This dissertation has been microfilmed exactly as received 68-2999 HEALY, Frances Patricia, 1923- A HISTORY OF EVELYN COLLEGE FOR WOMEN, PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY, 1887 TO 1897. The Ohio State University, Ph.D., 1967 Education, history University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan © Copyright by Prances Patricia Healy 1968 A HISTORY OF EVELYN COLLEGE FOR WOMEN PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY 1887 TO 189? DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University B.i Frances Patricia Healy, B,AtJ M.A< x * x * * # The Ohio State University 1967 Adviser School of Education ACKNOWLEDGMENT Many people have helped In the completion of this history—too many to name them all. But to some who have played an especially Important part I wish to give my special thanks: first, to Dr. Robert B. Sutton, my adviser, whose help and advice made this task not only possible but also enjoyable; then to three women who, each in their own way, are most responsible for my successful completion of this work; to Katherine H. Porter, my Freshman English professor, who taught me to appreciate higher education and who over the years has exhibited a belief in me that I cherish; to Esther Brubaker, who as my assistant at Ohio State, saw me through course work and examinations and whose confidence in me I wanted GO justify; to Marjorie M. Trayes, the Dean of Students at Douglass College with whom I have worked for the past seven years—the years in which this history was written, whose genuine concern and complete support was con­ stantly available; to my family—especially my father who, like my mother before her death, gave me the continual re­ assurance and encouragement that is a major factor in accomplishing a project such as this; finally to typists, ii librarians, archivists (especially M. Halsey Thomas of Princeton University), my secretary, Melba Coopey, and all the others whose paths I crossed and without whose help this history would never have been written. lii VITA November 20, 1923 Born - Cleveland, Ohio 19^6 B.A., Flora Stone Mather College, Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 1946-19^8 .... Teacher, Champion Junior High School, Painesville, Ohio 1953-1960 .... Assistant to the Dean of Women, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1956 ...... M.A., The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio i960 ...... Associate Dean of Students, Douglass College, Rutgers. The State University, New Brunswick, New Jersey FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: History and Philosophy of Education Studies in Philosophy. Professor H. Gordon Hullfish Studies in Philosophy. Professor Everett J. Kircher Studies in History of Education. Professor Bernard Mehl Studies in History of Education. Professor Robert B. Sutton Minor Fields: Higher Education Studies in Higher Education. Professor Earl W. Anderson iv CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENT ii VITA iv ILLUSTRATIONS vi FOREWORD . 2 Chapter I. INTRODUCTION 7 II. THE FOUNDING FAMILY 36 III. THE COLLEGE 5^ IV. STUDENTS AND FACULTY 9*» V. CONCLUSION 126 APPENDIXES I. LIST OF STUDENTS EVELYN COLLEGE 136 II. McILVAINE'S SPEECH (1895) 1^3 III. HARPER'S ARTICLE (1888) 152 IV. HARPER'S ARTICLE (I896) 157 V. HIGHER EDUCATION OF WOMEN IN NEW JERSEY .... 162 VI. HARVARD CERTIFICATE 168 VII. HARVARD EXAMINATION FOR WOMEN 171 BIBLIOGRAPHY . 195 v ILLUSTRATIONS Figure Page 1. Seal of the College 1 2. Joshua Hall Mcllvalne 35 3. Elizabeth Mcllvalne 45 4. Evelyn College Building 53 5. Evelyn College Room 1891 98 6. Evelyn Tennis Club 104 vi Fig. i.—Sketch of the Evelyn College Seal from the Special Certificate of Josephine Reade Curtis, 1893 (courtesy of the Princeton University Archives; drawing by Robert Bradshaw, Art Department, Douglass College). FOREWORD In an address given at the 1958 Douglass College Founders Day which celebrated the fortieth anniversary of the College, Frank H. Bowles, then President of the College Entrance Examination Board referred to Evelyn College In Princeton, New Jersey as "the first institution of higher education for women established in this state." After quot­ ing a glowing account of Evelyn College published in the Harper's Bazar of September, 1896, he said: Evelyn, despite this glowing account, closed its doors in 1897, when its enrollment dropped to 1^. Furthermore, be it noted, its disappearance was com­ plete. No mention of it was found in any of the histories of Princeton that were consulted, no men­ tion is to be found in any account of the develop­ ment of New Jersey's educational system. But it represented, as already noted, the first attempt at higher education for women in the state. It seemed strange that a college for women could have existed in Princeton for ten years and yet not be mentioned in histories of either Princeton or women's education. And yet substantially this is true. The search for material concerning Evelyn began in the Archives of the Firestone xFrank H. Bowles, "The Higher Education of Women: Factors the State University Should Consider in Planning for New Jersey," address given at Douglass College Founders Day, April 17, 1958, New Brunswick, New Jersey. 2 3 Library of Princeton University where a box labeled "Evelyn College" contains a sparse collection of three or four Evelyn College Catalogues, a few class day and commencement brochures, some photographs of Evelyn College, rooms at the college and the Evelyn College Tennis Team of 1890-91, and little else. Fortunately one letter from Alice Mcllvaine to the Archivist gave the name of two Evelyn College graduates and one of these proved most valuable. That was the name of Julia Bogert who had lived in Metuchen, New Jersey. In tracing her heirs and seeking material she might have left concerning Evelyn College it was discovered that she had a mimeographed list of names of Evelyn College alumnae which she had compiled, along with a report of Evelyn College Alumnae Reunions held in 1931 and 1932. This list, although it did not include all the students who attended Evelyn Col­ lege, was extremely valuable since it not only listed the maiden name but also the married name of former Evelyn College students. This list, the list of students in the back of the 1890-91 and 1891-92 Evelyn College Catalogues, and the names of students found in several articles in the Princeton Press became the ten years roster of Evelyn College students. In attempting to trace these students the following sources were used: Princeton City Directories, current telephone books, records of state historical societies, and the New Jersey Department of Vital Statistics for death notices from 1932 through 1964 of those alumnae with New Jersey addresses. One fact led to Oberlln, Ohio where the burial certificate of an 1893 graduate of Evelyn College was found and then back to Scarsdale, New York where the cousin of this graduate was located, but after all that no material or information about Evelyn College was to be found. Another led to the Princeton Water Company where burial records are kept. Obituary notices both in the Princeton Alumni Records Offices and in the Library of the Princeton Theological Seminary helped in locating several people related to Evelyn College students. One of the major sources of information was the Princeton Press. For the ten years that Evelyn College existed, this newspaper carried full and very favorable reports of its activities. Two or three articles found in Harper's Bazar during this period also give full and very sympathetic accounts of Evelyn College. Another source of information was contacts with relatives of the Mcllvaines, relatives of Evelyn students (a brother, a daughter, a niece, a brother-in-law), a few contacts with women who had attended Evelyn for a year or two but had not graduated, and Interviews with Princeton people who had heard about Evelyn College. Papers and letters of Princeton faculty members con­ nected with Evelyn College were perused and a search through 5 twenty-seven boxes of the papers of Princeton Professor Allan Marquand turned up one Evelyn College Catalogue, one photo­ graph of Evelyn College, and one letter from an applicant for a position in the Evelyn College Art Department. The Princeton University Catalogues, which listed all the stu­ dents in attendance, were used to locate brothers and hus­ bands of Evelyn students as well as information concerning the Princeton requirements for entrance and for graduation. In addition to general histories of women's education the catalogues of 1890-91 of the following colleges were studied so as to compare requirements: Radcliffe, Barnard, Bryn Mawr, Mt. Holyoke, Smith, Elmira, Vassar and Wellesley. It appears to be true that the existence of Evelyn College is not mentioned in any of the general histories of Princeton or of Princeton University. However, mention of it is to be found in Annie Meyer Nathan, Barnard Beginnings, the anonymous work The Colonial Club of Princeton, 1691-19^1> and the small volume, Princeton, Past and Present by Varnum Lansing Collins. Thomas Woody's monumental two-volume A History of Women's Education in the United States mentions Evelyn once in a listing of "Division A" Colleges given in the 1890 Report of the U.S. Commissioner of Education. The history which follows is primarily reconstructed from the aforementioned sources. No records of the College itself could be found. At one point it was thought that 6 Dr. Mcllvalne's papers were In the archives of a Newark Presbyterian Church but this proved to be incorrect. The grandnlece of Dr. Mcllvalne felt that if any records were kept by the Mcllvalne daughters they were lost around 1916 when the daughters had to sell most of the things they had had in storage due to the lack of finances.