The Washington herald., 1908-06-28
COLLEGES FOR WOMEN
Both Country and Urban Institutions Send Forth
to the World Many Educated Girls.

Providence. June 27.-Urban colleges for
women became "a necessity Of city life
a few years ago. Usually they started
as "annexes' of the larger universities
which have grown up i'm the Industrial
centers and gave young women living in
the immediate vicinity chance 20 get
the benefit Of instruction offered by world
famous teachers. The gradual transfor-
mation Of these colleges into national in
stitutions has proved the wisdom of locat-
ing them near the Libraries and labora-
tories Of leading universities and among
the activities of busy commercial COM
munitics
There are in general. without reference
TO the co-educational institutions, two
types Of colleges for women The older
ones We're usually placed at some dis
tance from a large city, for when college
education" for women was first inaugu-
rated a generation ago the training was
conceived primarily to be for the benefit
Of daughters of well-to-do families. At
tractiveness Of location was made first
consideration in creating the college
home. so that for obvious reasons the
colleges were founded in rural or semi
rural communities.
Primarily City Colleges.
A little later The need Of furnishing
facilities for the higher education Of
young women who for one reason or an
other could not leave home led to the
foundation Of such institutions as Bar
nard College, connected with Columbia
University; Radcliffe. now under the pro-
tectorate Of Harvard. and the Women's
College Of Brown University In Provi-
dence. These are primarily city colleges.
Ihey all began with meager equipment
Of their own although rich in the oppor-
tuniues afforded by the apparatus of
scholarship that heretofore was accessible
only 10 men students. Although situated
in cities where land is valuable they
have. while growing in numbers and in
huence, developed an attraCtiveness Of
their own, the result OF beautiful libra
rles, gymnasiums and dOrmit0ries well
arranged campuses, and facilities for So
cial life.
Each type OF women's college has its
advantages. With the older institutions.
with thei- social festivities. their float
days, and mountain climbing parties. the
public has become very familiar through
pictures and descriptions. 1t is probably
not generally appreciated, however TO
what an extent the urban schools for
the higher education OF girls have been
developed and made an essential part Of
city life
The women's college in a village or IN
the open country is necessarily somewhat
apart from the great world. There is an
idea in II Of Arcadian simplicity and
academic seclusion. The young women
lodged Ia dOrmit0ries which look out over
a pleasant prospect OF woods and hills
go through a period Of study and fun
making IN which their life is il little diff
ferent from that in most American fam
nies
Preparation for Everyday Life.
Poetry, art pure science. and the other
subjects or the course they study. often
times perhaps with a feeling that they
have reached a plane Of activities some
what above the sord!d pursuits at home
where father comes in tired and cross
from wrangling with labor union leader
4s to who shall dominate his factory.
and where mother regularly gets nervous
prostration during spring house cleaning.
a NyAlSe dt many OF Ine WOmeu'G col
leges in the country means a season of
preparation for the tasks Of everyday life
through Indulgence IN the dreams and ro-
mantle aspirations which 20 a consider
able extent are the natural right Of youth
The city college for women. IN prac-
tically every instance. came into exist
ence because Of the conviction that the
accumulated treasures OF q great Eastern
university ought not 10 be permanently
inaccessible to women. and that a stan
OF renowned teachers ought not 10 live
and die without delivering some message
TO the wOmanhOod around them For
many reasons many girls cannot desert
their home duties during the period of
college education. These girls. If they
20 70 college at all. must be able 10
live at home. To make a place for their
training was. therefore. the prime idea
IN creating the colleges now affiliated
with several of the Eastern universities
As Miss Ida Shaw King. dean of the
Women's College az Brown. wrote In
recent magazine article: "TOO great en-
phasis cannot I think. be laid upon this
function. probably the prime function. Of