Annah May Soule was born in 1861 (some sources say 1859) in Port Huron, Michigan. Her father served in the Civil War and was later appointed Treasurer at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. Soule attended public school in Jackson, Michigan, then spent a year in a convent school in Canada. She studied history and political science at the State Normal School at Ypsilanti, Michigan for three years, followed by two years studying history and constitutional law at the University of Michigan. She left the University to teach at normal schools in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Soule later returned to the University of Michigan and earned both her bachelor's and master's degrees. In the fall of 1896 Soule came to Mount Holyoke College, to teach in the History and Political Economy Department, where she developed new and innovative courses concerning social issues. One course, called "Elements of Political Economy", required students to visit a factory or other industrial institution and make a formal report about it. Soule was an active member of the American Historical Society, the Michigan Historical Association, the New England Association of Teachers of History, the New England Educational League, and the Association of Intercollegiate Alumnae. Soule died on March 17, 1905 in Marion, Ohio while on leave from Mount Holyoke College.