Bernard Aguirre was born in St. Louis, Missouri. She was the daughter of a wealthy merchant, Joab Bernard and Arabella Mather Bier Bernard. For the first twelve years of her life the family resided in Baltimore, Maryland, the birthplace of Mary's mother. In 1856 the Bernard family moved to Westport, Missouri, where Mary's father owned a large store. Bernard Aguirre went to college at the age of seventeen; this would prove to be a critical period of her life, as she lived through many moments that eventually changed her views towards people of other races. She heard the rifle shot that killed abolitionistJohn Brown in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. When Mary Bernard returned home from Baltimore, Maryland later that same year, the American Civil War broke out, and she became a supporter of the Southern cause.
Personal life
Mary Bernard married a Mexicanfreighting contractor, Epifanio Aguirre, on August 21, 1862 in Westport. The Aguirres had three sons: Pedro,, Epifanio Jr. and Stephen. Bernard Aguirre's family moved to the Southwest in 1863. They traveled from Missouri to Las Cruces, New Mexico, with a stop in Santa Fe. Mary kept a journal of her family's travels across the Great Plains. In August 1869, the Aguirres set foot in Tucson. In January 1870, Epifanio Sr. was killed during an Apache raid of a stagecoach near Sasabe, Arizona. In economic straits, Bernard Aguirre saw herself forced to return home to Missouri and live with her parents.
Career
In 1874, Mary Bernard Aguirre returned to Tucson, having accepted a job as a teacher in Tres Alamos. She taught in Tucson-area public schools, including the Tucson Public School for Girls, for four years. During this time, Bernard Aguirre advocated for public education against the prevailing inclination among Catholics towards homeschooling. In 1878, she became the first teacher in Arivaca, sixty miles south of Tucson; during her tenure she was recruited to teach at the fledgling University of Arizona. She became chair of the Spanish language and English history departments at the University of Arizona in 1885. She was the university's first female professor, and resigned from the post in 1901. In 1906, Mary Bernard Aguirre was injured in a Pullmantrain crash in California. On May 24, 1906, two weeks after the accident, she died of internal injuries.
Legacy
To honor her work during the early years of the school, the University of Arizona currently awards a Women's and Gender Studies professorship in Aguirre's name.
