Hill, Frances Maria Mulligan

(July 10, 1799-Aug. 5, 1884). Episcopal missionary and pioneer woman educator. She was born Francis Maria Mulligan in New York City. She married John Henry Hill, a banker and graduate of Columbia College, on Apr. 26, 1821. He then attended the Virginia Theological Seminary. On Oct. 1, 1830, after his ordination, he, Mrs. Hill, and the Rev. John J. Robertson and his wife sailed to Greece to do missionary work. This was the first foreign mission from the Episcopal Church. They went as educational missionaries. They did not seek to convert students from Greek Orthodoxy to Anglicanism. Robertson set up a printing press, and the Hills started a school for poor children in Athens. After five years, they had 650 pupils in five groups. Frances Hill was in charge of the children aged four to eight. She was also responsible for the girls' elementary school and a “school for industry,” training destitute girls to be teachers and seamstresses. In 1834 the schools were recognized officially by the Greek ecclesiastical and civil authorities. In 1837 a wing of the school was opened for paying students. However, local opposition closed the mission in 1882-1883. It reopened with only the infants' and girls' schools. In 1869 she opened a private school, the Hill Institute. As recently as 1970 it was known as the Hill Memorial School. It remained one of the leading schools in Athens. She died in Athens. See Hill, John Henry.