Harriet Bishop

Harriet Bishop (Minnesota Historical Society)

Harriet Bishop made Minnesota what it is today. She was born in 1817 and she died in 1883. She grew up in Vermont and always dreamed of helping people and making a difference. She arrived in Minnesota in 1847 and right when she stepped on the land she knew it would need help. Harriet was up for the job. She was looking forward to making a change. One of the most important things that she did was start a school house in St. Paul.

Old blacksmith shop (palisadesney.com)

In 1847 Harriet started to remodel her new school which happened to be a blacksmith's shop before then. It was a hard process to turn a blacksmith shop into a school but Harriet did that. The first day she opened her new school she had 14 kids walk in the door. She was the only teacher in the school and she had many varieties of age groups. She loved to educate all the kids’ minds. She did pretty well as the fist teacher ever to teach in Minnesota. She did not only teach she also helped her community a lot. She also started the Territorial Temperance Society.

No Alcohol (zazzle.co.uk)

The Territorial Temperance Society was a group of people against drugs and alcohol. It was a group of mostly women (also some men) that wanted to make a difference in alcohol use. They didn’t even want alcohol to be used at all in St. Paul. At the time that this was happening alcohol was being used in large amounts and was not making St. Paul any better. This is one of the most helpful things she has done well she was here in Minnesota. Another important thing that she did was that she started a Sunday School.

The Sunday School that Bishop started was a very important part in St. Paul's civilization. It was at the school house. The Sunday school was for kids and adults in St. Paul. Most of the kids from her school were going to the Sunday School. The thing that the kids learned in Sunday School was an introduction to Christian faith. The Sunday School worked very well and was very inspiring. As you can see Harriet Bishop was a very important part of Minnesota and everybody in it. If it wasn't or her there would have been no school in Minnesota for a while after that.

Harriet Bishop was such an important person in that time and she still is. When I hear Harriet Bishop the first thing that comes to mind is inspiration. Her job as the first teacher ever in Minnesota was a big job to take on. But of course she had the bravery and smart mind to have taken that job. She taught others to keep trying and to be strong in whatever you do. All these things are what makes her a hero. Harriet Bishop was a very great person.