Wil·lard (w?l??rd), Emma Hart 1787-1870. American educator who was an early proponent of higher education for women.Frances WillardWillard, Frances Elizabeth Caroline 1839-1898. American reformer. An ardent advocate of temperance and women’s suffrage, she was the national president of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (1879-1898).American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.Wil?lard (?w?l ?rd) n. 1. Emma (Hart), 1787?1870, U.S. educator and poet. 2. Frances Elizabeth Caroline, 1839?98, U.S. educator, reformer, and author. Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.