Founded in 1876, Hathaway Brown began as “afternoon classes for young ladies” at the all-boys private Brooks Military School in downtown Cleveland. Its original name was the Brooks School for Ladies. In 1886, the school was purchased by Anne Hathaway Brown. During her tenure, Miss Brown changed the school's name to “Miss Anne H. Hathaway Brown’s School for Girls” and introduced the school motto: "non scholae sed vita discimus" (“we learn not for school but for life”). At that point, only women were accepted.