The Washington herald., 1907-06-21
The Education of Women
By FREDERIC j. HASKIN.
By FREDERIC j. HASKTN.

The early education Of women IN the
New England States seems to have been
accidental Provision was early made
for the instruction of boys, and compui-
sorry attendance was required in many
sections. In sparsely populated districts
there were often not enough boys TO keep
the teacher busy. so certain hours were
set apart for the girls, and they were
allowed some instruction. This made
many country girls as well educated as
their brothers. while most city girls were
far behind the boys. whose instruction
had become a cherished municipal duty.
Martin Luther. 800 years ahead OF his
time in things educational. had urged the
instruction Of girls as well as bows.
arguing that they needed it for home
life as well as men needed it for the
heavier duties Of the business and pro-
fessional world. 1t is strange that early
Protestant settlers failed to understand
this principle of progress.
Private schools were the only hope Of
girls for a long time. one exception was
Newburyport, which. as early as 1850
proposed TO have schools for girls Of from
five TO nine years. the instruction TO be
in the hands of danes who would
'1earn them good manners and proper
deCency of behavior" as well as reading,
writing. and ciphering The common
schools of Massachusetts undertook t0
prepare boys for Harvard almost as soon
as Harvard was ready for them. Yet
girls were not admitted to the Boston city
schools until 1852 and it was not until
1873 that they could be fitted for college
there. Until 1872 Salem provided for her
girls education by allowing them TO at
tend the boys schools an hour at noon
and an hour in the afternoon, a make
shift education, consisting Of a few rudi-
ments. New England seemed 70 have
adopted the idea Of the famous Richard
Mulcaster of the sixteenth century. who.
while he acknowledged the need Of learn
ing for pTinCesses and ladies Of high de-
gree. declared that the bringing up Of
young maidens IN any kind OF learning
is but an accessory by the way
Woman has had many ups and downs
in the world, according TO writers of his
tory, but the general effect has been a
marked evolution First she was the
property Of her tribe, then Of the indi-
vidusl then the object Of medieval pro-
lection and chivalric alteration, then the
more sensible and prosaic housewife Of
the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
When the nineteenth century came she
set about establishing bigger place for
herself in the worlds affairs. not so much
for her own personal aggrandizement as
for the helpfulness she would bring. To
achieve this she asked for an education
that would he equal in every respect to
that of the men of her family. A few
OF the men were quite willing for her 70
have il. The majority believed that as
her chief and best place in the world is
that OF wife and mother. that she would
sadly hamper her abilities If she became
OvsrlcarneI and wise in books. They
made physical and psychological Compari-
sons and triumphantly proved that wOm-
ans brain weighs five ounces less than
mans and this seemed evidence enough
against her TO keep her from asking for
too much education. She was offered the
domestic arts a little music. art and
necdlewOTk, and advised 10 be content.
The american woman, however. would
not down. She studied with her brothers
when the opportunity came, and showed
that she could keep up with them. When
the State or township failed 10 provide
for her as it had fos her brothers. her
friends came TO her aid and established
private schools. In 1870 the M0ravians, of
Pennsylvania. had q seminary at Bethle-
hem, % which girls came from many
OF the other colonies Dr. Rush early an
tiClpareI her needs by opening a school
IN Philadelphia. and one was opened in
Lexington. Ky. about the same time In
Isl q coed one was in successful opera /
ti0n az Kents Hi. Ne. in 1894 one at
Granville. Ohio. and IN 1896 Mary Lyon /
founded the famous Mount HolyCke Semi .
nary. now a college, ar South Hadley /
Mass IN 1885 Emma Hart Willard, hav- I
ing given up her school in Vermont I
founded q school for girls at Troy, y. Y. /
Other private schools. especially In the /
South. began to appear in the carly nine |
teen-l century. TAiTty-twO out of thirty /
nine colleges, founded between 1S59 and /
1853, were in the South.
Georgia claims 20 have the first college /
for women not only in the United States,
but in the world This is the Wesleyan /
Female College of Macon. Ga. incOrp0rat- !
ed by the State legislature in 1881 under 1
the name Georgia Female College" " /
Mrs. c. Z. Benson Brewer. a resident Of |
Macon and a member of the class Of 4
1880. has the distinction OF being the first
woman college graduate IN the world
In 1Se5 Matthew Eassar founded Vassar
College at Pougnkcepsie. y. Y. lie said.
in explanation-f0r even as late as that
any movement for the higher education
OF women had TO be explained-"It oc-
CURED to me that woraan, having re-
ceived from her Creator the same intel
.ectu1I constitution as man, has the same
right as man 70 intellectual culture and
This college has sent out
about $500 graduates. Wellesley Col
ege, at Wellesley, Mass, was founded by
Henry +. Dur1nt. I'm 1915: Smith at
Northampton Mass 10y Sophia Smith in
the same year, and Bryn Nawr, at Bryn
Mawr. Pa, hy Joseph ". Taylor.
Quaker In 1&5-au for the same high
purpose that Matthew Vassar had decIar-
I'd. These are known as the leading col
eges for women. Others Of worth and
Importance are scattered throughout the
ength and breadth Of the land. empha-
sizing the Importance and the wisdom O!
-h Ai-l-E ffNltAta-- l'illAE lftt liNdt IllElL-
Pr and more useful living In these and
he coeducati0nal colleges women make
lp 90 per cent Of the college population OF
Le country
Coeducation crept early into American
social conditions. II has always obtained
n the West. nearly always in the South.
lut rarely I'm the East The civil war.
obbing North ana South OF many Of the
pest men, threw women into the educo-
ional field, where the men had before
jeen In control. This profession has re-
NAMED chiefly In the hands Of the women
.ver since. To perfect themselves in
eeching, the women entered the normal
Ch00ls Of the West and South. As these
we're often connected with State uuiver-
titles, It was inevitable that they pass
uto graduate or special work. and when
he permission was asked il was inva-
iably given As early as 1850 certain
]