page_title: H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Tulane university H Sophie Newcomb College for women
context_page_description: H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College, or Newcomb College, was the coordinate women's college of Tulane University located in New Orleans, in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It was founded by Josephine Louise Newcomb in 1886 in memory of her daughter.
  Newcomb was the first women's coordinate college within a United States university. This model was later used in partnerships such as Pembroke College at Brown University and Barnard College at Columbia University.
  In 2006, Newcomb College was closed as part of Tulane's Renewal Plan following the major losses and damage of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Heirs of Mrs. Newcomb sued, challenging Tulane on the issue of donor intent and seeking to preserve Newcomb as a separate coordinate college within the university, but the lawsuit ended in 2011 after appellate court declined to rule on the case.
context_section_description: Josephine Louise Newcomb (born Josephine Louise Le Monnier, 1816–1901) established the college as a memorial to her daughter Sophie, who died in 1870 at the age of 15.  Following an initial donation of $100,000, she made gifts totaling $3 million.  She wanted to support a liberal academic education for young white women.  Newcomb was influenced by Ida Richardson and the college was associated with the Progressive Movement from its earliest years.
  Until its move in 1918 to its Broadway campus, Newcomb College was made up mostly of day students.  Its move to its current site on the uptown campus of Tulane was also the occasion of development of dormitories and more campus life.  Students at Newcomb College became increasingly sophisticated and the school's reputation grew.
  The university had recruited Brandt V.B. Dixon as the first president of Newcomb College.  To ensure girls and young women were academically prepared for college, Dixon established the Newcomb High School, which operated from 1888 to 1920.  The preparatory school ensured that girls were ready to study at the college level, as some parents tried to send girls to Newcomb who were as young as 13 or 14, with little academic preparation.  Dixon worked with faculty and students to continue to raise academic standards.  By 1916, Newcomb had achieved a strong regional reputation and become "one of seven Southern schools which held a standard college designation within the Southern Association of College Women."
caption: 1905–1906
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