Who was the first woman to earn a PhD in the United States?

Helen Magill White was the first woman to earn a PhD in the United States.

She received her doctorate in Greek from Boston University in 1877. Her achievement came during a period when American higher education was expanding but doctoral study and academic careers remained heavily restricted for women.

Magill had already broken educational ground earlier. She attended Boston Latin School as its only female student and graduated from Swarthmore College in 1873 as part of its first graduating class. Her father, Edward Hicks Magill, was a major influence on her education and later became Swarthmore’s second president.

Her doctorate did not guarantee an easy academic career. She studied at Newnham College, Cambridge, but illness affected her examination results and employment prospects. Her dissertation, The Greek Drama, was long thought lost before being rediscovered in her papers at Cornell University Library in 2018.