Woman's enterprise., 1922-03-10
m EDUCATION OF
WOMEN OF TODAY
pArTLNE WRIGHT NICHOLS.
n..a before the Social Science Cluo.

Present day education must pre-
..,o for living completely 10th cen
tury life. President Jordan of LIE
,.nd,Stanford University, in an ad
,,sss to his students near the begin
-. Of the century said, compared
,ah centuries that are past, the 2Otf
..ntury, in its broad outlines will bt
ne the rest. 1t will be selfish, gen
.,ors. careless, devoted, fatuous, ef
k;ent. But three Of its traits mus
.,nd out above all others-eacf
,sed to higher degree than any
4ber century has known. The 10th
,,ntury, above all others, will be
trenuous, complex, democratic"
The Characterization applies to wo'
nm as we'll as to men. Before pass
!, to the discussion of how present
~ women are being trained to meet
Al, most strenuous, complex and
smocratic age let US recall the stages
! which the education Of the Ameri-
y woman has reached its present
BY fullness.
Even after the first American col
tees for men had been started, Mrs.
lam Adams wrote, Female educa-
ian in the best families goes no
hther than writing and arithmetic;
nd in some few rare instances to mu-
e and dancing. In the first half
4 the 18th century fewer than 40%
Y the women of New England who
isned legal papers wrote their
rmes: the others made their marks.
Girls were not admitted to public
Aools until 1869. It was in the op-
ang Of 1852 that public high school
,sestion Of any kind became avail
kk to Boston girls. The opening Of
Il Girls Latin School in 1878 gave
I'm their first opportunity to be
tssd for college. In Philadelphia no
9b could be prepared for college in
blt schools before 1898. Women
s1e slow to protect against these
unditions. Discomfort was aroused
|ah IN individual cases. It became
sprent to those who desired to Of
b college education to women gen.
nlb that there was little hope of
operation with mems colleges then
existence. The movement toward
anding Independent women's COL
81 was the result.
1our methods have been followed
procuring college education for
usn.
/ The establishment of colleges
dhsively for women.
! The opening Of new institutions
u equal rights to both sexes.
/ Admission of women to existing
eses for men on equal or unequal
n..
1 Establishment of women's an
- to the larger universities for
uader the first method, followed
y IN the East, may be mentioned
holyoke, Vassar, Smith, Wellesly,
y Aawr, and the Woman's College
Baltimore. Under the End and
followed largely in the Western
southern states, has sprung up
0tended system of coeducation in
s'sities controlled and directed by
nate. All universities started in
vet since 1871 have been coedu-
a. Coeducation in the Eastern
Ah strictly limited. A few COL
notably Cornell and Pennsyl-
nave granted admission to the !
Some Independent institu-
.qch as Swarthmore, Oberlin,
sueknell, were coeducationial |
= start; but in general, East
unent is opposed to coeduca-
9 the fourth method, that of
se colleges affiliated with
asns universities and ehjoy-
sdvantages of their faculty
apment, we shall cite Barnard
= to Columbia, Radcliffe the
9 Harvard, and Newcomb the
= Tulane.
Mat of the content of this
= which has become 50 abund-
aniAble for girls in this siren.
s..plez, and democratic cen.
ssly It calls for well.eouip-
- beings.
. u, because of the strenu.
9 tie times, women must be
.esaire and to preserve per-
Herbert spncer spoke
: the "flat-chested girl who