Sayre Female Institute/ David Austin Sayre

Historical marker location:

Lexington, Kentucky

( 194 North Limestone, Lexington)

On Nov. 1, 1854, David A. Sayre founded a school for women at this site named Transylvania Female Institute. School renamed Sayre Female Institute in 1855; boys admitted to the Primary Dept. in 1876. School renamed Sayre School in 1942. Graduates include suffragette Laura Clay, 1865, and Nobel Prize winner William N. Lipscomb, 1938.

(Reverse) Born in Madison, NJ, in 1793, Sayre moved to Lexington in 1811. A prominent silversmith and banker, he founded Sayre School to promote female education of "the widest range and highest order." A staunch Unionist during the Civil War, he now lies buried in the Lexington Cemetery.

Civil War Schools Women