Christine Ladd-Franklin

Christine Ladd-Franklin
Christine Ladd-Franklin
Born	December 1, 1847 Windsor, Connecticut
Died	March 5, 1930 (aged 82) New York City
Nationality	American
Fields	Logic, psychology
Influences	Charles Sanders Peirce James Joseph Sylvester

Christine Ladd-Franklin (December 1, 1847 – March 5, 1930) was an American psychologist, logician, and mathematician.

Christine Ladd, sometimes known by her nickname "Kitty," was born on December 1, 1847 in Windsor, Connecticut to Eliphalet Ladd, a merchant, and Augusta Niles Ladd. During her early childhood, she lived with her parents and younger brother Henry (born 1850) in New York City. In 1853 the family moved back to Windsor, Connecticut where her sister Jane Augusta Ladd McCordia was born the following year. Throughout her childhood, Ladd's mother and aunt, Juliet Niles, often chose to bring the young Christine with them to numerous women's rights lectures and suffrage meetings because both were incredibly passionate supporters of women's rights. Augusta Ladd believed that women had every right to be in the same positions that were held by men and "belonged every place where a man should be." Ladd's mother wanted to instill these same beliefs into her impressionable daughter so that she could grow up to be successful in later life and not be held back by societal expectations.

Following the death of her mother in spring 1860 to pneumonia, Ladd went to live with her paternal grandmother in Portsmouth, New Hampshire where she attended school. Ladd's father remarried in 1862 and produced her half-sister Katherine (born 1862) and half-brother George (born 1867). Ladd was a precocious child who sought to find “a mean to continue her education beyond secondary school.”. Ladd's wish was granted when her father enrolled her in a two-year program at a coeducational Welshing academy in Wilbraham, Massachusetts; she took the same courses that prepared boys in furthering their education to colleges such as Harvard.

In 1865 Christine Ladd graduated as valedictorian from Welshing Academy and made the decision to pursue further education at Vassar College. This decision would not be supported by her family due to the fact that Ladd's father and grandmother believed college was unnecessary for a woman and by choosing to go to Vassar, Ladd would end up being too old to take a husband. The family saw college as a hindrance since women in the nineteenth century were expected to wed young, produce children, and stay at home to raise a family. Ladd was ultimately able to argue that she was "not attractive enough to find a husband and that there was a shortage of men as a result of the Civil War." This argument was eventually effective in convincing her family that college was the best option for her.