Lucy Skidmore Scribner
Educator, Benefactor, Idealist, Founder of Skidmore College
Lucy Skidmore was born in New York City on July 4, 1853. Brought up by an aunt, she decided at 13 to return to the household of her father and stepmother. Under their tutelage, she grew to be a studious and imaginative young woman. Lucy did not pursue higher education, which was limited for young women in 1870. Instead, she became a teacher in a mission school that emphasized moral lessons and practical skills such as needlework.
In 1875, Lucy married John Blair Scribner, head of the publishing house his father had founded. The loss of two infants was followed by her husband’s death in 1879; Lucy was a widow at 25. She moved back in with her parents and remained with her stepmother after her father died in 1882.
In 1894, her stepmother died, leaving Lucy free to travel to locationsincluding Saratoga Springs. After buying a stucco house at 791 North Broadway, she became a permanent resident in 1902.
In 1904, she bought the closed Temple Grove Seminary on the corner of Spring and Circular streets and built a new clubhouse on Regent Street in 1911, which she saw as honoring her parents.
Soon, realizing that the school needed greater stability and academic strength, Lucy brought in Charles Keyes as the school’s president. She chaired the Board of Directors and continued to provide substantial financial support, which continued after the school became Skidmore College in 1922.