Margaret Ker Bell Miller

Margaret Kerr (Bell) Miller was born October 2, 1826, in Washington, PA. She graduated from the Washington Female Seminary in 1846 and began her twenty-six-year teaching career. In 1849, Waynesburg College was chartered and Margaret Kerr Bell was one of the three professors hired by the newly appointed President of the college. She was to serve as principal of the female education department. The founders of Waynesburg College intended for female students to be educated in a Female Seminary, separately from their male counterparts, and receive only diplomas. There is speculation Margaret was intentionally chosen to lead the way for equal co-education. Under her leadership in 1851, both male and female students began attending classes in the same building. In 1852, Waynesburg College graduated the first three women with diplomas. By 1857, three female graduates earned bachelor's Degrees. These students became the first women to receive college degrees in Pennsylvania. 

Under Margaret's direction, Waynesburg College became the FIRST college in Pennsylvania and the second school in the United States to provide equal, co-educational opportunities. 

In 1855, Margaret married Alfred Brashear Miller, a mathematics professor at Waynesburg College. In 1859, Miller became President of Waynesburg College. Margaret continued her professional career, teaching classes, serving as a student advisor, and in administration roles while simultaneously managing a home, and raising eight children. Margaret passed away on April 27, 1874, in her home in Waynesburg, PA. 

In tribute to Margaret, the town of Waynesburg shut down for her funeral and her former students raised the money for a monument that marks her grave. On June 1, 1928, more than 50 years after her death, a grateful alumnus named a public school in her honor.