INFORMATION TO USERS The most advanced technology has been used to photo­ graph and reproduce this manuscript from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are re­ produced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand corner and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. These are also available as one exposure on a standard 35mm slide or as a 17" x 23" black and white photographic print for an additional charge. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. UMI University Microfilms International A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 Nortfi Z eeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 Order Number 9001986 The mission of women’s colleges in an era of cultural revolution, 1890-1930 Leone, Janice Marie, Ph.D. The Ohio State University, 1989 Copyright ©1989 by Leone, Janice Marie. All rights reserved. UMI 300 N. Zeeb Rd. Ann Aibor, MI 48106 THE MISSION OF WOMEN'S COLLEGES IN AN ERA OF CULTURAL REVOLUTION, 1890-1930 DISSERTATION Presented in partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of the Ohio State University By Janice Marie Leone, B.A., B.S., M.A. ******* The Ohio State University 1989 Dissertation Committee Approved by Leila J. Rupp John C . Burnham Advisor If- Susan M. Hartmann Department of History Copyri^t by Janice Marie Leone 1989 To George and Eleanor Leone and in memory of lone Louk 11 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Dr. Leila J. Rupp for patiently guiding me through this study of women's education. Her insightful comments, thoughtful analysis, and probing questions helped me immeasurably in clarifying my own ideas about the role of education in women's lives. I would also like to extend my sincere appreciation to Dr. John C. Burnham for his careful and consistent attention to my work and for his valuable comments. Thanks also to Dr. Susan M. Hartmann and Dr. John L. Rury who offered numerous suggestions for improving this study. Generous financial assistance from several sources allowed me to conduct research for this project: The Ohio State Graduate Students Alumni Research Award; The Ohio State Department of History Ruth Higgins Research Award; and The Ohio State Women's Studies Small Research Grant. A Rockefeller Archive Center Research Grant supported my research at that facility, and a Spencer Dissertation Year Fellowship allowed me to complete a major portion of my writing. I received invaluable assistance in doing my research from many librarians and archivists. Thanks to the following people who made my work not only productive but also very pleasant: Brenda Banks, archivist at Spelman College; Sister M. Rosaleen Dunleavy, C.S.C., archivist, iii and Sister Bernice, librarian at the Cuchwa-Leighton Library, Saint Mary's College; Elizabeth Snapp, Library Director, Metta Nicewarner, Special Collections Librarian, Peg Rezac and Kathy Lozano at the Blagg-Huey Library, Texas Woman's University; Allan Kovan, archivist, and Stanley Mallack at the Milwaukee Area Research Center, Golda Meir Library, UW-Milwaukee; and Director Darwin H. Stapleton and the efficient, knowledgeable archivists at the Rockefeller Archive Center in Pocantico Hills, NY. I would like to thank Dr. Lynn D. Gordon, Dr. Joyce Antler, and Dr. Martha Swain for encouraging me to pursue this project and for helpful comments and suggestions. I am especially grateful to Barbara Goldberg who helped lay the groundwork for the study of Downer College. Thanks also to Dr. Kate Dierenfield for introducing me to the valuable resources at Texas Woman's University. A number of people sustained and encouraged me with their friendship throughout my graduate career. Thanks to Shirley Yee, Charley Munnell, Tom Dicke, Alana Shindler, Stephanie Shaw, Joyce Rowe, Annie Stinemetz, Rob Butler, Jeff Roberts, Chuck Stinemetz, Richard Hall, and Richard Lakes. A special thanks to Judy Dicke, Natalie Paz-Storey, and Mike Szczepanik for valuable technical assistance. My family also gave me their constant support and encouragement. I would particularly like to express my iv appreciation to family members who made my research trips to Wisconsin and Texar so enjoyable. I am grateful to Bea Schmitz and to my parents, George and Eleanor Leone, who never doubted that I would complete this project. And a special thanks to Ken Schmitz who willingly and patiently listened to it all. VITA 1971 ..................... B.A. College of St. Scholastica Duluth, Minnesota 1971-73 ................. Instructor, English and Social Studies, AlBrook High School Saginaw, Minnesota 1973-76 ................. Instructor, English, East High School Duluth, Minnesota 1977 ..................... B.S. Mankato State University Mankato, Minnesota 1978 ..................... Instructor, Women's Studies Mankato State University Mankato, Minnesota 1979 ..................... M.A. Mankato State University Mankato, Minnesota 1979-83 ................. Program Specialist, Research Center for Women's Studies, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, Wisconsin 1983-87 ................. Teaching Associate The Ohio State University Columbus, Ohio 1987-88 ................. Spencer Foundation Fellow 1988-89 ................. Instructor, Otterbein College Westerville, Ohio FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Women's History Minor Fields : History of Education American History Since 1865 VI TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION ........................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................... iii VITA ................................................. vi CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ................................ 1 II. THE FOUNDING OF WOMEN'S COLLEGES ............ 24 III. WHY A WOMAN'S COLLEGE? ..................... 102 IV. WHAT WOMEN LEARNED: THE DEVELOPMENT OF CURRICULA ................................... 137 V. REGULATING COLLEGE LIFE ................. 194 VI. COLLEGE LIFE ................................ 245 VII. CONCLUSION .................................. 305 BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................................... 325 V I 1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION By 1900, women's enrollment at coeducational institutions in the United States was increasing at a significantly faster pace than was their attendance at women's colleges, with at least 55% of women students attending coeducational schools.^ As women moved into the public sphere and especially into formerly all-male institutions, officials at women's colleges could no longer justify the existence of their schools on the grounds that women had no other educational opportunities. This study addresses the question, how did women's colleges see their roles when they were no longer necessary for compensation? Furthermore, how did officials of women's colleges view the mission of their institutions at a time when increasing economic, political, and social opportunities were influencing and changing women's traditional roles? Did supporters of these schools attempt to create institutions to prepare women to move into new and nontraditional roles, or did 1 2 they seek to enhance women's traditional roles by making them better wives and mothers? Approximately 35,000 women attended institutions of higher learning in the United States at the turn of the nineteenth century. While the majority of these students were in coeducational schools, about 15,000 were enrolled in women's colleges, many of them founded as the result of women's exclusion from well-established men's schools.^ But as doors to higher education opened for women and educators accorded them an education similar, if not identical, to that of their male peers, the original purpose of women's colleges— to provide education in the absence of any alternative— disappeared. Educators and supporters of women's colleges, in attempting to justify the existence of these special schools when they appeared to be no longer needed, found themselves struggling with the question of whether to educate women for their traditional domestic roles or for lives of independence outside the home. This dual nature of women's education created a tension that American educators and students dealt with in various ways as women gradually gained access to educational institutions in this country. This tension is evident throughout the history of American women's education. Historian Thomas Woody's exhaustive account of women's education during the 3 colonial period reveals the haphazard attempts to educate children, with more emphasis placed on the education of boys than