Femininity and Higher Education: Women at Ontario Universities, 1890 to 1920

Western University Scholarship@Western Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository 5-5-2016 12:00 AM Femininity and Higher Education: Women at Ontario Universities, 1890 to 1920 Marilla McCargar The University of Western Ontario Supervisor Katherine McKenna The University of Western Ontario Graduate Program in History A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree in Doctor of Philosophy © Marilla McCargar 2016 Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd Part of the Canadian History Commons, History of Gender Commons, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine Commons, Social History Commons, and the Women's History Commons Recommended Citation McCargar, Marilla, "Femininity and Higher Education: Women at Ontario Universities, 1890 to 1920" (2016). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 3765. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/3765 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship@Western. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@Western. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Abstract and Keywords This dissertation examines the experiences of women studying at six institutions of higher education from 1890 to 1920. The universities include Queen’s University in Kingston, The University of Western Ontario in London, the University of Toronto and its affiliates Victoria University, University College, and Trinity College in Toronto. While pioneering women who attended universities in the 1880s were opposed by people who believed that women’s intellects were inferior to men’s, women in this study faced the belief that by engaging in the “masculine” pursuit of higher education they risked their future as wives and mothers and thus jeopardized their femininity. This dissertation challenges the historiographical assertion that female students who attended university after the pioneer women were less engaged academically and faced fewer barriers on campus than their predecessors. In fact, it argues that female students from 1890 to 1920 faced more supervision on campus than their foremothers and universities adapted to increased numbers of female students by hiring Deans of Women, physicians, and nurses to oversee students’ physical and moral health. As the medical literature still maintained that an education could render women infertile, parents, administrators and students carefully guarded women’s health on campus. In order to combat a dangerous education, some schools required students to perform physical activities and to be supervised by doctors and nurses. Women’s inferior status was mapped onto campus and female students faced complex rules about where they were permitted to walk and stand on campus, and how they could interact with male students. In fact, they had greater freedom on city streets than they did on university campus, unless they acted in the traditionally feminine role as the dates of male students. i As a result of the complex rules that dictated how they could socialize with male students on campus, women lived in homosocial worlds. They relied upon their female friends and spent the vast majority of time in female boarding houses and residences. Many women engaged in romantic female friendships typical of the nineteenth century and in “lesbian-like” ways including fake marriages between friends, sleeping in each other’s beds, and dancing together. Romantic friendships were encouraged by university administrators who closely supervised interactions between men and women. Heterosexual relationships were difficult for female students to navigate, as women required a male escort to participate in most campus social events. While men were eager to form romantic relationships with their female peers, men and women struggled to create companionate relationships as women engaged in traditionally masculine higher education and careers. Despite the opposition and supervision women faced on campus, the majority of students relished their time at university. They were able to step out of the feminine roles of performing domestic labour and were permitted to put their own desires and ambition before the needs of family. In order to justify their presence at university before a presumed retreat into the private sphere as wives and mothers, proponents of women’s higher education argued that it was beneficial for Canadian society at large to create “well-rounded girls” who would be wonderful mothers. Yet, given greater employment options than uneducated women, more than half of the graduates did not marry and return to the private sphere. Many graduates volunteered with alumnae associations for the rest of their lives to retain their connection to universities and ensure young women continued to have the opportunities they relished. ii Keywords: higher education, women, gendered space, medical history, Ontario, social conditions of women, homosociality, dating, First World War iii Table of Contents Abstract and Keywords……………………………………………………………………ii Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………….v Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………….vi 1. “College Women”: An Introduction……………………………………………………1 2. Historiography………………………………………………………………...............22 3. “To give them health and vigour of mind and body to fit them for their work in life”: Women’s Health on Campus…………………………………………………………….55 4. “Mercy I never felt so conspicuous in my life”: Women on Campus…………….…..95 5. “Full of Girls All Day Long”: The Homosocial World……………………………..136 6. Crushes, Comrades, and Companionate Partners: Male Peers……………………....178 7. “The object of a ‘liberal’ education of either sex is the improvement of the individual’: The Purpose of Higher Education………………………………………………………221 8. “The Happiest of My Days”: Conclusion……………………………………………265 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………273 Curriculum Vitae……………………………………………………………………….295 iv Acknowledgements I first became interested in the topic of women and higher education when I stumbled across a packet of letters that Jessie Reid Rowat sent her family in 1905 as she studied for her master’s degree at the University of Chicago. I read them as I studied for my master’s degree and was struck by the similarities in our experiences. Sensing my interest, my supervisor, Dr. Katherine McKenna, encouraged me to pursue this topic. Katherine has provided me with countless examples of feminist support and kindness at The University of Western Ontario. I am grateful for her guidance in how to be a feminist role model and advocate. I benefitted from the generous support from many professors while writing this dissertation, including Dr. Alan MacEachern, Dr. Nancy Christie, Dr. Michael Gauvreau, Dr. Jonathan Vance, Dr. Monda Halpern, Dr. Neil Campbell, Dr. Michelle Hamilton, Dr. Shelley McKellar, and Dr. Eli Nathans. My committee members Dr. Monda Halpern, Dr. Shelley McKellar, Dr. Lorna McLean, and Dr. Pam McKenzie provided useful critiques and suggestions to improve my work. I am indebted to Dr. Kim Richard Nossal, Dr. Stuart Henderson, Dr. Donald Akenson, Dr. Abigail Bakan, and Dr. Richard G. Bailey at Queen’s University. Dr. Nossal pushed me to improve my writing and encouraged my intellectual enthusiasm. Dr. Bakan helped me identify the feminist ideology I always held yet could not properly name. Dr. Bailey’s first year seminars were so intellectually engaging that I changed my undergraduate major to history. I am similarly thankful for earlier teachers who supported and encouraged me. Mr. Pavey from Waterloo Collegiate Institute helped me craft a skeptical view of the world and love of academic competition. Ms. Bodell supported my interest in women’s v narratives. My grade six teacher at Mary Johnson Public School, Madame MacPhie, was the first teacher to believe I was an above average student and her support gave me the confidence to leave Waterloo and joyfully tackle academic challenges. Like many of the women I studied for this dissertation, I relied upon the support of my friends to complete my dissertation. Vanessa Ho stuck with me through flared jeans, braces, and countless awkward experiences. Laura Michael offered me the comfort of family and indulged me with yoga naps and sunscreen applications. David Valentin championed my work and took me to Taylor Swift concerts. Oliver Charbonneau provided endless sympathy and irreverent jokes. In 2007, Tim Compeau and I vowed to acknowledge each other in our dissertations. I had no idea how grateful I would be for his support, which included dog-sitting, inelegant arguments over wine, and excellent critiques of my writing. There are two special individuals without whom I could not have completed this dissertation. I am lucky to have Danielle Olivier and Samuel Yorke in my life. Danielle has been my partner in crime for ten years, and I am happy we share love for precocious Chihuahuas, Veronica Mars, and sharing mundane details of our lives so that we remain close emotionally despite geographical distance. Danielle’s early feminist activism spurred my own feminist conscience, and I cannot wait to see her influence grow as she raises feminist children and progresses in her career. Samuel and Lisette Yorke hosted me during research trips and conferences. Samuel and I engaged in aggressive discussions in grimy pubs in Kensington Market, luxurious after-hours clubs in Pigalle, on chairlifts in Mont Tremblant, and seafood restaurants in Chéticamp. I am fortunate to have

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