Woman of the Century/E. Miriam Coyrière

COYRIÈRE, Mrs. E. Miriam, business woman, born in London, Eng., when her parents were traveling and visiting relatives there. She E. MIRIAM COYRIÈRE. comes of English ancestry, the Hopkins family on her father's side, who settled in New England and were prominent in the history of the Colonies, and on her mother's side the Archer family, at one time the owners of Fordham Manor, in Westchester county, N. Y. Lord John Archer received the letters patent on the estate in November, 1671. He was a descendant of Fulbert L'Archer, one of the companions of William the Conquerer. The manor was mortgaged in 1686 to Cornelius Van Steinwyck, a New York merchant, and he left it by will to the Dutch Church of New York. On her mother's side the families have been Episcopalians since the establishment of the Episcopal Church in England; on her father's side they have belonged to the same church for over one-hundred years. Mrs Coyrière's real name is Mrs. Carlos Pardo. She has been twice married. Her husband, Professor Carlos Pardo, is a writer on pedagogy. Both are members of the American Association of Science, and Mrs. Pardo, who has kept her business name, E. Miriam Coyrière, is interested in all the reform movements of the time. She is a member of the National Educational Association, of the Woman's Health Association and of other organizations. She inherits literary talent from her mother, who was both poet and artist. Her father, who was wealthy at the time of his marriage, was a talented and highly educated man, and he turned his attainments to account when his fortune was swept away. He was a fine linguist and an author. Mrs. Coyrière belongs to a family of six children. Her first marriage was unfortunate. Her husband failed, and her parents died and left three young sons to her and her sister's care. She soon set about the work of earning a livelihood for herself and her young charges. Aided by Peter Cooper, she became a teacher, after a course of study in Cooper Institute. To add to her labor, her first husband became an invalid from paralysis. Her only son died in infancy. After teaching for a time, she learned the school furniture business. In 1880 she opened a teachers' agency, that has earned a world-wide reputation. She worked diligently to build it up and has succeeded. She supplies teachers for every grade of educational institution, from colleges down to district schools, and her patrons are in every State of the Union and in Canada, in Central America, Mexico and South America, and she has supplied teachers for European institutions. Her school furniture business has been a part of her work ever since she started in business for herself. In 1S84 she displayed furniture and school apparatus at the International Congress in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where she won a diploma. Mrs. Coyrière has no living children, but her home life is exceptionally happy. She became the wife of Prof. Carlos Pardo in 1884, and their home is a center of intellectual activity.