Her parents kept her out of school when she was young due to concerns for her health, but she was taught at home. By her teens she had become an eager reader with a sharp interest in politics and social reform movements. She entered Cornell University in 1876 as a member of its first coeducational class. Like her companions at Hull House, she was part of a new generation of college-educated American women who used their talents and energies to help the underprivileged and immigrant classes.Bartram Bonsall, hailed from an old Philadelphia family of Quaker faith. Quakers are members of the Religious Society of Friends, a Christian group noted for its opposition to war, oath taking, and rituals. An ancestor, John Bartram (1699–1777), was known as the father of American botany and, in the 1720s, established the first botanical garden in the North American colonies.
Continuing poor health forced Kelley to take time off from Cornell, but she eventually earned her undergraduate degree in literature in 1882. She hoped to enter the University of Pennsylvania law school, but even her family connections could not help her overcome the prejudices of the day against women professionals, and her application was rejected.
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