Frederika Michelfelder Lawrence (1898) Scholarship

Frederika Helena Michelfelder was born in Tioga county, PA in 1877. She was the second of five children of George and Christiana (Truthan) Michelfelder, who had emigrated from Germany a few years earlier. She grew up in Potter County, PA. She later attended the Pennsylvania State Normal School at Mansfield and graduated in 1898 with a certificate in Elementary Education. From 1898 to 1906 Frederika held teaching positions in Potter and Tioga Counties and from 1907 to 1908 in Oceanic, New Jersey. In 1910 she married a physician, Dr. Ray Gifford Lawrence, and they took up residence in Hammondsport, NY. They had two children, Katherine Christine and George Andrew. Frederika died in the influenza pandemic in 1919. This scholarship was established in her memory to provide financial assistance for elementary education majors.