The First Women's College of Thrissur District, St. Mary's College, was established in the heart of the flourishing business town of Thrissur in 1946. The Congregation of Mother of Carmel (CMC) had pioneered into the field of Higher Education inspired by the educational vision of its founder, St. Kuriakose Elias Chavra. India was fast approaching the much awaited freedom from British rule and there was great enthusiasm for a new and reformed society. Though many women had taken part in the freedom struggle, majority of women in India were still uneducated and illiterate. Women had very little opportunity for higher education as there were very few colleges for women at the time. It is in this hour of need that the CMC congregation had established St. Mary’s College, with the aim of uplifting the women of Kerala by empowering them through education.