Introduction

Biography

Vida was the daugh­ter of Con­gre­ga­tion­al­ist mis­sion­ary Da­vid Coit Scud­der and Har­ri­et Lou­ise Dut­ton.

She at­tend­ed pri­vate se­con­da­ry schools in Bos­ton, Mas­sa­chu­setts, and gra­du­ate­d from the Bos­ton Girl’s La­tin School in 1880. She then ma­tri­cu­lat­ed at Smith Col­lege in North­amp­ton, Mas­sa­chu­setts, re­ceiv­ing a BA de­gree in 1884.

In 1885 she and Cla­ra French were the first Am­eri­can wo­men ad­mit­ted to the gra­du­ate pro­gram at Ox­ford, where she was in­flu­enced by York Pow­ell and John Rus­kin.