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Mary Charlotte Priest was born in Lowell, 
Massachusetts on January 2, 1870, but shortly thereafter, her family moved to Washington, D.C. Her
father had just obtained a job with the U.S. Treasury Department. However,
within a couple of years, he changed jobs, so the family moved around
while Charlotte was growing up. When she was a child, she
camped and picnicked in Forest Glen at "the Biggin," a tiny
house owned by Eliza Tullock, a relative of both hers and Seymour
Tullock (her cousin). During this time, she lived with an uncle, William Tullock in
Washington, where she graduated from Central High School in 1889.
She continued her education, winning a full scholarship at
Columbian University (now George Washington University). She graduated with a B.A. in 1893.
As a
new graduate without a teaching position, it was natural that her cousin Seymour would
introduce her to the Cassedys when they
started their school in 1894. She was the first teacher hired, and
taught English Language and Literature.
The sorority system at NPS was created
by Miss Priest. She began secretly meeting with several students in the school's first
year.
They formed a secret literary society which they called Chiopi.
Even
though Vesta Cassedy moved to assert her control over the
situation by instituting another, more open society called Geuth-Hebrew and building
the first sorority clubhouse for Geuth, Miss
Priest was given the responsibility to develop the sorority system, becoming
supervisor for what was eventually eight different societies.
Miss Priest became Prefect of Studies and was involved in the day-to-day
administration of the school during the time that John Cassedy was distracted by Vesta's
illness, and afterward when he was distracted by his infatuation with Stephana
Prager and eventually lost interest in running the school. She was later promoted
to Assistant Dean. She died in 1929.
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