El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-08-29
THERE are at least 400 colleges in

l per-
cent of all the mems colleges in Amer
lea are to some extent coeducationaI
In addition TO these coeducationaI adj
vantages, must be considered the very
large number of colleges exclusively
| Tor women Among these are the four
] great colleges for women" Vassar,
Smith, Wellesley and Bryn Mawr,
| which are included among the So
leading colleges of America. They are
listed among the colleges admitted to
the Association of Collegiate Alumni,
and two of them, Bryn Mawr and
| Wellesley, belong to the Federation of
| Graduate clubs. Three of them, Smith,
1 Wellesley and Vassar, rank among the
20 largest undergraduate colleges,
while Vassar and Bryn Mawr are in
cluded in the % colleges of the United
States possessing funds of s1,0000OO
and upward.
The American Idea.
In addition to these four great col
leges there is a long list of smaller
ones In which young women may study
and take degrees with quite the same
facilities afforded their brothers. The
Independent woman's college Of the
same grade as those for men is an in
stitution peculiar to the United States
Vassar college. founded by Matthew
Vassar in 1855 as an institution which
would accomplish for young women
what colleges do for young men, is the
first Of the woman's colleges which
sprang up so rapidly during the last
half century. Now the woman's col
lege is recognized as an important
feature of education and it's develop
ment is quite as closely connected with
the progress of the nation as is the
mans college. While the tendency to-
ward coeducation is strong. especially
in the middle west, the woman's college
is still gaining In popularity and has
an increased enrolment. which last
year reached 5000. requiring the ser
vices of s43 instructors.
Women Provided Fer.
There is no country in the world
where so generous provision has been
made for the education Of women as in
the United States. despite, or perhaps |
because of. the comparative youth of |
the nation While schools for boys |
occupy first attention, as they have |
done In Europe for centuries, even in /
colonial times education for girls was |
not entirely overlooked. In Water |
town, Conn, in 1859, when Richard |
Norcross was engaged by the town |
council to conduct a school to teach |
the children ito reade & write and SOW |
much Of Latin as may be desired by |
the court" the contract contained the
additional proviso, "Alsoe If at any
time sed towne have any maiden vt |
have a desire to learne it the sed Rich
ard Norcross shall attend them for the
learning Of them"
While there is record OF Only three /
girls. who. at that period. awaited /
themselves of the educational priv
Heges for which the township paid the
sum OF 80 pounds sterling per year, it
was at least the beginning of women's
education in America. The other colo |
NAL towns did not follow the example
set by WATERFOWL to any material ex-
tent, 1t being believed that girls were
best educated In their home or in the |
early dame school, where the Three Rs
were inculcated with more or less ac-
curacy. Nearly q century afterward a
little girl In Hatfield, Massachusetts,, !
who went daily and sat on the steps of
the boys school to listen to their
teachers In order that she. too. might
learn, would have eagerly seized the
opportunity for higher learning given
to her own sex. The granddaughter
Of that little girl lived to found Mt
Holyoke seminary, now a college.
where girls receive a higher education
at rates SO low as to make 1t practi-
cally a free school
Coeducation I'm Free Schools.
In providing for the education of
girls in the public schools, coedocation
was generally adopted through the
entire country very early in its history !
With the exception of Philadelphia
and some of the eastern seaport towns,
where the fact that schools already ex-
sted for boys led TO the erection of sep
! a f. hrriJ limo 70, ;rl- |
have been educated almost entirely In +,
The same class room. That the results
nave been excellent. no one disputes,
lately a movement against |
soeducation has developed, especially |
n the secondary schools
Some of the schools are trying the |
experiment of segregating the sexes, !
using the same study halls,
md the results have proved so satisfac-
.ory that 1T is likely that this will be- !
come general during the next few
years. The English high school of
Chicago experimental first in this di- :
ection. beginning with its entire
lass in February. The program was
o arranged that, while boys and girls
net in the same division room and
tudied in the same study rooms they
ecited IN separate classes. These :
classes were so distribNed that each
eacher taught class of each sex
This prevented the criticism that one
ex was given the advantage of a bet
er teacher. At the end of six months. ,
referendum was taken of the parents .
n the two following questions do .
on feel that your child was benefited | ]
y the segregated class?" Would you :
dvise that the plan be extended?"
he answers of 95 percent of the par J
nts were in the affirmative, and the | 5
pinfon Of the teachers IN charge was | :
UGH that the work is now being ex- :
ended to the second years class. s
Separation of the Sexes. a
The Cleveland Technical high school O
) organized on different plan. The il
oys and girls are In separate classes i d
nth separate study halls. This ar b
angement Is not altogether for sex
easons. but because of the widely diff a
erent classes of work. The shop work v
the boys and the domestic work for r
ne girls differ widely. Even those Il
objects which they study In common
re differently applied.
The trend of popular opinion now
Gems TO be adverse TO coeducation in
IL