Background
Sarah Elizabeth Doyle was born in Providence in 1830, the third of seven children to Martha Dorrance Doyle and Thomas Doyle, a bookbinder.
Sarah Elizabeth Doyle was born in Providence in 1830, the third of seven children to Martha Dorrance Doyle and Thomas Doyle, a bookbinder.
She graduated from Providence High School in 1846 and began her career as a teacher in 1856.
Sarah Doyle is perhaps best known for leading the campaign to admit women to Brown University. In 1891, the first six female students were allowed to enroll as undergraduates. By 1895, Doyle formed the Rhode Island Society for the Collegiate Education of Women for the purpose of raising the funds for a full Women"s College at Brown.
The group raised $75,000 to erect Pembroke Hall, the first permanent building of the Brown Women"s College, later renamed Doyle died on December 21, 1922 at her home at 119 Prospect Street in Providence.
Her health had been declining for some time. She is buried in a family plot in Swan Point Cemetery.
She was the first woman to receive an honorary degree from Brown University in 1894 Sarah Doyle was honored during her own lifetime through the Sarah East. Doyle Club, created by her students in 1894. In 1975, Brown University established the Sarah Doyle Women"s Center.
Doyle was inducted into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame in 2005.
Providence Athenaeum]
Doyle was a charter member of the corporation of the and served as secretary from 1877 to 1899.