Mary Swift Lamson

Mary Swift Lamson (b. 1822 - d. 1909), was an American educator and writer best known as a teacher of Laura Bridgman, at the Perkins Institute for the Blind. She wrote the book Life and Education of Laura Dewey Bridgman, the Deaf, Dumb, and Blind Girl about her experiences teaching Bridgman.

Early life and education Lamson was born Mary Swift in Nantucket, Massachusetts, on June 22, 1822. Her parents were Dr. Paul Swift and Dorcas Swift (née Gardner). In 1840, she graduated with the first class of Lexington Normal School (now Framingham State University) and married Boston varnish gum importer Edwin Lamson (1811-1876) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on June 22, 1846, her twenty-fourth birthday. In 1841, Lamson replaced Lydia Drew as the primary teacher and companion of deafblind student Laura Bridgman, a position which she held until her marriage to Edwin Lamson in 1846.

When Lamson left her position at the Perkins Institute, Howe wrote that Lamson was an "able and excellent teacher...Indeed, to Miss Swift and Miss [Sarah] Wight belong, far more than to any other persons, the pure satisfaction of having been instrumental in the beautiful development of Laura's character."

Private life Mary and Edwin Lamson had four children: Mary (1847-1848), Helen (born 1852), Gardner (born 1855) and Kate (born 1859).

Mary Swift Lamson died in Cambridge, Massachusetts on March 2, 1909.