Robillard, Edna Hill, 1904-1958

Biography

Miss Edna Marion Hill was born December 22, 1904 in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England to Edward Archibald Hill, an insurance agent, and Florence Minnie (Hobbs) Hill. She graduated in 1925 from the Gypsy Hill Training College in London. She later received a B.S. degree from Columbia University in New York and taught at Ethical Culture and the Dalton School, where she was promoted to English teacher and director of the elementary department in 1931.

Miss Hill joined the Nightingale-Bamford School in 1935 as director of the Lower School. In 1937, she added the duties of director of Middle School, and became Assistant Head of School when Miss Nightingale retired in 1939. She succeeded Maya Stevens Bamford as Head of School in 1947, serving in that role until her death in 1958.

In December 1954, Miss Hill married Basil Robillard, a lawyer.

Edna Hill Robillard was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1956, and Catherine Woodbridge was appointed in March 1958 to serve as co-head of Nightingale as the disease progressed. To the shock of most of the school community, who were unaware of her diagnosis, Mrs. Robillard died on June 23, 1958 at the age of 53.

The 1945 and 1959 yearbooks were dedicated to Miss Hill/Mrs. Robillard by Nightingale senior students.

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