Sweet Briar College is a liberal arts women's college in Sweet Briar, Virginia, about 12 miles (19 km) north of Lynchburg, Virginia. The school's Latin motto translates as: "She who has earned the rose may bear it." The College is on 3,250 acres (13,152,283 m) that provide a landscape for learning and the curriculum spans more than 40 areas of study. The school is named after the former Sweet Briar plantation, which was likely named for the sweet briar rose. Sweet Briar College is located on the former plantation of Elijah Fletcher and his family. Fletcher was a 19th century teacher, businessman, and mayor of Lynchburg. His wife, Maria Crawford, is credited with naming the land Sweet Briar. By the mid-19th century, Fletcher had between 80 and 100 slaves at the plantation. After their emancipation in 1865, several continued to work for pay and live at Sweet Briar. On Elijah Fletcher's death, his daughter, Indiana, inherited the plantation. When she passed in 1900, she willed the land and much of her assets to starting a college for women. The goal, as stated by Williams, was to prepare young women to be "useful members of society.