Mary Chandler Atherton

Mary Alderson Chandler Atherton (, Alderson; after first marriage, Chandler; after second marriage, Atherton; April 16, 1849 – September 9, 1934) was an American educator, textbook author, and magazine publisher. She arrived in Boston, Massachusetts in 1881. There, she founded the "Home School for Shorthand and Typewriting", and ten years later, the "Chandler Normal Shorthand School", chiefly for the training of teachers, the first school of its kind in the U.S. In 1895, Atherton called a "Public School Shorthand Convention", the first in the history of shorthand education. Also in that year, she founded the Chandler Thinking Club for the encouragement of independent thinking. She published two periodicals and five textbooks.

Early life and education Mary Alderson was born near Le Raysville, Pennsylvania, April 16, 1849. Her parents, John Alderson (1805–1881) and Margaret (Wilson) Alderson (1805–1888),

Atherton was a natural leader and to the young, an unfailing source of inspiration. The high esteem in which she was held by those who came under her direct influence was indicated by the following extract from the constitution of the National Association of Chandler Shorthand Writers, organized in 1904:— In Shorthand Systems Analyzed: Gregg, Pitman, K.I., Paragon and Boyd Syllabic (1919), by the New York State Shorthand Reporters, the system is referred to as "Lindsley-Chandler".

Personal life She was twice married: first, in 1881, at Philadelphia to Willard Wayne Chandler (1858–1889).,

Selected works Books Graded Lessons in Shorthand, 1888 (text) Key to Graded Lessons in Shorthand, 1889 (text) Practical Shorthand for Schools and Colleges, 1891 Chandler's Practical Shorthand: A Series of Logical Steps, 1893 Chandler Shorthand Revised, 1933

Magazine founder and publisher The Thinker (established 1898) Chandler Shorthand Quarterly (established 1914)