Funding is used to present “By the Force of its Own Merits” a one-day symposium on November 15, 2019 that will round out a two-year celebration of the Litchfield Female Academy, a progressive educational institution that instructed over 3,000 young women between 1792 and 1833. A diverse slate of presenters will discuss the structure and curriculum of the Academy, illuminate its role in the development of educational and social opportunities for women, and speak to the school’s legacy and relevancy within current scholarship.