Pioneer schoolteacher Jessie Thatcher Bost was the first woman to earn a college degree from Oklahoma A&M University. Photo Credit: Linda A Grave
There are many fine teachers who are know for their firsts. One of the these is Jessie Thatcher Bost, a pioneer schoolteacher in Oklahoma who was the first woman to earn a college degree from Oklahoma A&M University.
Jessie Thatcher Bost was born on December 16, 1875, in Guthrie Center Iowa. In 1891, her parents relocated the family to Stillwater in Oklahoma Territory. As a young woman, Jessie attended Oklahoma A&M University, now known as Oklahoma State University. There she studied agriculture, horticulture, physics, and chemistry. Students were also required to participate in military drills, and Jessie was no exception. When Jessie graduated on June 9, 1897, she was the first woman to earn a degree from that university.
While attending college, Jessie accepted a position as an assistant librarian in the school’s library. She remained in this post from 1895 to 1896. During these years, Jessie and some of her women cohorts established the Sigma Literary Society, because the only existing club, the Webster Literary Society, admitted only men. Later, Jessie was also voted the first President of the university’s Alumni Association in 1902, and she organized and served as the first President of the college’s Half Century Club in 1954.
After she earned her degree, Jessie taught school in Stillwater, at a salary of $40 per month. Except for the time spent raising her children, she continued to teach until her retirement in 1946.
On July 16, 1902, Jessie married Henry Bost, a fellow student. The union produced four children, three of whom attended Oklahoma A&M College. When the Bosts moved to Alva, Oklahoma, Jessie organized a Parent-Teacher Association and served as Chair of the Northwest District PTA.
Jessie Bost’s contribution to the teaching profession in Oklahoma has not gone unnoticed. She was inducted into the Oklahoma Women’s Hall of Fame in 1997. In 1925, a women’s dormitory was built on the A&M campus and named in her honor.
This Chalkboard Champion died in Cleveland, Oklahoma, on February 14, 1963. She is interred at Fairlawn Cemetery in Stillwater, Payne County, Oklahoma.
