lacking the force of the earlier Society of Friends, was steeped in religious and charitable interests. Anne's youngest brother, Joseph Parrish, became one of Philadelphia's leaders in medical and philanthropic circles.
Career
On an occasion when her parents were ill with yellow fever, Anne Parrish vowed that if they should recover she would devote the remainder of her life to benevolence and charity. Accordingly she founded in 1796 a school for girls in necessitous circumstances (later called the Aimwell School) and held the first sessions at a private house at the corner of Second Street and Pewter Platter Alley (now 17 North Second Street). The numbers grew, and in the first year of the school the founder associated with herself as "teaching trustees" Catharine W. Morris and Mary Wheeler. By 1799 there was a board of eighteen and a school of fifty. The course offered at the school included domestic science in various branches as well as the conventional studies. A sewing teacher was engaged, and by 1808, with sixty pupils, the trustees turned the school over to professional teachers and were compelled to borrow a room in the Corporation School House on Fourth Street.
After several other moves, Aimwell was finally established at 869 North Randolph Street and continued in operation as a school until 1923. It is a tribute to the thoroughness and foresight of the founder that the school went on with keener annual impetus, though she herself died after its fourth year of existence. The second institution founded by Anne Parrish was the House of Industry, for the employment of poor women in Philadelphia. This was established in 1795, incorporated in 1815, carried on for a number of years in Ranstead Court, and is still (1934) in active operation. It was the first charitable organization for women in America. Anne Parrish died in 1800 at the age of forty. The only likeness of her is a family silhouette.
Membership
Anne Parrish was the founder of the Female Society for the Free Instruction of Female Children.
