Viola Case
Victoria, Victoria County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Born in Virginia in 1821, Viola Case moved in 1848 to Victoria, where she taught at the Victoria Female Academy founded by her husband, the Rev. John R. Shive. She continued the school after his death in 1853 and after the death of her second husband, the Rev. Joel T. Case, in 1868. By 1870 the academy known as Mrs. Case's Select School, was coeducational and widely respected. She remained in charge until her death in 1894. Until 1973 the Victoria Bronte Public Library, which began as a collection of Mrs. Case's books, was supported by the Bronte Club, a literary society she founded in 1873.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Viola Case came to Victoria in 1848 to teach at the Female Academy founded by her first husband, and when he died she kept the school going — as she did again after outliving a second husband in 1868. By 1870 "Mrs. Case's Select School" was coeducational and widely respected, and she led it until her death in 1894. She also founded a literary society whose book collection grew into the town's public library.
Why it matters
Case's decades at the head of her own academy make her a striking example of a nineteenth-century woman building lasting educational and cultural institutions in her own name.
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Related people
- · Viola Case
- · John R. Shive
- · Joel T. Case
Themes & tags
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