Jessica Blanche Peixotto

Jessica Blanche Peixotto was unquestioningly a trailblazer for women’s education during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In tandem with a time of rapidly changing societal attitude towards formal women’s education, she was the second woman to receive a Ph.D. and the first woman to hold a full-time faculty appointment at the University of California. Unwavering in her devotion to social justice and her education, she was aptly portrayed in the citation of her honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 1936: “Chosen counselor of the State in matters concerning the protection of children and the care of the unfortunate; social economist marshaling stubborn facts in the service of mankind; comrade among students, inspiring teacher, true lover of humanity.” This is her story. Read more . . .