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 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED
 
 <J. L. Elliott, Pinx. 1861 
 
 MATTHEW VASSAR
 
 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 A CONTRIBUTION TO 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE HIGHER 
 
 EDUCATION OF WOMEN 
 
 IN AMERICA 
 
 BY 
 
 JAMES MONROE TAYLOR 
 
 BOSTON AND NEW YORK 
 HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 
 
 tiC&e fiiticrsi&r press Cambdbge 
 1914
 
 T3 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1914, BY JAMES MONROE TAYLOR 
 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 
 
 Published May IQIJ
 
 NOTE 
 
 THE first two chapters of this book were origi- 
 nally published in the Educational Review for 
 October and November, 1912, under the title 
 of "College Education for Girls in America 
 before Vassar opened."
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 I. AT THE SOUTH 1 
 
 II. AT THE NORTH 34 
 
 III. THE INCEPTION OF MATTHEW VASSAR'S PLAN 82 
 
 IV. THE ADMINISTRATION OP PRESIDENT JEWETT 129 
 V. THE RECEPTION OF MATTHEW VASSAR'S PLAN 202 
 
 VI. THE YEAR BEFORE THE COLLEGE OPENED . 241
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 MATTHEW VASSAR Frontispiece 
 
 From the portrait painted in 1861 by C. L. Elliott. 
 
 MILO P. JEWETT, LL.D 90 
 
 President of Vassar College, 1861-1864. 
 From a photograph. 
 
 JOHN H. RAYMOND, D.D., LL.D 242 
 
 President of Vassar College, 1864-1878. 
 From a photograph. 
 
 VASSAR COLLEGE: OBSERVATORY, MAIN BUILDING, 
 MUSEUM 270 
 
 From a print in an early catalogue of the college. 
 
 VASSAR COLLEGE FROM SUNSET HILL . . . 280 
 
 Main Building and Museum, also used as the Riding 
 
 School. 
 From a photograph.
 
 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 THE movement for the higher education of wo- 
 men was so slow in enlisting the interest of the 
 country that it is perhaps not surprising that 
 no full history of it exists. For it was not only 
 slow, but obscure, and came to large recogni- 
 tion only after the war, when a great gift con- 
 stituted a college that could attract the atten- 
 tion of a people absorbed in other and more 
 pressing interests. Since that time our interest 
 has been focused on progress and results, 
 rather than on origins, and history has been 
 subordinated to prophecy. The details of the 
 earlier record, moreover, must be sought in a 
 scattered literature of small interest to any but 
 special students, in catalogues, in government 
 reports, in old newspapers, and in occasional 
 histories of individual institutions and in bio- 
 graphies of leaders of more or less distinction.
 
 2 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 But we cannot continue content with the pres- 
 ent or with our hopes, and must ask what 
 early steps preceded what has seemed to most 
 the sudden bursting of a new idea in the his- 
 tory of man. That Vassar's opening marked 
 an epoch there can be no question, and the so- 
 cial and economic conditions that followed the 
 Civil War responded immediately to the new 
 opportunity; but the results could not have 
 been so immediate and so encouraging had it 
 not been for the efforts of many pioneers in the 
 North and in the South. 
 
 The enthusiasm of these early leaders makes 
 difficult often a just conclusion as to the de- 
 gree of advance in these pioneer colleges. Often 
 records have been destroyed, especially in case 
 of some Southern institutions, and we are con- 
 fronted with memories of that old and golden 
 time of the early fifties or forties, or we have 
 a few old catalogues which are suggestive of 
 ideals rather than of actual performance, and 
 whose gorgeous rhetoric leads one to pause at 
 their claims. Even where the general evidence 
 seems good for the enforcement of a worthy 
 curriculum, we often find ourselves raising the
 
 AT THE SOUTH 3 
 
 question as to the possibility of giving, under 
 the well-known general conditions of the life of 
 the time, in the South or in the West, an edu- 
 cation that could fairly rank with that of the 
 strong colleges of the East. When, for exam- 
 ple, a small Western college publishes a curric- 
 ulum in the early sixties equal to that of Har- 
 vard in 1870, what shall we think, even when 
 we have the favorable witness of an occasional 
 man trained in Yale or Harvard? Certainly 
 these questions are not to be settled a priori, 
 or by prejudice. With an open mind one must 
 study faculty lists, equipment, libraries, and 
 we must compare them, not with our present 
 standards, but with those known to us as ex- 
 istent in the best colleges of that early period. 
 We must also remember, always, how much 
 determination, absorption in a great purpose, 
 consecration to highest service, may weigh, in 
 crudest conditions, against vastly better op- 
 portunities of youth of less purpose and of 
 larger temptations to the squandering of time 
 and work. But in the case of "females," or 
 "ladies," in these early catalogues, we must 
 also ask as to the courses opened to them, and
 
 4 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 the Ladies' Course, and the Teachers' Course, 
 and the English Course we may be sure cover 
 a multitude of concessions to lower standards, 
 less preparation, and smaller results, than 
 existed in the colleges for men. In dealing with 
 college education for women, in the time pre- 
 ceding 1865, we are not seeking a history of 
 names, but a record of education that compares 
 favorably with that offered to young men in our 
 better American colleges. Did such courses 
 exist? Or, what efforts were made to offer and 
 maintain them? 
 
 We are treating of college education, but 
 something should be said at the outset regard- 
 ing the efforts of several really great leaders 
 who established successful seminaries, but 
 whose vision and purpose were far beyond 
 those of their contemporaries. Nothing can 
 be properly written of the early work in 
 America for the education of girls that does 
 not express a tribute of praise to such women 
 as Emma Willard, Catharine Beecher, and 
 Mary Lyon. These women were contempora- 
 ries, though Mary Lyon's Seminary at Hoi- 
 yoke (1837) dates from a later period than
 
 AT THE SOUTH 5 
 
 Catharine Beecher's first school at Hartford 
 (1822), or the Troy Seminary of Mrs. Willard 
 (1821) . But although a great work was accom- 
 plished by each of the three, the first place in 
 the movement must be accorded to Emma 
 Willard. Nothing in those early days com- 
 pares in influence for women with the noble 
 appeal which she issued from Middlebury, in 
 1819, to the general public, and especially 
 to the legislature of the State of New York. 
 Nothing in the history of education exceeds in 
 pathos, or in scientific spirit, the tests which 
 this young woman, wife of a college professor, 
 made of her own "female brain," before 
 attacking the large problem before her. Her 
 famous "plan" contemplated no rash reforms, 
 but based itself on an appeal for women, as 
 such, indicating the demands for reform as 
 shown by the defects of present education, her 
 own project for a female seminary, and the 
 resultant benefits to society. It is an enlight- 
 ened, skillful document, aiming in the spirit of 
 a true statesmanship at the best possible in 
 existent conditions, pleading for a consistent 
 and continuous course of education, and em-
 
 6 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 phasizing ably the physical and intellectual, 
 moral and spiritual conditions essential to it. 
 It would not satisfy the ideals of our time, nor 
 was it meant to, but it was one of the chief 
 influences that led to the better day. It was 
 far beyond anything then proposed or known. 
 Advocated by Adams, Jefferson, and other dis- 
 tinguished leaders, a bill passed the New York 
 Senate granting to Mrs. Willard's Seminary 
 at Waterford $2000, but this failed in the As- 
 sembly. Troy raised by tax $4000, and more 
 by subscription, and Mrs. Willard opened 
 there in 1821 the Seminary which has been 
 successfully maintained ever since, and has 
 now a larger promise than ever before through 
 the munificence of its former pupil and teacher, 
 Mrs. Russell Sage. 
 
 Catharine Beecher's work in Hartford, most 
 enlightened and progressive, was transferred 
 to Cincinnati in 1832. After two years, failing 
 health compelled her to abandon it, but for 
 many years she continued to influence public 
 opinion through a National Board formed 
 there by her. 1 
 
 1 Cf. Boone, R. G., Education in the United States, p. 365.
 
 AT THE SOUTH 7 
 
 Mary Lyon, a noble character and the crea- 
 tor of a noble work, has been more fortunate 
 in having her name associated with a strong 
 college which grew out of her seminary about 
 twenty years ago. She saw distinctly the 
 need to make a school financially independent 
 and independent of its principal. She there- 
 fore sought a responsible Board, and she 
 planned with it the same patient, systematic, 
 solid course of study which she had already 
 known in her experience at Ipswich. Her 
 famous and long continued connection of 
 household work with study was a plan formed 
 solely in the interests of economy, though 
 later she came to rejoice in the thing itself. 1 
 In 1837, after incredible effort and sacrifice, 
 the seminary was opened. It established a 
 three-year course, and its first entrance re- 
 quirements were English grammar, modern 
 geography, United States history, Watts on 
 the Mind, and arithmetic. 2 Mary Lyon fore- 
 saw a college, but she knew she had not estab- 
 lished one. 3 No degrees were given, but the 
 
 1 Gilchrist, B. B., The Life of Mary Lyon, pp. 207-08. 
 
 2 Ibid., p. 265. ' Ibid., p. 296.
 
 8 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 curriculum of the school in 1837-38 l was cer- 
 tainly as advanced as some of the so-called 
 "colleges" for girls in the South, though there 
 is here an entire absence of mention of ancient 
 or modern languages. How far this is from 
 the standards of Oberlin, for example, which 
 began about the same date, we shall shortly 
 see. It was an immense advance in "female 
 education," but it was not college education. 
 Ten years later we find a requirement in Latin 
 for entrance, and it is carried on through two 
 of the three years of the course. 2 Mathematics 
 was carried through Euclid, and there was the 
 usual elementary history, science, and rhetoric, 
 with a fair amount of logic, philosophy, and 
 evidences and the "Paradise Lost." French 
 is also mentioned. 
 
 This may be taken as expressive of the high- 
 est course then feasible in our seminaries for 
 girls. How far this sober and solid list of stud- 
 ies is from a well-organized college curriculum 
 scarcely needs indication. This was the best, 
 however, approximated or equaled, perhaps, 
 in such institutions as Kent Hill, Maine; 
 
 1 Gilchrist, Mary Lyon, App. C. * Ibid., App. C.
 
 AT THE SOUTH 9 
 
 Granville, Ohio; Norton and Ipswich, Massa- 
 chusetts; and Londonderry, New Hampshire. 1 
 
 Turning now to the colleges of the earlier 
 era, we are confronted at once by the neces- 
 sity of discriminating between the nominal 
 and actual college, between the institutions 
 that really aimed to do college work and those 
 which laid great emphasis on the name of col- 
 lege and on the degree made possible by a 
 charter, but had small regard for standards. 
 Our progress may also perhaps be made clearer 
 and more interesting if from the outset we sep- 
 arate the Northern and Southern colleges of 
 that era, which were not only often differen- 
 tiated markedly by their aims and their cur- 
 ricula, but present very diverse problems, as 
 at the South the education of young women 
 was all but universally separated from that of 
 young men, while at the North, college educa- 
 tion for girls, from economic and social reasons, 
 was mostly coeducational. 
 
 When the State of Alabama was organizing 
 its university in 1820, it planned for the edu- 
 
 1 Cf. Boone, p. 366; cf. also, admission requirements at 
 Michigan in 1841, Broome, E. C., College Admission Require- 
 ments, p. 44.
 
 10 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 cation of women, and further legislation was 
 enacted in 1822 aiming to carry out the earlier 
 provision. But though there seems to have 
 been great interest in the matter, nothing was 
 accomplished. 1 In 1830, the State Assembly 
 petitioned Congress to grant land in each 
 county for the establishment of an academy 
 for female education, but Congress took no 
 action and though there were numbers of 
 seminaries with power to grant diplomas and 
 honors, there is no trace of a collegiate educa- 
 tion at that time. 
 
 Here is the chief difficulty in our search: 
 "colleges" abound, and even, in an occasional 
 instance, the term "university" is applied to 
 an institution of seminary grade. That has 
 not yet ceased to be true, and we find a "col- 
 lege," in recent years, advertising that it will 
 aim to bring up its standards to those of the 
 Committee of Ten that is, to college admis- 
 sion rank. The reader of Mrs. Blandin's "His- 
 tory of the Higher Education of Women in the 
 South prior to 1860 " is impressed by the diffi- 
 
 1 Blandin, Mrs. J. M. E., History of Higher Education of 
 Women in the South prior to 1860, pp. 61, 68.
 
 AT THE SOUTH 11 
 
 culty of learning just what many of these 
 ambitious institutions taught, though many, 
 even private, schools, had the power to bestow 
 diplomas and degrees. The great interest in 
 many portions of the South, of even that early 
 day, in the education of girls is notable, but 
 the details seldom suggest standards compar- 
 able with such colleges as Oberlin and Hills- 
 dale which admitted women at an early date. 
 In Alabama, for example, besides the earlier 
 interest suggested already, we find the Union 
 Female College (Eufaula) granting degrees 
 about 1860, and the Judson Female Institute, 
 regarded as one of the strong schools of the 
 State, from which Milo P. Jewett, afterward 
 Vassar's first president, came to Poughkeepsie 
 to take charge of a young ladies' seminary. In 
 none of these Alabama institutions, however, 
 do we find traces of a well-defined college 
 curriculum. 
 
 Only one earlier effort than the Alabama 
 plan has come under our notice. Blount Col- 
 lege, in Tennessee, afterward merged in the 
 University, 1 which was established in 1794, 
 1 Merriam, L. S., Higher Education in Tennessee, Bu-
 
 12 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 and paid its president fifty dollars per month 
 as a salary, was coeducational for a while, a 
 very rare thing in the South before the war. 1 I 
 have been unable to discover a statement of the 
 curriculum, thus far, or any indication of the 
 extent to which young women availed them- 
 selves of the privilege offered them. 
 
 One of the most interesting indications of 
 early interest is found in the establishment of 
 Elizabeth Academy, Old Washington, Missis- 
 sippi, in 1817, though it hardly sustains Mrs. 
 Blandin's claim that this was the first State 
 to provide college training for women. The 
 academy was chartered as a college in 1819, 
 and she states it had a college course of study. 2 
 No details of the course are at hand save 
 in the reports of Mrs. Thayer, "Governess." 3 
 This woman, apparently of great force and 
 influence, was a New Yorker, but she certainly 
 did not maintain a true college. The senior 
 class studied, in Latin, ^Esop's Fables, Sacra 
 Historia, Viri Romse, Caesar; in science, 
 
 reau of Education, Circulars of Information, no. 5, 1893, 
 p. 63. 
 
 1 Merriam, p. C3. * Blandin, p. 43. * Ibid., pp. 48 seq.
 
 AT THE SOUTH 13 
 
 chemistry and natural philosophy; read my- 
 thology and history, and were taught moral and 
 intellectual philosophy. This is a fair speci- 
 men of the curricula of the better schools, as 
 we find traces of them from time to time. The 
 completion of the course entitled the graduate 
 to a diploma of parchment for the degree of 
 Domina Scientiarum. l 
 
 Mrs. Thayer appears again in Mississippi 
 College, founded in 1830. Mayes says that 
 two young women received degrees in 1832, 2 
 and Mrs. Blandin quotes the same statement 
 from a contemporary newspaper, 3 but nothing 
 is said as to the nature of the degree, and Mrs. 
 Thayer's presence is suggestive of a curricu- 
 lum similar to that of the school she had just 
 left. The present President writes that the 
 records do not date back of 1836, but that the 
 institution was coeducational. It was closed 
 to girls in 1850. The stage of education reached 
 is probably suggested by the gorgeously 
 rhetorical tributes published by men of the 
 
 1 Blandin, p. 48; cf. also Mayes, History of Education in 
 Mississippi, Bureau of Education, Circulars of Information, 
 no. 2, 1899, for full account of the school from 1818 to 1843. 
 
 Mayes, p. 83. 8 Blandin. p. 187.
 
 14 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 neighborhood in connection with the work of 
 Elizabeth Academy, one of whom states that 
 there is probably no subject dearer to the 
 patriot and the Christian philanthropist than 
 that of female education. 1 This pardonable 
 exaggeration reveals at least a keen interest 
 in the subject at a very early date in our his- 
 tory. 
 
 Till we come to the two colleges of Georgia 
 and Tennessee which call for more detailed 
 notice, we find nothing better than this educa- 
 tion suggested in Mississippi. Florida grants 
 collegiate powers to the seminary at the capital 
 in 1861, and a high school to prepare for this in 
 three years, but it was the opening year of the 
 war, and progress was impossible. 2 Louisiana 
 displays great interest, but its colleges were at 
 most equivalent to a high school. Kentucky 
 presents numbers of colleges, often private 
 enterprises, but no college curriculum; but in 
 its old school at Science Hill, dating from 1825, 
 shows how excellent a tradition may be main- 
 tamed without collegiate assumptions. Texas 
 shows admirable early efforts: a charter for 
 k * Blandin, p. 53. * Bureau of Education, Circular, p. 127.
 
 AT THE SOUTH 15 
 
 Waco in 1860, on the basis of earlier schools, 
 and Baylor, dating from 1845, made a college 
 in 1867. North Carolina has its Salem 
 Academy, over a century old, but incorporated 
 with collegiate powers in 1866; and Greensboro 
 College for Women, chartered in 1838, but 
 beginning work only in 1847, graduating 191 
 up to 1863, of whose curriculum we find no 
 trace. South Carolina had a Johnston Female 
 University, named from its Chancellor who 
 presided over it from 1850 to the war, de- 
 nominational, with degree-conferring powers; 
 Greenville College, from 1854; Columbia 
 College for Girls, 1856 to 1863; but of the 
 quality of their work we find no trace. A most 
 interesting detail is furnished by the history 
 of Dr. Mark's School at Barhamville, estab- 
 lished about 1815. It progressed steadily and 
 was incorporated as a college in 1832. From 
 1850 to 1861 its annual outlay for teachers, 
 who were chiefly drawn from the North, was 
 from $12,000 to $14,000, a large sum at that 
 time. It had a chaplain and, to guard against 
 sectarianism, filled the office annually from 
 varying denominations. It was a private school
 
 16 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 of high grade and throws a clear light on the 
 standards of higher education in 1850. 1 
 
 Maryland had its Kee Mar College, founded 
 in 1851, though its scheme of study is suggestive 
 of little thorough work. 2 Virginia gives us no 
 school of college rank. Missouri yet has col- 
 leges which serve as schools admitting to its 
 university and one can hardly hope that its 
 Christian College, chartered in 1851, or the 
 Baptist College for Women, at Lexington, 
 1855, had attained a substantial collegiate 
 standard. 
 
 Two of the women's colleges in the South, in 
 this early era, have gained prominence above 
 most by virtue of their rank or by discussion 
 growing out of their degree-conferring powers. 
 The more prominent of these is the Georgia 
 Female College, now the Wesleyan Female 
 College of Macon, Georgia. 
 
 The college was chartered in 1836, under the 
 former name, and graduated its first class in 
 1840, and there was no break in its history 
 even during the war. It claims to be "the 
 oldest regularly chartered institution for con- 
 
 1 Blandin, pp. 260-72. * Ibid., pp. 179 seq.
 
 AT THE SOUTH 17 
 
 ferring degrees upon women in America, if not 
 in the entire world." 1 If this claim can be 
 substantiated at all, it must be by placing em- 
 phasis on the college for women, the separate 
 college, as we have already seen the Mississippi 
 College conferring degrees several years be- 
 fore the Macon institution was founded. The 
 Georgia College, however, has been proclaimed 
 as the oldest chartered for women, and we are 
 properly curious to know all we may of its 
 history. Unhappily its early records were 
 destroyed by fire, and it is difficult to discover, 
 with any exactness, the details that most 
 interest us. 
 
 In 1825 a bill was offered to the Legislature 
 providing for female education, but it failed of 
 passage. 2 The effort was renewed in 1834, and 
 great interest was awakened in the community, 
 and in 1838 a president was elected and the 
 college opened January 7, 1839. The college 
 had professors of literature, mathematics, the 
 natural sciences, but there is no mention in 
 Jones's account of a chair of the classics: the 
 
 1 Letter from the President, October, 1910. 
 1 Jones, C. E., Education in Georgia, Bureau of Education, 
 Circulars of Information, no. 4, 1888, pp. 92, 93.
 
 18 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 rest of the faculty named seem to be connected 
 with the preparatory department or with 
 music. It is stated that $85,000 were spent on 
 the building which is described and illustrated 
 in the work referred to. 1 The institution was 
 unhappily sold for debt very soon, and was 
 reincorporated in 1843 as the Wesley an Female 
 College. Such is the brief outline of the exter- 
 nal history of its first years. 
 
 President Ainsworth is authority for the 
 statement 2 that in the beginning there was a 
 professor of modern languages, and one of 
 ancient languages and these are probably 
 to be identified with the professors of literature 
 mentioned above. From an old paper, Dr. 
 Ainsworth gives a resume of the studies pur- 
 sued by the senior class, as follows: "Natural 
 philosophy, mental and moral philosophy, 
 astronomy, botany as connected with chem- 
 istry, physiology and geology, history, ancient 
 and modern languages." 
 
 We have no details whatever, and the 
 description in general is true of the Elizabeth 
 Academy, already referred to, and the glimpse 
 
 1 Jones, p. 96. * Letter to the writer, October 6, 1910.
 
 AT THE SOUTH 19 
 
 of a curriculum there offered. It would be 
 most interesting to know what classics were 
 read, and how much was done in modern 
 languages, for example. The science was prob- 
 ably that then taught in the general and gener- 
 ous way which characterized most of the insti- 
 tutions of that era. With every wish to find 
 some indications here of an advance beyond 
 the other institutions of that time, like the 
 Mississippi College, we are baffled by the want 
 of records. One indication, however, furnished 
 in Mrs. Blandin's book 1 suggests that the first 
 graduates were not of a rank that Oberlin 
 would have called collegiate. She says that 
 the first graduating class, in 1840, was formed 
 of the pupils of Mr. Slade, of the Clinton 
 Female Institute, who went with him to the 
 new college in 1839. From what we know of 
 these institutes we cannot safely infer that a 
 single year on their foundation would have 
 been equivalent, at that time, to the standards 
 of the better colleges of the country. We can- 
 not accept the statement of Mr. Edwards, 8 
 
 1 Page 131. 
 
 2 Century Magazine, vol. 18, p. 159, "The First Female 
 College."
 
 20 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 that its course was equal to that offered by 
 "most contemporary colleges for men." We 
 shall see, when we examine the curriculum of 
 Oberlin at that time, and women were admitted 
 there, what a definite and strong course of study 
 had been outlined, and we cannot think that 
 this early course of " Georgia Female," which 
 permitted the graduation, after a single year, 
 of eleven young women who had come over 
 from a seminary, even approximated it in range 
 or exaction. All honor to these early efforts, 
 but let us value them justly in whatever light 
 we may gain from their imperfect records. 
 
 The story of that first commencement has 
 been written. In "Success," September, 1903, 
 Mrs. Benson (nee Brewer), then living, was 
 said to be the recipient on July 18, 1840, of 
 "the first diploma ever issued by a chartered 
 woman's college," "the first woman in all the 
 wide world to be graduated from the first 
 chartered college for women." 
 
 At the semi-centennial celebration, Mrs. 
 Benson "bore in her hand the very document 
 she had received from their predecessors [the 
 Trustees] and returned to them the diploma
 
 AT THE SOUTH 21 
 
 for preservation among the sacred relics of the 
 college." As the claim to the priority of a de- 
 gree is influenced by the form of the diploma, 
 it may be reproduced here. 
 
 Testimonial of the Georgia Female College 
 
 The President, as the representative of the 
 Faculty of the Georgia Female College, gives this 
 Testimonial that Miss Katharine E. Brewer, hav- 
 ing passed through a regular course of study in 
 that institution embracing all the sciences which 
 are usually taught in the colleges of the United 
 States that refer and appropriately belong to 
 female education in its most ample range, was 
 deemed worthy of the first degree conferred by this 
 institution, and accordingly it was conferred upon 
 her on July 18, 1840. 
 
 In testimony of which the signatures of the 
 President and Faculty and the seal of the College 
 are hereto affixed. 
 
 GEORGE F. PEARCE, 
 
 President. 
 W. H. ELLISON, 
 
 Professor Mathematics. 
 THOMAS B. SLADE, 
 
 Professor Natural Science. 
 
 We mark here the claim that a degree is 
 conferred. It has been questioned whether this 
 is any more than a diploma. Mrs. Benson, who
 
 22 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 survived till 1908, and whose mind was per- 
 fectly clear, writes the President (to Dr. King, 
 President of Oberlin), always insisted that the 
 degree of A.B. was regularly conferred upon 
 her. However, it is very strange that the par- 
 ticular degree is not mentioned in this only 
 contemporary account. It is interesting to 
 note, also, that no professor of "literature" 
 signs the diploma, and that sciences alone are 
 referred to in it. It suggests the earlier 
 "diploma of parchment" of Elizabeth Acad- 
 emy, and its degree Domina Scientiarum, and 
 raises again the query as to the particular 
 degrees conferred by Mississippi College eight 
 years earlier than this. Two years before this, 
 in 1838, Miss Zeruiah Porter completed a four 
 years* course at Oberlin, in the Young Ladies' 
 Department, and received a diploma, and the 
 course of study published in the early cata- 
 logues of Oberlin suggests a far more strenu- 
 ous training than we infer from our scattered 
 glimpses of the course at Georgia. We shall see 
 that it was not till 1841 that women graduated 
 in the full and strong course at Oberlin with 
 the A.B. degree.
 
 AT THE SOUTH 23 
 
 If Mrs. Benson's memory was correct, the 
 A.B. of Georgia was conferred earlier; but if 
 her diploma was regarded as the expression of 
 a degree, unspecified, as the language would 
 imply, then even in a formal sense Georgia's 
 degree was not the first. And if, as the lan- 
 guage quoted would seem tc suggest, the refer- 
 ence is not to a degree to women, but to the 
 earliest institution chartered separately and 
 distinctly for women, thus excluding Missis- 
 sippi and Oberlin, it is still of interest to 
 inquire whether degrees were not conferred 
 earlier by such colleges as Dr. Mark's at 
 Barhamville, South Carolina (College in 1832); 
 or Columbia Institute (1836) which gave di- 
 plomas, and had power to grant degrees; or 
 Elizabeth Academy, which promised with its 
 "diploma of parchment" the degree of D.S. 
 The question is solely of historic interest, and 
 it is perhaps not likely, with our lack of rec- 
 ords, that we can settle it finally. 
 
 The other college, founded expressly for 
 women, that calls for particular notice, is the 
 Mary Sharp College of Winchester, Tennessee, 
 known also as the Tennessee and Alabama
 
 24 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 Female Institute, and dating from 1851. 
 Happily its early catalogues are preserved, 
 and correspondence with its oldest graduate 
 and with a member of its earliest faculty, 
 enables us to gain a definite view of its curricu- 
 lum and its equipment. There were twelve 
 Trustees beside the President, Secretary, and 
 Treasurer, according to the Catalogue of 
 1853-54. The faculty numbered four. To the 
 President alone the catalogue gives a degree, 
 A.M., and the Baptist Cyclopedia indicates 
 that he was not a college graduate. But 
 Zelotes C. Graves, a Vermonter, was a vital 
 force in education, with ideals and ambitions. 
 The professor of mathematics, the Reverend 
 J. Manton, was a recent graduate of Brown 
 University. He is still living, at Minneapolis, 
 Minnesota, and his testimony is valuable as 
 to the quality of the work of the new college. 
 He had been compelled to go South on account 
 of his health, and while at Nashville was asked 
 to accept this professorship. His letter 1 makes 
 clear that he had a predecessor, "a very 
 enthusiastic teacher of mathematics,'* and he 
 
 1 To the writer, December 5, 1910.
 
 AT THE SOUTH 25 
 
 found "his classes in good condition." He 
 served but a year, when he returned to preach- 
 ing, and he records that "some of my classes 
 did remarkably well. There were young ladies 
 whose attainments could compare very favor- 
 ably with classes at Brown." There was also 
 a professor of Latin and ancient history, the 
 President's wife, and a teacher of the pre- 
 paratory department. There were 4 seniors, 
 6 juniors, 19 sophomores, 30 freshmen, 22 ir- 
 regular students, 97 preparatory. Out of 178, 
 141 were from Tennessee. The freshmen be- 
 gan algebra and Latin and geometry and 
 Rollin's "Ancient History." The sophomores 
 completed algebra, geometry, trigonometry, 
 read Virgil, commenced Greek, had history, 
 ancient and mediaeval, and botany. The jun- 
 iors had conic sections, Cicero, mathematical 
 philosophy, demonstrative philosophy, mod- 
 ern history, Greek Testament, astronomy, 
 experimental chemistry. The seniors had 
 Horace, the Acts in Greek, logic, mental and 
 moral philosophy, rhetoric, United States 
 history, elements of criticism, geology, physi- 
 ology. Through the course, elocution, reading,
 
 26 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 spelling, defining, penmanship were required. 
 "Valuable and expensive apparatus, charts, a 
 valuable geological cabinet and a very good 
 collection of shells" were stated among the 
 facilities of the college for its work. Here at 
 least is a curriculum, a definitely outlined plan 
 of study, and here is a requirement of Greek. 
 It was a serious effort to reach far beyond the 
 seminaries of the early fifties, and to approach 
 the standards of the Northern colleges. It is 
 interesting to read what is claimed by this 
 earnest pioneer from Vermont. 
 
 He aims to give girls "an education as 
 thorough as their brothers have been acquiring 
 at their colleges and universities." He lays 
 great stress on "permanency." "It is no pri- 
 vate school." It is "a school for young ladies 
 of a higher grade than any previously known 
 to exist in fact, a college, where ladies may 
 have the privilege of a classical education." 
 He makes an impassioned plea for women, 
 "for the same knowledge, literary, scientific, 
 and classical, that has been for so many gen- 
 erations the peculiar and cherished heritage 
 of the other sex, for the placing of the sister
 
 AT THE SOUTH 27 
 
 on an equality with the brother, for the devel- 
 oping and unfolding of all the qualities of her 
 mind, thus making her what she was designed 
 to be by her Creator, a thinking, reflecting, 
 reasoning being, capable of comparing and 
 judging for herself and dependent upon none 
 other for her free unbiased opinions." 
 
 The Catalogue makes the further claim that 
 "when woman is thus completely educated the 
 axe will be laid at the root of all evil and a new 
 era will begin to dawn on the human race"; 
 and the writer breaks out into the well-worn 
 verses of Pope: "A little learning is a danger- 
 ous thing," etc. 
 
 The building was seventy-five feet long, 
 forty wide, three stories high, and with it 
 the Trustees felt impelled to claim that "this 
 Institute is prepared to offer advantages su- 
 perior to any school in the South and West." 
 Such a boast would carry no weight but for 
 its published curriculum and evidently the 
 authors of the Catalogue of 1853-54 were not 
 thinking of the institutions to the north of 
 them, at Oberlin, or Hillsdale, or Ann Arbor, 
 or the young Antioch at Yellow Springs.
 
 28 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 The freshmen paid $24, the seniors $36. 
 Music, needlework, drawing, and painting are 
 extras. A diploma costs $5. The boarding 
 department charged $8 a month, including 
 all expenses. The students must rise at five, 
 and never be up later than ten. To leave their 
 boarding-house "to spend nights or leisure 
 days, permission from one of the male members 
 of the faculty" is essential! "A short moral 
 lecture" is given every morning at chapel by 
 the President "upon some text of Scripture." 
 
 The Catalogue of 1858 shows a president 
 and three professors, a woman, still, in Latin, 
 with others for preparatory work, music, etc. ; 
 altogether twelve. There are now 120 in the 
 four college classes. The changes are not very 
 marked in the curriculum, but the Greek has 
 advanced, so that the juniors read the Iliad, 
 and the seniors the Memorabilia. Livy alter- 
 nates with Cicero for the juniors. The library 
 has 500 volumes, the charge for the use of 
 which is fifty cents a session. 
 
 The institution deserves a few more words on 
 its history. It was closed during the war, from 
 1861 to 1865; was "the headquarters of the
 
 AT THE SOUTH 29 
 
 Federal soldiers, and much abused," says Mrs. 
 Embrey, the first graduate (Nannie Merri- 
 deth), to whose kindness the catalogues and 
 other material bearing on this history are due. 
 After the war, in 1868, we find Z. C. Graves 
 still President, 78 in college classes, 6 seniors. 
 This catalogue gives a list of graduates from 
 1855, 73 to 1863, inclusive. The changes in the 
 curriculum are few, and generally in the direc- 
 tion of advance. The rule as to permissions 
 from " male professors " stands, but the " male " 
 has become "gentlemen"! An appeal is made 
 for a library to replace that destroyed by 
 the war. Two thousand volumes had been 
 given. 
 
 The Catalogue of 1881-82 shows Z. C. 
 Graves still President, and now an LL.D. 
 Alas! the Catalogue prints this against his 
 name, and two others, as L. L. D. ! Unhappily, 
 this late Catalogue has developed a boastful 
 spirit. "If there is a school for women, North 
 or South, that can boast of a corps of teachers 
 so renowned for culture and skill in the science 
 of true teaching, we have not been able to 
 discover it." Yet Vassar had been opened
 
 fifteen years, and Smith and Wellesley five! 
 There is a less convincing air about this late 
 Catalogue, suggestive of a harder battle and 
 a losing fight, and it is to be regretted that after 
 its worthy stand, Mary Sharp ceased to be. 
 It was veritably a pioneer, ten years before 
 Vassar, and although its curriculum in general 
 was much less developed than Vassar's, it 
 must [be remembered that it was far less fa- 
 vorably conditioned. It claims to be the first 
 college for women that required both Greek 
 and Latin for the A.B. degree, and if the 
 coeducational institutions like Oberlin are 
 omitted from the category of "colleges for 
 women," this may well be so. 1 It was certainly 
 the most developed curriculum of which we find 
 clear evidence, ten years before Vassar opened, 
 among the colleges for women in the South, 
 and at that date there were no separate insti- 
 tutions for women in the North that claimed 
 collegiate rank. The South was earnest and 
 ambitious, but the history of women's higher 
 education there, before the war, is one of 
 
 1 Cf. Commissioner Eaton's letter, p. 247; Merriam, History 
 of Education, Bureau of Education.
 
 AT THE SOUTH 31 
 
 effort without endowment, of curricula scant 
 in comparison with those of Oberlin, Lombard, 
 and Hillsdale the faculty in many so-called 
 colleges consisting chiefly of the principal and 
 his wife, the school a private institution with 
 the power of granting degrees. Dr. Lillian 
 Johnson said in 1908 1 that there were fifty-five 
 colleges in the South before Vassar, though no 
 word regarding degrees excepting from the 
 institution at Macon. The need of qualifying 
 this has been pointed out, and the survey of 
 the whole field must leave on our minds the 
 conviction that there was very little collegiate 
 education of women in the South before the 
 war, judged by the standards of the better 
 colleges of that day. We shall see, indeed, as 
 we study the curriculum of Oberlin at an even 
 earlier date, that there was nothing equivalent 
 to it offered to women, North or South, before 
 1850. At the best, a mere handful of women 
 represented collegiate education in the South 
 in 1865; and there was no general movement 
 there at any earlier day that could sustain an 
 institution of veritable college rank as judged 
 1 Report of Conference of Education in the South.
 
 32 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 by the standards of the time. There is no 
 trace of considerable endowments, of large 
 libraries, of generous equipment. There was 
 effort, occasional large vision, widespread in- 
 terest in a general seminary education, but 
 seldom high standards and the public opinion 
 that would sustain them. We honor the 
 pioneers and their high accomplishment 
 but we honor them none the less because we 
 view their labors in the white light of the 
 actual educational conditions and opinion of 
 that era. If there could be any question in the 
 mind of a reader, appreciative of the spirit and 
 enthusiasm of these earlier efforts, it must be 
 set at rest by a perusal of the list of require- 
 ments of our Northern colleges in 1840 to 1850. 
 Michigan, for example, opened in 1841, with 
 six students (men), in a new country, and with 
 weaker requirements than those of Harvard, 
 Yale, Princeton, Columbia; but Michigan 
 asked for entrance, geography, arithmetic, ele- 
 ments of algebra, grammar of English, Latin 
 and Greek languages, the exercises and reader 
 of Andrews, Cornelius Nepos, Vita Washing- 
 tonii, Sallust, Cicero's Orations, Jacob's Greek
 
 AT THE SOUTH 33 
 
 Reader, and the Evangelists. 1 It would be a 
 generation before any woman's college could 
 secure such a preparation for its classes and 
 these were substantially increased at Michigan 
 six years later (1847). But this institution 
 was not opened to women, and to learn the 
 best that was anywhere offered to them we 
 must turn now to the college at Oberlin. 
 
 1 Broome, College Admission Requirements, p. 44.
 
 II 
 
 AT THE NORTH 
 
 THE Oberlin Collegiate Institute was opened 
 in 1833, with full college privileges, though its 
 name was not changed to Oberlin College till 
 1850. It is not for us to recite its great history, 
 but we must glance at it so far as it bears on 
 the privileges of education given to American 
 girls. It offered them its opportunities from 
 the beginning. Its first Catalogue (1834), not 
 printed in Oberlin, speaks of it as an "infant 
 institution," "in the wilderness," on a site 
 which a year and a half before was uninhabited 
 and surrounded by a forest three miles square. 
 Of its twelve trustees four were "colonists." 
 There is a professor of languages, of chemistry, 
 botany, and physiology, a principal of a pre- 
 paratory department, but as yet no President, 
 though it is said that this position and the 
 professorship of natural philosophy will prob- 
 ably be filled in the spring. The college had 
 opened in December.
 
 AT THE NORTH 35 
 
 The female department was regarded as 
 separate. 1 It promised "instruction in the use- 
 ful branches taught in the best female semi- 
 naries." The higher classes may enjoy the 
 privileges of the higher departments "as shall 
 best suit their sex and prospective employ- 
 ment," but the female seminary is not re- 
 garded as equal to the college. The catalogue 
 of students is divided into "males" and 
 "females." Both sexes are required to labor 
 four hours daily, for reasons of health, moral 
 benefit, and pecuniary help. There is a farm of 
 800 acres, sawmill, gristmill, workshop. Living 
 is cheap. "Hitherto board with its appendages 
 has been from 80 cents to $1 per week." 
 Tuition is from $10 to $14 a year. The board 
 is now reduced to from 75 cents to $1. Rent 
 of room and furniture, "with contingencies," 
 is from $3 to $6 the annual expenses from 
 $58 to $89, "exclusive of clothing and slight 
 expenses for postage, etc." Students earn 
 variously from 1 cent an hour to 12| cents. 2 
 They usually receive 4, 5, 6, or 7 cents an hour, 
 by which they may generally pay their board. 
 
 1 Catalogue of 1834, p. 6. 2 Catalogue of 1834, p. 9.
 
 36 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 " Healthy and industrious females understand- 
 ing domestic economy receive their board with 
 its appendages for four hours' daily labor." 
 There was one rule for rich and poor, with 
 insistence on plain dress and wholesome diet, 
 and there was to be no endurance of drones in 
 "this hive of industry." Sixty-three males 
 and 37 females made up the 100 students, and 
 more than 90 were over 14 years and most of 
 these over 18. 
 
 In the appendix, number 2, to the second 
 report, 1 entitled "Female department," it is 
 said that they board at the public table, do do- 
 mestic work, washing, ironing, and much of the 
 sewing for the students, and attend recitations 
 with the young gentlemen in all of the depart- 
 ments. The applicants are so numerous that 
 they have been obliged to send away about 
 half of those seeking entrance. "Most of the 
 ladies have paid for their board by their labor," 
 says the Catalogue, "75 cents for vegetable 
 diet only, 87| cents with animal food once a 
 day." 
 
 The Catalogue of 1836 shows no women in 
 
 1 Catalogue of 1835.
 
 AT THE NORTH 37 
 
 the collegiate department, but now, placed 
 after the preparatory department of the boys, 
 "young ladies" appear in place of the earlier 
 "females." There is one senior in the female 
 department. The course of study given is good 
 in philosophy and literature, but without men- 
 tion of languages except for those designing 
 the full course, and then only Greek, with a 
 view to the New Testament. The girls are 
 told that they must not come till they have 
 written and been accepted. "None can be 
 received who travel on the Sabbath on their 
 way to Oberlin." Prices are now slightly 
 higher and the work requirement is reduced to 
 three hours. 
 
 In 1837 no catalogue was issued, but in 1838 
 there are 391 students in all departments, and 
 Zeruiah Porter appears alone in the fourth 
 year of the "ladies' department." Evidently 
 the course is lengthened. But at the end of the 
 list appears for the first time "college courses," 
 "freshman class," with four girls registered in 
 it, and three preparatories for college. Here is 
 a distinct epoch in the education of girls, for 
 though the young ladies attend the college
 
 38 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 department when their studies permit, the 
 course is not nearly equal to the collegiate, in 
 general. Now, for the first time, we have four 
 girls entered under a strong college curricu- 
 lum. 
 
 Here is the place to review the actual status 
 of Oberlin, in those first years, toward woman's 
 higher education. Mrs. Sewall claims that the 
 college was not fitted to give the same advan- 
 tages to women as to men, 1 and dwells on the 
 emphasis on the seminary and the evident 
 purpose at first to offer separate instruction to 
 girls. Very probably there was serious ques- 
 tion with many then as to coeducation, and 
 there are traces of this in the first catalogue, 
 perhaps, but the pioneer and economic condi- 
 tions forced what they were quite ready to 
 accept. They were familiar with the old New 
 England school, and the simple, wholesome life 
 they knew kept in the background the ques- 
 tions forced by a more complex and developed 
 society; the economic considerations were 
 compelling, the attitude of the minds of the 
 founders was an open and receptive one 
 
 1 Woman's Work, p. 67.
 
 AT THE NORTH 39 
 
 and so gradually and inevitably, after only a 
 few years of growth, we find girls admitted to 
 the full college course. The ladies' course con- 
 tinued to be far more popular, but the princi- 
 ple and the right were established, and there 
 was a continuous if small line of girls who 
 availed themselves of the larger opportunities. 1 
 The ladies' course required one year of prep- 
 aration against three for the college, and it 
 carried no degree. As regards the college 
 standards of Oberlin at this early date there 
 can be no fair question. Asa Mahan was 
 President from 1835. Charles Finney then ap- 
 pears as professor of theology. The course in 
 that year, which they regarded "as neither 
 perfect nor immutable," included the Greek 
 Testament, the Cyropsedia and Memorabilia, 
 Cicero and Buchanan's Psalms in Latin, 
 Hebrew, abundant mathematics and science, 
 political economy and law, evidences, the 
 analogy, logic, rhetoric, and some literature 
 and history. This was gradually strengthened, 
 
 1 Cf . also Knight and Commons, History of Higher Education 
 in Ohio, Bureau of Education, Circulars of Information, no. 5, 
 1891, p. 64.
 
 40 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 and in the first catalogue published at Oberlin 
 itself (1839), the second year of the first college 
 girls, appears a comparison in parallel columns 
 of the courses at Oberlin and Yale, "in or- 
 der that the Christian public may be enabled 
 to judge us fairly." "No unfriendly feeling 
 toward that venerable seat of learning has led 
 us to present this comparison," but the pur- 
 pose is to meet those who have "decried" the 
 Oberlin course. 
 
 The courses are similar and the influence of 
 Yale is most evident. In science and literature 
 the difference is negligible, and if Yale gives 
 more Latin, Oberlin gives more Greek and 
 Hebrew. 1 The students for the ministry are 
 more in mind at Oberlin. 
 
 As bearing on the amount of work done it 
 may be added that the juniors were then 
 reciting five pages of Demosthenes at a recita- 
 tion. We cannot leave out of sight, in our esti- 
 mate of the work accomplished in conditions 
 that we should now regard as raw, inchoate, 
 
 1 Catalogue of 1839-40. See transcription of these courses, 
 etc., in Dr. King's letter to the writer, November 4, 1910. 
 Cf . also Knight and Commons, p. 69.
 
 AT THE NORTH 41 
 
 and lacking in the finer graces of life, the pro- 
 digious earnestness of the men and women 
 who were not only making a college, but who 
 were devoting themselves to the highest inter- 
 ests of State and Nation, and who were exalt- 
 ing mental labor in a way to shame the college 
 generation of to-day. 
 
 But the college girls at Oberlin were not 
 numerous in the days preceding the epoch 
 marked by the opening of Vassar. Seventy- 
 nine received the A.B. degree up to 1865, * 
 and 290 had passed through the ladies* course. 
 This was of far inferior grade, as may be seen 
 from the list of studies in the Catalogue of 
 1839, and was designed to meet the demands 
 made upon the "seminaries" of that day. 
 
 Young ladies in college must conform to the 
 general regulations of the female department. 2 
 In 1842-43, for the first time every class has 
 girls in it, a total of 29. This catalogue prints 
 a list of graduates from the opening of the col- 
 lege, numbering three women, in 1841. Now 
 begins the charge for tuition, twenty dollars a 
 year, compelled by the losses of their friends by 
 
 1 Dr. King's letter. * Catalogue of 1841.
 
 42 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 the great fire in New York in 1835. " In no year 
 have the Trustees been able to pay the salaries 
 of the professors." 
 
 There is no call for us to follow through later 
 catalogues the fluctuating numbers of college 
 girls, from 1850-51, when Charles Finney 
 became President, when there were no junior 
 or sophomore "ladies" and only 1 freshman, 
 or 1856-57, when there were 20 ladies in col- 
 lege and 229 in the ladies' course, to 1861-62, 
 when 33 ladies were numbered, the largest in 
 any year noted to this date, but when the 
 ladies' course numbered 213. The Catalogue 
 of 1861-62 lists 46 men at the war and these 
 lists are now printed regularly and under a 
 separate head. 
 
 It chances that we have from the very year 
 of Vassar's opening, 1865, the testimony of 
 an eyewitness, an intelligent English teacher, 
 regarding several American colleges, and hap- 
 pily Oberlin is one of them. 1 Her impressions, 
 gained in a ten days' sojourn, give a clear and 
 sympathetic picture. The two sexes, including 
 
 1 Sophia Jex Blake, Visit to Some American Schools and 
 Colleges, London, 1867.
 
 AT THE NORTH 43 
 
 the preparatories, were about equally divided, 
 and about a third of the total she thought 
 colored. 1 Oberlin had disregarded color as 
 well as sex in its welcome to its pupils since 
 1834. In that year, 1865, Miss Blake says the 
 only woman graduate was originally a slave 
 who had not yet fully paid her ransom. Only 
 17 women were in college, 2 and 175 in the 
 ladies' course. The grade of work seemed to 
 her inferior to that of the Eastern colleges, 
 though the results were invaluable "to the 
 class of students seeking instruction" and 
 "very likely adequate to the demand in the 
 West." 3 It must never be forgotten, however, 
 by the student of education, that those years 
 of the war, and just after, were a period of 
 strain and stress to almost all American col- 
 leges, and it may easily be that the earlier 
 strenuousness of Oberlin had abated perforce. 
 The curriculum continued to be substantially 
 that just referred to. 
 
 1 Sophia Jex Blake, p. 17. 
 
 * Ibid, p. 18. Miss Blake's testimony may be accepted with 
 caution, though the word of a skilled, intelligent traveler. 
 President King writes that several women graduated that 
 year. See Quinquennial Catalogue. 
 
 8 Ibid., pp. 22, 23.
 
 44 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 Miss Blake was much impressed by the con- 
 ditions of society, unlike anything known to 
 England. The deficiency of polish of manner 
 she thought might be termed national, but 
 the absence of social inequality, of all strain 
 after pretensions of a higher class, and so the 
 temptation to essential vulgarity, impressed 
 her as much as the absence of standards and 
 of consciousness of social lack. Roughness 
 of manners in the attitude of students dur- 
 ing class hours, and the incessant spitting, 
 seemed to her more marked at Oberlin than 
 elsewhere. The lagging behind the actual de- 
 gree of study and learning of all the exterior 
 accessories of civilization, struck her every- 
 where. But the girls, as a rule, "seemed con- 
 siderably more civilized than the young men.'* 
 "Teachers and professors seemed to belong to 
 exactly the same order as the majority of the 
 pupils," though some had traveled intelli- 
 gently. 
 
 The religious spirit, the desire for revivals, 
 the custom of opening every recitation with 
 hymn or prayer, impressed her unpleasantly, 
 especially the combination of "All hail the
 
 AT THE NORTH 45 
 
 power of Jesus' name" with "the physical 
 functions," in a class in physiology. 
 
 She comments on the absence of provision 
 for physical exercise, and of a gymnasium, but 
 we may not forget the compulsory labor. 
 There were no sports and a seeming absence 
 of vitality was noted generally. 
 
 As to the great question of coeducation, 
 Miss Blake 1 remarks that there is no common 
 life to the girls and men out of the classroom, 
 no walking together, even from prayer meet- 
 ings, and in class and at chapel they sit sepa- 
 rately. But the testimony given her as to 
 equality of ability and work seemed to her 
 ample. 
 
 A second institution in Ohio that gained 
 great fame through the circumstances of its 
 founding and through the connection with it of 
 Horace Mann, was at Yellow Springs, Antioch, 
 so called, Miss Blake says, because founded by 
 the Christian sect. 2 It was, however, non- 
 sectarian. Antioch College was opened Octo- 
 ber 5, 1853. It was coeducational, and Horace 
 Mann made a point of having "female" as 
 1 Blake, p. 36 aeq. Cf. Acts xi, 26.
 
 46 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 well as "male" professors. The scenes of the 
 opening days of this college, the wretched 
 physical conditions with which it had to strug- 
 gle, the heroic labors of Horace Mann, the 
 astonishing enthusiasm excited for education, 
 are beyond our present theme, but are well 
 known to readers of the biography of that 
 great pioneer and President who organized 
 and developed the institution. Mann died in 
 1859 and the second President was Dr. Hill, 
 who was called later to preside over Harvard. 
 The college department was closed in 1862 
 because of pecuniary difficulties and the draw- 
 ing off of the men to the war. It was reopened 
 in 1865, the preparatory classes having been 
 maintained in the interval. 
 
 The spirit of the work here was beyond 
 praise, and President Hill assured Miss Blake 
 that the undergraduates of Antioch were gen- 
 erally able to enter corresponding classes at 
 Harvard. It is to be observed, however, that 
 a "teachers' course," as well as an "English 
 course," was offered, and that Greek was 
 optional, for the accommodation of female 
 students. Physics could be substituted for it.
 
 AT THE NORTH 47 
 
 An article in the "Nation," 1 signed "S.," 
 a professor at Antioch, expresses the opinion 
 that the women are not equal to the men, and 
 that the men are not as strong in ambition 
 and mental power as those who seek the better 
 Eastern colleges. He is, however, a firm be- 
 liever in coeducation. One cannot examine the 
 tables furnished by "S." without remarking 
 the very small proportion of graduates to the 
 number of students, which he furnishes from 
 1856-57 to 1865-66. The totals of the earlier 
 catalogues must include all departments, prob- 
 ably even the preparatory. In 1853-54 he 
 gives 253 "gentlemen" and 98 "ladies," and 
 in 1857-58 the ladies are 158 as against 252 
 gentlemen. It would be interesting to know if 
 the panic occasioned the reduction from 401 
 "gentlemen" in 1856-57. Certainly the num- 
 bers fell after Mann's death, and the result of 
 the war on the college has already been noted. 
 In 1861-62 there were 121 "gentlemen" and 
 77 "ladies," but the graduates were respec- 
 tively 6 and 8. There were no men graduated 
 from 1862 to 1865, but a woman is noted in 
 1 Vol. 11, p. 24.
 
 48 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 1862-63 and 1863-64. The total number of 
 women graduates in these tables of "S.," from 
 1856 to 1865 (when Vassar opened), is 28, 
 though it is not clear to me whether all these 
 had completed the full college course. Miss 
 Blake's testimony fails us here, as her visit 
 was just after the reopening of the college, in 
 October, 1865. Ex-President Derby 1 gives the 
 totals, presumably to 1890, as 173 men and 
 59 women. 
 
 As to the course of study exacted of these 
 girls, we have the testimony of President Hill, 
 quoted by Miss Blake, the statements of "S.," 
 and the full courses of study printed by Miss 
 Blake 2 from what she thinks was the last 
 prospectus issued during the presidency of 
 Dr. Hill, 1861-62, just before the college closed 
 on account of the war. She supposes it sub- 
 stantially the same as that pursued in 1865. 
 The freshman class studied algebra, geometry, 
 surveying and navigation, Livy and Horace, 
 Anabasis, Iliad, Memorabilia; or, as optional 
 with Greek, history of the fall of the Empire 
 
 1 History of Education in Ohio, Bureau of Education, Circu- 
 lars of Information, no. 5, 1891, p. 133. 
 * Visit, etc., pp. 139 seq.
 
 AT THE NORTH 49 
 
 and of the Middle Ages, lectures on botany, on 
 the conduct of the understanding (by the 
 President); a term of French (begun), and 
 English language and elocution (in second 
 term). The sophomores had analytical geom- 
 etry and the calculus, Latin and French (or 
 Greek), logic, lectures (by the President) on 
 taste, imagination, and art, and a term of 
 German. The juniors had physics, chemistry, 
 physiology, astronomy, mineralogy, German, 
 Latin (much prose composition), Italian 
 (optional with German in second term), and 
 lectures by the President on practical ethics. 
 The seniors had political economy, logic, com- 
 parative physiology, intellectual philosophy, 
 moral philosophy, natural theology, evidences, 
 constitutional law, geology, Guizot's "Histoire 
 de la Civilization en Europe." Rhetorical 
 exercises and English composition were re- 
 quired at stated periods during the course. 
 
 Here is assuredly a worthy curriculum, of 
 
 full collegiate grade as that was understood 
 
 from 1850 to 1870, at which later date we mark 
 
 a new era in American college requirements. 1 
 
 1 Cf. Broome, College Admission Requirements, p. 47.
 
 50 BEFORE VASSAK OPENED 
 
 The teachers' course 1 omits Latin and 
 Greek, gives a year of French and two terms of 
 German, follows the freshman course in mathe- 
 matics, has a term of history, and two of 
 physics, one of botany, logic, rhetoric, a 
 smattering of science, and the lectures noted 
 on practical ethics, taste, etc. It required but 
 two years, and was little more than an ad- 
 vanced seminary course. 
 
 The "English course" occupies three years, 
 but it is a merely preparatory course, not 
 equal to that of the better seminaries for wo- 
 men. 2 
 
 College education for women at Antioch 
 must be understood, then, as referring solely 
 to the full collegiate course. The other courses 
 were not of college grade. 
 
 As bearing at once on the standards of 
 admission to the college and on the earnestness 
 of the students, it may be added that the pre- 
 paratory department gave a three years' 
 course, and offered preparation in less time for 
 those who could do the work. It must be 
 remembered, however, that the preparation 
 
 i Blake, p. 144 seq. 2 Ibid., pp. 146-48.
 
 AT THE NORTH 51 
 
 was for the college of the "fifties," and not to 
 meet the requirements of to-day. 
 
 A few words should be added regarding the 
 other coeducational colleges of Ohio. They 
 were numerous, chiefly on denominational 
 foundations, meager for the most in equip- 
 ment, lacking endowments, but marked by 
 earnestness within their range. 
 
 The State College at Athens apparently did 
 not admit women till after the war, 1 and 
 Miami was for men only. 2 Marietta also does 
 not seem to have admitted women, though it 
 had made sound progress and had gathered 
 a library of 17,000 volumes by 1860. Western 
 Reserve did not admit women till 1872. 
 
 Otterbein had coeducation in 1849. Its 
 standards were apparently low. 3 Muskingum 
 was incorporated in 1837, and young women 
 were admitted to all its privileges in 1854. The 
 scientific course, to which they inclined for the 
 most part, was a year less than the classical. 
 The patronage and support were wholly local. 4 
 Franklin College, 1825, has a woman on the 
 
 1 Ohio University Bulletin, October, 1910, p. 29. 
 
 1 Knight and Commons, p. 34. 
 
 Ibid., p. 143. 4 Ibid., p. 201.
 
 52 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 faculty, in the lists given in Knight and Com- 
 mons's "History," but nothing is said there of 
 coeducation. Mount Union, called a " Cosmic 
 College," was chartered in 1858, was coeduca- 
 tional and gave all degrees. Urbana, College 
 of the New Church, graduated girls as early as 
 1857. Heidelberg, 1851, had a ladies* course, 
 and a few girls in the classical course. 
 
 Others were coeducational schools, which at 
 a later date became colleges, as Hiram, Bald- 
 win, Buchtel, Wooster, Wilmington. Denison 
 was a college in 1845, but not coeducational. 
 
 Of most of these it may probably be said 
 with justice that they did a great service in 
 exciting and meeting ambition for education; 
 that they were the first sources of the inspira- 
 tion of many men and women who later made 
 a deep impression on their generation; but 
 that the results were due rather to the ear- 
 nestness of teacher and taught than to any 
 strongly maintained college curriculum or any 
 substantial college equipment. And in the 
 light of the clear statistics of Oberlin and 
 Antioch, we must infer that the number of 
 girls graduated by these colleges was very
 
 AT THE NORTH 53 
 
 small. They betoken a local interest in a fair 
 education, and a liberal spirit which willingly 
 shared its best with the young women who 
 sought it. 
 
 Two institutions founded especially for girls 
 call for a more particular notice. The Ohio 
 Wesleyan Female College was founded in 
 Delaware in 1853 and absorbed in the Univer- 
 sity in 1877. Its course was apparently not 
 equal then to that of the college. 1 We have no 
 full statement of its curriculum, though the 
 numbers in attendance were good in 1853-54. 
 But as it had only reached a point in 1877 
 when its modified course led to an inferior 
 degree at Delaware (B.L.), and the require- 
 ments for it were considerably lower than those 
 for A.B. or B.S., it is altogether unlikely that 
 a college standard was really maintained from 
 1853 to 1865. 
 
 The Wesleyan Female College of Cincinnati 
 was organized by the Methodist denomination, 
 and was incorporated in 1842-43. In 1852, 47 
 resident graduates represented classes from 
 1847. The third class organized an Alumnse 
 1 Knight and Commons, p. 82.
 
 54 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 Association, and in 1853 the word " Alumna " 
 was coined for them. Dr. Rachel L. Body, 
 afterward Dean of the Philadelphia Woman's 
 Medical College, was one of the committee 
 which suggested the word. 1 The first com- 
 mencement, 1845, sent out 6 graduates, in 1846 
 there was 1, in 1860, 33, the largest class. 
 The building was sold for debt in 1892. 
 
 The degrees given were M.E.L. (Mistress 
 of English Literature) and M.L.A. (Mistress 
 of Liberal Arts), the latter including a course 
 in Latin, Greek, and advanced mathematics. 
 Later, but it is uncertain when, the degree was 
 changed to A.B. 
 
 But what were the standards of this college? 
 From Mrs. Mullikin, a graduate, and from 
 "The Alumna," 1890-1900, such answer as 
 can be made has been obtained. There was 
 much interest in the subject, fostered by 
 Catherine Beecher's efforts; by the formation 
 and labors of the College of Teachers, com- 
 posed not only of teachers of Cincinnati but 
 of the Mississippi Valley, whose committee 
 
 1 Commerical Tribune, April 21, 1909; letter from Mrs. 
 Katharine Mullikin.
 
 AT THE NORTH 55 
 
 numbered in it such names as Lyman Beecher 
 and Calvin Stowe; and by the publication of 
 resolutions in favor of a more liberal female 
 education; but the first definite steps were 
 taken by the Methodists, in this foundation. 
 
 By 1843-44, the college, "incorporated by 
 the Legislature," as the title-page of the cata- 
 logue declares, "with collegiate powers and 
 privileges," offered to its senior class, Day's 
 Mensuration, Wayland's Moral Science, Bur- 
 ritt's Geography of the Heavens, Abercrom- 
 bie's Moral Feelings, Hedge's Logic, Keith, 
 on the Globes, Mrs. Lincoln's Botany, Alexan- 
 der's Evidences, Latin, closing with Cooper's 
 Virgil, and Greek, closing with Greek Testa- 
 ment; French, German, and Spanish were the 
 modern languages taught. 1 
 
 If the Latin and Greek were required of all 
 graduates, this would put the requirements for 
 graduation distinctly above the best seminaries 
 of 1845, as exemplified by Troy and Mount 
 Holyoke, but not nearly as high as Mary 
 
 1 Quoted from Mrs. Mullikin's letter, October 22, 1910, 
 in which she says, "The course of study for the senior year 
 includes, " as above.
 
 Sharp in 1853, and distinctly not equivalent 
 to the demands of Oberlin and Antioch, the for- 
 mer in 1839 and the latter -in 1851. This must, 
 however, be regarded as one of the definitely 
 higher efforts of that era to establish a worthy 
 collegiate course. The lack of endowments, the 
 want of earlier preparation, and general social 
 conditions seem to have made it quite impos- 
 sible to maintain strong collegiate standards 
 outside of the better coeducational colleges. 
 
 The decade from 1850 to 1860 was very pro- 
 lific in institutions for higher education, and 
 many of them were coeducational. One of the 
 most advanced, if judged by its published 
 curriculum, was Lombard University, in Gales- 
 burg, Illinois, chartered as the Illinois Lib- 
 eral Institute, in 1851. Its second catalogue, 
 1853-54, shows a Board of Trustees of fifteen, 
 a college department including "gentlemen 
 and ladies," 14 ladies, 35 gentlemen, though 
 the summary states "males" and "females." 
 It contains a four years' course and a three 
 years' scientific course. The institution was 
 founded by Universalists who objected to 
 "such creed-drilling as prevailed in sectarian
 
 AT THE NORTH 57 
 
 institutions." It claimed "a respectable 
 library" and "a full and thorough collegiate 
 course." But it began Latin and Greek in 
 college, allowed ladies to omit the calculus, 
 engineering, analytic geometry, and substitute 
 German, and permitted the substitution of 
 French for a portion of Latin and Greek. 1 
 Evidently here was a "ladies' course," but this 
 was not the end of the matter. Meanwhile, 
 they meet supposedly feminine needs in educa- 
 tion, and offer embroidery, needlework, wax- 
 work, music, painting. There are three in the 
 college faculty, professors of mathematics, 
 ancient languages, and philosophy. The ex- 
 penses of the college course are $8.25, and 
 French and German $3, a quarter. 
 
 In 1854-55 the curriculum has developed. 
 There are now 26 females and 48 males in the 
 college course, and the Catalogue claims 2 that 
 it is more extensive than is usually pursued in 
 our colleges. Italian is offered. 
 
 In 1855-56 the college announces itself as 
 Lombard University, after one of its principal 
 benefactors. It has added a professor of natu- 
 1 Catalogue of 1853-54, p. xiii. 2 Page xx.
 
 ral science, and announces two degrees con- 
 ferred on females in 1856 (four on males). The 
 published admission requirements include all 
 of Virgil, Sallust or Csesar, Cicero's Selected 
 Orations, five books of the Anabasis, three of 
 Homer, arithmetic, elementary algebra, Eng- 
 lish grammar, ancient and modern geography, 
 ancient and modern history almost the same 
 as the Harvard requirements of 1870, fourteen 
 years later. 1 The course outlined 2 would be a 
 stiff one to-day, and its manifest impossibility 
 for the conditions of that day, even though the 
 claim is made that the inhabitants are chiefly 
 from New England and New York, 3 is seen in 
 the decline in later catalogues. At the same 
 time the institution is offering "wax flowers 
 and fruit" at an extra cost of $8, and " Grecian 
 painting" at $5, oil painting at $15, music at 
 $10, leather work at $5. The President had 
 raised a fund of $75,000. 
 
 In 1857-58 appears a new President, Otis A. 
 Skinner. Only 18 students are in college, 4 of 
 whom, all freshmen, are girls. In the scientific 
 
 i See Broome, p. 48. * Catalogue, 1854-55, pp. 20-24. 
 3 Catalogue of 1857-58.
 
 AT THE NORTH 59 
 
 department are 52 students, and in the pre- 
 paratory, 274. There is a great decline in the 
 standards for admission, the Eclogues and two 
 books of the ^Eneid, for example, two books of 
 Csesar, the Greek reader! Compared with the 
 statement just made, from 1855-56, what has 
 happened? Was the absurdity of the former 
 at once seen? Or has the institution passed 
 through a crisis? A new charter is now adopted, 
 and a new "plank walk extends to the post- 
 office and the different churches." Now, for 
 the first time, there is distinct reference to 
 coeducation as an issue, and it is claimed that 
 its success justifies it. 1 There is no rule bearing 
 especially on the presence of girls. 
 
 The Catalogue of 1859 shows six professors. 
 Six books of Virgil are now required and the 
 Anabasis (though no amount is specified). 
 
 In the Catalogue of 1860 the names of the 
 women, six of whom are in college, are placed 
 under the lists of men in the appropriate 
 classes. The requirements are changed, and 
 somewhat advanced, especially in Greek. 
 
 In 1861 we have a new body of rules, the 
 1 Catalogue of 1857-58, p. 24.
 
 60 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 first reference to any real problem in coeduca- 
 tion. "Those of different sexes may not visit 
 each other at their rooms at any time," nor 
 " attend the meetings of a society composed of 
 students of the opposite sex," nor "take walks 
 and rides together without permission," nor 
 "enter the marriage relation while connected 
 with the institution." 
 
 In 1862 there are three women in college, 
 but four are in the scientific course. Now 
 appears a "ladies' course," with four names. 
 It extends through three years, gives Cicero 
 and Virgil to its freshmen, Cicero and Horace 
 to the sophomores, and French to the seniors. 
 
 In 1863, of eight in the college course three 
 are women, but there are seven women in the 
 ladies' course and ten out of the twenty-six 
 students in the scientific. Not till 1864 is a 
 degree invented for the ladies' course, Laure- 
 ate of Arts (L.A.). In this year, the one pre- 
 ceding the opening of Vassar, there is printed a 
 list of the graduates from 1856 on. There are 
 eleven alumnae, including the class of 1863, 
 but of these five have B.S. and two L.A., show- 
 ing a very small demand for real college edu-
 
 AT THE NORTH 61 
 
 cation among the girls of that section. In 1864 
 there were granted two A.B/s and one L.A.; 
 in 1865, one B.S.; in 1866, one A.B.; and in 
 1867, the year of Vassar's first graduating 
 class, one L.A. 
 
 It may be mentioned, as indicative of the 
 problems with which the small colleges had to 
 deal at that time, that of the class of 1862, 
 seven out of the nine men are in the army. 
 
 We need not follow this history further, but 
 there is no increase of interest as late as 1869, 
 when the Catalogue shows five girls in the 
 classical course, and when the new "literary 
 course," in which no men are found, absorbs 
 most of the girls. Here was a full opportunity 
 of college education open to them, but as yet 
 there was no general interest awakened toward 
 it. A strong curriculum was published, worthy 
 of our best colleges, but the number trained 
 under it was very small. 1 
 
 1 It has been claimed that Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois, 
 introduced education for girls as early as Lombard. The 
 Story of Knox College (1912) shows that an education was 
 offered to girls in a special department, and under special 
 teachers, in 1849-50 (p. 66). In 1850 a three years' course 
 was organized as a "Female Collegiate Department." In 1851 
 three young women were graduated from this department.
 
 62 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 The Milwaukee College was chartered in 
 1853. There are no records of the Trustees, 
 and no catalogues existing from 1859 to 1867. x 
 The few suggestions of a curriculum and the 
 list of the faculty indicate a female seminary 
 of the usual type. Two were graduated in 1853, 
 but there is no word of a degree, though the 
 diploma (a copy of which is given 2 ) was de- 
 clared by the President "fully equivalent to 
 the baccalaureate or first degree in arts as 
 conferred by other literary institutions." The 
 college was poor in resources-and was apparently 
 no more than a school. 3 Even in 1874 and 
 
 The course was "somewhat diluted," is the statement of a 
 member of the Knox Faculty (p. 72). In 1858 this Female 
 Department had 60 students (in the college proper there were 
 109 men). In 1874 (p- 82), "the college took a new departure, 
 perhaps as a measure of policy, perhaps to satisfy a demand." 
 The "course was thrown open to women" with the privilege of 
 the A.B. degree. Even yet, though, they met in the seminary, 
 apart, excepting in the more advanced studies and in the 
 lectures of the senior year. They were allowed six years, 
 instead of four, to complete the course, in order "to avoid 
 injury to health, and to give time to the cultivation of fine 
 arts and other accomplishments which are not pursued by 
 young men." Not till 1891 was a distinctive course for 
 women abandoned, and not till 1901 was the substitute for it, 
 a B.L. course, in its turn given up. 
 
 1 Annals of Milwaukee College, 1848-91, p. 17. 
 
 * Ibid., p. 16. * Ibid., p. 11.
 
 AT THE NORTH 63 
 
 1875, when Professor Farrar, of Vassar, had 
 become President, the curriculum was not of 
 college grade. 
 
 Butler College, Indianapolis, was founded 
 in 1855 and opened to women. It had a 
 "female collegiate course" which continued 
 till 1864. 1 A transcript of this is furnished in 
 a letter by President Howe (October 8, 1910), 
 showing that it was but a three years' course, 
 that it offered preparatory Latin and mathe- 
 matics in its first year, two years of " German 
 or French," and a sprinkling of science, phil- 
 osophy, history, economics, etc. Mrs. Sewall 
 says that girls could substitute music for math- 
 ematics and French for Greek, but this may 
 refer to an earlier date than the President's 
 letter. He says that the Catalogue of 1870-71 
 states that the "Board have determined to 
 make no distinction between male and female 
 students, with respect to branches of study, 
 but invite them to pursue these branches upon 
 an 'equal' footing, and side by side make proof 
 of the 'rights' to the highest academic honors." 
 This, however, was much later than the date 
 
 1 Mrs. Sewall, in Woman's Work, p. 73.
 
 64 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 limiting the present investigation, and at that 
 time, 1870-71, Butler's freshman class was 
 doing mostly preparatory work. This must be 
 remembered as we record four women gradu- 
 ates of Butler up to and including 1865. Miss 
 Butler had entered the "male course" in 1858 
 and graduated in 1862, but the curriculum of 
 1870 suggests that that of 1860 was not up to 
 the grade of our better colleges. 1 
 
 1 The Oxford College for Women, Oxford, Ohio,, claims a 
 foundation in 1830, but as an academy (Oxford Female 
 Institute). A plant valued at $100,000 was dedicated in 1855- 
 56, but neither the faculty nor curriculum justifies the claim 
 that it was properly a college then. Its Superior Department, 
 for which the junior, middle, and senior years seem prepara- 
 tory, includes Virgil, Greek grammar and reader, the more 
 advanced mathematics characteristic of these schools, and 
 there is the usual philosophy of the time. There is a rearrange- 
 ment of classes, but no substantial advance of curriculum the 
 next year. "A knowledge of the elements of two languages, 
 at least, beside the English" is required for the "diploma." 
 No degrees were given, apparently, before 1886. (Letters and 
 other material from President Jane Sherzer, Ph.D.) Knight 
 and Commons's History of Education in Ohio does not mention 
 Oxford. 
 
 Since the above was in print the catalogues of the Penn- 
 sylvania Female College of Perkiomen Bridge (now College- 
 ville) have been seen, through the courtesy of the librarian of 
 Ursinus College. It was chartered in 1853 on the basis of a 
 privately owned seminary, "with full university privileges." 
 Its president was a graduate of Wesleyan. The other two 
 members of the small staff who had degrees received them from
 
 AT THE NORTH 65 
 
 Lawrence College, Appleton, Wisconsin, 
 opened for men and women in 1849, but as 
 preparatory, organized its freshman class in 
 1853, and graduated four men and three 
 women in 1857. Two of the latter received the 
 A.B. degree. The same course was planned 
 for men and women, and as everywhere else 
 the scientific course was of lower grade than 
 the classical. President Plantz, to whom we 
 are indebted for this information, 1 has fur- 
 nished a transcript of the course of study pub- 
 lished at that time. He gives the testimony of 
 one of these first graduates that most of the 
 girls took the classical course with the men, 
 and that the special course for women, which 
 received the same degree as the scientific 
 course, was not popular. Yet that course was 
 
 tfiis college in 1853, and occupied chairs in 1854. Latin was 
 begun in the college; the course was three years, and gradua- 
 tion was permitted at seventeen. A fourth year (sophomore) 
 was inserted in 1856-57. There are no academic entrance 
 requirements published, but for graduation a pupil must have 
 "completed the course," "or an equivalent," with the excep- 
 tion of the "Greek and the languages and mathematics of the 
 senior class"! The printed course is fair, but makes absurd 
 the claim of the Catalogue of 1854 that it is as "full and 
 thorough as in any of our American colleges for the other sex." 
 1 Letter of November 9, 1910.
 
 66 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 creditable, though much of it we should classify 
 as preparatory; and besides the usual science 
 and philosophy, gave opportunity, if desired, 
 to begin Greek and to carry on Latin to Horace 
 and the De Officiis, and to begin German. 
 French was required. 
 
 The classical course was a good one, with 
 the requirements of the better colleges in 
 mathematics, Latin, Greek; and the curricu- 
 lum had the rare feature of certain electives 
 after the second term of the junior year. 
 
 Hillsdale College, incorporated as the Michi- 
 gan Central College in 1850, and moved to 
 Hillsdale in 1853, was apparently rechartered 
 in 1855. 1 A degree of B.S. seems to have been 
 bestowed on a woman in 1851, and an A.B. in 
 1852. It struggled with great financial diffi- 
 culties and with many other obstacles, but the 
 spirit of its founders was like that at Oberlin. 
 Its first full- term class graduated in 1860, on 
 the basis of a good course of study. What 
 these earlier degrees may connote it is not easy 
 to discover, but they were manifestly not 
 
 1 History of Higher Education in Michigan, Bureau of Edu- 
 cation, Circulars of Information, no. 4, 1891, p. 124.
 
 AT THE NORTH 67 
 
 granted for a full four years' course. Happily 
 for the later period we have the record of the 
 visit of Sophia Jex Blake in 1865. l Life was 
 simple and conditions exceedingly crude, but 
 to Miss Blake the manners seemed rather 
 better than at Oberlin, and the classroom work 
 at least as good. The same general rules of life 
 prevailed. The professor of mathematics gave 
 enthusiastic testimony as to the excellence of 
 the work of the girls, and claimed for the 
 college standards of about equal grade with 
 the stronger Eastern institutions. Against his 
 view is the general crudeness of conditions and 
 lack of modern facilities, but in favor of it is the 
 intense earnestness of spirit which character- 
 ized the teachers and the students, and the 
 generally good standards witnessed to by that 
 spirit and a good curriculum. It is a strong 
 course which is set before us in 1865, 2 worthy 
 of any college then. The preparatory course is 
 but two years, but the student carried only 
 three subjects, it may be remembered, and 
 study was the rule of life. The English and 
 scientific courses have the usual weakness of 
 
 1 Visit, etc., pp. 65 seq. * Blake, pp. 94 seq.
 
 68 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 that period, and the ladies' course, four years, 
 was quite equal to them. 
 
 Cornell College, Mount Vernon, Iowa, 
 founded as an academy, was chartered a col- 
 lege in 1857. The catalogues show a good 
 course of study, open alike to "ladies "and 
 "gentlemen," the minimum age for entrance 
 being fourteen. The conditions of admission 
 included Caesar, Ovid, a book of the Anabasis, 
 and in the freshman year they studied Virgil, 
 Sallust, the Cyropsedia, geometry. This, how- 
 ever, is not the whole story. The B.S. degree 
 was given for the same course, without the 
 languages, and in three years; and the degree 
 of M.E.L. was also given to girls, which prob- 
 ably betokens still lesser requirements. But 
 an earnest effort was made to maintain a col- 
 lege, though it was vastly overweighted by 
 the academy. In 1858, for example, when one 
 woman graduated (M.E.L.) there were 27 
 students in college, 7 of whom were girls; but 
 there were 218 preparatories and 55 primaries. 
 The next year (1858-59) 3 girls graduated 
 (M.E.L.), 27 were in college, and 294 in the 
 academy. In 1859-60, 2 girls received B.S.;
 
 AT THE NORTH 69 
 
 and in 1860-61, 2 girls took the A.B. degree, 
 who were ranked as sophomores in the preced- 
 ing catalogue. The entire graduating class 
 was 4, the preparatories, 290, and pri- 
 maries, 87. One girl graduated in 1862 (B.S.), 
 none in 1863. The freshman class dwindled 
 from 40 to 19 in the second year. Was this the 
 influence of the war, or the lack of demand 
 for a college education? In 1864-65, 4 girls 
 graduated (2 A.B.; 1 M.E.L., 1 B.S.), and the 
 preparatories are divided into classical, 66, 
 and scientific, 245. Board, at from $2.50 to 
 $3.50 per week, is regarded as very high, and 
 the hope of lower rates is expressed. The 
 library now numbers about 600 volumes. In 
 1866, 3 girls graduated, 2 A.B., 1 B.S. There 
 are 459 in the classes of the Academy. In 1867, 
 7 girls graduated (3 A.B., 4 B.S.). The libra- 
 ries of the college and societies now number 
 2500 volumes. There are 77 in the classical 
 preparatory class,, and 266 in the "scientific" 
 This, in those days, was always a name for a 
 lower grade of requirement. In ten years, 
 then, 25 girls had graduated, 9 with A.B., the 
 others with the weaker degrees of B.S. and
 
 70 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 M.E.L. There was evidently no loud cry for 
 the higher education of women. 1 
 
 Earlham College had been a Friends' 
 Boarding-School since 1847, and was opened as 
 a college in 1859, 2 and the policy of coeduca- 
 tion was maintained from the beginning. The 
 first graduating class of the college consisted 
 of one man and one woman, in 1862, and no 
 woman is mentioned again till 1865, when five 
 of the ten graduates were women, three of 
 them with A.B. In 1866, there were no women, 
 and in 1867 one, with B.S. 3 
 
 The Catalogue of 1864-65 gives a picture of 
 one large building, apparently the old semin- 
 ary. The charges were $190 for everything for 
 forty weeks. If the student was not a Friend, 
 the tuition was fifteen dollars more, special 
 funds having been given for the Friends. 
 There were four professors for mathematics, 
 classics and their literature, natural science, 
 government and English literature. The scien- 
 tific course is marked by the usual weakness 
 
 1 Catalogues from 1857-58 to 1866-67, compared with the 
 Quinquennial of 1908. 
 
 2 Letter from Professor Lindley, November 1, 1910. 
 8 Alumni Triennial Catalogue, June, 1910.
 
 AT THE NORTH 71 
 
 as compared with the classical. In the latter 
 the freshmen read Virgil and Cicero, and 
 Greek is begun in the junior year, and cer- 
 tain studies are made elective for female 
 students. 1 The course is said to be "adapted 
 to the wants of the West." The library has 
 2000 volumes, including those of the literary 
 societies. No " gaudy clothing " or any jewelry, 
 excepting watches, will be allowed, and as " the 
 quantity of rich food sent to some students 
 by their parents and friends" has "produced 
 much inconvenience, particularly in a sanitary 
 view, the practice will be objected to with 
 the exception of ripe fruit, and the packages 
 returned." 
 
 There are several institutions which require 
 mention, for which the claim is sometimes made 
 that they also offered education to women in 
 this earlier period, but made mistakenly. 
 
 The University of Utah, or Deseret, for 
 example, was incorporated in 1850 by the 
 provisional government of the Territory, 
 whose action was ratified by the Legislature in 
 1851, and its opportunities were designed for 
 
 1 Catalogue of 1864-65.
 
 72 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 both sexes. "Owing to the immature condi- 
 tion of its finances as well as to the limited 
 patronage it received, instruction was discon- 
 tinued in 1851 (it was opened in November!) 
 and not resumed till November, 1867." 1 
 
 Baker University, Baldwin, Kansas, was 
 opened in 1858, but did not graduate a class 
 till 1866. Women were admitted on the same 
 terms as men, and of the three graduates of 
 this first class, one was a woman. 2 The course 
 of study taken by this class includes Livy, 
 Horace, and Cicero, the Iliad, Memorabilia, 
 and Odyssey, geometry and higher algebra, 
 in the freshman curriculum. The course is a 
 good one throughout, and for that period of 
 American education, makes particularly good 
 provision for history. 8 
 
 Swarthmore College is noted on the Twenty- 
 fifth Anniversary Programme of Bryn Mawr 
 College among the colleges open to women 
 before Vassar, and the date is given as 1864. 
 This college, however, though incorporated in 
 
 1 Catalogue of 1910-11, Historical Sketch. 
 
 * Letter from the President, November 10, 1910. 
 
 1 Copy furnished by President.
 
 AT THE NORTH 73 
 
 1864 (Vassar was chartered in 1861), was not 
 opened till 1869, and its first class was gradu- 
 ated in 1873. Women were admitted from the 
 first. 1 
 
 It is assumed very often that several of the 
 Western State Universities were pioneers in 
 this movement for college education for women, 
 but the facts do not warrant such a conclu- 
 sion. Naturally that would have been the 
 proper result of the Ordinances of 1785 and 
 1787, setting aside land for schools in every 
 township and for a State University in the 
 Territories or States carved out of the North- 
 west Territory. The social and economic con- 
 ditions, also, which had forced coeducation 
 in the early colleges in Ohio, Illinois, and 
 Michigan, already passed under review, would 
 seem to have especially demanded this in 
 State Colleges. But whatever the theory, the 
 facts were otherwise. Michigan, for example, 
 whose lead in this respect has been so signal, 
 only opened its doors to women fully in 1870. 
 At Wisconsin, writes the statistician of the 
 university, "women had very little consider- 
 
 1 Letter of Vice-President Hoadley, November 1, 1910.
 
 74 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 ation prior to its reorganization in 1866." 1 
 A Normal Department was maintained for 
 women only from 1863, but before that had 
 both men and women. Not till 1869 did a 
 woman receive the Ph.B. degree, and not till 
 1870 the degree of A.B. 2 At the time of the 
 reorganization, in 1866, the university was 
 "recognized" as open to all, but by legislation 
 this was limited the next year, and women were 
 confined to the Normal Department, which 
 was of much inferior grade. 3 
 
 Iowa State University seems to have ad- 
 mitted women to full privileges in I860, 4 but 
 there is small trace of college training for them 
 at that time. From 1858 to 1865, forty-two 
 women received certificates in the Normal 
 
 1 Letter, December 13, 1910. 2 Letter, supra. 
 
 3 Cf. Sewall, in Woman's Work, p. 75. She declares women 
 were not on the same footing with men till 1875. See Presi- 
 dent Bascom's testimony, that then 1875 he first got 
 the commencements together. Mrs. Olin says, however, that 
 the same rights in classes were enjoyed by women, and she 
 entered in 1872, and was "unconscious of any difference 
 whatever." That a woman received the degree in 1870 was 
 proof that she had had full privileges for four years. (Mrs. 
 Olin's letter of November 23, 1912.) The Regents seem to 
 have continued to discuss the question, as if unsettled. (Olin, 
 Women of a State University, p. 54.) 
 
 4 See table in Mrs. Sewall's essay, Woman's Work, p. 57.
 
 AT THE NORTH 75 
 
 Department. One woman graduated in 1863 
 in the college course and 3 in 1864. The 
 conditions of admission in 1860 were arith- 
 metic, algebra through equations of the first 
 degree, plane geometry, trigonometry, English 
 grammar, geography, four books of Caesar, 
 four orations of Cicero, six books of Virgil, 
 Greek reader and two books of the Anabasis, 
 a most creditable requirement at any date. 1 
 The preparatory department accomplished 
 this in two years. 2 In 1864-65, when there 
 were 164 "gentlemen" and 275 "ladies," 
 Ph.D. was given after one year of study to 
 those who had won the B.P. degree in college, 
 evidently an equivalent for the A.M. which 
 was given in a year to an A.B. We find now 
 that French and German may be substituted 
 for Greek. In 1866, after the war, we find 362 
 gentlemen, 306 ladies, 1 A.B. (man), and 8 
 normals (women). In 1866-67 there were 12 
 ladies in college classes, 10 of them freshmen 
 (of a class of 48). One lady took the A.B. 
 degree. 
 
 1 Letter of Executive Clerk, October 13, 1910. 
 
 2 See Catalogue of 1863-64.
 
 76 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 A peculiarity of the university was the giv- 
 ing of Latin through two years and Greek 
 through the other two, and this is claimed as 
 an invention of the university. But modern 
 languages may be substituted for Greek. 
 
 In 1867-68 there are 20 women in college, 
 15 of them freshmen, and the graduates are 
 1 man with A.B., 1 woman with B.S. Yet it is 
 said in the catalogue that "its progress has 
 exceeded the anticipation of its most anxious 
 friends." Evidently, though Iowa offered its 
 advantages to women in 1860, the college 
 education of girls in that State had in no degree 
 become a "movement" when Vassar gradu- 
 ated its first class. 
 
 It remains to recount the history of the one 
 college opened at this time, distinctly for the 
 education of girls, in an Eastern State. Elmira 
 College was chartered in 1855 (April 13), on 
 condition, "first, that no degree shall be con- 
 ferred without a course of study equivalent to 
 a full ordinary course of college study as pur- 
 sued in the colleges of this state shall have 
 been completed; second, that said college shall 
 be subject to the visitation of the Regents of
 
 AT THE NORTH 77 
 
 the University of the State of New York in 
 the same manner and to the same extent as 
 the other colleges of the State." Dr. Cowles 
 was called to the presidency in 1855, and he 
 states that a committee of five, representing as 
 many college faculties, was appointed to pre- 
 pare such a course of study as would be most 
 suitable for young women, the work in every 
 respect to be equivalent to that done in colleges 
 for men. 
 
 This curriculum provided for the freshman 
 year, Cicero's Orations, Greek Testament, 
 algebra, astronomy and botany, history and 
 the English poets; for the sophomore year, 
 Tacitus, Greek Testament and Homer, geom- 
 etry, French, political economy and civil 
 government, rhetoric, and philosophy. The 
 junior year gave logic, German, or French, 
 Kame's "Criticism," English, philosophy, 
 geology, mineralogy, chemistry, and trigono- 
 metry. The senior year offered Paley and 
 Butler, mental science and moral philosophy, 
 conic sections and mathematical astronomy, 
 French or German, English literature. The 
 studies of the programme were "recited" from
 
 78 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 four to five times a week, "making a weekly 
 schedule of not less than twenty-six to twenty- 
 eight recitations," "strenuous," as is 
 claimed, but suggestive of a lingering of the 
 school idea of that day about the college. But 
 the curriculum is certainly a thoroughly re- 
 spectable one, and it must be compared with 
 the standards of that day. The college deserved 
 the entire respect of those who were compar- 
 ing the new effort with the standards of men's 
 colleges in general. It can hardly be claimed, 
 however, that this curriculum is the equiva- 
 lent of some of those we have reviewed, and 
 which had already been taken by women. 
 Indeed, the claim that "to Elmira and to no 
 other belongs the distinction, the honor, and 
 the glory of introducing into the world's civili- 
 zation college education for women," cannot 
 be for a moment entertained, in light of the 
 history which we have been following. Per- 
 haps it is never true that a great movement is 
 found to have such a single and definite source. 
 But Elmira was a step forward, and deserved 
 more honor and attention and support than 
 were awarded it. It met ridicule, which is sur-
 
 AT THE NORTH 79 
 
 prising enough when one recalls the history of 
 the South and West, and skepticism and oppo- 
 sition, and suffered from a lack of the financial 
 support which it deserved. But what a strange 
 revelation of ignorance of what had been 
 already accomplished in other parts of the 
 land, when a college president called it "fad- 
 dish" to say that a woman could comprehend 
 college mathematics, or master the Greek 
 verb; and another declared the effort to give 
 women "a man's education" "too ridiculous," 
 and a professor of philosophy said that the 
 effort to teach women his branch of study was 
 "beyond his comprehension"! 
 
 In 1865, when Vassar opened, Elmira's 
 faculty consisted of a president, one other man 
 professor, a lady principal, called "precep- 
 tress" in "history, physiology, and English 
 literature," and a "preceptress" in "modern 
 languages, Latin, and algebra." There is an 
 assistant preceptress in history, arithmetic, 
 Latin, and drawing, three teachers of music 
 a college faculty of six or seven. There are 
 74 in college classes and 108 in the preparatory 
 school. Fourteen graduated in 1864, and the
 
 80 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 total number of graduates is 94. The freshmen 
 are called "protomathians," a singular effort 
 to escape a "masculine" word, a likeness to 
 which effort has prevailed at Smith for many 
 years. Probably "preceptress" was invented 
 to escape the use of "professor" for women. 
 
 This report of 1865 (the Regents') shows 
 Greek optional, and, by special vote of the 
 faculty, the possible substitution of music and 
 painting for German. The claim is made that 
 there is "nearly the ordinary amount of Latin 
 and mathematics"; that "it has been some- 
 what difficult to arrange with entire satisfac- 
 tion a college course of study for young ladies." 
 It furnishes "an appropriate share of those 
 elegant accomplishments which are so highly 
 esteemed in social life." Altogether this report 
 of 1865 seems to denote a struggle with great 
 difficulties and a question as to the possibility, 
 in the state of public opinion, of maintaining 
 the high standard of ten years before. The 
 endowment was only $5500; the real estate, 
 $90,000; the income from students, $26,505; 
 and the funded debt was $14,000. The salary 
 list was only $4865. The charge for board and
 
 AT THE NORTH 81 
 
 tuition was but $200 (laundry extra). It was 
 a hard struggle to maintain standards in such 
 conditions, but the effort was worthy, and 
 Elmira should have had the generous and 
 hearty support then which would have given 
 it the place it deserved through its pioneer 
 effort. 1 
 
 1 This material is gathered from a letter from President 
 Mackenzie; copies of the Curriculum of 1855; the Regents' 
 Report of 1865, which also gives the course of study for that 
 year; and material from a college publication, furnished by the 
 President.
 
 Ill 
 
 THE INCEPTION OF MATTHEW VASSAR*S PLAN 
 
 IN view of the various efforts already made, 
 both in the North and in the South, to give a 
 college education to girls, it might be supposed 
 that there would be no claim to novelty or 
 originality on the part of the plan announced 
 by Mr. Vassar. That claim, however, was dis- 
 tinctly made in the literature of the time, and 
 made also by men prominent in educational 
 work, in some cases even by those engaged in 
 the more advanced types of the schools and 
 so-called colleges for young women. There 
 can be no question as to the fact : the new col- 
 lege was heralded as a beginning of a new 
 work, and its founder as the discoverer of a 
 fresh principle. How could it be? How, 
 save that the work already done had not been 
 such as to attract the attention of the world, 
 and had not gained such proportions or been 
 set in such an environment as to impress any 
 but the small circle devoted to it? The inter-
 
 INCEPTION OF VASSAR'S PLAN 83 
 
 change of ideas was not rapid, as judged by 
 our present modes. Oberlin was remote, 
 Georgia and Mary Sharp were local in name 
 and influence, Elmira had just begun its work, 
 and was generally thought of, no doubt, as 
 another large school for girls. Moreover, a 
 great movement often depends on a great 
 opportunity, and the years of our bitter Civil 
 War were really the open sesame for the bud- 
 ding and blossoming and fruiting of the sub- 
 conscious demands for larger activities, larger 
 public responsibilities, and a more generous 
 education for womankind. It was one of the 
 happy synchronisms of history which opened 
 the doors of Vassar in the very year which 
 closed those of the temple of Janus and gave 
 to us a reunited country with new outlook, new 
 necessities, and new opportunities. Nothing 
 shows more clearly that there had been no ex- 
 tensive demand for college education for women 
 than the figures given in the preceding chapters. 
 For a quarter of a century opportunities had 
 been offered and they were recognized by very 
 few. The time for the movement in behalf of wo- 
 men had not come, but when it came the recog-
 
 84 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 nition was swift and the rapidity of the response 
 was momentous. Vassar really marked an epoch. 
 Therefore to most the foundation seemed new, 
 and the founder one of the great Originals. 
 
 How did it come to pass that the name of 
 this childless old man, a Poughkeepsie brewer, 
 self-educated and self-made, became identified 
 with one of the most remarkable causes of the 
 nineteenth century? The answer is full of 
 interest, and much of the inner history of the 
 influences that worked for the idea, amid great 
 oppositions and many threatening pitfalls, has 
 never been printed before. It would be a great 
 mistake to credit Mr. Vassar with original im- 
 pulse in the undertaking, or with native grasp 
 of the great ideas which he later formulated in 
 words so expressive and so striking. 
 
 This is not the place for the story of his life. 
 Suffice it to say that, born in England in 1792, 
 he came to this country with his parents in 
 1796, settled near Poughkeepsie, was trained 
 in the business of brewing ale, and worked up 
 from poverty to the possession of what was 
 then esteemed a great fortune, over $800,- 
 000. He was not only simple and thrifty in his
 
 INCEPTION OF VASSAR'S PLAN 85 
 
 habits; he was solid in his interests and acquire- 
 ments, read good books with thoughtfulness, 
 and expressed his views of them in simple and 
 effective style. He had no children, and as his 
 fortune grew the question of its ulterior use 
 employed his mind, and became a factor in his 
 conversation with his friends. He had been 
 much impressed, during a trip to Europe in 
 1845, by the Thomas Guy Hospital of London, 
 the founder of which was a distant kinsman of 
 his family, and he had resolved to devote a 
 large part of his fortune, during his lifetime, to 
 some benevolent purpose. As late as 1855 that 
 purpose was the foundation of a hospital; but 
 his plan to build in his lifetime must have 
 wavered if we accept the statement of Dr. 
 Jewett's narrative (in manuscript) that Mr. 
 Vassar told him, in 1855, that his will provided 
 that the bulk of his estate should go to his two 
 nephews, they having agreed that on the death 
 of the last survivor "the aggregate of the three 
 estates should go to the erection of the pro- 
 posed hospital." 1 "He added: 'In making this 
 
 1 Dr. Jewett's manuscript narrative, "Origin of Vassar 
 College," p. 6.
 
 86 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 disposition of my property, I desire to build a 
 monument to myself, to perpetuate my own 
 name, to do something for Poughkeepsie where 
 I have made all my money, and to do good for 
 my fellowmen.' 'And now,' he asked, 'what 
 do you think of my plan?" This question 
 introduces us to the man whose clear thought 
 was undoubtedly the cause of the change in 
 Mr. Vassar's plans, and whose influence was 
 the dominant factor in the whole scheme till 
 the unhappy circumstances arose which sepa- 
 rated him from it just before the college was to 
 open its doors. 
 
 The origin of the idea in Mr. Vassar's mind 
 has been ascribed frequently to his niece, 
 Lydia Booth, who was at the head of the Cot- 
 tage Hill Seminary for girls in Poughkeepsie, 
 the building for which was owned by Mr. 
 Vassar. Lossing tells us 1 that Miss Booth made 
 frequent suggestions to Mr. Vassar of the 
 founding of an institution "of a higher order 
 than any then existing" for her sex, and that 
 "the suggestion made a deep impression on his 
 mind." The earliest statement, however, on 
 
 1 Vassar College and its Founder, pp. 59, 81.
 
 INCEPTION OF VASSAR'S PLAN 87 
 
 the matter, that is known to us is contained 
 in Mr. Vassar's address to the trustees, on 
 February 23, 1864. He says: 1 
 
 And yet it is due to truth to say that my great 
 interest on the subject of female education was 
 awakened not less than twenty years ago by an 
 intimate female friend and relative, now deceased, 
 who conducted a seminary of long standing and 
 character in this city. That close intimacy and 
 interest continued many years, until just before 
 the institution passed into the hands of our Presi- 
 dent. It was this fact, more than any other, and 
 more than all others, that awakened me early to 
 the possibility and necessity of an institution like 
 the one we now propose. 
 
 Again, in an autobiographic manuscript, 
 preserved in the Matthew Vassar Museum, 
 written in December, 1866, he says: 
 
 About 1845 1 visited Europe and while in London 
 visited the famous "Guy" Hospital, the founder 
 of which a family relative, "John (Thomas?) 
 Guy," my nephew John Guy Vassar had the 
 honor of being named after. Seeing this institution 
 first suggested the idea of devoting a portion of my 
 estate to some charitable purpose, and about this 
 period took quite an interest in a niece of mine, 
 
 1 Communications of the Founder, February 23, 1864.
 
 88 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 Lydia Booth, who was then engaged in a small 
 way in the tuition of children resulting in after 
 years in the opening of a female seminary in Pough- 
 keepsie being the first of kind excepting one other, 
 Mrs. Conger, in the village. The force of circum- 
 stances brought me occasionally in business inter- 
 course with my Niece, which will account for the 
 early direction of my mind for the enlarged educa- 
 tion of women and the subsequent drift of inquiries 
 in my conversation and correspondence with 
 gentlemen educators in this country and a few in 
 Europe, which by reference to letters on file will 
 more fully appear. 
 
 It must be noted, however, that this was 
 written after the college was in large part 
 built and organized, and when the influence of 
 the mind which had been chiefly potent in 
 prompting it had waned. In his great first 
 address, in 1861, he makes no reference to the 
 source of his idea. Mr. Swan, Mr. Vassar's 
 closest friend, thought Miss Booth's influence 
 was "infinitesimal." It is surely most unlikely 
 that this excellent woman, who controlled 
 an ordinary young woman's seminary, had 
 any large vision of a college. In any case, 
 Miss Booth had died, and Mr. Vassar's will 
 had been made without any reference to the
 
 INCEPTION OF VASSAR'S PLAN 89 
 
 educational project. Then, in 1855, Dr. Jewett 
 appears upon the scene. 1 
 
 Milo P. Jewett was born in Vermont in 1808, 
 was graduated at Dartmouth in 1828, and at 
 the Andover Theological Seminary in 1830. 
 He felt that his call was to teach, and accepted 
 a chair in Marietta College and also gave his 
 energies toward the establishment of a public 
 school system for Ohio. Having changed his 
 views on baptism, he resigned his chair in 
 1838, went South, and established the Judson 
 Female Institute at Marion, Alabama, in Jan- 
 uary, 1839. 2 It was one of the strong and best- 
 known schools of the South, with a patronage 
 running up to two hundred and fifty pupils. 
 Owing to the growth and intensity of the anti- 
 slavery discussions, Mr. Jewett left the South 
 
 1 The founder writes Mrs. S. J. Hale ("editress" of Godey's 
 Lady's Book), January 25, 1864: "At the incipient stage of the 
 contemplated scheme, before lisping the idea to any mortal, 
 I first conferred with my friend Professor Jewett, from whom 
 I not only received a full endorsement of my view, but he 
 largely contributed to aid me in its further development." 
 It was natural enough that the founder should have so 
 blended his various thoughts of a time then many years behind 
 him as to fail to distinguish the strands of influence that had 
 guided him. 
 
 J Educational Review, October, 1912, p. 22 J.
 
 90 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 in 1855, and purchased the school in Pough- 
 keepsie which had been conducted by Lydia 
 Booth. Thus he was thrown into relations of 
 increasing intimacy with Matthew Vassar. 
 
 The unhappy circumstances of 1864, which 
 dissolved at once this friendship and Dr. 
 Jewett's relations to Vassar College, must con- 
 cern us later, but they were the occasion, after 
 his retirement, of the preparation of a manu- 
 script by Dr. Jewett which reviewed the incep- 
 tion of the enterprise and its progress till the 
 close of his connection with it. This paper, 
 entitled " Origin of Vassar College," was written 
 by Dr. Jewett in Milwaukee, where he spent 
 his later years, and where he was an officer of 
 the Board of the Milwaukee Female College, 
 and for a time also Chairman of the Board of 
 Visitors of the State University. The manu- 
 script of 149 pages of legal cap is signed in 
 March, 1879, in a trembling hand, by Milo P. 
 Jewett. This was fifteen years after he left 
 Vassar, and possibly there may be occasional 
 failures in his recollections; but his statements 
 are buttressed by papers of his own, dating 
 from these active years and incorporated in
 
 MILO P. JEWETT 
 
 President of Vassar College 1861-1864
 
 INCEPTION OF VASSAR'S PLAN 91 
 
 his story. The college archives also contain 
 letters corroborative of the general narrative. 
 
 Mr. Jewett and Mr. Vassar were associated 
 in the same church, though Mr. Vassar had 
 not himself joined the church, but was "fond 
 of talking on religious subjects," and they 
 became gradually "free and confidential." 
 Mr. Jewett came thus to speak plainly of the 
 duty "of the rich man to use his property for 
 the glory of God." At length Mr. Vassar told 
 him his plan, as already stated, and to his 
 question Mr. Jewett answered frankly that it 
 did not strike him favorably. "Great hospi- 
 tals are for great cities." To spend a great sum 
 in a city "not a seaport," and not likely ever 
 to exceed "forty or fifty thousand inhabitants," 
 seemed to him "an unwise use of money." 
 "Indeed, I think you might as well throw it 
 into the Hudson River!" 
 
 "Mr. Vassar expressed great surprise at this 
 unexpected disapproval of his plans," but Mr. 
 Jewett then, and subsequently, by word and 
 by writing, followed up his attack on the cher- 
 ished scheme until Mr. Vassar became "dis- 
 satisfied with the provisions of his will."
 
 92 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 "One day, in a characteristic outburst of 
 impatience he petulantly exclaimed, *I wish 
 somebody would tell me what to do with my 
 money ! It 's the plague of my life keeps me 
 awake o' nights stocks going down, banks 
 breaking, insurance companies failing!'" Mr. 
 Jewett seized his opportunity, told him of a 
 scheme which had been growing in his mind 
 for several years, which he could never execute, 
 but which Mr. Vassar's money would make 
 possible. "It's to build and endow a college 
 for young women which shall be to them what 
 Yale and Harvard are to young men." "There 
 is not an endowed college for young women in 
 the world," he told him, though "plenty of 
 female colleges so-called," with "no libraries, 
 cabinets, museums, apparatus worth mention- 
 ing." If he would build such a college it would 
 be a "monument more lasting than the pyra- 
 mids." "The idea caught the imagination of 
 Mr. Vassar, and then and there Vassar College 
 was born." "This was in the winter of 1855- 
 56." 
 
 It is a rather remarkable statement of Mr. 
 Jewett's that, so far as he knows, even the
 
 INCEPTION OF VASSAR'S PLAN 93 
 
 most advanced thinkers on the higher educa- 
 tion of "the weaker sex" had not entertained 
 this conception of a substantially equivalent 
 education. He refers to Miss Beecher and 
 Mary Lyon, but finds no trace of the idea of a 
 "full course of liberal studies in an institution 
 fully equipped and amply endowed." It is to 
 be remembered that this man was a New 
 Englander, too, a graduate of one of its leading 
 colleges, a frequent speaker on educational 
 issues, a professor in an Ohio college, associ- 
 ated with the Ohio school system, and with a 
 long and successful experience in the education 
 of girls. And he calls this "the first female 
 college in the world." Evidently priority of 
 date is not so much in his mind as the fullness 
 of equipment. 
 
 Mr. Jewett saw that he had deeply impressed 
 his friend and followed up his advantage. He 
 gives us one of the papers submitted to Mr. 
 Vassar at that time, entitled "Facts and reflec- 
 tions respecting the founding of a College for 
 Young Ladies, addressed to Matthew Vassar, 
 Esq." * 
 
 1 Manuscript narrative, p. 10.
 
 94 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 He begins with quotations regarding the 
 education of females, from the Rev. Dr. 
 Spring, the highly distinguished clergyman of 
 New York, a fine passage satisfactory to 
 every believer of to-day, and from Lord 
 Brougham. He dwells then on the influence of 
 mothers and the dependence on their wise 
 education of the future of the country; he 
 points out the influence of teachers, 60,000 
 female teachers being then at work in the 
 land. Nothing can meet the demand but 
 the establishment of institutions of collegiate 
 rank for women. He tells of the inestimable 
 value of the colleges for men and the truth that 
 like conclusions must be accepted for the other 
 sex. With tact he indicates the high honor 
 accorded to the founders of these institutions, 
 and adds, but "not one single college for 
 young women has yet been established in this 
 country." He means, he says, "that not one 
 has been founded and endowed which will 
 compare with any of the respectable colleges 
 for our own sex." They have no high stand- 
 ards and no permanency. They are individual 
 or sectarian. He then proceeds to sketch the
 
 INCEPTION OF VASSAR'S PLAN 95 
 
 needs of such an institution, "buildings, 
 libraries, cabinets, apparatus, etc., a full fac- 
 ulty of instructors, men of learning and repu- 
 tation; endowments to secure permanency, 
 and to support worthy indigent students of 
 promising talents." He pays a tribute to Mary 
 Lyon's work, but says all that has been done 
 can never compare with "Yale, Brown, or 
 Union " unless there be abundant endowments. 
 The demand, however, is sure, as is shown in 
 the endowment of some schools, and in the ef- 
 forts of " the American Woman's Education 
 Association," which was chartered in New 
 York in 1852, and has already started, on a 
 small scale, colleges in Milwaukee and Du- 
 buque. He mentions impressive names of men 
 and women enlisted in the work. 
 
 Then he appeals directly to Mr. Vassar 
 regarding the employment of "the thousands 
 over which God has made you steward" for 
 this very end. How can he appropriate his 
 property "more wisely, more usefully, more 
 nobly?" He appeals to his interest in the 
 Sunday-School, Bible Societies, Missions, the 
 development of the West, his pride in Pough-
 
 96 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 keepsie, the love of his town, his country, and 
 his God, and indicates that the work for a 
 college for women will promote all these and 
 establish his own fame. "From its towers 
 lifted to the sky it will reflect the luster of 
 your munificence so long as the sun shall shine 
 in the heavens." And the present is the time for 
 action, "at least so far as to make final 
 testamentary arrangements on the subject." 
 His might be the privilege of leadership and 
 example, like "Elisha [!] Yale, John Harvard, 
 and Mr. Brown." What Fulton and Morse had 
 done for physical and material interests (Morse 
 was a townsman of Vassar, and later one of 
 the charter trustees of the College), he might 
 do for this higher cause. Others had written 
 of steam and electricity, but these had done 
 the deed and won the fame. "To you Provi- 
 dence offers the high privilege, the peculiar 
 honor, of actually establishing and putting into 
 operation the first grand permanent endowed 
 Female College ever opened in the United 
 States"; and he adds a fervent appeal to the 
 consecration of his wealth to this high end. 
 Even if his nephews should not join him,
 
 INCEPTION OF VASSAR'S PLAN 97 
 
 and Dr. Jewett had reason to doubt their 
 interest, Mr. Vassar was assured that he 
 himself could carry through the scheme. 
 
 At once Mr. Vassar brought up objections 
 that occurred to his cautious mind. It is inter- 
 esting to note the absence from them of the 
 considerations popularly urged, even yet, 
 against college education for girls. These 
 objections are inferred from another of Dr. 
 Jewett's letters given us in full, answering in 
 detail a letter of Mr. Vassar's, and showing the 
 tactfulness of Dr. Jewett's approach as well as 
 the force of his conviction. 
 
 Objections are natural, says Jewett. How- 
 ard, Columbus, Mary Lyon, met them. The 
 wise man will look for basal principles and 
 then move serenely on. There are two ques- 
 tions he asks "in the presence of the Searcher 
 of Hearts" when he "is really desirous to 
 decide on the particular path in which Provi- 
 dence would have him walk." "Is the plan or 
 enterprise judicious?" "Is it practicable?" 
 
 Regarding the former query, he refers back 
 to the earlier document, which was only a 
 sketch, "knowing that for you nothing more
 
 98 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 was necessary." He then takes up, seriatim, 
 "the objections in your note." 
 
 1. The envy that might be excited among 
 smaller institutions. This is not sustained by 
 the experience of men's colleges. The stand- 
 ards would be everywhere raised. The sec- 
 tarian element can be carefully excluded. 
 
 2. Private and select schools would interfere 
 with the scheme. These will always exist, but 
 enough patrons remain who appreciate "supe- 
 rior education" "to fill up a dozen such insti- 
 tutions as you contemplate," and the better 
 the seminaries the fuller they are. Over two 
 thousand are in the Willard, Spingler, Rutgers, 
 Pittsfield, the Packer; and the New England 
 schools have an equal number. These would be 
 "nurseries for the college." The fear that 
 large schools for girls encourage bad habits, 
 tastes, and depraved principles is entirely 
 unsustained. The facts are against the smaller. 
 
 3. Is there not a prejudice against the insti- 
 tutions as aristocratic? "Not a growing" one. 
 It is less so than twenty-five years earlier. 
 Never did the colleges so fully command the 
 confidence of the people.
 
 INCEPTION OF VASSAR'S PLAN 99 
 
 4. Will not the wealthy object to the educa- 
 tion of their daughters with the poor? Not 
 often, though that may be true of a "solitary 
 snob." Mind is the standard in colleges, and 
 talent secures rank. Wealth appreciates this, 
 and Holyoke demonstrates it. 
 
 5. Why raise the poor above their sphere, 
 and awaken aspirations that can never be satis- 
 fied? That opens the whole question of edu- 
 cating women, and the century has settled that 
 she shall be educated. Let her have the highest 
 education her faculties can receive; only let 
 it be as Dr. Sears writes, "of the feminine 
 gender." 
 
 6. "Have not gigantic enterprises failed 
 either through the incapacity or dishonesty of 
 disbursing agents, or from other causes?" Not 
 educational enterprises! Yale, Harvard, An- 
 dover have not lost a dollar. Even Girard 
 succeeds, though under a city corporation, 
 "without soul or conscience." 
 
 So after meeting objections, Dr. Jewett now 
 adduces a new argument. All the seminaries 
 are trying to persuade the public that they are 
 "colleges for young ladies." That proves the
 
 100 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 demand! The college would be popular. The 
 enterprise is "judicious." 
 
 "Is it practicable?" A second note from 
 Mr. Vassar had raised this issue. "I perceive 
 that you have decided that the plan is not 
 * practicable ' on the large scale heretofore con- 
 templated." "Very good; let us reduce the 
 scale, the principle will remain unchanged." 
 Mr. Vassar had asked for a scheme which 
 would employ the bulk of the three estates, 
 his nephews' and his own. The nephews were 
 "not prepared to pledge their cooperation" 
 (a mild and patient statement in view of the 
 facts!). A smaller scheme was called for, but 
 one leaving "room for future growth and 
 expansion." Dr. Jewett assures Mr. Vassar 
 that he can found "an institution far beyond 
 anything existing and which will in the future 
 realize all the grand and splendid results to 
 which I have heretofore adverted." He closes 
 with the hope that Mr. Vassar will find the 
 scheme both practical and practicable and that 
 he will live to see the enterprise consummated. 
 
 In a note to this letter he tells us that he fur- 
 nished "details of the reduced plans," but that
 
 INCEPTION OF VASSAR'S PLAN 101 
 
 "subsequently the financial skies brightened," 
 and "Mr. Vassar incorporated in his will 
 another plan which I furnished him, appropri- 
 ating $400,000 to the college." 
 
 The scheme, however, had not yet passed 
 beyond the dangers which threatened its reali- 
 zation. The nephews, Matthew, Jr., and John 
 Guy, who favored the plan for the hospital, 
 watched the new scheme with suspicion and 
 without sympathy, but, according to Dr. 
 Jewett's testimony, with apparent friendliness 
 for him, and with confidence that their uncle 
 would again change his mind. It is said that 
 Mr. Vassar frequently made a new will, in 
 the uncertainties he felt as to the wise disposi- 
 tion of his property. Meanwhile, to strengthen 
 his purpose Jewett entered into correspondence 
 with a number of educators, telling them that a 
 gentleman of wealth had under consideration 
 the endowment of a college for young women 
 and asking their views as to the wisdom of the 
 project. He tells us that, with a single excep- 
 tion, they gave it their warmest approval. 
 These letters were placed in Mr. Vassar's 
 hands, and greatly influenced his mind. 1 
 1 Jewett's narrative, p. 36; cf. 46.
 
 102 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 Scarcely a trace of them has been found. 
 After Mr. Vassar's death M. Vassar, Jr., sold 
 to a ragman the founder's great accumulation 
 of papers and letters, dating back to his early 
 years. Mr. Oliver Booth expostulated with 
 him, but he replied, "See how much I have 
 added to the estate ! " l It is probable that these 
 valuable letters were thus destroyed. We 
 know that among those consulted were Barnas 
 Sears, President of Brown; Jacob Abbott; 
 Presidents Anderson and Robinson. Dr. 
 Charles West, of Brooklyn, formerly of Rut- 
 gers Institute, New York, who for many years 
 was a leader in all the best work for woman's 
 education, was one of these correspondents. 
 Under date of February 6, 1888, he addressed 
 the writer a letter, asking if among the college 
 papers one was to be found by him in which he 
 had answered "in extenso" a letter from Dr. 
 Jewett written to him in November, 1855. 
 Jewett had asked his views on the following 
 points, and the questions are probably 
 those which he put in all his "one hundred 
 
 1 Statement of O. Booth to Mr. Henry Booth, of Pough- 
 keepsie, from whom the writer receives it.
 
 INCEPTION OF VASSAR'S PLAN 103 
 
 letters." It is impossible to tell whether the 
 language is Jewett's or West's, though quota- 
 tion marks (at the end only) and the copy of the 
 signature of Jewett would indicate that it is a 
 copy of the original. 
 
 I. The Organization, a. If collegiate, how shall 
 the instructors be supported? b. Endowments, 
 how far desirable? c. What foundations for provi- 
 sions (? the word is uncertain), etc.? 
 
 II. The course of study, a. Ancient Languages. 
 What and how far? b. Modern Languages, pre- 
 requisite to a diploma? c. Shall all students pursue 
 a classical course? d. What shall be deemed an 
 equivalent? e. Degrees, under what title? 
 
 III. Buildings, how many and what to accom- 
 modate 300 boarders, furnishing all needful liter- 
 ary, scientific, social and religious appliances? How 
 can family influence be secured? 
 
 IV. Apparatus, amount and cost? 
 
 At present publicity is not desired, you will 
 therefore please regard this communication as 
 confidential." 
 
 M. P. JEWETT." 
 
 Mr. Vassar now asked Dr. Jewett to outline 
 for him a plan of the institution he proposed. 
 Many weeks were spent in elaborating a 
 scheme which should include buildings,
 
 104 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 apparatus, library, museum, observatory, gym- 
 nasium, art gallery, a course of study, the 
 faculty required, salaries, wages, etc. By the 
 time this was done, Mr. Vassar had determined 
 to devote the bulk of his property to a college, 
 after his death, and in June, 1857, he destroyed 
 his former will and with his own hand wrote a 
 new one, in which he copied Jewett's plan 1 
 "word for word," devoted $400,000 to the 
 work, and provided that it should be established 
 on the outlined plan. That plan, says Jewett, 
 who kept no copy, was indicated in its "gen- 
 eral features" in the famous and epochal 
 address of Mr. Vassar to his new trustees in 
 February, 1861. Later, Mr. Jewett induced 
 Mr. Vassar, he says, to add a codicil to the 
 will, giving the rest of his estate to the college. 
 "The next step was to persuade Mr. Vassar 
 to build the college at once, that he might 
 enjoy the supreme satisfaction of seeing it 
 in successful operation." Ever since he had 
 looked on the inscription on the Thomas Guy 
 Hospital, Lossing tells us, he had thought of 
 doing something worthy while he was alive, 
 1 Jewett's manuscript narrative, p. 38.
 
 INCEPTION OF VASSAR'S PLAN 105 
 
 but it was only by a gradual process that he 
 could come to the point of parting with his 
 hard-earned and slowly accumulated fortune. 
 Jewett urged the value of his long business 
 experience in connection with the building of 
 the college, the joy to be reaped by doing the 
 work himself, the escaping of a possible contest 
 of his will, the crying present need of the bene- 
 fits he contemplated giving, the happiness of 
 seeing the students from the whole land hail- 
 ing him as friend and father and benefactor. 
 But the times seemed unfavorable. The diffi- 
 culties that were so soon to ripen into war 
 threatened his securities and might imperil 
 the enterprise. He feared he might be like the 
 man who began to build and was not able 
 to finish, and those who were opposed to the 
 scheme urged him against immediate action. 
 Jewett wrote a friend at that time, "My 
 mammoth Vassar College is likely to sleep on 
 ten years because so much of Mr. Vassar's 
 property is invested in railroad stocks, now 
 twenty-five to fifty per cent below par." 
 
 But Mr. Vassar was determined now to 
 carry out his plan and frequently refers in his
 
 106 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 letters to his pleasure in being his own execu- 
 tor. He is warned by the extravagance of the 
 Girard executors. He desired architectural 
 designs. Jewett consulted Tefft, of Providence, 
 a prominent school architect who made the 
 interesting plans, still preserved, but rendered 
 useless by his untimely death. James Renwick, 
 Jr., of New York, was then employed. Jewett 
 says the broad corridors adjacent to the outer 
 walls were Mr. Vassar's "pet idea" 1 but that 
 the general interior plans were his own, 
 throughout, including the large number of 
 flights of stairs and the unusual fire-protection. 
 The architect forgot the closets which he had 
 instructed him to furnish ! He wished the plans 
 redrawn later, but the long delay was urged as 
 the reason for proceeding. 2 
 
 Efforts were made from time to time to 
 secure the cooperation of his nephews, but 
 without result. Jewett accuses them of devis- 
 ing a plan, as late as the winter and spring of 
 1860, to divert their uncle's attention from his 
 
 1 Manuscript narrative, p. 42. 
 
 2 Jewett denies all foundation for the legend as to Mr. 
 Vassar's remark that the girls could "drive nails in the walls 
 and hang their gowns on them."
 
 INCEPTION , OF VASSAR'S PLAN 107 
 
 purpose, so as to save the bulk of the fortune 
 for their hospital scheme, to which eventually 
 the great part of their property went. The 
 story is interesting even if it leaves us in uncer- 
 tainty as to the founder's relation to the scheme. 
 Jewett tells us 1 that one Sunday morning at 
 "Sabbath School," M. Vassar, Jr., approached 
 him " gleefully, rubbing his hands " and " beam- 
 ing with smiles," assuring him that his uncle 
 was about to build a school for boys, one for 
 girls, and a free library, in the city; that the 
 project was already before the legislature, and 
 announced in the city paper. Jewett saw the 
 significance of the scheme at once, and that 
 afternoon addressed to Mr. Vassar a letter of 
 which he gives a copy. It fills four pages of 
 legal cap, in the manuscript, and it may well 
 be called crucial in the history of Vassar Col- 
 lege. He reminds him that his purpose for 
 three years had been adverse to dividing up 
 his estate, and recalls his wish to perpetuate his 
 name by a worthy monument; that a college 
 for women had been contemplated and widely 
 indorsed, praised, and commended by distin- 
 1 Manuscript narrative, pp. 44 seq.
 
 108 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 guished men, and for it he had made his will. 
 "In this did you act intelligently, wisely, and 
 judiciously? I think you did." Now he learns 
 he has abandoned this great project for the 
 small scheme suggested. "O, what a fall was 
 there, my countrymen ! " " Your advisers have 
 razed your magnificent 120-gun ship down to 
 a barge ! You give up your coach and six for a 
 wheel-barrow. Your monument which would 
 have been more enduring than the pyramids 
 is given up for a pine slab placed at the head 
 of your grave." He points out the purely local 
 character of the proposition. No one will ever 
 hear of it outside the locality. Other places 
 have just such schools, and they are unheard 
 of beyond their narrow, though highly bene- 
 fited, constituencies. He replies to the argu- 
 ments which have been used to induce him to 
 "sacrifice the college." It is too vast an under- 
 taking, "too many eggs in one basket." Secu- 
 rities are depressed, and the $400,000 might 
 possibly fall to $250,000. Even then a good 
 start can be made, he affirms, though for a 
 smaller college, and tuition charges may be 
 made, not calculated before. But he is sure of
 
 the full value of the property. "Leave these 
 insignificant schools to men of small means 
 and smaller hearts. Do something, I beg of 
 you, worthy of yourself, worthy of your ample 
 fortune Providence has given you, and worthy 
 of Him who gave it." And he signs the letter 
 with a heavy heart and a trembling hand. 
 
 The story that follows is extraordinary and 
 not free from contradictions. We have Jewett's 
 narrative, and a few brief items from the diary 
 of M. Vassar, Jr., 1 and they are not reconcilable 
 in a most vital point. Mr. Jewett says that 
 early the next morning M. Vassar, Jr., called 
 at his house and said, " Uncle Matthew wishes 
 to see you immediately." He found Mr. 
 Vassar with his note of Sunday before him. 
 He, Mr. Vassar, asserted that "the proceedings 
 at Albany were without his sanction"; that 
 his nephews had urged on him the new scheme, 
 intimating that they would then cooperate 
 with him in the college enterprise. He had 
 never seen the bill, though he had sought to 
 do so, but it had been hurried to Albany and 
 before the House. He was ignorant of its pro- 
 1 Furnished me by its owner, Mr. Henry Booth.
 
 110 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 visions, and was now convinced it was a con- 
 spiracy against the college project and he 
 would have the bill withdrawn. He wished 
 Jewett to go with him to his counsel's office. 
 He declined, but after leaving Mr. Vassar con- 
 sidered that the lawyer might influence him 
 wrongly, and that he would better go to his 
 help. He found Mr. Vassar and the counsel 
 with a copy of the bill between them. "Pro- 
 fessor Jewett is just the man to tell us how to 
 fill these blanks specifying the age at which 
 boys and girls should enter the High Schools," 
 was the courteous word of greeting to him by 
 the lawyer. "Pushing away the paper which 
 he had thrust under my nose, and looking him 
 steadily in the eyes, I said, 'I care nothing for 
 your petty village schools that you talk about, 
 but answer me this : if the bill before the House 
 becomes a law, will it not kill Vassar College 
 dead?" The counsel, confounded by the sud- 
 den attack, "stammered out: 'Mr. Vassar has 
 given up the college, I suppose'"; and Mr. 
 Jewett regards this as a fatal admission of the 
 plan of the "conspirators." Mr. Vassar was 
 angered, sprang from his chair, stamped his
 
 INCEPTION OF VASSAR'S PLAN 111 
 
 foot, and exclaimed, "I have n't given up the 
 college! Have never thought of doing it!" 
 and he charged the counsel with the responsi- 
 bility of drawing the bill he had never seen and 
 getting it before the Assembly without his 
 consent, and bade him write and withdraw the 
 bill at once. The counsel at once wrote a note 
 stating that Mr. Vassar had changed his mind 
 and would withdraw the bill, and handed it 
 to Mr. Vassar. He threw it "angrily" upon 
 the table, saying, "I haven't changed my 
 mind. I never have had but one mind about 
 the matter"; and instructed the counsel to 
 write simply to stop proceedings. This was 
 done, and Mr. Vassar and Mr Jewett mailed 
 the letter. Mr. Vassar now gave up all hope of 
 the cooperation of his nephews, and for "nearly 
 a year" "never mentioned the college to them 
 or to their legal adviser." 
 
 Such is Mr. Jewett's story of a crucial 
 moment in the life of the great undertaking, 
 and there is no likelihood that there is any 
 other documentary evidence regarding it, sav- 
 ing a few entries in the diary of M. Vassar, 
 Jr., and a newspaper statement regarding the
 
 112 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 withdrawal of the bill. 1 The senior Vassar's 
 diary is for the most part a list of items. 
 
 M. Vassar, Jr., in his journal for March 23, 
 1859, notes that he was "engaged with M. V. 
 and Swift out at Mill Cove Farm, looking at a 
 site for Female Colledge." This is an indica- 
 tion of cooperation a year earlier than the 
 events under review. "Feby. 7, 1860," he 
 writes, "With M. V. and Swift in office this 
 day talking over matters pertaining to colledge 
 etc., reducing the extent, etc." This last clause 
 closely concerns the project under discussion. 
 "Mch. 9," he enters, "Engaged this day with 
 M. V. and Swift preparg papers for act incor- 
 poration from Legislature for Vassar high 
 school girls and also Boys high school and 
 Vassar Library. C. Swift goes up this day to 
 Albany." "Mch. 13," he says, "The applica- 
 tion for charter for Vassar Colledge was favor- 
 able before Legislature but further passage or 
 action checked by order M. V. pr telegraph 
 from Swift on a/c of some discrepancies in bill 
 and phraseolgy of the name etc. callg it 
 Vassar high school for Bys and one of same for 
 
 1 See chapter on "Reception of M. Vassar's Plan," p. 207.
 
 INCEPTION OF VASSAR'S PLAN 113 
 
 girls, whereas it intitld as Female Colldge and 
 other articles requirg addig etc etc" This 
 is all that bears on the chief issue here; but, 
 as against Jewett's memory that the founder 
 for nearly a year did not mention the college to 
 these men, these two further entries may be 
 subjoined, "Ap. 23 M. V. had Mr. Renwick 
 architect here last week looking over grounds 
 Mill Cove preparatory to buildg Female 
 Collge," which is not conclusive evidence, 
 -and, "Aug. 30 M. V. M. V. Jr, C. W. 
 Swift and T. L. Davies out at Mill Cove look- 
 ing at Lands of T. L. Davies and purchasd of 
 him 66 acres at $200 pr acre for addition to 
 present Lands M. V. for Female College," 
 which shows Jewett's remembrance at fault. 
 
 But what of the vital issue? Was there a 
 "conspiracy," as Jewett thought? Was the 
 founder ignorant of the intentions of his asso- 
 ciates? Two facts are clear: the nephews were 
 not in sympathy with their uncle's plan, 
 though later they gave him a moderate cooper- 
 ation. They had hoped and planned for a hos- 
 pital, and had no interest whatever in college 
 education for women. Jewett, on the other
 
 114 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 hand, had no confidence in them, and was sure 
 that they were actively working against his 
 scheme and attempting to deprive it of its 
 great scope if they could not destroy it. These 
 two antagonistic interests may help us to 
 interpret the facts. 
 
 There were discussions of modification of 
 Jewett's accepted plans going on without his 
 knowledge. The entry in the diary for Febru- 
 ary 7, 1860, shows that these men were consid- 
 ering "reducing the extent" of the plans. 
 Financial conditions in 1860 may have influ- 
 enced that, and Jewett's letter, quoted above, 
 would indicate that he knew the objection had 
 been urged before. The entry in the diary for 
 March 9 shows that Mr. Vassar was with his 
 nephew and counsel when papers were pre- 
 pared incorporating a school for boys, one for 
 girls, and a library. It is to be noted, too, that 
 the entry for March 13 speaks of this applica- 
 tion as for a charter for "Vassar College." 
 Evidently, when the entry was made, the 
 nephew did not know all the circumstances 
 regarding the withdrawal of the bill and the 
 mailing of the note, and assumed that the
 
 INCEPTION OF VASSAR'S PLAN 115 
 
 trouble was with the "phraseology of the 
 name" and other "discrepancies." But why 
 the excitement of Mr. Vassar, and his anger? 
 Can it be that his mind was changed by the 
 letter of that Sunday; that he had contem- 
 plated cutting down the project to the three 
 smaller undertakings, thinking a "Female 
 College" might be made of high-school dimen- 
 sions; and that Jewett's letter inflamed his old 
 ardor and showed him clearly how the new pro- 
 ject would destroy the old? Or did he vacillate? 
 He certainly discussed some modified scheme 
 and a charter for it, as this hitherto hidden 
 diary and a forgotten newspaper item make 
 clear. Jewett's narrative, allowing for lapses 
 of memory after so many years, must in all 
 fairness be accepted as to the fact of the 
 founder's anger and his indignant withdrawal 
 of the bill, and as to the counsel's under- 
 standing that Mr. Vassar had intended chang- 
 ing his plan as to building a real college. Yet 
 the nephew says the bill was withdrawn be- 
 cause of the phraseology which substituted 
 "school" for "Female College." Perhaps the 
 fair conclusion is that the founder had been
 
 116 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 persuaded to modify his plans, and had not 
 taken in the full extent of this till Mr. Jewett so 
 forcibly brought him back to his earlier vision. 
 It was surely a narrow escape for Jewett's 
 hard-wrought plan. How large an influence 
 the circumstance had on the subsequent rela- 
 tions of Jewett to the college will be seen as the 
 history progresses. 
 
 The situation of the college has given rise 
 to perpetual wonder as to the failure of the 
 founder to locate it by the river. Mr. Jewett 
 tells us that Mr. Vassar was very anxious to 
 place it on an eminence overlooking the Hud- 
 son, and that sites were examined north and 
 south of the city. Everywhere there were the 
 fatal objections of a want of a water-supply 
 and a lack of sufficient land. It did not occur 
 to them, he tells us, that they might purchase 
 the farm now occupied by the State Asylum 
 and raise the water from the river. Mr. Jewett 
 gives in his narrative another of the papers he 
 from time to time prepared for Mr. Vassar, on 
 the "Proper Location of a College for Young 
 Ladies." Questions of health, exercise, expo- 
 sure, social and moral influences, accessibility,
 
 INCEPTION OF VASSAR'S PLAN 117 
 
 reputation for salubrity of climate and health- 
 ful conditions, abundance of water, a good 
 sewage system, place for vegetable and botanic 
 gardens, beauty of landscape, were all consid- 
 ered. Mill Cove farm was thought to meet 
 these conditions, and Mr. Vassar made pur- 
 chases there to supplement what he already 
 owned. Jewett suggested that his opponents 
 showed their faith in the enterprise by pur- 
 chasing land in the neighborhood while the 
 project was still a secret. 1 The work involved 
 had become so great that Jewett gave up his 
 school in the summer of 1860 and gave all his 
 time to Mr. Vassar's project, "my only com- 
 pensation being the consciousness of assisting 
 in a good work," he says. He gives an extract 
 from a letter of the time, written by him to a 
 friend (September, 1860), saying that he had 
 devoted all "his time and thought to Vassar 
 College," visiting Albany and New York, 
 "writing 100 letters," and that if it were not 
 for his "presence and vigilance" "Mr. Vassar's 
 
 1 A large farm owned by John Guy Vassar, contiguous to 
 the college land, was left by his will to the Vassar Brothers' 
 Hospital, and was subsequently purchased by the college.
 
 118 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 greedy relatives (rich too) would have defeated 
 the enterprise long ago." He adds that by 
 recent codicils, suggested by him and known 
 to no other, Mr. Vassar has willed enough to 
 the college to place the undertaking "beyond 
 all contingency." 
 
 In a letter written on Thanksgiving Day of 
 that year (1860), Mr. Vassar makes abundant 
 recognition of his appreciation of Jewett's 
 interest in him and his plans. He addresses 
 him as "My very dear friend"; thanks him for 
 his earnest interest in his temporal and his 
 spiritual welfare, "from the very depths of my 
 heart," and especially for his "sincere and 
 ingenuous friendship." He is "fully sensible 
 that he has lost friendship with many since he 
 commenced the Great Enterprise"; and his 
 feelings have been deeply hurt by what he has 
 heard within a week of the attitude of "some 
 of the family friends in consequence of what I 
 am doing." "But I trust in God and my 
 Saviour to sustain me and approve the work 
 of my head and hands, the V. F. C. enterprise: 
 and if I lose this friendship I cannot now help 
 it. In this enterprise I look higher than man."
 
 INCEPTION OF VASSAR'S PLAN 119 
 
 During 1859 and 1860 there were discussions 
 between the two as to the trustees. Jewett 
 wished thirteen, of whom eight should be 
 Baptists, Mr. Vassar's own denomination. 
 He insisted that this would not make it sec- 
 tarian, as was shown by Yale, Harvard, Wil- 
 liams, Union, as well as Brown and Rochester. 
 The founder wished the College evangelical 
 but unsectarian, 1 though desiring for his own 
 connection the eclat of the enterprise, says the 
 narrative. He wished so many of his business 
 friends and neighbors on the Board that it 
 became necessary, to preserve this proportion 
 desired by the two, to increase the projected 
 Board to twenty-nine. But no provision on 
 the matter was placed in the charter. 
 
 The dra wing-up of the charter was also now 
 a matter of deep solicitude. Vassar was espe- 
 
 1 This point is much on the founder's mind. In a letter of 
 August 30, 1862, he hears rumors that the public is " disposed 
 to make the college sectarian," "current report saying that 
 the board of officials were all appointed, and from Baptist 
 ranks." The President and Professor Fisher were the entire 
 faculty then, and the Board had been named in the charter. 
 How would Columbia, Yale, Harvard, Princeton, have borne 
 the test? January 15, 1863, he writes Magoon regarding the 
 advisability of instituting a chaplaincy under different de- 
 nominations. (Copies, p. 81.)
 
 120 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 cially anxious to guard against perversion of 
 his purpose, and Jewett gave him the cold com- 
 fort of the experience of the Hollis professor- 
 ship at Harvard and the Andover creed. The 
 strongest guaranty, he thought, would be in a 
 close and self -perpetuating corporation. Now, 
 also, in the fall of 1860, printed proposals for 
 the erection of the building were issued, before 
 the incorporation, Renwick's designs having 
 Mr. Vassar's approval. 
 
 One small item of interest occurs in this con- 
 nection. The road on which the college fronts 
 does not run exactly north and south. The 
 founder wished to square the new building 
 with the road, but Jewett persuaded him to 
 put it on the points of the compass, urging the 
 educating force of this. 1 
 
 When the Legislature opened on January 1, 
 
 1 In contrast with this, when in 1878 the building for 
 physics and chemistry was planned, M. Vassar, Jr., placed the 
 lines to suit himself, and could not be persuaded by the pro- 
 fessor either to set it on the meridian line, or due north and 
 south with the lines of the Main Building, or even with the 
 street. The lines were even changed secretly by the superin- 
 tendent, but the ruse was discovered by M. Vassar, Jr., and 
 the building has remained to nullify proper plans for the site 
 of subsequent edifices. (Conversations with Professor Cooley 
 and Superintendent Van Vliet.)
 
 INCEPTION OF VASSAR'S PLAN 
 
 1861, Mr. Jewett was in Albany with the pro- 
 posed charter, and "a splendid lithograph of 
 the proposed college edifice printed on a sheet 
 of four feet by two and handsomely framed "; 
 and this, conspicuously placed, attracted uni- 
 versal attention. Mr. Jewett also furnished 
 the reporters written statements regarding 
 Mr. Vassar 's plans and his proposed gift. He 
 speaks of the " highest admiration," and " great 
 enthusiasm" with which the matter was re- 
 ceived by the public and the Legislature. One 
 must balance this, however, by consideration 
 of the absorbing interest at that date in the 
 political situation. The very Union was at 
 stake, and the papers of that month have small 
 space for woman's education or Vassar Female 
 College. The New York "Herald" of January 
 18, 1861, in its report of the Legislature, sets 
 this item in very small print among the dis- 
 cussions bearing on the state of the country 
 and the danger of war: 
 
 The House has been at work in earnest this 
 morning and has really turned off considerable 
 work. The Vassar Female College Bill passed 
 that body this morning by a large majority, thus
 
 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 giving Mr. Vassar an opportunity of appropriating 
 a portion of his immense fortune in a way that will 
 be of some public benefit. It was stated in a debate 
 to-day that he had already set apart 200 acres for 
 the college. This would look as though he contem- 
 plated a grand Central Park and playground for 
 the institution all to be kept up on a magnificent 
 scale. 1 
 
 Dr. Jewett had assisted Mr. Vassar in select- 
 ing his counselors, a band of trustees of twenty- 
 nine men. He tells us that now, knowing it to 
 be an essential step that the money should 
 be placed in the hands of the corporation, and 
 not retained in the founder's, subject to the 
 intrigues or objections of "the enemies of the 
 college," he undertook what he had not dared 
 before. In his letter to the Trustees, inclosing 
 a printed copy of the charter, and calling the 
 first meeting of the Board, he "made Mr. 
 Vassar say: 'At which time and place I shall 
 deliver into your hands the funds I intend to 
 appropriate for this purpose.'" He "repaired 
 to Mr. Vassar's office" for his signature to the 
 letters. When Mr. Vassar read the sentence 
 quoted above, "he exclaimed with some sur- 
 
 1 See chapter on "Reception of Mr. Vassar's Plan," for 
 further newspaper comment.
 
 INCEPTION OF VASSAR'S PLAN 123 
 
 prise, 'Why, it is not necessary for me to give 
 up my money into the hands of the Trustees, 
 is it?" Mr Jewett replied that it was, of 
 course, in Mr. Vassar's option, but it struck 
 him that it would not be courteous to ask these 
 gentlemen to come and help him build the 
 college and furnish them with no money for the 
 purpose. They would always respect his wishes 
 and he would still control the funds through 
 them. "Yes, I see," said Mr. Vassar, and signed 
 the letters. Mr. Jewett says he sealed the 
 letters and "ran to the post-office," fearing 
 some change of mind. We must not forget, 
 however, that though this series of events must 
 have been deeply impressed on his memory, 
 Mr. Jewett had later passed through troubled 
 waters in his relation to Mr. Vassar and had 
 written these impressions many years after 
 certain convictions as to Mr. Vassar's "vacil- 
 lation" had become fixed in his mind. But we 
 have no other witness as to these events, and the 
 writer was a high-minded man, still thankful 
 for his part in the organization of the college, 
 and without a regret as to his having left it. 1 
 
 1 See his letter to Dr. Raymond, 1873, quoted later.
 
 124 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 Mr. Jewett, at the founder's request, now 
 prepared the programme for the first meeting 
 of the Board, the necessary committees, the 
 proper resolutions, submitting all to Mr. 
 Vassar, and "writing out in full the address 
 he should make to the Trustees." 1 The plan 
 for the meeting, and the committees, were 
 talked over with the resident Trustees, and an 
 effort was made, and approved by Mr. Vassar, 
 to reduce the Executive Committee to three, 
 himself and two others, who, says Dr. Jewett, 
 had at every point antagonized the plans. This 
 "plot" was defeated at the meeting, and the 
 Committee was increased by two who were 
 "fast friends of the college." 2 
 
 Mr. Vassar "had an eye for dramatic 
 effect," and arranged the minutest details of 
 the occasion so as to "invest the scene with 
 real moral grandeur and sublimity," and he 
 read his address "with real feeling and true 
 dignity." Jewett's narrative says "he had 
 copied" what he, Jewett, had furnished him, 
 
 1 Jewett's manuscript narrative, p. 67. 
 
 2 Dr. Jewett's "personal equation" must be borne in mind 
 here. These men all gave steadfast service to the college.
 
 INCEPTION OF VASSAR'S PLAN 125 
 
 "having adopted as his own the sentiments 
 which had almost daily been urged upon him 
 for the previous five years." Can we now 
 determine the relative part in it of Jewett and 
 Vassar? 
 
 That the ideas were originally Dr. Jewett's, 
 there can be little doubt. Mr. Vassar makes 
 ample acknowledgment in the address to 
 other sources for his great idea. Very likely 
 much of the language may be Jewett's, modi- 
 fied to suit the very simple style of the founder, 
 a style well known to us from his " Com- 
 munications" to the trustees, which we have 
 in printed form, and which extend over years 
 beyond Jewett's influence. The noble address 
 is in print, 1 and all who read it must see at a 
 glance that no one unused to the study of 
 education could have expressed its ideas, in 
 general and in detail. Certain views here, how- 
 ever, are undoubtedly the founder's. He went 
 even beyond Dr. Jewett, in his interpretation 
 of "catholicity"; and his objections to making 
 the college "a charity school" are known to us 
 
 1 Cf. Lossing's Vassar College and its Founder, pp. 91 seq.; 
 also Communications of the Founder.
 
 126 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 from other sources, and his recommendations 
 as to the use of the funds may well have been 
 quite as much his own as they certainly were 
 Jewett's. One hopes that the golden words, 
 now printed in the annual catalogue of the 
 college, may be Mr. Vassar's very own: "It 
 occurred to me that woman, having received 
 from her Creator the same intellectual consti- 
 tution as man, has the same right as man to 
 intellectual culture and development." 1 
 
 M. Vassar, Jr., was chosen Treasurer of the 
 college, and Mr. Jewett was chosen President 
 by "unanimous choice," says Lossing, a 
 Trustee. President Anderson, at the founder's 
 request, presented his name. Jewett says three 
 blanks were cast, and he attributes them to his 
 three "foes." The minutes of the meeting 
 
 1 There should be no criticism of Mr. Vassar for using all he 
 got and made his own from those more familiar with 
 educational subjects than he could be. He was an uneducated 
 man who had trained himself by good reading and simple 
 speech, but he was facing educators, clergymen, lawyers, men 
 of the world, and naturally sought help. In August, 1861, he 
 asks Youmans for an outline of an address for the cornerstone 
 laying, to which he says he will add his own ideas as time may 
 permit. Youmans sent it, and the founder rejected it as un- 
 suitable and "too elaborate" and lacking in "pithiness." He 
 objects to Youmans's charge as too large, as he only asked an 
 outline. (Letters, August 81, September 5, October 11.)
 
 INCEPTION OF VASSAR'S PLAN 
 
 record 26 as present. The ballot stood, 23 for 
 Jewett, 1 for Babcock (Jewett's vote?), leaving 
 2 unaccounted for. Again, we must recall the 
 date of this memoir, eighteen years after. 
 We shall soon see, however, that the opposition 
 to Jewett was not imaginary, though he may 
 have forgotten that that did not connote 
 opposition to the college, which was now an 
 assured fact, and a fact for which he was 
 ultimately responsible. He was fully conscious 
 of this, at the time, as a private letter of this 
 date, given in his narrative, shows, and he was 
 equally sure that he had attained his end 
 against the opposition of the nephews and 
 despite the frequent swervings in his purpose 
 of Mr. Vassar himself, which made the outcome 
 seem uncertain to Jewett till after the meeting 
 of February 26, 1861. If he was justified in his 
 feeling of triumph, it may also be true that he 
 underestimated the greatness of spirit which 
 enabled this founder, self-made and self- 
 educated, to seize ideas suggested to him, and 
 to overcome his natural disposition to thrifty 
 saving in a great gift which took from him at 
 one stroke half his slowly earned fortune. In
 
 128 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 his impatience with the founder, and especially 
 his indiscreet expression of it in this private 
 letter, Jewett reveals the causes which eventu- 
 ally unseated him and gave triumph to his 
 enemies. But this was yet three years away.
 
 IV 
 
 THE ADMINISTRATION OF PRESIDENT JEWETT 
 
 GROUND was broken for the new building 
 June 4, 1 by the founder, in the presence of 
 M. Vassar, Jr., Cornelius Dubois, C. Swan, the 
 Reverend H. Malcolm, and the farmer, work- 
 men, and builders. "Few remarks by M. V. 
 and Malcolm Revd Mr. M. asked God's bless- 
 ing on the undertaking." 2 The building went 
 steadily on through these war years, and the 
 various committees studied and reported on 
 plans for apparatus, museum, library, etc. 3 
 A portrait of the founder, by order of the 
 Trustees, was painted by Elliott, and this and 
 Wright's portrait were exhibited at the Baptist 
 Church, there being no other place of sufficient 
 
 1 Entered as June 4, in Minutes of Joint Committee; other- 
 wise confirmatory of the diary. M. Vassar, Jr., enters in his 
 diary June 3, probably a slip. 
 
 1 Diary of M. Vassar, Jr. The spade used is owned by the 
 college and passed down from class to class, on Class Day. 
 A part of the first spadeful of earth was placed in a jar and is 
 in the Vassar Museum. 
 
 8 Diary, June 25, 1862.
 
 130 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 size. The first story of the college was up when, 
 November 5, 1 the walls were covered for the 
 winter "all cleanly completed etc." It is 
 interesting to note that Mr. Vassar prophesied 
 then that, with the vast expenditure of the 
 Government for the war, money would run 
 down to four per cent, as "no place or business 
 actively to invest" occurs; that bank stock 
 will be poor; and that New York Central will 
 go to par within the year; and proposes invest- 
 ments in "1st mortgage Bonds Erie Hudson 
 River and Harlem says will pay the oyster 
 supper to the committee if it does not prove 
 true." 2 
 
 After one year of extensive correspondence 
 and visits to schools and colleges, and partici- 
 pation in constant discussions of details of 
 construction and plans for a course of study, 
 Mr. Jewett met the Board (February, 1862) 
 with the suggestion that he go abroad to study 
 systems of female education prevailing in the 
 most enlightened countries of Europe, and 
 "with the view of otherwise advancing the 
 interests of the college," and of reporting his 
 1 Diary. 2 Diary, January 27, 1862.
 
 JEWETT'S ADMINISTRATION 131 
 
 conclusions to the Board. Jewett himself says 
 that he was aware that there was little to learn 
 in Europe for this new cause, but that Mr. 
 Vassar originated the idea, with the desire to 
 have Jewett visit the birthplace of the founder, 
 obtain photographs and gather the traditions 
 of "the patriarchs of the village," and with the 
 thought also that the mission would lend eclat 
 to the new college. 1 
 
 M. Vassar, Jr., regarded this mission in 
 another light. His entry for February 25, 1862, 
 recording the meeting, and mentioning the 
 appointment of a professor of chemistry, Mr. 
 R. A. Fisher, and a proposition to loan him 
 $1000 "for travelling in Europe to improve 
 himself" and examine new "Laboratorys and 
 chemical apparatus etc.," 2 adds: 
 
 Mr. Jewett also asked permission to visit Europe 
 for obtaining information in any new schools and 
 considered would be acquisition to him and college 
 also that his salary may be continued $2000 pr 
 annum to be absent to June 1863 M. V. Jr. 
 opposed it on the ground that his services requird 
 
 1 He gave to Jewett a letter to his relatives Letter of 
 March 15, 1862. 
 
 2 Minutes of meeting of Trustees, also February, 1862.
 
 132 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 at home in reply to letters from sundry institutions 
 applications for office and students also large 
 number coming to the city on college information 
 sight seeing etc and his absence it would fall or 
 devolve on M. V. who ought not and cannot have 
 his mind more taxed than at present C. W. 
 Swift obliged to leave meeting on a /c business left 
 his written protest to above and the only two 
 who opposed it, M. V. the donor having spoken in 
 favour it none other of the board said ought 
 against and was carried without oppositions. 
 Swift nor M. V. Jr saying ought further about same 
 (Jewett's persuasiveness and flattery to M. V. 
 sways him as I judge little, too much of the Yankee 
 palavar or Jesuitical principle) as no attention is 
 given to the great instruction of young Ladies in 
 Europe I cannot see that any benefit to be 
 granted or received in his visit this country 
 is far in advance anything in Europe in Female 
 Education. 
 
 It will be noted that the feelings toward 
 M. Vassar, Jr., and his closest advisers, ex- 
 pressed by Mr. Jewett, are amply reciprocated 
 by these gentlemen, though for the time 
 they were veiled in private letters and a secret 
 diary. They were, however, working toward 
 effective utterance. 
 
 Mr. Jewett was absent eight months. He
 
 JEWETT'S ADMINISTRATION 133 
 
 had his salary of $2000, but no allowance for 
 expenses. 1 He tells us that, though he was not 
 able to secure material "for such a general and 
 statistical report as was contemplated," "yet 
 his mission was not without valuable results." 
 That must have been true, though the printed 
 report of this visit does not impress the reader 
 as either profound or particularly enlightening. 
 It shows careful study of the schools, which 
 had, however, small results to suggest for a 
 woman's college, indicates the high position 
 of religious training, emphasizes some of the 
 methods of instruction, the attention to domes- 
 tic economy, to exercise and health, the restric- 
 tions as to dress, the simplicity of diet, the 
 prominence of the "accomplishments," and of 
 the study of modern languages. The President 
 learned much, however, from obvious defects, 
 and he was, be it remembered, an observer of 
 long and varied experience. "His own view," 
 as he states in his manuscript, is given " in the 
 last paragraph of the published report which 
 he presented to the Trustees," and which he 
 there copies. He recites his visits to the great 
 1 Minutes of Board, February, 1862.
 
 134 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 libraries, his study of their systems of shelving, 
 cataloguing, etc.; visits to the great art gal- 
 leries, with like practical object; to the great 
 exhibition of "philosophical apparatus," then 
 in London; to the telescope manufactory of 
 the Frauenhofers; the collections of the muse- 
 ums of natural history with observations on 
 the mounting and exhibit of specimens; the 
 study of all he can see of educational methods; 
 the latest and most approved school buildings 
 for girls. He added, with great truth, that the 
 most important results could not be "imprinted 
 on paper," but would be felt in future years in 
 chapel, classrooms, and lecture halls, in library, 
 cabinets, and art gallery. His impressions 
 would be "transferred by a spiritual photog- 
 raphy" to "the minds and hearts and lives" 
 of the hundreds the college would send forth. 
 His estimate is juster than that of his oppo- 
 nent, Matthew Vassar, Jr. The "report was 
 lengthy and much of the same to the point in 
 reference to Education of Females or Women 
 in Europe, but on the whole too much and 
 irksome." 1 Mr. Swift moved a complimentary 
 
 1 Diary, June 30, 1863.
 
 JEWETT'S ADMINISTRATION 135 
 
 resolution and proposed filing the report in 
 the archives, 1 but though M. Vassar, Jr., 
 seconded the same, several at once arose and 
 requested that the document be printed, 
 and this was done. 2 
 
 Jewett was now busy in preparing his scheme 
 for the educational work of the college and 
 in securing candidates for its faculty. Jewett 
 says, and very naturally and probably, that 
 the work fell on him, as the "distinguished 
 gentlemen" of his Committee were too closely 
 absorbed in their own business to assist him 
 "except by their invaluable suggestions and 
 counsels." These men were Presidents An- 
 derson and Robinson, Nathan Bishop, John 
 H. Raymond, Rufus Babcock. It is to be 
 observed, however, that Jewett's processes 
 were already too rapid for some of his col- 
 leagues. M. Vassar, Jr.'s, diary tells us, under 
 date of June 30, 1863, when Jewett's report on 
 his tour was presented, that Jewett's "inten- 
 tion was appointment of some Professors but 
 was voted down as premature the meeting was 
 
 1 Minutes of Board, June, 1863. 
 
 2 Jewett's manuscript narrative.
 
 136 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 harmonious," etc. This is confirmed by a let- 
 ter of Nathan Bishop, dated June 23, 1863, 
 in which he protests to Dr. Jewett that no 
 opportunity has been given them to investigate 
 fully the claims of his candidates (Farrar and 
 Tenney) ; that private letters from friends are 
 more reliable than general testimonials; but 
 that if the Committee wishes to indorse the 
 action, he will not stand in the way, but will 
 ask to be transferred to some other committee. 
 This is from the man to whom in the later trou- 
 bles Jewett refers as his Fidus Achates. A few 
 months later, December 15, 1863, M. Vassar, 
 Jr., records in his diary, "this day of the Ex 
 Committee some sharp-shooting by chair- 
 man M. V. against President J for Bill 
 
 presented as expenses on Faculty, going 
 N. Y. enquiry for some Teachers without con- 
 sultation and without any use at present J. 
 has apologized and sees error making such 
 charge of expense some $20 while is Receiv- 
 ing his $2000 per year salary etc." 
 
 We shall see shortly that another factor, not 
 generally known, but probably temporarily 
 very potent, was at work in the direction of
 
 JEWETT'S ADMINISTRATION 137 
 
 undermining Jewett's influence, and that so 
 far as we know, Jewett himself was unaware 
 of it. Before facing that, however, it is neces- 
 sary to set forth the striking scheme which 
 Jewett formulated and reported and which 
 was printed by the Board, and submitted "to 
 the press and to the leading educators of the 
 country." 1 So far as our Northern colleges are 
 concerned, it was in plan a new departure, 
 suggested evidently by Dr. Jewett's long 
 Southern experience and his familiarity with 
 the working of such schemes in Southern col- 
 leges, though he attributes it to Europe and 
 calls it the university system. It is rather 
 remarkable that it was reported favorably to 
 the Board by a committee which included such 
 experienced Northern educators as Anderson, 
 Robinson, Raymond (the future President), 
 and Bishop. It speaks well for their largeness 
 of mind and their willingness to allow the Pres- 
 ident a free hand in the new field. Though the 
 scheme was never tried, owing to Jewett's 
 resignation, it is worthy of examination here 
 
 1 Jewett had it copied out in his manuscript, 41 pp. of 
 legal cap.
 
 138 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 as the plan approved by himself and the 
 founder for the new college, and especially as 
 he claims that it influenced all the following 
 changes, and that through thirteen years the 
 tendency was toward its abandoned provi- 
 sions. 1 The founder himself "heartily ap- 
 proves "of it in his address to the Trustees, 2 
 and states that his attention had been called 
 to it in 1862 by a "gentleman quite familiar 
 with not only the theory, but to a great ex- 
 tent, with the practise of that system, so that 
 when our President returned from Europe 
 I was already prepared to advocate and urge 
 its introduction here." He adds that he does 
 not regard the system as a novelty, even in 
 this country, and finds no reason why it should 
 not work with women as it has with men. This 
 again brings into view the influence, nowhere 
 else referred to in print, which was steadily 
 undermining Jewett, though apparently he 
 was unconscious of it. It may bear on Jewett's 
 originality in his suggestion of the scheme. 
 The plan was, in short, as Jewett calls it, a 
 
 1 Manuscript narrative, p. 126. 
 
 2 Communications, February, 1864.
 
 JEWETT'S ADMINISTRATION 139 
 
 university scheme, as practiced in Southern 
 colleges and even seminaries. Nevertheless, 
 the document, as a scheme for a great woman's 
 college, was a daring novelty. It plainly de- 
 fined a college as distinct from a seminary or 
 academy in its breadth and depth and per- 
 manency; called for a course of study of the 
 highest grade, and liberal beyond any then in 
 vogue; sketched the subjects that must be 
 comprised in it; demanded reform of all present 
 methods; questioned the procrustean four 
 years' course; introduced a broad election of 
 studies on a group system; challenged current 
 education for the lack of it, for low standards, 
 for want of incentive and tests; and proposed 
 classification of knowledge and study by sub- 
 jects. There would be a series of schools; thus, 
 of languages, of mathematics, history and po- 
 litical economy, etc., and elections among 
 them. Teaching would be without textbooks, 
 and the examinations would be written, and 
 'the completion of a definite number of schools 
 would entitle the student to a diploma and to 
 the degree of the college, M.A. 1 
 
 1 As at the University of Virginia.
 
 140 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 The objections, familiar to all who have dis- 
 cussed elective systems, are duly considered, 
 and the advantages urged. Nine schools are 
 suggested, and a call made for the full number 
 of professors and teachers. He seems to think 
 seven professors and from six to ten teachers 
 could carry the work, but the accompanying 
 resolution suggests nine heads. He sketches 
 ably the kind of men needed in a woman's col- 
 lege, and sets a high standard of scholarship 
 and efficiency. The founder, in his address at 
 the meeting of February, 1864, in relation to 
 this, says that so large a number of men at the 
 start will drain the resources of the college, 
 and urges eloquently the claims of women, in- 
 stancing Maria Mitchell, and in art, Emma 
 Church. 1 He says, however, that he does not 
 urge woman's claims from economical reasons. 
 "We must pay fairly and even generously, 
 whatsoever instruments we use." 2 
 
 1 He had purchased several copies of " old masters " from 
 her for the college art gallery. 
 
 1 He writes Henry Barnard, February 2, 1864, that some 
 wish to begin with female professors and teachers only. To 
 Charles A. Raymond, February 6, 1864, he says his own idea 
 is "women to educate her sex." (Copies, p. 90.)
 
 JEWETT'S ADMINISTRATION 141 
 
 Very striking, too, is Jewett's insistence on 
 a good library, the best apparatus, a good art 
 gallery, and large endowments. Nor does the 
 report neglect the non-academic needs, the 
 demand for full provision for a refined domes- 
 tic life, for nurse, kitchen, matron, janitor's 
 department. He discusses even the rates, 
 which he hoped to be able to put as low as 
 $200 per year, the arts being extras. 
 
 The standards set were not high, and con- 
 templated entering young girls for the "junior 
 class of any school" on a very low requirement, 
 but the completion of the school contemplated 
 a worthy course of study; and, unlike that of 
 most previous efforts in "female education," 
 here was a real curriculum. 
 
 At this point we recur to another influence 
 that had great weight with Mr. Vassar, and 
 which has already been referred to. Save for 
 the single reference to this man just quoted 
 from the founder's "Communications to the 
 Trustees" there is apparently no mention of 
 him. Where almost all letters of the time have 
 disappeared, fourteen long and very closely 
 written ones from him to the founder are pre-
 
 142 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 served, and near a score more addressed to Mr. 
 Cyrus Swan, Mr. Vassar's near friend and 
 adviser. These letters discuss all that concerns 
 the college, the plan of education, appoint- 
 ments and pay of a faculty, buildings, plans 
 for art gallery and museum, and all with the 
 assumption that the writer is an expert beyond 
 all others in "female education." That they 
 finally had great weight in determining Jew- 
 ett's relation to Mr. Vassar and the college, 
 there can be no doubt, and yet in all we have 
 from Jewett there is no reference to him. 
 
 Charles A. Raymond had been a teacher in 
 the South. Like Jewett, he was a Northerner, 
 apparently resident in New Haven, where his 
 mother was still living in 1864 (when these 
 letters cease). He had studied, but not gradu- 
 ated, at Yale, and had been in the Yale Theo- 
 logical School. He lived fifteen years in the 
 South, 1 and was finally connected with the 
 Chesapeake Female College of Virginia. He 
 says he was fourteen years in the cotton- 
 growing States. 2 In 1847 he was in New 
 
 1 Letter of December 29, 1862. 
 
 2 He has articles in Harper's Magazine, September, October, 
 and November, 1863.
 
 JEWETT'S ADMINISTRATION 143 
 
 Orleans, and several years he spent in South 
 Carolina. He was an incorporator of the 
 Chesapeake Female College in 1860, and Presi- 
 dent. Driven North by the war, he opened 
 a school in Newburgh, whose "insignificance 
 frets" him, a "parlor school." 1 He preached 
 one summer in Poughkeepsie, his ancestral 
 home and the burial-place of his forbears, 2 and 
 became acquainted thus with Mr. Vassar and 
 talked much with him over his project. 3 He 
 
 1 Letter of August 9, 1862. 
 
 2 Letter to Swan, April 8, 1864. 
 
 3 On Charles A. Raymond, letters from friends in Virginia 
 to the author; letter from Paymaster-General's office, Board 
 of Education of Virginia, etc. "He was distinguished in 
 appearance, gracious in manner, and always well dressed." 
 Chesapeake Female College occupied the site of the Soldiers' 
 Home, Hampton. The original building has only recently 
 (1912) been torn down. Raymond was President little more 
 than a year, if he left at the beginning of the war. The cur- 
 riculum of the college was sent the author by Miss Jane E. 
 Davis, editor of the Southern Workman, and was furnished 
 her by President Tyler, of William and Mary. It may well 
 be offered here as typical of Southern women's colleges in 
 1860. 
 
 Chesapeake Female College Curriculum 
 
 Intellectual and Moral Philosophy: Watts, Treatise on the 
 Mind; Abercrombie, Intellectual Philosophy; 
 Abercrombie, Moral Philosophy. 
 
 History: Goodrich, History of the United States; Good- 
 
 rich, History of England; Goodrich, History of 
 France; Goodrich, Ancient History; Taylor, 
 Universal History.
 
 144 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 became principal then of the Hamilton Female 
 Institute, and later, in September, 1863, be- 
 
 Geography: Mitchell, School Geography; Mitchell, Geo- 
 graphical Reader. 
 
 Grammar: Smith, New English Reader. 
 
 Reading: Russell, Young Ladies' Reader; Worcester, 
 3d Book; The British Poets. 
 
 Mathematics: Emerson, First Part; Colburn, First Lessons; 
 Colburn, Sequel; Davies' First Lessons, Alge- 
 bra; Da vies' Legendre, Geometry; Davies' 
 Bourdon, Algebra; Davies' Trigonometry. 
 
 Natural Sciences: Olmstead, Natural Philosophy; Draper, 
 Chemistry. 
 
 Latin: Gould's Adams, Grammar; L'Homond, Epi- 
 
 tome Histoire Sacre; Zumpt and Schmidt, 
 Csesar; Zumpt and Schmidt, Virgil; Zumpt 
 and Schmidt, Cicero; Zumpt and Schmidt, 
 Horace; Folsom, Livy; Leverett, Dictionary. 
 
 French: Addick, Elements; Gerard, Course (Grammar); 
 
 Bibliotheque de 1'Enfance; St.-Pierre, Paul et 
 Virginie; Mme. Guizot, Pauvre Jose; Voltaire, 
 Charles XII; Saintine, Picciola; Bossuet, Dis- 
 cours sur 1'Histoire universelle; Mme. Sevigne, 
 Lettres; Noel et Chapsal, Grammaire; Lafon- 
 taine, Fables; Corneille, Chefs d'CEuvre; Racine, 
 Chefs d'CEuvre; Chapsal, Cours de Litterature 
 Frangaise; Lamartine, Meditations p6etiques; 
 Victor Hugo, Odes et Ballades; Several Dramas 
 from the most distinguished modern writers. 
 
 German: Follen, German Grammar; Follen, German 
 
 Reader; Schiller, Die Jungfrau von Orleans; 
 Goethe, Torquato Tasso; Schiller, Don Karlos; 
 Goethe, Egmont; Wieland, Oberon; Lessing, 
 Laocoon. 
 
 For Spanish and Italian, the most approved Text Books are 
 
 used.
 
 JEWETT'S ADMINISTRATION 145 
 
 came a clerk in the office of the Paymaster- 
 General. He resigned in July, 1864, to take a 
 hospital chaplaincy in the army, and he was 
 honorably mustered out in October, 1866. 
 From a letter of Mr. Vassar's 1 we learn that 
 Raymond had already made "valued sugges- 
 tions" to him regarding the college and these 
 had commended themselves to him. Evidently 
 Raymond had already suggested himself as a 
 Vice-President, for Mr. Vassar tells him that 
 he hopes the discussion of this or any other 
 matter concerning the college may be had 
 "without partiality or private considerations." 
 He has no thought, he assures him, that Ray- 
 mond has any personal motive, but adds that 
 "candor impels" him to acknowledge that if 
 it were consistent for the college to give him 
 that office he knows of no man who could fill 
 it better. He has written "Professor Jewett," 
 who was in Europe, on the matter, and it will 
 remain open till his return, when he will take 
 it up with "enlarged earnest." He favors 
 Raymond's " appointment to that department 
 in the college" because it is Raymond's sug- 
 1 July 28, 1862; in Copies, p. 42, it is July 30.
 
 146 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 gestion ("first came from you") and because 
 his "large experience in female education 
 entitles" his "judgment to consideration of 
 more than ordinary respect." He refers to his 
 "experience of eighteen years' devotion to the 
 profession of teaching. ' ' * ' You have talents and 
 the college has money," "beside the college 
 have grounds," and on them should erect 
 residences for professors as Raymond has sug- 
 gested. Here is a new note ! Jewett had sugges- 
 ted the family idea, residence in the build- 
 ing, which was adopted, but in his absence 
 here was an influence, at once very potent, 
 which was swaying the founder's mind in direc- 
 tions that might promote friction and trouble. 
 Raymond at once suggested to him the 
 "university system," which we have already 
 outlined as from Jewett's report, a year later. 
 He says Jewett agrees with him in sentiment, 
 and will see it in operation in Europe and learn 
 how it can be applied to girls. Already in use 
 in the University of Virginia, Raymond had 
 himself used it in his "college." This would 
 put Vassar above competition, but they must 
 keep quiet lest some one steal "our thunder."
 
 JEWETT'S ADMINISTRATION 147 
 
 Let it be marked here that Jewett, for many 
 years the head of the most flourishing of the 
 girls' schools of the South, 1 and a trained 
 student of education, could hardly have owed 
 to Raymond his first knowledge of this system 
 so well-known in the South. 2 It may be easily 
 true that Mr. Vassar first heard of the system 
 from Raymond. It is interesting also to dis- 
 cover thus early a certain guarded animus 
 toward the absent President. Raymond 
 thanks Mr. Vassar for his good opinion, even if 
 he cannot "flatter as well as our good friend the 
 Doctor" Jewett had been made an LL.D. by 
 Rochester in 1861. As the correspondence pro- 
 ceeds, Jewett is treated with less consideration. 
 Raymond's suggestions cover a wide field. 
 He could canvass the field, preaching, intro- 
 ducing himself, on behalf of the college, to the 
 public, visiting, meeting parents, etc., while 
 the founder and the President were attending 
 to important matters at home. 3 He ingratiates 
 
 1 But the President of Judson College says, December 11, 
 1912, Jewett did not use the system there. 
 
 2 Cf. letter of the Secretary of the Board of Education of 
 Virginia, December 18, 1912. 
 
 * Letter, August 9, 1862.
 
 148 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 himself with the founder, is grateful for his 
 financial encouragement in the enterprise at 
 Hamilton, 1 but has chiefly on his mind, always, 
 such a plan for Vassar College as shall bring 
 out the founder's sagacity and goodness and 
 glory. He meets the financial depression with 
 a plan to save the endowing of professorships, 
 though fearing he may run counter to "brother 
 Jewett's ideas." Teachers will do better if 
 dependent in large measure on their success 
 and the amount of their work for their support. 
 "The best of men need an incentive," and 
 there is nothing "like self-interest" for that. 
 Building, grounds, repairs, furniture, renewal 
 of library and apparatus, he would endow, 
 and a fund to educate talented poor girls, but 
 not professorships, and to this he returns 
 again and again. "Right men would pay 
 themselves"; and to Mr. Vassar's objection 
 that thus they might get too much, he replies 
 that if they take their own risks they should 
 have what they can make. 2 He claims that 
 the professors at Madison (now Colgate) 
 
 1 Letters, August 13, 28, September 12, 22, 1862. 
 * September 22, and November 25, 1862. Cf. M. Vassar's 
 letter, October 2, 1862 (p. 50 of Copies).
 
 JEWETT'S ADMINISTRATION 149 
 
 University approve his plan. 1 He discusses 
 details in reply to Mr. Vassar's suggestions, 2 
 they having agreed to "set aside" "the endow- 
 ment of professorships." The founder does 
 not like "the teachers' partnership system." 
 Then make the college the chief sharer in the 
 profits, but for the benefit of teachers, says 
 Raymond, a sort of accruing insurance fund, 
 the founder to guarantee against deficits till the 
 fund is accumulated. 3 
 
 A new idea is broached in his letter of 
 February 24, 1863, one calculated to appeal 
 to a thrifty, self-made man, though in this case 
 happily ineffective. There must be an art 
 gallery. A large expenditure, however, would 
 be foolish. Buy a few pictures. Get a good 
 painter as professor of art; engage all his time; 
 let him paint pictures for the gallery. In the 
 course of years there would be a fine collection. 
 And so with a museum. Let the professor col- 
 lect, stuff birds, etc., make exchanges; gradu- 
 ally build up a worthy museum. Happily the 
 
 1 Letter, December 29. The founder assents to the plan in 
 letter of October 2. 
 
 2 Letter, October 25, 1862. 3 Letter, February 6, 1863.
 
 150 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 fine art gallery and museum of the college were 
 gained by other advice and by the founder's 
 generous provision. He refers now to his "very 
 huge correspondence with Mr. Jewett." Ray- 
 mond is a prolific writer, his letters are very 
 long, full of interest, clever in expression, and 
 in a fine and cultivated hand. 
 
 He is especially antagonistic to the applica- 
 tion of American college ideals to the education 
 of girls. He finds an absurd excess in mathe- 
 matics at Hamilton, for example. 1 No system 
 that calls for four years at college, that de- 
 mands a like age with boys, or expects such a 
 system as has been worked out for them, can 
 succeed. By March, 1863, he is discussing this 
 with Jewett. They are "butting their heads 
 together in the dark," Jewett not getting his 
 ideas very clearly and Raymond "wholly igno- 
 rant of his." Was Jewett already suspicious of 
 this interest, real, sincere, we must believe, - 
 but also sinister? He had proposed some kind 
 of cooperation: if his time and advice were 
 valuable, the college could afford to pay for it. 
 This brought out their differences so distinctly 
 
 1 Letter, December 12, 1862.
 
 JEWETT'S ADMINISTRATION 151 
 
 as to make his "anxieties and writings in the 
 college behalf appear simply ridiculous." And 
 then he outlines their two plans to let Mr. 
 Vassar "amuse yourself by comparison." He 
 knew his views and Mr. Vassar's harmonized 
 and he was trying "to work them into grand 
 embodiment." Jewett seemed to have in mind 
 only another big school on the stereotyped 
 plan, like Crittenden's (the Packer Institute), 
 Abbott's (Spingler), only bigger. "It is what 
 any man, who had no special object to accom- 
 plish, would do." Raymond would give the 
 founder the honor of a radical reform. No 
 teacher should be elected but to carry out his 
 wishes. "Jewett does not believe in binding 
 future generations." "I tell you you can't be 
 too safe." He had been working for something 
 alive, and it is proving to be an abortion. 
 Jewett's plan cannot do anything for the mem- 
 ory of the founder unless to "build the biggest 
 building for school purposes in the country." 
 Jewett's plan will bring anarchy and confusion. 
 "I am not certain Mr. Jewett is up to the 
 demands of the crisis." He urges the founder 
 to decision before the June meeting, when mat-
 
 152 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 tersmaybe beyond his reach. 1 He asks if he 
 wishes to have his endowment go for "no 
 special purpose" "excepting that Mr. Jewett 
 prevailed on you to do it," or will he show 
 himself intelligent, wise, sagacious? Who 
 opened to him the whole scheme while Jewett 
 was in Europe? He "did all that," convincing 
 Jewett, working out details for Mr. Vassar's 
 reputation, not for Jewett's. The founder must 
 assume the credit. He had only needed some 
 one to shape up his ideas, and what Jewett 
 could not do, he, Raymond, had done. And 
 now he is willing to help him prepare his 
 address to the Trustees! 
 
 This letter is indorsed by the founder, "not 
 answered "I Was he becoming suspicious of 
 the claims of Raymond, or were his eyes open 
 now to the fact that Jewett did know some- 
 thing of his problem, and had not gained all 
 his ideas from Raymond, as the latter in sub- 
 sequent letters 2 claimed he had, saying Jewett 
 had "sucked him dry" and cast him off? Or 
 did he see the impractical nature of many of his 
 correspondent's suggestions? 
 
 1 Letter, May 24, 1863. Letter to Swan.
 
 JEWETT'S ADMINISTRATION 153 
 
 The next day, 1 Raymond sends another let- 
 ter, also indorsed "not answered." It exhorts 
 the founder to assert himself. He is prepared 
 to submit a plan for selection of professors 
 and to secure the college against contemptible 
 scheming. He would simply drop all the men 
 engaged and select "an entirely new set of 
 young men" "presented by you as your 
 choice." The selfish plotting of Trustees must 
 be stopped. The will of the founder must be 
 supreme. "Shall I say more?" he adds. A 
 reply was written June 5, 1863, by Mr. Vassar. 2 
 It relates Vassar's visit to Dr. Willard Parker, 
 an order for rest as essential, and the necessary 
 withdrawal from these perplexing questions of 
 organization, etc. He has chosen a President 
 "in whom I have unshaken confidence," and 
 he throws "the great responsibility cheerfully" 
 on him. He thanks Raymond for his counsel, 
 but he must withdraw from these things. He 
 sends him, by way of acknowledgment, a note 
 of Raymond's he holds for $262 and interest. 
 How badly and with what ill temper Raymond 
 
 1 Letter, May 25, 1863. 
 
 2 Copied by Mr. Schou and signed by him for Mr. Vassar 
 (Letter Book, p. 68).
 
 154 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 received this is shown in his manner of address 
 of a letter of August 13, 1863, no longer begin- 
 ning "Dear Friend," but "Dear Sir," and he is 
 "Very respectfully" instead of his habitual 
 "Very truly." He accepts an "enclosure," 
 but only temporarily and " from force of circum- 
 stances." Jewett had grossly insulted him, he 
 says, and so he was "not surprised at its tone" 
 (the letter of Mr. Vassar). Jewett had pledged 
 himself to alter nothing in the "plan" before 
 he gave it to him at "his importunity," and 
 he, Raymond, then had written Mr. Vassar 
 "a private letter concerning the authorship of 
 the plan." Jewett had made it "ridiculous and 
 wholly impracticable," "a mongrel affair." 
 When it is published, he will address the press 
 on it over his own signature, and the Trustees 
 also. Evidently, he is sorely irritated, full of 
 enmity to Jewett, and persistent toward the 
 founder. 
 
 To this irritated letter, Mr. Vassar responds 
 by Mr. Schou's hand 1 on September 2, after 
 an enforced absence in Newport. He, Vassar, 
 has tried to be "neutral" between Jewett and 
 
 1 Letter, Copies, p. 70.
 
 JEWETT'S ADMINISTRATION 155 
 
 Raymond. He regrets that Raymond's feel- 
 ings should be cool toward him, but his 
 letter also begins, "Dear Sir," and is signed, 
 "Very respectfully." February 6, 1864, he 
 writes again, seeking further counsel in the old 
 lines, as the organization will be settled at the 
 coming meeting. He had loaned Jewett all his 
 old letters to him when in Europe in which 
 he had discussed with him C. A. Raymond's 
 views, and had not got them back. He (Vassar) 
 believes, as he did twenty years ago, that 
 woman should educate her own sex. 
 
 In April of 1864, Raymond is at work in 
 Washington. He has written Swan many let- 
 ters in the mean time (dated at the office of 
 the Paymaster-General), beginning in Janu- 
 ary. Evidently Mr. Swan was drawing him 
 out, and probably securing his opinion of 
 Jewett and his work, regarding which a small 
 body of the Trustees had serious doubts. 
 Raymond's letters are very long and rehearse 
 all the material already reviewed, but his 
 caution has given way to vituperation against 
 Jewett. He writes as if Jewett had never heard 
 of the plan of studies he reports until he had
 
 156 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 instructed him in it, and that in fact Jewett 
 had never had any experience in any kind of a 
 college. It is well to remember that Raymond's 
 was limited to institutions really of school 
 grade, as was true of the Chesapeake Female 
 College, among the incorporates of which his 
 name appears in March, 1860, one year before 
 the war. 1 The assertions regarding this are 
 reiterated again and again, and he claims that 
 even the smallest details of the "schools" were 
 arranged by himself, excepting the school of 
 philosophy, which was Jewett's own, and 
 such a scheme! Jewett had even sought him 
 out at Hamilton. For Mr. Vassar, Jewett, he 
 says, seemed to care no more than for a fat 
 orange he was to squeeze, and toward Raymond 
 himself he "cooled off wonderfully" as soon as 
 he had gained what he wished. 
 
 On February 1, he tells Swan that he has 
 urged the founder against all haste till every- 
 thing is prepared, and Jewett's plan is not ready 
 and will not work. This may well have influ- 
 enced the decision to postpone its adoption, 
 
 1 Letter from the Keeper of the Rolls of Virginia, December 
 5, 1912.
 
 JEWETT'S ADMINISTRATION 157 
 
 made at the meeting that month, when the 
 founder spoke so wisely and affectingly of the 
 delay and of the need to be ready. Raymond 
 offers detailed criticism, too, of the "plan," 
 that it offered too much for the pupils' good, 
 that the groups needed rearrangement and 
 adjustment, that too much is left to the caprice 
 of teachers, who need more law, and who 
 should carry out the founder's views. Jewett's 
 effort to get great names is mere advertising; 
 the Trustees must make him "behave." 
 
 The letters follow one another in close order. 
 On February 3, 1864, Raymond asserts that 
 Mr. Vassar offered him the vice-presidency (a 
 statement not supported in the founder's let- 
 ters), but that Jewett would not have him 
 under any name. He, Raymond, would have 
 a President unconnected with the educational 
 work. Jewett might fill this place! Then the 
 Vice-President would control the educational 
 administration and Jewett could not possi- 
 bly do this. A few professors, solely for the 
 classroom, could be gradually eliminated, and 
 the teachers meet the demand. No families 
 would live in the building, and no chaplain
 
 158 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 unless a woman! Thus he rails at Jewett's 
 plans, and instances his placing the new "cabi- 
 nets" in the attic! He is willing to go to the 
 coming Trustees' meeting and answer ques- 
 tions! 
 
 On February 12, Raymond sees that some- 
 thing has happened to loose Jewett's hold on 
 the founder, on Swan, and a few others. Would 
 it be improper for him to ask what? He won- 
 ders if he should not tell Mr. Vassar what he 
 knows of Jewett's "representations" of him 
 "in the matter of founding V. F. C." But does 
 he intrude? 
 
 Evidently Swan keeps his own counsel and 
 encourages Raymond, for on the 17th of Febru- 
 ary (Swan had written him the 15th), just 
 before the great meeting, he attacks Jewett as 
 treacherous, false to the founder, and true only 
 to himself. Are they not guilty of complicity 
 if, knowing these things, they conceal them 
 from Mr. Vassar? Then definitely, under five 
 points, he indicates his opinion: Jewett claims 
 all the credit for the college, having found Mr. 
 Vassar uncertain, vacillating, and talked 
 him into it. He is insubordinate to Mr. Vas-
 
 JEWETT'S ADMINISTRATION 159 
 
 sar's wishes, and is heartless in his determin- 
 ation to get his money.' He disregards the 
 founder's wish regarding sectarianism (a 
 charge that he knew would arouse Swan). He 
 will not appoint a professor who feels indebted 
 to the founder rather than to himself. He 
 always puts himself in the foreground, not Mr. 
 Vassar. He is incompetent, no scholar, with- 
 out experience, without fidelity to the founder, 
 an "incubus," and he stole his university sys- 
 tem of education! He, Raymond, does not 
 want his place. He would take the vice- 
 presidency if it came as Mr. Vassar's gift. It 
 is to be remembered that these letters were 
 drawn out by Mr. Swan, that Raymond 
 assumed for himself ultimate wisdom regard- 
 ing "female education," and that uneasiness 
 regarding Jewett was felt by four or five 
 Trustees, including Swan, and possibly by the 
 founder. Thus the correspondence, hitherto 
 unknown to readers of the history of Vassar, is 
 seen to be an important factor in the judgment 
 of Jewett. 
 
 This episode without doubt prepared Mr. 
 Vassar and Mr. Swan for distrust of Jewett and
 
 160 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 for an exaggeration of the importance of his 
 criticisms in the crucial letter which forced his 
 resignation. Perhaps there can be as little 
 doubt that Dr. Jewett was as fully informed 
 regarding the "university system" as Charles 
 A. Raymond himself, though the latter asserts 
 that he could not grasp his ideas as rapidly as 
 the plain business man, the founder, had. If, as 
 seems certain, Jewett now knew of this active 
 counter-current, it may account in part for the 
 extreme expressions in the private letters whose 
 discovery compelled his resignation. 
 
 The letter, or letters, referred to were written 
 just before the meeting of February, 1864, 
 when Dr. Jewett hoped to carry through three 
 distinct measures of paramount importance, 
 the adoption of the plan of educational organi- 
 zation, the agreement to open the college that 
 fall, the appointment of professors. He was 
 fully aware of opposition to all of these, 
 harassed and anxious, and as he writes Dr. 
 Bishop, later, "almost prostrated" by the 
 excitement of "the last six or seven weeks," 
 by "official and personal insults" and "the 
 fatal blow which he believed to be aimed at the
 
 JEWETT'S ADMINISTRATION 161 
 
 college," and by the "vile misrepresentations" 
 and slanders used to alienate Mr. Vassar. He 
 knew his enemies regarded him as "obnoxious " 
 and were resolved to remove him, and "sleep- 
 less nights and loss of appetite" had "com- 
 bined to make him sick in body, mind, and 
 heart." 1 
 
 Under these conditions he wrote a letter to 
 Dr. Hague, a Trustee, in response to his request 
 for information, pointing out the subjects that 
 must be considered and the oppositions that 
 must be encountered. No copy of that letter 
 has thus far been discovered, though the 
 author of it wrote it to six people, Anderson, 
 Bishop, Raymond, Robinson, Magoon, as 
 well as Hague. Bishop, we know, burned his 
 copy. 2 In his story Jewett speaks freely of it, 
 but writes with the calmness of the distance of 
 many years. He says he stated the matters, 
 especially "the grand questioning of the open- 
 ing" in the fall, the arguments on both sides, 
 "the desperate efforts which would be made 
 by the opposition and spoke of Mr. Vassar as 
 
 1 Letter to Bishop, February 27, 1864. 
 
 * Letter to Jewett, March 24, and Letter of March 8, 1864.
 
 162 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 inclined to accede to their wishes." He "ex- 
 pressed the conviction, however, that Mr. 
 Vassar would yield readily to the Trustees if 
 the majority were decidedly in favor'* of the 
 opening. But in opening his heart freely and 
 confidentially to his correspondent he referred 
 to the difficulties that had environed him and 
 the obstacles which the malice of his enemies 
 threw in his way at every step. "Added to these, 
 I remarked, ' Mr. Vassar grows more fickle and 
 childish every day.'" 1 
 
 This must be a very mild memory of a very 
 heated letter. We have five letters of Jewett's, 
 strangely preserved where so much has dis- 
 appeared in the college archives, and evi- 
 dently placed there by Dr. Bishop, to whom 
 they were addressed. They are written after 
 the meeting, but they throw a backward light 
 on the contents of the letter. Bishop advised 
 him against writing so "freely," 2 and, as just 
 related, had burned his own copy. Jewett says 3 
 that the letter was written under great excite- 
 ment and handled "men and motives with no 
 
 1 Manuscript narrative, pp. 133, 140. 
 
 * February 29. March 8.
 
 JEWETT'S ADMINISTRATION 163 
 
 gloved hands," regardless of self-interest and 
 self-preservation, in love and anxiety for the 
 college. Bishop refers 1 to its severe expressions 
 and strong censure. Kelly, who returned from 
 a journey at this time, and to whom Jewett 
 told his story, said that he "ought not to have 
 written such a letter to any man," and spoke of 
 Mr. Vassar's grief over "that cruel letter." 2 
 
 Manifestly, the letter was severe, a heated 
 attack on his supposed enemies in the Board, 
 but meant only to put the friends of the col- 
 lege on their guard in considering its interests 
 at the approaching meeting. It is to be remem- 
 bered that it was in the hands of six active 
 and able Trustees when the subjects referred 
 to came before the Board, February 23, 
 1864. 
 
 The crucial question turned on the opening 
 of the college in the fall. If that were decided 
 on, the curriculum must be adopted now and 
 the professors appointed. Jewett says, in his 
 narrative, that M. Vassar, Jr., and Swift, and 
 one other member of the Executive Committee 
 argued against the opening with great earnest- 
 
 1 In his letter of March 14. * Jewett, March 17.
 
 164 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 ness. 1 A number of prominent members 
 argued for it, alleging the expectations of the 
 community and the ability of the committee 
 to have the college in readiness. He took no 
 part in the debate, and Mr. Vassar expressed 
 his willingness to leave the decision to the 
 Board. "On taking the question all the 
 Trustees voted in favor of the opening in Sep- 
 tember excepting the gentlemen above named 
 and Dr. Babcock." 2 
 
 In essentials this is correct, but calls for 
 modification. The founder, while anxious to 
 have the college opened as soon as possible, 
 for every personal reason invoked caution and 
 care. He wrote Dr. Anderson, January 19, 
 expressing grave doubts, for financial and 
 
 1 Manuscript narrative, p. 138. 
 
 2 Ibid., p. 139. Dr. Babcock was an able, prominent 
 clergyman, at this time resident in Poughkeepsie, and a charter 
 member of the Board. That he and Jewett were separating in 
 their views as early as May, 1863, the founder's book of 
 Copies (pp. 64-66) makes clear. He says it is not due to 
 anything Babcock has done or left undone, but some one has 
 aroused a prejudice in Jewett's mind, and he thinks time will 
 work a cure. Later he tells Babcock that Jewett's " prejudices k> 
 are "candid and honest"; that the issue was really due to 
 Babcock's wish to have a chair in the college (this is confirmed 
 by Jewett's manuscript narrative), and to Jewett's determina- 
 tion that he should not.
 
 JEWETT'S ADMINISTRATION 165 
 
 other reasons. 1 His first desire was to have all 
 ready and perfect. "Though no one of you can 
 realize the extent of my deep solicitude," he 
 says in what is perhaps the most important of 
 all his "Communications" to the Board, "that 
 I may be spared by my Heavenly Father to see 
 the final and successful achievement of a life 
 prolonged, / still invoke deliberation and not 
 haste." 
 
 The debate was a very general one, several 
 resolutions being offered and defeated. At 
 last, Dr. Robinson moved that the Executive 
 Committee exert itself to complete the college 
 for opening in September, and this was carried, 
 leaving the result in doubt. 2 Thereupon the 
 motion was carried that Dr. Jewett's educa- 
 tional plan be referred back to the Committee, 
 which should report at the June meeting. 3 
 
 One other event of that meeting deserves 
 mention. Dr. Lossing urged an elaborate pre- 
 amble and resolutions changing the title of the 
 
 1 Copies, p. 84. 
 
 1 Raymond (J. H.) thought it important to open the college 
 in September, but changed his mind in May. All were relieved 
 then and especially the founder. (Life, p. 517.) 
 
 8 Official minutes.
 
 166 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 college by the omission of the word "female." 
 Considering the later discussion and the found- 
 er's remarks favoring the change, the fact of 
 the defeat of the resolution is particularly in- 
 teresting. 1 
 
 This meeting was recognized by Jewett as a 
 defeat. Could it have escaped his attention 
 that, in referring to the genesis of his idea of 
 a college, the founder had not mentioned him? 
 For seven years, he says in his narrative, he 
 had "maintained his ascendancy over Mr. 
 Vassar" and had never proposed a measure 
 that he did not adopt. His foes had deter- 
 mined to shake his hold and not to have the 
 college opened with him as President, he wrote 
 from memory in 1879. Mr. Jewett, they told 
 the founder, wished to open it for his own 
 glorification, and after the opening Mr. Vassar 
 would be "a mere no-body." "For the first 
 time" he could not bring the founder to his 
 
 1 The founder had still defended the word "female" on 
 November 6, 1863 (Copies, p. 71), but in April, 1864 (Ibid., p. 
 96), says to Mrs. Hale that when the time comes to donate a 
 further sum he will make the change a condition of his gift! 
 Mr. Vassar writes Mrs. Hale, February 26, 1864, that Bishop, 
 Anderson, John Raymond, were adverse, and he suspects 
 Jewett's zeal for the change.
 
 JEWETT'S ADMINISTRATION 167 
 
 view. 1 Possibly he exaggerated the spirit of 
 the opposition, and possibly underestimated 
 the difficulties before the Executive Commit- 
 tee; but Charles A. Raymond's letters show the 
 growing enmity, and M. Vassar, Jr.'s, diary 
 proves the animus of the nephew's antagonism. 
 The forces had gathered for Jewett's destruc- 
 tion. Prudence, caution, tact might have 
 saved him, even then, but the powder was 
 ready for the spark, and the spark fell. " Now,'" 
 says the manuscript narrative, "occurred one 
 of those unaccountable incidents which Provi- 
 dence sometimes employs to shape our lives 
 and control our destinies." 
 
 As Jewett tells the tale, Dr. Hague (he 
 leaves the name in blank), "one of the leading 
 Trustees," told Mr. Swan that he would like 
 to write a letter, whereupon Swan invited him 
 to his office and gave him the materials. When 
 Dr. Hague left his office, Swan returned and 
 observed two or three sheets of paper lying on 
 the table, and saw they were in the President's 
 familiar hand. He reads the letter, addressed 
 to Dr. Hague. "This was enough!" "Mr. 
 
 1 Manuscript narrative, pp. 137-39.
 
 168 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 Swan, thinking the letter was left in his office 
 for a purpose, and fearing he would be com- 
 promised by silence, showed it to Mr. Vassar." 
 His enemies, he adds with mild truth, "now 
 felt that they had in their hands the means of 
 crushing the President." They pointed out, 
 he says, to the founder, how unworthy Jewett 
 had shown himself of his kindness and confi- 
 dence, his disrespect and even contempt for 
 him, his effort to influence the Trustees in 
 advance against the founder's wishes regard- 
 ing the opening, his assumption of dictator- 
 ship, and his treatment of the founder as a 
 feeble old man in his second childhood. The 
 founder must insist on his resignation. 1 
 
 It should be said at once that though Dr. 
 Jewett at first suspected, as others did, includ- 
 ing Mr. Swan, that the dropping of the letter 
 was a "betrayal," and part of a "plot," 2 he 
 changed his view. "Subsequent inquiry con- 
 vinced Mr. Swan that he was mistaken, and 
 
 the positive assurance of Dr. himself 
 
 satisfied me that the matter was purely acci- 
 dental." That perhaps cannot be said of the 
 1 Manuscript narrative, p. 140. ' Letter of March 8, 1864.
 
 JEWETT'S ADMINISTRATION 169 
 
 reading of the letter by Mr. Swan. Mr. Jewett, 
 however, finds "the grand mistake . . . when 
 I put on paper words so uncomplimentary to 
 Mr. Vassar." 1 
 
 But was there a "plot," as was thought by 
 some? There is no reason to assume such an 
 unnecessary event. There was opposition to 
 Mr. Jewett by the nephews, from the start, 
 and naturally enough by several others, friends 
 or counselors of theirs. Charles A. Raymond's 
 letters show the bitterness of his opposition, 
 and one cannot think that he expressed it only 
 to Mr. Vassar and Mr. Swan. Probably Mr. 
 Jewett had come to assume, with some justice, 
 that he himself represented the founder's 
 views. We have already noted sundry adverse 
 expressions, even from Bishop, and "young 
 Matt's" diary discloses deep opposition to 
 Jewett himself. Probably the founder was 
 growing restless under Jewett's influence, 
 and it is not in the least unlikely that he was at 
 times "vacillating." Not even "founders" are 
 infallible, and they have been known to be 
 "difficult." Doubtless Mr. Jewett had met 
 
 1 Manuscript narrative, p. 148.
 
 170 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 enough to ruffle his spirit, and to make him 
 "sick at heart," and his manuscript, in 1879, 
 is far calmer than the few letters we have from 
 1864. 
 
 It is difficult to trace in detail the events of 
 the next few days. How soon did the letter 
 become known to the "enemies"? An entry 
 in the diary of M. Vassar, Jr., which seems 
 to omit the meeting of February 23, states 
 that the Executive Committee met on Febru- 
 ary 29, and passed a resolution "forprogressg 
 with college and purchase furniture and other 
 matters particularly of the Hypocracy and 
 unfair acts of Presdt Jewitt his intrigue, 
 cunning, Jesuitical proceedings against M. V. 
 and others his would be one man power 
 which is showing itself time will prove his evil 
 attempts." March 1, he writes again, "engagd 
 at collge office this A.M. with committee on 
 matters pertaining to business of M. V. con- 
 nection with Jewitt the latter evil attempts 
 to injure Comtte as also the Founder." We 
 may accept this as a clear reference to the 
 "dropped letter," and a conference as to the 
 proper policy to be pursued.
 
 JEWETT'S ADMINISTRATION 171 
 
 On March 2 Mr. Vassar wrote Jewett that 
 he had before him a letter in his handwriting 
 and signed by him, from which he quoted 
 extracts. No further confidence was possible 
 between them and he asked for his resignation 
 without delay. All further communications 
 must be in writing. 1 Jewett was away a week, 
 and found this letter on his return. He an- 
 swered it kindly and tenderly, reviewing all 
 their relations, but saying that the resignation 
 was a matter for consideration in the light of 
 his own reputation as well as of the interests 
 of the college. He writes Bishop that he pro- 
 poses to go on doing his duty, and if his resig- 
 nation is insisted on to present all the facts to 
 the Board, from the beginning, and leave the 
 decision to the Trustees. He asks Bishop's 
 advice, suggests that he show the letter to 
 Lathrop and Raymond (J. H.), and then burn 
 it. Or would it be better limited to Bishop 
 himself? 2 Jewett says in his narrative that he 
 laid the subject before several resident trustees, 
 and they protested against his resignation and 
 
 1 Letter from Jewett to Bishop, March 8. 
 8 Letter, Marph 8.
 
 172 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 denied the right of the founder to "sacrifice 
 the President to the enmity of his heirs and 
 their allies or to his own wounded self-love. 
 The majority would vote against the resigna- 
 tion and would support him." He adds that 
 William Kelly "urged this view" and "en- 
 gaged to induce Mr. Vassar to accept a proper 
 explanation " from Jewett. " In this, as I after- 
 wards too tardily learned, he was successful," 
 he says, but we shall have reason to modify this 
 view as we follow the contemporary letters. 
 Jewett adds the story that some months later 
 "a gentleman present" told him that Mr. 
 Vassar wrote a note accepting his apology and 
 asking him to call; that Matthew, Jr., saw it 
 and threw it into the fire, saying there should 
 be no reconciliation and that Mr. Jewett should 
 resign. 1 This also must be read in the light of 
 the letters, and Jewett did not know it at the 
 time. As he received no note, he tells us, he 
 concluded that Mr. Kelly had failed in his 
 mission, and as he could not work without the 
 founder's full confidence, he must resign. But 
 on what terms? He rehearses his reflections on 
 
 1 Manuscript narrative, p. 142.
 
 JEWETT'S ADMINISTRATION 173 
 
 the financial losses he had suffered through 
 these years, and his probable power to recover 
 a good sum before his resignation. And he 
 recalls that the New York law protects a 
 President from removal without full cause, and 
 that he might reestablish himself in Mr. 
 Vassar's esteem. On the other hand, his suc- 
 cess now against "the formidable combina- 
 tion" was doubtful, especially in view of the 
 attitude of the Executive Committee, and the 
 result might be disaster and disgrace. The 
 college might be delayed, Mr. Vassar "wearied 
 and disgusted," and the whole scheme ren- 
 dered abortive. That weighed most with him, 
 the interest of a work to which he had given so 
 many years. He would resign unconditionally, 
 assigning no reason, and the public should 
 never know that there had been trouble "be- 
 tween the projector and the founder of the 
 college." 
 
 "Influenced by these considerations, on 
 April 16, 1864, 1 placed my resignation in the 
 hands of the Secretary of the Board of 
 Trustees." The letter is a model of courteous 
 feeling, without a reflection of the bitterness
 
 174 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 of spirit out of which it had come, and is 
 worthy of a gentleman, and one who had given 
 his best to a new and noble work. The steps 
 which preceded it, however, call for some 
 review. 
 
 Dr. Bishop replied to Jewett's letter of the 
 8th of March on the 14th, and saved a copy, 
 which the college has. He says Jewett was not 
 "betrayed": the letter was lost. He advises 
 that either he must pay no attention to Mr. 
 Vassar's letter, or resign, and his course must 
 be determined by his own feelings. He would 
 better resign for the sake of putting "himself 
 before the Trustees and public in the most 
 gentlemanly attitude." If the Trustees refused 
 to accept his resignation, his position would be 
 improved; and if it were accepted, his place 
 before the world would be more dignified than 
 if he were forced to resign. The "lost paper" 
 has undoubtedly seriously damaged his stand 
 with the Board, says "Fidus Achates." 
 
 At this point we note once more the influ- 
 ence of Charles A. Raymond. On the 7th of 
 March he is asking Swan for news of the great 
 meeting. He has been busy at Fort Monroe
 
 JEWETT'S ADMINISTRATION 175 
 
 planning for the education of Negroes and 
 whites, with General Butler's favor. March 
 14, the day of Bishop's letter to Jewett, he has 
 heard confidentially from Swan, but does not 
 wholly understand the disposition of the 
 "plan." He would drop Jewett. His leaving 
 would do the college good. Let Mr. Vassar 
 frame a letter which he can publish, calling 
 for a reorganization along lines he approves. 
 Raymond will act for him if he wishes it, 
 and he suggests details of a business organiza- 
 tion. He rejoices that the "Autocracy is 
 ended," but evidently he does not yet know 
 fully the existing conditions. He sketches a 
 long letter on March 16, as a model for Mr. 
 Vassar to send. He is not himself sure that he 
 can undertake the task, but might get leave of 
 absence. 
 
 Jewett answers Bishop on March 17. He 
 honors and loves him for his strong advice. 
 He has seen Mr. Kelly, the chairman of the 
 Board, shown him Mr. Vassar's letter, and 
 Jewett's reply, and told him the history of his 
 troubles from 1860 on. Kelly had expressed 
 his sympathy, though he had condemned the
 
 176 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 famous letter sharply. He had seen Mr. 
 Vassar, who "grieved deeply over that cruel 
 letter," but yet had kindly feelings for Jewett. 
 Kelly had shown him that he could not have 
 had any motive but for the good of the college 
 and intended no reflection on the founder, and 
 had urged Mr. Vassar to allow Jewett to call 
 in person and apologize. That interview had 
 been had, and "all is right." "Mr. Vassar 
 apologized for alluding to my resignation, hav- 
 ing done so under excitement," and he prom- 
 ised "to forgive and forget." Hereafter, he 
 (Jewett) will keep to his duties as President 
 and on the Committee on faculty. He has 
 learned a lesson! "Of the * accident/" he 
 adds, "or on the course of the man who put 
 the letter into Mr. Vassar's hands, the writer 
 of so indiscreet a letter has no right to com- 
 ment." 
 
 Jewett's view of the case was too roseate. 
 Mr. Vassar never gave him his confidence 
 again and affirms that Jewett misunderstood 
 his politeness. His letter to Mr. Kelly should 
 be read in full, as showing his point of view, 
 and in justice to his poise, his wisdom, and his
 
 JEWETT'S ADMINISTRATION 177 
 
 firmness of character. 1 The letter is as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 POUGHKKEPSIE, March 24, 1864. 
 HON. WILLIAM KELLY, 
 
 MY DEAR SIR : The very friendly tone of your 
 letter to me of the 21st instant (which would have 
 received an earlier notice but for my feeble health) 
 justifies the entire confidence I have in your judg- 
 ment and your interest in myself and all that con- 
 cerns our College. From you I have nothing what- 
 ever to conceal. I am gratified at your approval 
 of my conduct in this emergency with Mr. Jewett 
 and I have the utmost hope, that I shall do nothing 
 that may not meet the approval of every good man. 
 But your letter embarrasses me, since it leads me 
 to believe you are not fairly apprised of the result 
 of the late interview between myself and Mr. 
 Jewett. I, of course treated him politely as my 
 own self-respect required me to do, but nothing 
 occurred to justify any hope or expression on his 
 part that our relations were to be hereafter differ- 
 ent than those indicated in my letter to him on the 
 2d instant which I read to you, upon receiving 
 
 1 In November, 1888, the late President Backus, of the 
 Packer Institute, sent to the writer a copy of this letter, made 
 from the original in Mr. Wight's collection. He had suggested 
 to Mr. Wight that the original should be given to Vassar 
 College, but he had concluded to allow a copy only to be sent 
 for the archives. The original letter later came to the college. 
 Dr. Backus thought that Dr. Jewett's view of the attitude of 
 the founder, as expressed personally to him, seemed inconsis- 
 tent with the statements of the letter.
 
 178 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 your letter, I have written him again to this effect, 
 so that he may be under no mis-apprehension. 
 Indeed I cannot conceive how it was possible for 
 him so far to have misunderstood me for I have 
 not and cannot give him again "the possession of 
 my friendly confidence." He cannot have derived 
 that idea from any thing that has passed between 
 us for nothing has in any way justified it. I cannot 
 again feel safe in his hands or receiving him alone 
 if such representations are to follow our interviews. 
 I beg you my dear Sir to look at my position. 
 I have given the results of my life to this College 
 a very toilsome long and anxious life. I have hoped 
 to do a good thing and indeed a great one. I have 
 given it every effort and every thought of my later 
 years unweariedly. It excludes every other interest 
 and every other occupation. My confidence has 
 been most assiduously sought for years past by 
 Prof. Jewett and has been obtained to an unlimited 
 extent. I have allowed his importunities at times 
 to forestall my own judgment, so that I have been 
 willing to yield my personal preferences and ideas 
 to advance my undertaking. But one concession 
 has only demanded another and another until my 
 confidence has been made to waver and I have 
 struggled with the doubts raised upon his conduct 
 whether he were equal to the position he has sought 
 and obtained at my hands. It is with extreme 
 regret that I am compelled to admit that I have 
 not obtained from him practically that assistance 
 or that counsel which has assured my own mind
 
 JEWETT'S ADMINISTRATION 179 
 
 as to the clearness of his judgment or his power 
 to organize and control this immense interest, and 
 these doubts Sir, have been my own. My wishes 
 and my prejudices have all the time been thrown 
 strongly in his favor hoping continually that he 
 might eventually be able to remove them and 
 justify my expectations and what the College 
 absolutely requires. Prof. Jewett has been always 
 entirely mistaken as to the extent or violence of 
 any prejudice upon the part of any members of 
 the Ex. Com. against him so far as I am able to 
 judge. It is impossible that there should have been 
 this hostility to him or to the enterprise which he 
 has without its coming to my knowledge. You may 
 depend upon it they are unreal at all events up 
 to a very late period and even now they do not 
 take any shape beyond what must be the natural 
 consequences of Prof. Jewett's own conduct and 
 expressions. Under these circumstances what can 
 I do that I have not done. I am laboring exhaust- 
 ingly for this College. I cannot and do not propose 
 to compel Prof. Jewett to resign his place but I 
 must rid myself of all responsibilities and throw it 
 wholly upon the Trustees. We must have the ablest 
 man to be found at its head and in order to ensure 
 its success. If the Trustees can find in Mr. Jewett's 
 conduct or in any thing he has so far done anything, 
 sufficient guarantee that he is the man, I can be 
 silent. So far as he has affronted me in my person 
 I do not wish that to weigh against the College. 
 I can endure anything almost if my College may
 
 180 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 succeed. If his sincerity, discretion, foresight, if his 
 mental and moral power as a controller of other 
 minds and leader in an undeveloped path, recom- 
 mend him beyond any other man he must remain 
 the President, It would have been an infinite 
 relief to me to have found him equal to the confi- 
 dence I have given him personally. It would have 
 been my most exalted personal pleasure to have 
 had a President to whom I could open my whole 
 heart and on whom I could most positively rely. 
 It is far better that I should fail in all that if 
 that man whoever he may be may be able to win 
 and preserve the confidence of my Trustees and 
 of the great public at large a well balanced 
 mind, able and manly man a man above all 
 intrigue above selfishness, above jealousy. 
 Reliant upon his open conduct of affairs for his po- 
 sition in office and in the world which must judge 
 him. 
 
 I have thus fairly expressed every feeling and 
 desire I harbor although I fear at the expense of 
 your patience. But I cannot nor do ask your per- 
 sonal favor or friendship to me to control your 
 conduct, but I do anxiously ask you to give this 
 subject your full reflection and that you judge and 
 act as if the Presidential chair were vacant and 
 President Jewett, if you please, and any other best 
 man who you know were in the canvass for that 
 place, who of all the men you know would or 
 should receive your endorsement, Mr. Jewett or 
 any other person.
 
 JEWETT'S ADMINISTRATION 181 
 
 Please to excuse this long letter. I several times 
 stopped to make it shorter but could not. 
 
 Yrs. most Respectfully etc. etc. 
 
 M. VASSAR. 1 
 
 Meanwhile the other influences were not 
 quiet. Raymond (C. A.) is still prodding Swan, 
 and in a letter of April 3 includes one to Mr. 
 Vassar, dated April 4, to be handed to him if 
 Mr. Swan finds it "judicious." Whether he 
 deemed it so we cannot tell; but it is to be 
 noted that it was written after Jewett's trouble 
 with Mr. Vassar, but before his resignation 
 was published. The vice-presidency is still in 
 his view. He would now have matters above- 
 board. He offers himself as a "professional 
 
 1 In a letter to Mrs. Hale, May 19, 1864, the founder tells 
 her that he is glad Jewett had told of his resignation, as it 
 saved him from the painful duty, and he might have been led 
 to say more in justifying himself than he should. He can for- 
 give, "altho' I cannot forget." "An intercepted" letter (the 
 quotation marks are his) "disclosed his future views and pur- 
 poses toward me and my associates" but all is clear now. 
 J. H. Raymond has been appointed and he hopes he will 
 accept. Mr. Vassar had written Mrs. Hale in March (23d; he 
 demanded the resignation on the 24th) that Jewett's opposi- 
 tion to his view that every chair should be filled by women if 
 possible, "with some other matters (which I may not trouble 
 you with), may possibly lead to the selection of some other 
 person to fill that chair." (Copies, p. 93.)
 
 182 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 expert" to carry out Mr. Vassar's principles. 
 He has done all he can as a simple friend. 
 Jewett is incompetent. Let him be removed. 
 Raymond does not wish the place, but if he 
 can get three months' leave and his salary, he 
 will give his services. No man can carry out 
 his plan but himself. If Mr. Vassar does not 
 find a man (who must carry out his own plan), 
 he knows that he can rely on Raymond. He 
 tells Swan there is no other way "if they wish 
 another President" "but to inaugurate the 
 Vice Presidency;" 1 "and which position I 
 would much prefer to being Prest. if I was to 
 have a position of my choice." Mr. Swan has 
 told him, evidently, that the Trustees are 
 reluctant to remove Jewett, as Mr. Vassar's 
 own choice, and he urges that Mr. Vassar 
 shall say the word (Mr. Swan, of course, knew 
 then that the resignation had been asked, but 
 did not care to share the information with this 
 "outsider"). He goes further, again details 
 his plans for the schools, and meets the objec- 
 tions Mr. Swan reports (April 8), and skillfully 
 sympathizes with him in the lack of apprecia- 
 
 1 Letter, April 4, 1864.
 
 JEWETT'S ADMINISTRATION 183 
 
 tion shown him in his pecuniary returns from 
 the founder and the trustees. 
 
 M. Vassar, Jr., also records, 1 "called on Mr. 
 Sheldon, N. Y. and talked over college affairs, 
 the acts of Jewitt and his deception and 
 Hypocracy and unfitness for office all of which 
 is fully known by the Board and now seen as 
 has also been seen heretofore." 
 
 April 23, Jewett writes Bishop that he has 
 forwarded his resignation April 16, and "not 
 had one moment of despondency or dejection." 
 He knows the step is necessary to save the col- 
 lege from death or paralysis. But if the Board 
 should care to pass any kind expressions he 
 
 does not wish "or any of his clique" 
 
 "to have a hand in preparing it." He does not 
 wish to be killed by a chaplet of poisonous 
 flowers! He then adds a few points for the 
 good of the college. He had named John H. 
 Raymond as his successor when he went to 
 Europe. He is more than ever persuaded that 
 he is the man. He would now have a report 
 from the Committee on Faculty and Studies 
 that could be embraced in an advertising cir- 
 1 Diary, April 5, 1864.
 
 184 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 cular. He would at once elect professors and 
 teachers, and name a committee on furnishing, 
 and open in the fall of 1864 if possible. 
 
 Though not communicated to the Board till 
 the 29th, this fact was known to Matthew, Jr., 
 on the 20 th . " Pres Jewitt has tendered resigna- 
 tion as PrestV. F. College it has come to the 
 same thgh the request of N. York members of 
 the Board Directors his attack by letter agnst 
 M. V. & Ex Committee has been the result." 
 
 Charles A. Raymond has heard of the crisis 
 by April 24, and expresses to Swan his sym- 
 pathy with Mr. Vassar who knows the unsel- 
 fishness of his (Raymond's) work and thought 
 for him. Now it would be a sacrifice for him to 
 take the place so full of difficulty, but he would 
 if Mr. Vassar wished it. April 27, he has 
 received advanced knowledge from Swan and 
 does not doubt that his "namesake" "will be 
 a great advance on Mr. Jewett." He sends 
 him his congratulations and commiserates Mr. 
 Vassar, "the good poor man," "sadly worn 
 out and perplexed." Later, May 12, he allows 
 Swan to use anything he has written and offers 
 his assistance to the new President. He is
 
 JEWETT'S ADMINISTRATION 185 
 
 happy in the prospect of the return of his 
 property by the Government. 
 
 The official minutes of the Trustees show 
 that a request for a special meeting was pre- 
 ferred by Mr. Vassar, M. Vassar, Jr., Nathan 
 Bishop, Mr. Swan, Mr. Swift, Mr. Bucking- 
 ham, and Mr. Dubois. The meeting was called 
 for April 29, the resignation was presented, 
 and unanimously accepted. 
 
 Mr. Lossing presented appreciative resolu- 
 tions which were also unanimously adopted. 
 Dr. Jewett has the impression 1 that Matthew, 
 Jr., objected to fuller resolutions offered by 
 Dr. Lossing, and "a substitute was prepared 
 couched in the most general terms and mean- 
 ing nothing" ; but no hint of this appears in 
 the minutes. The resolutions as passed are as 
 follows : 
 
 On motion of Mr. Swift, seconded by Mr. 
 Bishop, it was unanimously resolved that the 
 resignation of Dr. Jewett as President of this 
 College be accepted. 
 
 On motion of Mr. Thompson the resignation of 
 Dr. Jewett as Trustee of this College was unani- 
 mously accepted. 
 
 1 Manuscript narrative, p. 147.
 
 186 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 On motion of Mr. Lossing the following resolu- 
 tions were adopted unanimously: 
 
 Whereas Milo P. Jewett, LL.D., has resigned his 
 office as President of Vassar College, and his res- 
 ignation having been accepted, therefore, 
 
 Resolved: that the Board of Trustees entertain 
 a high appreciation of the industry, zeal and energy 
 which President Jewett has uniformly evinced in 
 the discharge of his duties while connected with 
 this college. 
 
 Resolved: that on leaving his place of active 
 co-operation with us in the great work of female 
 education he carries with him our cordial good 
 wishes for his happiness and prosperity. 
 
 Resolved: that the secretary is hereby directed 
 to present to Dr. Jewett copies of these resolutions 
 with the corporate seal of the College attached. 1 
 
 1 From the Minutes of the meeting of the Trustees, April 
 29, 1864. At the meeting of the Board of Trustees in June, 
 1882, Dr. Lossing called the attention of the Board to the 
 death of Rev. Milo P. Jewett, D.D., first President of Vassar 
 College, and offered the following resolution: "Whereas, infor- 
 mation has come of the death at Milwaukee in the seventy- 
 fourth year of his age of Rev. Milo P. Jewett, an original trustee 
 and the first chosen President of Vassar College, and whereas, 
 the labors of Dr. Jewett in the business of promoting the higher 
 education of woman were earnest, incessant, and highly suc- 
 cessful during a period of almost a quarter of a century, and 
 whereas, Dr. Jewett was one of the chief helpers of the 
 Founder of Vassar College in maturing a plan of the institu- 
 tion and in carrying the enterprise to a successful conclusion, 
 resolved, that we the Board of Trustees of Vassar College do 
 hold the memory of Dr. Jewett in profound respect because
 
 JEWETT'S ADMINISTRATION 187 
 
 Dr. John H. Raymond, a Trustee who had 
 proved himself useful in the organization, 1 
 principal of the "Brooklyn Polytechnic," had 
 already been selected by the Committee and 
 was unanimously elected President at this 
 meeting. Matthew, Jr., records, on this day, 
 April 29, "Meeting this day Board Trustees 
 of Vassar F. College to accept resignation of 
 Milo P. Jewitt as President, was accepted 
 unanimously as also Trustee of the same 
 after some other business board adjourned to 
 meet in June." No word of the new election! 
 Nor does the founder refer to Jewett in his 
 address at the June meeting ! So Jewett passes 
 from the history. He says that this sudden 
 termination of his connection surprised his 
 friends, but he gave vague answers and general 
 explanations and allowed nothing to get into 
 print. He rested for three years, to reestablish 
 his health, and moved to Milwaukee in 1867, 
 where he exercised much influence in educa- 
 
 of his useful work and his many virtues, and do tender our 
 heartfelt sympathies in their bereavement to his family and 
 friends of education; resolved, that the Secretary be, and 
 hereby is, instructed to transmit to the family of the deceased 
 an attested copy of the above preambled resolution." 
 i Cf. Life, p. 518.
 
 188 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 tional and religious work till his death in 1882. 
 Only once do we know of his crossing the track 
 of Vassar's history again. In 1873 he wrote 
 Dr. Raymond, 1 expressing his admiration of 
 the report on Vassar for the Vienna Exposition 
 and his approval of Dr. Raymond's views. He 
 sympathizes with him in the embarrassments 
 and vexations through which he has reached 
 the "goal," and "achieved a triumph." He is 
 happy in "the humble part he was permitted 
 to bear in laying the foundations and building 
 the rough scaffolding of the grand temple. I 
 never could have overcome the obstacles you 
 have vanquished in rearing the superstructure. 
 Being advised of these from year to year, I 
 have long been persuaded that it was best for 
 myself, as well as for the college, that I left in 
 1864"; he has not been East, and hopes in 
 another year to revisit the college. 
 
 What must be our final judgment of Dr. 
 Jewett's influence and of his plans for the col- 
 lege? And what of the charges made by him 
 and against him? 
 
 It seems plain, from the narrative here given, 
 
 1 Life, pp. 621, 622.
 
 JEWETT'S ADMINISTRATION 189 
 
 that the idea actually embodied in the college 
 was due to the suggestion and the nurture of 
 Dr. Jewett. Every allowance must be made 
 for the weight of Mr. Vassar 's own statements, 
 already quoted, as to the influence of Lydia 
 Booth. Possibly she had some dim scheme of 
 a college in mind, or perhaps she thought of 
 some endowed seminary as contrasted with 
 the small school of which she was principal. 
 No one has quoted from her a letter or an 
 authentic word which can sustain more than 
 this, and there is nothing to show that Mr. 
 Vassar had any view of the education of girls 
 above the ordinary, when he met Mr. Jewett. 
 His first quoted statement shows nothing more 
 than that he was interested in "female educa- 
 tion" through her influence, unless we take as 
 literal the final words regarding "an institu- 
 tion like the one we now propose." But that 
 was written in 1864, after nine years of discus- 
 sion with Dr. Jewett; and in the early years of 
 the period we know, from the contemporary 
 papers preserved by Dr. Jewett, that Mr. 
 Vassar was asking for details of a novel sug- 
 gestion. Nor can we shut our eyes to the fact
 
 190 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 that when Jewett's influence had waned and 
 the feeling against him was taking shape, it 
 was natural for Mr. Vassar to lose sight of his 
 early indebtedness to him and to look back to 
 his earlier associations with his niece. In the 
 statement of 1866 he says expressly that the 
 business intercourse with his niece (he owned 
 her building) accounted for his early interest 
 in the enlarged education of women and the 
 drift of his later conversation and correspond- 
 ence. He does not mention Jewett, but we 
 know that Jewett was the man who wrote the 
 letters and deposited the answers with Vassar. 
 As has been said, also, whatever he had 
 thought regarding education, Mr. Vassar had 
 definitely settled on a hospital, and had made 
 his will accordingly, before Mr. Jewett opened 
 his scheme to him. 
 
 Dr. Alonzo K. Parker, Recorder of the Uni- 
 versity of Chicago, formerly resident in Pough- 
 keepsie, and accustomed to hear M. Vassar, 
 Jr., and his father discuss all matters of interest 
 to the family, says that one form of Mr. 
 Vassar's earlier idea was a scheme for indigent 
 females. The pupils were to learn to wash and
 
 JEWETT'S ADMINISTRATION 191 
 
 sew and cook, and do housework. This he 
 thinks preceded Dr. Jewell's coming, and il 
 was probably one of Ihe many projecls lhal in 
 lurn appealed lo Ihis rich man who would 
 spend his money wisely for poslerily. Bui Dr. 
 Jewell was a man of experience in colleges and 
 schools, and he saw now a greal opporlunily. 
 His Ihoughl was nol of a greal school, as 
 Charles Raymond derisively said, bul of a 
 large college, equipped far better and more 
 fully endowed lhan any bul Ihe largesl and 
 besl of our contemporary American colleges. 
 He had Ihe vision of a distinguished and able 
 faculty, of endowmenls, of abundanl appara- 
 lus, a large library, a museum, an arl gallery, 
 a building supplying comf orls unknown in Ihe 
 inslilulions of Ihe day, and surrounded by a 
 park attractive lo Ihe eye and inviting lo 
 exercise. His early papers form a remarkable 
 ideal for Ihe epoch before 1860, and Jewell was 
 righl in his claim lhal no such inslilulion 
 existed. His plan promised far more for a girl 
 lhan even Oberlin could offer, or lhan Ihe 
 Soulhern colleges had dreamed of. Il was a 
 development, bul il was new, and il prophesied
 
 192 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 a new day for woman, whether in coeducational 
 or separate colleges. 
 
 The founder, shrewd, able, intelligent, and as- 
 piring, quickly grasped the ideal, though often 
 in a limited way, and gradually worked out his 
 views broadly and soundly under Dr. Jewett's 
 constant teaching. Why should it be thought 
 needful for his honor that the claim be made that 
 a self-educated man, who had never had any oc- 
 casion to study an educational problem, should 
 of his own notion have struck out an idea which 
 was to mark an epoch in the history of college 
 education and in the development of woman? 
 
 It may be asked, at this point, if Mrs. 
 Vassar herself had been an influence contribu- 
 tory to an educational interest. Inquiry among 
 surviving relatives entirely negatives any such 
 suggestion. She had no interest whatever in 
 her husband's new scheme, though she sur- 
 vived till it was well advanced. 1 She was care- 
 ful of her home and devoted solely to it, a 
 precise and economical housekeeper without 
 any wider interests, and somewhat eccentric, 
 in the view of her neighbors. 
 
 1 The beginning of 1863.
 
 JEWETT'S ADMINISTRATION 193 
 
 The founder's view of his debt to Dr. Jewett 
 must not be inferred from the letter which fol- 
 lowed Jewett's "cruel" references to him, nor 
 from his omission of all later mention of him. 
 We must recall the letter of Thanksgiving Day 
 of I860, 1 his acknowledgment "from the very 
 depths of his heart" of "his sincere and ingen- 
 uous friendship" and his references to the 
 "Great Enterprise." Indeed, the founder's 
 remarkable letter to Mr. Kelly is itself the 
 frank statement, even in the hour of with- 
 drawing his confidence from Jewett, that he had 
 had it "to an unlimited extent," and though 
 he regrets that he must now admit that Jewett 
 has not been the reliance that he had expected, 
 he makes it plain that he had fully trusted him 
 and depended on him. He minimizes, too, the 
 influences which have proved steadily antago- 
 nistic to Jewett and have attempted to under- 
 mine his influence on the founder, asserting 
 that Mr. Jewett has been entirely mistaken as 
 to the extent or violence of the prejudice of 
 members of the Executive Committee against 
 him. This could not have been, without his 
 
 1 See ante. p. 118.
 
 194 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 knowledge, he asserts. Indeed, it is extremely 
 likely that Dr. Jewett did exaggerate the degree 
 of this feeling against him, and he was 
 apparently given to strong expression of his 
 feelings. Nevertheless, we know how virulent 
 were the expressions in the diary of M. Vassar, 
 Jr.; we know that Charles Raymond had 
 talked and written constantly for two years, 
 to the founder and to Mr. Swan, letters in- 
 tended to undermine all faith in the ability 
 or the goodness, even, of Dr. Jewett. We know 
 that as far back as 1860 Mr. Vassar wrote 
 Jewett that the "great enterprise" had cost 
 him the friendship of many, even of " some of 
 the family friends because of what I am doing." 
 It is not likely that this feeling omitted as its 
 object the recognized cause of the novel plan. 
 Nor can we forget the effort to divert at least 
 a part of Mr. Vassar's interest to other pro- 
 jects and his anger when he saw what was 
 implied in it as to the founding of the college. 
 These facts were all known to Jewett, and he 
 knew too well that these influences exerted 
 themselves, directly and indirectly, on the 
 founder. It is not strange that the irritation
 
 JEWETT'S ADMINISTRATION 195 
 
 grew with the years until, as Jewett wrote 
 Nathan Bishop, he was sick in body, mind, 
 and heart. And that was his undoing. 
 
 That he was wrong, hopelessly wrong, in his 
 unseemly reflections on the founder, and that 
 the latter was cruelly hurt, there can be no 
 question. The assumption that Mr. Vassar 
 was perfect is not essential to prove that. We 
 are far enough away from the event to recog- 
 nize, without unfitting reflections on the man, 
 that a degree of uncertainty and vacillation 
 might have been expected amid the difficulties 
 involved in his great plan, especially for one 
 unused to the annoying details of an educa- 
 tional organization. Dr. Brackett, once Mr. 
 Vassar's pastor, wrote in 1880 to Jewett, com- 
 mending his manuscript narrative in general, 
 but advising him against occasional harsh 
 expressions regarding the founder and others. 
 They are, indeed, singularly few, considering 
 what Jewett thought his provocation. Dr. 
 Brackett tells him the founder has been canon- 
 ized, and while freely acknowledging the very 
 faults Jewett has specified, bids him "deal 
 more gently with our idol." He would tell only
 
 196 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 so much unpleasant truth as is needful for a 
 righteous cause. And that, indeed, is enough ! 
 Mr. Vassar needs no false apology. He had the 
 defects of character which might have been 
 expected in a hard-working man who had 
 slowly raised himself from poverty to great 
 wealth, but he grasped a great idea and it 
 elevated him, developed him, exalted his quali- 
 ties, and sanctified him. None the less was it 
 true, that in those days of progress his compan- 
 ion found many a day of difficulty and failures 
 and seeming wreck of the great plan. Mr. 
 Vassar was truly great because he welcomed 
 and used a great idea, but he was not devoid 
 of greatness who could inspire him with it, and 
 hold his confidence through the developments 
 of nine active years. 
 
 Nor did Mr. Jewett's criticism destroy his 
 affection for Mr. Vassar nor his admiration of 
 his sterling qualities. Early in this history we 
 found him making a similar criticism, in a 
 private letter, 1 but it had not destroyed his 
 esteem for him, and in all the later writing 
 of Jewett there is no trace of bitterness. He 
 
 1 See ante, p. 161.
 
 JEWETT'S ADMINISTRATION 197 
 
 thought, indeed, that Mr. Kelly had reconciled 
 Mr. Vassar to him, and the founder says he 
 was mistaken in this; but Jewett's letter is of 
 the same approximate date, and if there was 
 misunderstanding, both may have been at 
 fault. 
 
 Jewett was enthusiastic, sanguine, full of 
 gentleness and pity, but in those days, we 
 fancy, blazing into wrath under provocation, 
 roseate in his views, seeing matters somewhat 
 as he wished to, free in his expressions, not over- 
 cautious. But his work was set above himself, 
 if one can trust his testimony and the story of 
 his life. He impressed Dr. Parker as a man of 
 ideas, sagacious, capable. Dr. Nathan Wood, 
 closely related to him in Milwaukee and inti- 
 mately knowing his life and spirit, character- 
 izes him as "one of the most refined and 
 cultivated Christian gentlemen whom I have 
 ever known," and says, "I have never met 
 his equal for the utter charm of his felicitous 
 English speech in private conversation.*' He 
 never spoke "in malice or heat" regarding his 
 opponents: "his spirit was catholic, genial, 
 kindly, Christian." Nothing he ever knew of
 
 198 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 him could suggest his weakness in writing the 
 fatal letter, so admirable was his poise, so 
 equable his temper. Dr. Wood could not have 
 accepted the fact but for Jewett's own state- 
 ment. "He must have been tried beyond 
 endurance. He was surely the ideal gentle- 
 
 man." 1 
 
 Milo P. Jewett deserves the credit of origin- 
 ating in Mr. Vassar's mind the impulse and 
 conviction which resulted in Vassar College. 
 He not only nurtured the seed, he planted 
 it. He wrote out the descriptions of what a 
 college should be for Mr. Vassar's quiet read- 
 ing, met his shrewd objections, encouraged his 
 liberal views of woman's powers and oppor- 
 tunities, led him to make his will founding 
 the college, then encouraged and vivified Mr. 
 Vassar's earlier purpose to realize his aims in 
 his lifetime, sketched plans with him of build- 
 ings, grounds, equipment, curriculum, urged 
 him to form his board of trustees, and then, a 
 culminating stroke, induced him to place the 
 funds in its hands. Only those who knew Mr. 
 
 1 Letter, November 25, 1912. Cf. also Memorial Volume, 
 funeral addresses, etc.
 
 JEWETFS ADMINISTRATION 199 
 
 Vassar well, and knew of the long struggle of 
 acquisition, could understand the cost of that 
 decision and action to the founder. It was 
 described to the writer by Mr. Swan, and it 
 was an heroic action. 
 
 When Mr. Jewett resigned, then, the idea 
 had become thus far real : A board of trustees 
 of able men had been gathered: Hon. William 
 Kelly, master of the famous estate of Ellerslie, 
 formerly State Senator, was chairman; Ira 
 Harris, United States Senator from New York; 
 James Harper, the publisher; Anderson and 
 Robinson, of Rochester, distinguished edu- 
 cators; John H. Raymond, of the Brook- 
 lyn Polytechnic; well-known clergymen like 
 Edward Lathrop and Dr. Magoon and William 
 Hague; Nathan Bishop, Superintendent of 
 Schools in both Providence and Boston, an 
 LL.D. of Harvard, chairman of the Executive 
 Committee of the famous Sanitary Commis- 
 sion; the historian Lossing; Morse, the inventor 
 of the telegraph, were among them. A farm 
 of two hundred acres had been acquired, and 
 through the years of the war an extraordinary 
 building had been erected, said to have been
 
 then the largest under a single roof in the entire 
 land; another for a riding school and gymna- 
 sium, and another for an observatory; the next 
 to the largest telescope in the country had been 
 set up, 1 and apparatus purchased in consider- 
 able quantities; a creditable museum had been 
 begun and an art gallery purchased by Mr. 
 Vassar (announced in June) from Elias Ma- 
 goon, at what was then the great price of $20,- 
 000 ; 2 a curriculum had been worked out, a 
 novel plan in the North; and nominations for 
 several professorships were in the President's 
 hands. All that had been achieved when Dr. 
 Jewett proposed to the Board to open the col- 
 lege that fall of 1864, and he continued to be- 
 lieve that it might have been done. It was a 
 great achievement for the three years of his 
 presidency, nearly one of which was spent 
 
 1 Communications, June 30, 1863. 
 
 9 In September and October, 1864, Mr. Vassar writes 
 Magoon very plainly about illustrations, engravings, etc., 
 which Magoon is returning and offering now to sell to him! 
 His letter of October 6 shows the character of the purchase he 
 had made, in Magoon's "own language." The founder reminds 
 him that the "value" of what he bought has "nothing to do 
 with the question" "the quantity has"; protests his trust 
 and friendship, but insists on his rights. Cf . letter, October 
 10, 1864.
 
 JEWETT'S ADMINISTRATION 201 
 
 abroad. But the failure to carry his plan in 
 February, 1864, was followed by the discovery 
 of the fatal letter, and he resigned, after nomi- 
 nating as his successor John Howard Ray- 
 mond, a member of the Board.
 
 THE RECEPTION OF MATTHEW VASSAR*S PLAN 
 
 THAT there was no general interest in the col- 
 lege education of women, and that there was 
 very little provision for it before Mr. Vassar 
 announced his plan, has been made amply 
 clear by our survey of the movement prior to 
 1860. The notion of a real college for girls, 
 amply equipped, had scarcely found expression, 
 and to most, Mr. Vassar seemed the originator 
 of the work, the very first to grasp the fact 
 that women were capable of the highest educa- 
 tion and had an inherent right to it. Even to 
 the few who were familiar with the pioneer 
 movements, the breadth of his views and aims, 
 and his willingness to give a fortune to make 
 them realities, ranked him with the discover- 
 ers. But for that very reason it was inevitable 
 that discussion of his plans should result in 
 diversity of opinion, and that the novelty 
 which threatened, if it did not secure, a change 
 in the whole position of women, should find
 
 RECEPTION OF VASSAR'S PLAN 203 
 
 expression in fear and criticism as well as 
 praise. 
 
 That Mr. Vassar and Dr. Jewett anticipated 
 criticism is evident from the letters we have, 
 as is also their satisfaction at the general 
 chorus of approval. The material at hand, 
 however, is not as abundant as might be 
 expected. The large correspondence with edu- 
 cators, at home and abroad, was probably 
 destroyed with the founder's papers : at least it 
 has not yet been found. Copies of a few letters 
 are preserved in a manuscript volume prepared 
 under Mr. Vassar's direction, and a few were 
 kept because of their connection with some 
 other specific business. Through the news- 
 papers of 1860 and 1861, and later, occasional 
 articles are found, but it was "war-time," and 
 the interests of the Union absorbed men, and 
 educational discussions were rarer than they 
 would otherwise have been. Mr. Vassar him- 
 self kept a scrapbook, now in the college library, 
 and many articles have thus been preserved, 
 not always dated and sometimes even giving 
 no indication of their source. From these, 
 however, and from a few articles from maga-
 
 204 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 zines, we may gain illustrations, if we follow 
 them chronologically, of the sentiments of the 
 public when the plan was announced, and as 
 the building advanced and the college was made 
 ready for the opening. 
 
 "Godey's Lady's Book" was a popular 
 magazine of that early period and for many 
 years enjoyed the editorial direction of Mrs. 
 Sarah Jane Hale, whose interest in woman's 
 education and in Mr. Vassar's scheme was 
 intense, and to whom the college owed the 
 suggestion that the word "female" be dropped 
 from its title. Scattered through the numbers 
 of this periodical, which dealt in an even- 
 handed way with literature, education, ques- 
 tions of morals and religion, domestic economy, 
 and the fashions of dress (amply illustrated 
 with plates which have their value for the 
 student of social life), are discussions of the 
 specific demand of woman for a better educa- 
 tion. Far back of this period, in 1839, l we are 
 told of the great interest in America in the 
 "education of females," of the opening of the 
 institution at Macon, Georgia, and in 1840 2 
 
 1 Vol. 19, p. 190. f Vol. 20, p. 281.
 
 RECEPTION OF VASSAR'S PLAN 205 
 
 we have a plea for woman's education. In 
 1855 1 we read of the many "colleges" poor in 
 endowment and with scanty libraries, but 
 notable as expressing a demand, and in 1856 
 (January) complaint is made that no public 
 provision has been made for the higher educa- 
 tion of girls, and Elmira is hailed 2 as about to 
 open "on the largest and most generous scale." 
 In I860 3 we read, "Scarcely a week passes 
 without bringing us some cheering intelligence 
 on this subject. . . . Among these last em- 
 bryo institutions is that of Mr. Vassar, of 
 Poughkeepsie, New York. We learn that he 
 has determined to establish and endow an 
 institution for the college education of young 
 women. . . . The plan contemplates a course 
 of study similar to that which is pursued in the 
 leading colleges." On the same page is a ref- 
 erence to Willard Seminary, stating that no 
 attention is yet given to household science, 
 but the Mount St. Vincent (Roman Catholic) 
 Seminary is soon to atone for the neglect of it. 
 Mr. Vassar wrote Mrs. Hale a letter regard- 
 
 1 Godey's Lady's Book, vol. 50, p. 368. 
 Vol. 52, p. 372. Vol. 61, p. 368.
 
 206 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 ing his aims, in May, 1860, and later Dr. 
 Jewett himself furnished her with material. 
 
 By March 20 of 1860, it is evident that 
 rumors enough were afloat, many of them 
 unfounded, to call forth an authorized state- 
 ment, for the Poughkeepsie " Telegraph " 1 pub- 
 lishes an account of Mr. Vassar's plans, by 
 permission, for the sake of correcting misap- 
 prehensions and dissipating vague speculations, 
 and the "Eagle" reprinted this (March 24) 
 with high commendation and with the pious 
 wish that the founder may live to see in success- 
 ful operation "the pride and glory of Pough- 
 keepsie, an honor to the Empire State and a 
 blessing to our country and to the world, as it 
 will bean enduring monument to his memory." 2 
 
 It is of very particular interest to discover, 
 at this very date (March, 1860) in a local paper, 
 a reference to the very dramatic episode re- 
 ferred to in the earlier chapter which imperiled 
 the foundations of Dr. Jewett's scheme. It 
 recites the introduction into the Legislature of 
 
 1 The article states that Mr. Vassar had submitted his views 
 to prominent educators "something over three years ago." 
 
 2 This is quoted also by Dr. Rufus Babcock in an article in 
 the Christian Watchman of Boston.
 
 RECEPTION OF VASSAR'S PLAN 207 
 
 bills to incorporate certain institutions in the 
 city, schools for boys and girls, and a library, 
 and states that "the movement then set on 
 foot was premature." "We could not bring 
 ourselves to believe that Mr. Vassar had aban- 
 doned the plans for an enterprise which had 
 so long absorbed his purpose." That sounds 
 like the voice of Jewett. 1 
 
 Doubtless views less favorable were ex- 
 pressed to the founder, but the records of them 
 have for the most part disappeared. We have 
 one reminder of such opinions in an extract 
 from a letter of William Chambers, the dis- 
 tinguished Edinburgh publisher and philan- 
 thropist. He had been consulted as to the 
 desirability of such an undertaking. Mr. 
 Chambers replied that the proposal to endow 
 an institution of a high class for board and 
 education of several hundred young ladies 
 filled him with astonishment and consterna- 
 tion. "I cannot imagine such a thing. Board- 
 ing-schools with but thirty girls are difficult to 
 manage satisfactorily, and much above a hun- 
 dred in a day academy is impracticable. It 
 
 1 From the Scrapbook.
 
 208 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 has been by exercising a marvelous degree of 
 vigilance and discipline, such as you could not 
 carry out among your high-spirited and highly 
 dressed republican young ladies, that the 
 Scottish Institution has been attended with 
 success." He recommends him to pause and 
 consider whether he might not modify his 
 benevolently conceived scheme, which he fears 
 would never work to his satisfaction or be 
 creditable to his good name. A safer invest- 
 ment, he thinks, would be a seminary for the 
 blind, the deaf and dumb, or the weak in 
 intellect! 1 
 
 On the day the bill for the charter was intro- 
 duced (late in 1860) the "Times" (New York) 
 published a communication 2 asking, "What do 
 you think of a Woman's College? And why 
 not? After Allopathic, Homoeopathic and 
 Hydropathic and patent-pill colleges and uni- 
 versities, and all that sort of thing, why not 
 let the girls have one? Sure enough, why not? 
 
 1 Quoted in part from the founder's book of copies, from 
 his own letter to S. Austin Allibone, March 26, 1862, but in 
 fuller detail from a note of the author's made years since from 
 an unremembered source. The letter was written in 1858. 
 
 * Scrapbook.
 
 RECEPTION OF VASSAR'S PLAN 209 
 
 For the life of me, I do not discover any valid 
 objection. But objection or no objection, the 
 thing is to be." Then, after mentioning a few 
 of the proposed trustees, the writer adds, "The 
 said college is to have full power to educate 
 feminines and grant them sheepskins." "Mr. 
 Vassar is a famous brewer of Poughkeepsie. 
 He has thrived and so wants to perpetuate his 
 memory." 
 
 While action on the charter was pending, the 
 "Post" (New York) tells of the purpose of the 
 school. It is not to be an ordinary boarding- 
 school, but to be "conducted with a view to 
 convey solid instruction," and the article is a 
 defense of this purpose. "How much igno- 
 rance is required in a woman to induce and 
 sustain proper female delicacy, is a question 
 that has never been answered." Her sphere 
 is enlarging, and education must keep pace. 
 Mary Lyon's exertions cannot be too highly 
 honored, but more is required. There may be 
 sex in mind, indeed, but who has decided what 
 sciences and pursuits are proper for the female 
 intellect? So the project receives high praise. 1 
 1 Scrapbook.
 
 210 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 At the same time "Moore's Rural New 
 York," a most influential weekly, sketches the 
 plan. "We congratulate our female readers" 
 on this equal opportunity. The article, which 
 commends Mr. Vassar for doing this in his life- 
 time, has much to say on the advantage of 
 giving the sons of the rich or well-to-do a solid 
 training, like the poor boy's, and the writer 
 would put the daughters in a similar position 
 and secure them against those direst foes to fe- 
 male happiness professional fortune-hunters. l 
 
 "Harper's Weekly" 2 also refers to the 
 scheme before the Legislature and says, "the 
 imbecile sneer at * learned women' will sink 
 into the proper contempt." Like Mr. Cooper, 
 Mr. Vassar will see his plan develop as he 
 intends, into nothing less than a university for 
 women. 3 On January 16, 1861, the bill still 
 pending, the " World " (New York) com- 
 mends the wisdom of the founder in carrying 
 out his intentions and in concentrating his 
 efforts by endowing one institution liberally. 
 "We bid godspeed to Mr. Vassar in his great 
 work and hail him as a wise and liberal bene- 
 
 1 Scrapbook. 2 January 7, 1861. l Scrapbook.
 
 RECEPTION OF VASSAR'S PLAN 211 
 
 factor of our own and coming times." The col- 
 lege bids fair to stand alone in its liberal pro- 
 visions and purpose, in contrast with the 
 scanty endowments which compel the sacrifice 
 of teachers in almost every institution. 1 
 
 On the 14th of January, 1861, the Senate 
 passed the bill incorporating the college, and 
 the Assembly followed on the 17th. 2 A letter 
 written that day to the Tuscola "Pioneer," of 
 Vassar, Michigan, whose editor was especially 
 interested in Poughkeepsie and in Mr. Vassar, 
 throws an interesting light on a debate which 
 preceded the final action. Mr. Kiernan had 
 objected to the eighth section allowing Mr. 
 Vassar to bestow any portion of his fortune on 
 the institution, as in conflict with a law passed 
 the previous year limiting such bequests, in 
 ordinary conditions, to one half the estate. 3 
 Mr. Pierce replied in a notable speech, with a 
 full explanation of the scheme and the special 
 circumstances leading to this provision, stating 
 that there were no children and the near rela- 
 
 1 Scrapbook. Copied also in Telegraph, January 22, 1861. 
 
 2 Eagle, January 15 4 and 18; Herald, January 18. 
 8 Laws, 1860, chap. 360.
 
 212 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 lives were already amply endowed, and plead- 
 ing that "not one single college for the educa- 
 tion of young women has yet been established 
 in the United States." Mr. Kiernan withdrew 
 his objection, and Mr. Rice, speaking for the 
 Democracy, declared that, while they were 
 disagreed as to the state of the Union, they 
 could all unite in the interests of the youth of 
 the Commonwealth. l Only by running through 
 the columns of a metropolitan journal of that 
 day, and noting the absorption of the Legisla- 
 ture and the people in the "state of the Union" 
 can one appreciate the force of that utterance. 2 
 Comments on the project are more numerous 
 after this. The Albany "Evening Journal" 
 publishes an article that was probably inspired 
 by President Jewett. It is quoted at length in 
 the "Eagle" of January 22, 1861, and tells 
 who Mr. Vassar is, his connection with Thomas 
 Guy, of Guy Hospital, his plan to do for women 
 what Harvard and Yale do for men, outlines 
 the scheme of education, and says the college 
 
 1 Scrapbook. 
 
 1 The charter was printed by the Telegraph, January 22. 
 The Herald's comment has already been quoted (chapter on 
 "Inception," etc., p. 121.)
 
 RECEPTION OF VASSAR'S PLAN 213 
 
 is already under contract and is to cost $180,- 
 000, and is to have a library of 10,000 volumes; 
 its architects were, first, Tefft, and then, 
 Renwick. It is not to be a charity. Mr. Vassar 
 is eulogized, and his gift spoken of as the larg- 
 est ever made in this country by a living man. 
 
 The New York "Tribune" discussed the 
 project editorially, 1 pointing out the difficul- 
 ties in the way of a girl's education and Mr. 
 Vassar 's practical handling of them: "A want 
 which society has deeply felt and which was a 
 reproach to our modern civilization is amply 
 provided for." "It begins a new era for woman 
 of which we have not the slightest doubt she 
 will be sure to avail herself." 2 
 
 The comments now are from widely scattered 
 sections. From Kansas, then so far away, 
 comes the laudation of the founder and his 
 purpose; 3 from Detroit the praise of the "mag- 
 nificent charity"; 4 from Waltham, Massachu- 
 setts, a strong argument for the right of woman 
 to education (signed, "T. J."); from Phila- 
 
 1 January 28, 1861. 
 
 1 Scrapbook. The Telegraph of January 29 gives well- 
 chosen extracts. 
 
 * Ellwood Free Press. * Advertiser.
 
 214 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 delphia an encomium on the gift and the wis- 
 dom of making it during the giver's life. "The 
 object is a noble one," and it is hoped that 
 "the proper bounds to female education" 
 "will be fully studied," since "the minds of 
 females are in many respects unlike those of 
 men," and "it follows clearly from this that 
 a different education is needed for each." But 
 as yet there has not appeared "a philosophical 
 treatise in which the kinds of instruction are 
 deduced from the structure of the minds of 
 women and the position to be filled by them 
 in Society." Never has there been such an 
 opportunity as this. 1 
 
 " Harper's Weekly " returns to the subject, in 
 March (30th), and illustrates its article with a 
 picture of the proposed building and another of 
 Mr. Vassar presenting his funds to the Trustees. 
 That first epochal meeting was noted in many 
 papers, and the Boston "Journal" remarks it 
 as the largest gift ever made by a living man, 
 except Peter Cooper, and perhaps Peabody. 2 
 
 1 These all from the Scrapbook. 
 
 1 The Telegraph, March 5; The Press, the Eagle, the Chron- 
 icle (March 7), the Examiner.
 
 RECEPTION OF VASSAR'S PLAN 215 
 
 A variant on this general note appears in 
 "Vanity Fair," 1 a serio-comic treatment of the 
 facts. 2 
 
 VANITY FAIR wishes it to be distinctly under- 
 stood, that in common with the other enormously 
 advanced minds of the age, it offers its most pro- 
 nounced thanks to MATTHEW VASSAR, of Pough- 
 keepsie, for his noble conceptions of female ability 
 and his lordly liberality, as manifested in founding 
 what bids fair to be the best educational institute 
 for the Muslin Sex in America. 
 
 When VANITY FAIR sees that amid all the motley 
 millions who throng our wild ways, not above one 
 man in a thousand who gets a full education, 
 develops a truly Genial mind, or one in which 
 Genius and Practical Activity are always aglow; 
 and secondly, when it realizes that not one girl in 
 a thousand gets such an education as the men in 
 question why then VANITY FAIR thinks it by 
 no means wonderful that the Muslin Sex referred to 
 should comparatively seldom show us those great 
 and earnest creators in art those SHAKESPEARES 
 and RABELAISES, and RAPHAELS who are not, 
 by the way, any too frightfully common among 
 those of the Cassimere Denomination. 
 
 We wish to see it fully and fairly tried this 
 experiment of giving to growing girl-minds good 
 solid pabulum good food of literature not ex- 
 purgated into the mere moral broth of erudition 
 
 1 February 15. * Scrapbook.
 
 216 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 substantial knowledge of old English classics, 
 and with them those of Roman, Greek, Proven gal, 
 German, French and Italian days. With this con- 
 dition, we would like to see taught the coseval 
 history of men and of art architecture, painting, 
 music, and every expression of the Beautiful. Not 
 forgetting the fact that Life is or may be a 
 brave, strong, earnest career, full of great objects, 
 glorious aims and not a mere husband-hunt, and 
 endless house-keeping or " society "-ing. 
 
 This isn't, we know, Mr. VASSAR, exactly the 
 programme laid down by most fashionable young 
 lady school-keepers. But everything laid down in 
 it, excellent Sir, (and much more with it, including 
 healthy physical culture, and much practical art,) 
 may be very sufficiently mastered during the same 
 time now devoted to what is by excess of courtesy 
 termed "an education." Fact. 
 
 We are under the impression, Mr. VASSAR, that 
 your institution will be a comprehensive and a 
 progressive one, wherein great pains will be taken 
 to give not only a solid but a liberal training in 
 Science, Literature and Art. If this be indeed the 
 case, we promise you that a future generation will 
 place you miles in glory and in greatness above 
 every Politician of the age no matter who he 
 may be, or what his confounded politics may have 
 been. 
 
 The general trend of these articles is one of 
 felicitation and hope. The scheme is "the
 
 RECEPTION OF VASSAR'S PLAN 217 
 
 most magnificent tribute of honor to the cause 
 of female education," and the Trustees are 
 reminded of their responsibility to secure the 
 best professors, to move cautiously, and to 
 expend only the interest of their funds. 1 Hith- 
 erto it has been practically impossible for 
 women to get the same educational advan- 
 tages as men, but a new and more auspicious 
 era has opened. 2 A New Haven man visits 
 Poughkeepsie and writes to the "Palladium" 8 
 an account of the college, quoting from the 
 founder's address to the Trustees, on the 
 assumption that "few of your readers have as 
 yet heard of the institution." The "Country 
 Gentleman" 4 gives a cut of the building with 
 its account of the proposed equipment of the 
 college. 6 
 
 The breaking of ground for the Main Build- 
 ing was a fresh occasion for such praise. 6 Now 
 the rival city of Newburgh says, through its 
 "Weekly Times": 7 "This indeed is a princely 
 
 1 The Chronicle, New York. * Milwaukee. 
 
 July 19. * June 25. 
 
 6 Encomium also in the Boston Post. These notices are from 
 the Scrapbook. 
 
 The Press, June 5, 1861. 7 August 5.
 
 218 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 gift devoted to the best of causes. . . . 
 Poughkeepsie, already justly proud of her fine 
 churches, good schools, and the Gregory 
 House, sets an additional example, worthy of 
 all commendation. Let not her rival sister be 
 outdone in any respect." (!) 
 
 Now, too, the interest began to draw the 
 citizens to note the progress of the building, 
 and strangers come daily, with wonder and 
 astonishment at its extent, and the local 
 paper remarks that it must be a pleasant 
 reflection to the generous founder that his 
 munificence is giving employ to several hun- 
 dred men in these hard times. 1 
 
 Evidently there was another side. Mr. 
 Vassar remarks in August that public senti- 
 ment is improving; that though there were dis- 
 couraging objections at first, now friends are 
 numerous, and letters are coming daily "from 
 both hemispheres" soliciting information. 2 
 Later, he says, Jewett reports "highest en- 
 comiums among the Literati." 3 
 
 Meanwhile, Mrs. Hale was watching the 
 
 i The Eagle, September, 1861. 2 Letter of August 31. 
 8 Letter of October.
 
 RECEPTION OF VASSAR'S PLAN 219 
 
 situation keenly, and thrice recurs to the plan 
 in "Godey's" of 1861. 1 Two colleges, she tells 
 us, are now in prosperous operation, Wesley an 
 of Cincinnati, and Vassar, whose endowment 
 will give it advantages no woman's college ever 
 had. Its foundation is the cheering event of 
 that year. Extracts from the founder's address 
 are given. It is hoped to open the college in 
 September, 1863. The course of study pro- 
 posed is approved as especially fitted "to pre- 
 pare pupils for the duties and labors which fall 
 within the peculiar province of woman." 
 
 Thus the first year since the charter was 
 granted was full of gratifying praise for the 
 founder. "Education" had asked, through 
 Professor Youmans, to publish his views, the 
 press in general had extolled his motives and 
 applauded his project, and he had received 
 great numbers of commendatory letters. 2 He 
 
 1 Vol. 63, pp. 172, 347. 
 
 2 Among the few preserved is one from W. R. Bartlett, 
 editor of the Tuscola Pioneer, already referred to, and one 
 from Edward Morton, Jr., who inveighs in a rhapsodic para- 
 graph against the exclusion of his sisters from his privi- 
 leges at Harvard.
 
 220 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 so tells his Trustees in his address at their 
 meeting in February, 1862. "During the past 
 year we have the pleasure and satisfaction to 
 receive very many letters from the most dis- 
 tinguished popular educators and others, of 
 both sexes, in this country, bearing testimony 
 to the noble enterprise of our undertaking, 
 with the best wishes for its successful issue and 
 patronage." Whatever objections and criti- 
 cisms there were, were smothered, for him, 
 under a general chorus of approval. Indeed, 
 it was to be expected that the serious objec- 
 tions would come later with the actual work 
 of the completed college. 
 
 That the full significance of the movement 
 was not appreciated yet may be inferred from 
 the article in Barnard's great "Journal of 
 Education," in March, 1862. 1 It publishes a 
 portrait of Mr. Vassar, but without marked 
 appreciation or any evidence that the writer 
 saw in his plan an event which marked an 
 epoch. 
 
 A large correspondence continued during 
 this year. We find letters from such men as 
 
 Pages 52-56.
 
 RECEPTION OF VASSAR'S PLAN 221 
 
 George W. Childs, Anthony Drexel, Coppee, 
 Dreer, Allibone, 1 all cordial and approving. 
 The founder writes, indeed, to the Honorable 
 I. R. Ingersoll, of Philadelphia, 2 that some in 
 this and foreign lands express doubt as to the 
 success of the plan, chiefly because of its "un- 
 exampled magnitude"; but unlike Girard, he 
 will be his own executor. Almost daily, he 
 says, he is receiving letters from the Northern 
 States, asking about the plan and date of 
 opening. " We are quite a star in these calam- 
 itous times," he says with quiet pleasure. 3 
 
 Of special mark this year is the article in the 
 "Post" of New York, devoted to the founder's 
 views and purposes. The "editors," we are 
 told, had called on Mr. Vassar with this aim. 
 
 The most noteworthy contribution to the 
 history of this second year is an article in the 
 "New Englander," of October. Moses Coit 
 Tyler was then a young, comparatively un- 
 known clergyman, pastor of the Congrega- 
 
 1 Volume of copied letters, with a letter of the founder's, 
 p. 37. 
 
 1 March 29. * June. Letter Book, p. 40.
 
 222 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 tional Church of Poughkeepsie. Profoundly 
 interested in a movement in which he was 
 destined to become a leader of influence, he 
 wrote an article, without the knowledge of any 
 individual among the Trustees, he tells us, on 
 "Vassar Female College." 
 
 He is uncertain as to the result, but the act 
 of Mr. Vassar is deserving of the highest praise. 
 However, he cherishes hope for it and faith. 
 Yet the venture is "on a sea not yet fully 
 explored," and where some navigators have 
 already gone down. 
 
 He describes the plant at length in some- 
 what rhetorical language, and adds that " Mr. 
 Vassar has done his part and done it nobly, 
 but the important thing yet remains." 
 
 He defines the needs of a college as distinct 
 from the private enterprises and female insti- 
 tutes, etc. He sees the great call for endowment 
 over and above anything that Mr. Vassar has 
 thus far done: so much of it has gone into the 
 building and grounds! 
 
 The "home principle," the housing of the 
 girls as well as teaching them, the plan "to 
 furnish them with beds as well as natural his-
 
 RECEPTION OF VASSAR'S PLAN 223 
 
 tory cabinets, to do their washing and ironing 
 as well as their astronomy and logic," he says 
 has been provocative of much discussion, ob- 
 jection, and wit. He himself doubted, but has 
 been converted. Professor Alpheus Crosby, 
 in the "Massachusetts Teacher," September, 
 1861, comprehensively stated objections, speak- 
 ing of the boarding-school or convent, of the 
 scheme as worthless and needless, of the vexa- 
 tions, annoyances, expense, etc., involved. 1 
 
 1 In the Massachusetts Teacher for August, 1861, the leading 
 article is entitled, "Vassar Female College." The magazine 
 was edited by a different man each month, and for this month 
 the editor was Alpheus Crosby, the well-known Greek scholar, 
 later professor at Dartmouth. The article gives Mr. Vassar's 
 full statement to his trustees and Dr. Hague's reply, with an 
 account of the funds and the plan so far as made. It regards 
 "the establishment of an institution for higher female educa- 
 tion on so liberal a plan and with so ample an endowment as 
 an event of the greatest moment in that career of mental and 
 social progress which forms the especial characteristic and 
 glory of our age." Mr. Jewett, it is said, graduated from Dart- 
 mouth in 1828 "with excellent reputation as a scholar and a 
 man"; "and has since been chiefly devoted to the promotion 
 of female education. This united with his other qualifications 
 gives an especial appropriateness to the appointment. We are 
 happy to welcome him to so noble a field of labor." In the 
 same magazine for September, 1861, there is an article on 
 "University Education for Women," signed A. C., from the 
 pen of Alpheus Crosby. It is a consideration of a "circular of 
 questions" issued by "the newly elected President of Vassar 
 Female College." It takes up these questions in detail, an-
 
 224 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 Mr. Tyler argues against the leaving of these 
 girls to look up boarding-houses in the city, 
 
 swering that as to aim and scope it would make it a university 
 with advantages equal to those found in the best universities 
 for men; as to faculty, it must now be made up of men and 
 women, but will eventually consist probably wholly of women; 
 as to the course of study, it answers that not years, but attain- 
 ments should be the requirement. It would require Latin, but 
 would make the other ancient languages elective. French 
 should be required and the other modern languages offered. 
 In other respects it follows in the main the general course of the 
 colleges of the day, putting great emphasis, however, on 
 the philosophy and art of education. " Let the college be in the 
 best and true sense a Normal School." Domestic science, 
 the art of conversation, and manners, are best taught at home, 
 though much can be done in an institution. Dancing, it 
 answers, should be encouraged; as to the education of day 
 scholars, it expresses regret at the whole "home scheme," 
 in the language here quoted. It urges a change on the part of 
 the founder and the President and the other Trustees, saving 
 the money for the educational work. If it is too late for this it 
 would admit day scholars, "unless, as in some English institu- 
 tions, the members are to keep their terms by eating and not 
 by studying"; as to the preparatory department, if expedient, 
 it hopes the college will soon outgrow it and so lift the stand- 
 ards of education. It wishes the institution the fullest suc- 
 cess. "Shall not Massachusetts, too, have her university for 
 women"? "Has she not her Vassar also" among her many 
 liberal patrons of learning? 
 
 "We must confess that we regret that it is contemplated to 
 provide a home for the students in the college edifice, and thus 
 make of the institution a great boarding school or convent, 
 involving in it the multitude of cares, expenses, annoyances, 
 restraints, vexatious regulations, and evil influences, which are 
 incident to the amassing of so many persons in one community 
 under a single roof. On account of this provision, which, in
 
 RECEPTION OF VASSAR'S PLAN 225 
 
 away from parental care, each according to 
 her own preferences. He speaks also of the 
 difficulty of getting to the buildings from the 
 city. The economic argument is also urged, 
 and the superior intellectual, social, and moral 
 advantages. He points out the gains of one 
 great community with common purposes, and 
 refers to the experiences of Dr. Jewett and 
 Mary Lyon with day pupils in their institu- 
 tions, as pointing out the superiority of the 
 advantages of residence pupils. 
 
 He pays a high tribute to Jewett, to his 
 
 such an institution, judging from the university experience of 
 England, Scotland, Germany, and this country, we deem to 
 be usually worse than needless, the building and grounds at 
 Poughkeepsie will cost, according to the statement of the 
 trustees, about $247,000, or more than one half of its magnifi- 
 cent endowment, leaving only about $161,000 for all other 
 purposes. If it is not now too late to make a change, we 
 beg leave to suggest, most respectfully but earnestly, to the 
 founder, president, and other trustees, whether it would not 
 be better to erect, at a fourth part of the expense, a building, 
 in some convenient situation, for the public rooms required: 
 leaving the teachers and pupils to obtain houses and board 
 for themselves, according to their own preferences, and thus 
 doubling the sum appropriated for the intellectual endowment 
 of the institution, its library, apparatus, cabinets of natu- 
 ral history, art gallery, and other collections, and the founda- 
 tion of professorships and scholarships." (The Massachusetts 
 Teacher, September, 1861; quoted in the New Englander, vol. 
 21, p. 733.)
 
 226 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 enthusiastic consecration, his experience, his 
 fine culture, his executive power, his singular 
 tact and suavity and knowledge of human 
 nature, his industry and tenacity and large 
 hospitality, and his high spiritual life. 
 
 The Board was greatly pleased with this dis- 
 criminating and able article, and republished 
 it for distribution. It also sent to Mr. Tyler, 
 as evidence of its appreciation, a substantial 
 honorarium. 
 
 The article brought out criticism, even if it 
 remained unprinted. In the letters of Charles 
 A. Raymond to Mr. Vassar and to Mr. Swan, 
 we find strong objections to Mr. Tyler's point 
 of view. He regards as "chimerical" and 
 "transcendental" the idea that young women 
 will go to college for four years as young men 
 do. Where would they prepare? They must 
 enter at thirteen or fourteen and graduate at 
 nineteen or twenty. No other way is possible. 
 He advocates their education because they 
 govern us through their sensibilities. Every 
 imitation of colleges for men is unsuitable. He 
 praises the tone and spirit of Mr. Tyler's arti- 
 cle, and its good taste. But his conception of
 
 RECEPTION OF VASSAR'S PLAN 227 
 
 girls as distinguished from boys is very old- 
 fashioned and very sentimental. A college 
 cannot hold them after nineteen unless they are 
 bound to be old maids and professional teach- 
 ers. "This is the practical plain truth." "The 
 idea of a college such as Tyler alludes to is so 
 intangible that I suppose he could not help the 
 intimation that it might fail." 
 
 By 1863, the plan had become more familiar 
 and called forth less comment, but a few state- 
 ments are preserved that are of interest. The 
 Boston "Daily Advertiser," for example, de- 
 clares that "the establishment of the college 
 marks the beginning of a new era in our civili- 
 zation, indeed, in the civilization of the world." 
 "Hitherto there has been no Harvard, nor 
 Yale, nor Amherst, nor Williams, nor Dart- 
 mouth, for woman. Now, thanks to Matthew 
 Vassar, she has a college which in its advan- 
 tages will be equal to any one of these." 
 "Woman at once has a higher level, . . . 
 higher hopes, higher aims, and labors with 
 more confidence of success." "Honor then to 
 the Founder of the First Female College!" 
 He deserves a place above Harvard or Yale,
 
 228 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 as an innovator. Dr. Jewett also receives a 
 high tribute. 
 
 The New York "Tribune" 1 again recurs to 
 it, tells of its progress, and calls the project 
 "one of the milestones that mark the advance- 
 ment of the age." In another paper it is said 
 that "the eyes of the world and many previ- 
 ous hopes are turned toward it." It is difficult 
 to overestimate the responsibility and oppor- 
 tunity of those who are to "mould and direct 
 this mighty influence." 2 
 
 It is interesting to note here a word from 
 the "Friends' Intelligencer." 8 The Friends 
 have never limited woman, it reminds us, and 
 in giving an account of the plan and the work 
 in progress, it greatly praises it and extends the 
 hand of fellowship on behalf of their com- 
 munion. 4 
 
 In 1864 we find many references to the col- 
 lege in "Godey's Lady's Book." In January 
 there is a laudatory article on Mr. Vassar, 
 with quotations from his first address to the 
 Trustees. It has the authority of Mr. Vassar 
 
 1 February 4, 1863. * Scrapbook, without name. 
 
 3 April 18 and 20, 1863. * Scrapbook.
 
 RECEPTION OF VASSAR'S PLAN 229 
 
 himself for the statement that the college is 
 to open in September. 1 Moses Coit Tyler is 
 quoted as to buildings, grounds, endowment, 
 the home-plan of the college. "The enterprise 
 is the initiative of a most important era in the 
 improvement of humanity." The fear of some 
 that " literary cultivation will injure the house- 
 hold virtues" is answered, the writer finding 
 graver danger in dissipation and nonsense. 
 The instruction in religion and morals, as the 
 basis of its educational system, is regarded as 
 the "distinguishing glory" of Vassar. 2 
 
 The founder makes reference to this Jan- 
 uary article, 3 and says our "secular paper has 
 desired to print it." 
 
 In the February number, 4 Jewett's new 
 educational scheme is examined and its "one 
 defect " is indicated. It may be easily amended. 
 
 1 Vol. 68, pp. 93, 488. 
 
 2 It is interesting to find the founder favoring "a uniform 
 costume" "to be furnished by the college." (October 23, 1861.) 
 He returns to this in a letter to Mrs. Hale (January 7, 1865), 
 arguing that it would prevent jealousy and secure comfort and 
 convenience. He consults her as to material. It must be inex- 
 pensive and would be used only for school hours and in exercise. 
 
 3 Letter, January 25, 1864. 
 
 4 Godey's Lady's Book, vol. 68, p. 199.
 
 230 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 The author of the articles is a gentleman whose 
 opportunities of understanding the subject he 
 discusses have been of no common order. The 
 plan and its advantages are stated chiefly in 
 Jewett's own language. The grave defect is 
 in the plan to have the President and all the 
 professors men. The assistants will be women. 
 This is disparaging woman. It must be that 
 there are women capable of filling these places. 
 No need to go back, with Jewett, to Deborah 
 or Hypatia, or Laura Bassi, or Maria Agnesi. 
 While the writer has no wish to urge women 
 for political office, or for colleges for men, he 
 recognizes this as a new condition. The Presi- 
 dent, now, should be a man, Dr. Jewett, 
 but there should be a Lady Superintendent, 
 and the instructors should be ladies if they 
 can be found. This should be done for the 
 encouragement, honor, and proper recognition 
 of the sex. Vassar is an example. 
 
 The important February meeting of 1864 is 
 referred to later. 1 Two questions had been left 
 unsettled, it is said, the title, as Mrs. 
 Hale had been urging, should be amended by 
 
 1 Godey's Lady's Book, p. 488.
 
 RECEPTION OF VASSAR'S PLAN 231 
 
 the omission of "Female," and the appoint- 
 ment of men to the "Chairs." The writer of 
 the earlier article had suggested a way to find 
 candidates: advertise and ask testimonials; 
 the result would be a surprise! The "editress" 
 argues that young women must have a 
 woman's influence, as in a home. No father is 
 sufficient. If Vassar gives opportunity, women 
 will come forward, as Eugenie de Guerin in 
 France, so recently, or as Florence Nightingale 
 in England. A strong plea is made against the 
 use of "female" in the title of the college. 1 
 
 Once more 2 the magazine returns to the col- 
 lege, because the public feeling demands more 
 information about it. So it quotes at length 
 from the remarkable address of the founder to 
 his Trustees in February and his great plea 
 for women. "Let all women thank God for 
 Mr. Vassar and take courage." The article is 
 entitled "Vassar College: Woman's Own," and 
 calls the college "the educational wonder." 
 Finally, in July, it recurs to the subject, and 
 
 1 Great praise is given to the proposed religious element in 
 instruction, and to President Jewett, in the Boston Recorder, 
 January 5, 1864. 
 
 2 Godey's Lady's Book, vol. 68, p. 577.
 
 232 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 gives an account of the Vassar Art Gallery. 
 The college is called "the great philanthropic 
 enterprise of the age." Dr. Magoon's report 
 on the art collection is quoted at length, and he 
 is termed "an elegant writer." 1 
 
 An adverse criticism appears at this time in 
 the "Round Table" of February 27. It criti- 
 cizes Dr. Jewett's educational scheme severely, 
 saying that it is in bad taste as to language, 
 florid, turgid, pedantic, where it should be 
 simple, direct, and logical. It misrepresents 
 entirely what study in a " School of Languages " 
 would do, as it holds out promises that are 
 never realized in our colleges for men unless in 
 the case of a prodigy. The whole modern sys- 
 tem of female education is objected to. Mental 
 equality of the sexes is a miserable philo- 
 sophical dogma. Woman is not equal to man, 
 but superior, mentally and physically. The 
 writer appeals to the Trustees to "banish the 
 barbarous curriculum proposed which would 
 work incalculable mischief." The nine chairs, 
 "bristling all around with hard names," 
 awaken commiseration and alarm better 
 1 Godey'a Lady's Book, vol. 69, p. 84.
 
 RECEPTION OF VASSAR'S PLAN 233 
 
 put the time into belles-lettres rather than into 
 the unfeminine studies of metaphysics, mathe- 
 matics, political economy, and dead languages, 
 all of which represent unfeminine aspirations. 
 Woman can do these things, but they are not 
 properly for her. 
 
 Setting aside four out of the nine chairs, the 
 writer adds a word on the occupants of the 
 others, objecting decidedly to men. "Vassar 
 Female College is a sphere of Venus, and no 
 Jupiter has business there." Only women can 
 educate women. "Who but Flora should pre- 
 side in her own garden?" 
 
 The Committee also errs in its report in 
 placing too high a cost on education. It will 
 result in an education of an aristocratic ele- 
 ment. Two hundred dollars is enough if the 
 useless machinery referred to is dispensed with. 
 
 There is a long letter in the New York 
 "World" of August 20, apparently taken from 
 some other paper, and entered in the Scrap- 
 book. The building is nearing completion and 
 the report of Jewett on his plan leads the 
 writer, "Jennie June," to discuss it in detail. 
 High praise is given to it, but the various
 
 234 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 details of the educational plan are discussed 
 and the possibility of the coming of co-educa- 
 tion is mentioned, though the time, perhaps, 
 has not yet arrived. The system of education, 
 the use of the ornamental branches, and other 
 such points are discussed, and there is a plea 
 for high standards. The letter is an important 
 one as bearing on public opinion at the time. 
 The writer objects strongly to the plan for 
 one-year courses, and to the awarding of diplo- 
 mas for them, and claims that they will lower 
 the standards of the college. She sees no reason 
 for trying to train the students in domestic 
 matters while in college. 
 
 One more reference, from another source, 
 reminds us of the disastrous aftermath of that 
 February meeting. The Newark "Daily Ad- 
 vertiser" 1 says the college is approaching 
 completion, but that Dr. Jewett has resigned 
 because of "irreconcilable personal differ- 
 ences." 2 
 
 1 June 11. 
 
 3 References to the resignation are found in the local papers, 
 but the causes leading to it seem to have been carefully con- 
 cealed. The Press of April 25 reports a " rumor " of the resigna- 
 tion, and confirms it the next day, and the same item is in the
 
 RECEPTION OF VASSAR'S PLAN 235 
 
 In 1865, just preceding the opening, we have 
 some sharp criticism of an alleged important 
 defect in the educational plan. In the January 
 number of "Godey's Lady's Book" 1 the want 
 of a chair of domestic science is challenged on 
 purely practical and womanly grounds. Just 
 such "practical" views of education as are 
 urged to-day, at the expense of a broad and 
 liberal education, as calling for preparation 
 for some specific profession, trade, or occupa- 
 tion rather than for life, found expression then. 
 The man with a limp collar and a poor break- 
 fast is not satisfied because his wife knows 
 navigation! Men's colleges, indeed, are pre- 
 paratory, we are told, but a seminary for young 
 ladies is designed "to complete the education of 
 its inmates." The girl's college is to fit her for 
 her profession, as the legal school prepares the 
 lawyer! It would be well now for those who 
 believe in equal advantages for women to pon- 
 der that statement. 
 
 In August "Godey" tells us that the college 
 
 Telegraph of the 30th (a weekly). The Philadelphia Ledger, 
 May 6, 1864, and the Pacific, San Francisco (same month), 
 have favorable notices. 
 1 Vol. 70, p. 95.
 
 236 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 will open the next month, and that there 
 had been over a thousand applications, up to 
 May 1, to enter "the first of the kind ever es- 
 tablished in the wide world." The Prospectus is 
 quoted at length and with approval, save in its 
 lack of provision for domestic education. 1 It 
 adds, later, 2 that its very particular attention 
 to Vassar is due to the fact that "we consider 
 it one of the most important interests of our 
 age and nation." It says the college is not full, 
 but it has standards, as female seminaries have 
 not had, and its thousand applicants it has 
 reduced to three hundred. 
 
 The "World" of September 6, 1865, indi- 
 cates in an editorial the spirit against which 
 the college, and perhaps every college at times, 
 has to contend: namely, the associating of an 
 institution too closely with the expression of 
 some member of its faculty, the expression 
 itself being often, as in the present case, grossly 
 misrepresented. The title of the editorial 
 stands, "Is Miscegenation to be taught in 
 Vassar Female College?" Referring to the 
 fine foundation that had been created, the 
 
 1 Godey's Lady's Book, vol. 71, p. 173. Page 360.
 
 RECEPTION OF VASSAR'S PLAN 237 
 
 editor remarks that there is reason for fear 
 that "idiosyncrasies of certain members of the 
 Board may bring it into danger." The Presi- 
 dent, it is said, has recently delivered a dis- 
 course, which has been printed, on "God the 
 Perpetual Renewer," "in which the doctrine 
 and practice of miscegenation, as understood 
 by Tilton and Co., is advocated unmistakably 
 and earnestly." Quotations follow, at consider- 
 able length, aiming to show that the Negro 
 must have his rights, and these are twisted to 
 the support of the contention of the editor. It 
 must not be forgotten that this was a period 
 of bitter feeling, and that the "World" repre- 
 sented at the time what was known as the 
 "Copperhead" element, and therefore was apt 
 to be particularly condemnatory of anything 
 that looked toward the rights of the Negro. It 
 adds: "Let parents who think of sending their 
 young daughters to this institution make in- 
 quiries touching this matter," and assures its 
 readers that the Northern public is not ready 
 to have young girls and budding women taught 
 this as a part of their educational course. 
 Though it carries us beyond the scope of this
 
 238 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 volume, a few references may be added from 
 an influential magazine ("Godey's Lady's 
 Book") pertaining to the time after the 
 opening. The matter of domestic science is 
 again brought forward. 1 Evidently its special 
 interest draws inquiries, which it refers to the 
 college, calling it "this grand institution," and 
 when referring to the first catalogue and the 
 first half-year, it says, "The Editors of the 
 Lady's Book do not keep the circulars for dis- 
 tribution." Praising the equipment, it admits 
 that the descriptions may seem to their readers 
 " like charming fancies." 2 It looks for the high- 
 est results in efficient life for women. "Only 
 one exception" it makes. The college "bears 
 on its facade the inferior title" (Female). Its 
 faculty, it notes, has "eight gentlemen and 
 twenty-two ladies." In the next volume 3 it 
 triumphs over the change of name, which it 
 calls "one of the remarkable events of the 
 year." It ranks Vassar alone as giving to girls 
 such an education as colleges offer men, 4 and 
 to a query as to reasons for the preponderance 
 
 1 Vol. 72, p. 278. Vol. 73, p. 170. 
 
 8 Vol. 74, p. 374. * Vol. 75, p. 354.
 
 RECEPTION OF VASSAR'S PLAN 239 
 
 of men in the professorships, it answers that 
 there are not yet enough prepared women, 
 though it emphasizes the preponderance of 
 women in the total teaching force. 1 
 
 This survey shows us that the general recep- 
 tion of Mr. Vassar's scheme was appreciative, 
 generous, and even enthusiastic. It indicates 
 the presence of skepticism, however, and such 
 objections as have been urged in every time 
 against liberal education for men as well as 
 women. A more serious attack was to come 
 a little later, after the college had settled to its 
 work, and its results provoked inquiry and at 
 last bitter conflict between the advocates of 
 the higher education and those who challenged 
 it on grounds of woman's alleged physical in- 
 capacity for the course, or her asumed mental 
 limitations, or the fancied tendency of educa- 
 tion to destroy social and domestic instincts 
 and graces. That well-fought battle is outside 
 the period that now engages us. Long ago it 
 was won for the women's colleges, and their 
 foes are now chiefly the laziness that comes 
 with luxury, the fear of hard work, the impa- 
 1 Godey's Lady's Book, vol. 75, p. 448.
 
 240 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 tience of the young to get at the occupations or 
 the social whirl of life, and the lack of appreci- 
 ation in parents of the worth to life of mental 
 training and liberal education. The enemy is 
 an old foe, if sometimes assuming a new face. 
 But when Vassar opened, the enthusiasm of 
 the welcome of those who longed for its privi- 
 leges far outweighed the occasional criticism or 
 the general indifference, and Mr. Vassar had 
 every reason for cheer and happiness as he 
 saw at last established, and by his own work 
 and generosity, an opportunity which evidently 
 answered a far-reaching demand.
 
 VI 
 
 THE YEAR BEFORE THE COLLEGE OPENED 
 
 May, 1864, to September, 1865 
 
 AT the meeting of the Trustees in April, 1864, 
 when Dr. Jewett's resignation was accepted, 
 John Howard Raymond, President of the 
 Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute, was elected 
 in his stead. He at first declined the honor. 
 He had been a Trustee from the beginning, 
 and was well aware of the difficulties involved 
 in the almost herculean task. He had returned 
 from a year's recreation and travel in Europe 
 not wholly reestablished in health, and had 
 offered his resignation in Brooklyn in the con- 
 viction of his need of a complete rest from ad- 
 ministrative labors, though his Trustees had 
 refused to accept it and had proposed meas- 
 ures for lessening his work. On the thirteenth 
 of May he addressed to Mr. Vassar a remark- 
 able letter (it fills over five printed pages in 
 his "Biography" 1 ) in which he gives at length 
 1 Pages 507-12.
 
 242 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 the reasons for his adverse decision. It seemed 
 to them then that the college must be opened 
 in the fall and the time was too short for one 
 not in full vigor. He had intended to take a 
 year of rest, and knew that the exactions of the 
 next few months would be extreme. But even 
 if this objection could be met he could not 
 accept the office at the compensation offered. 1 
 He tells Mr. Vassar that it would be difficult 
 for business men, accustomed to daily exchange 
 and mutual comparison of values, to appreci- 
 ate what it cost him to write that, after a serv- 
 ice to public education of nearly thirty years 
 (nineteen as a college professor, nine in Brook- 
 lyn), during which he had never made terms 
 for himself, never asked a dollar's advance, and 
 never made the two ends of a year meet. He 
 had met with generous praise, worked in large 
 and wealthy communities, and at a constant 
 pecuniary sacrifice. He closes his twenty- 
 eighth year of public service "with impaired 
 health, a family unprovided for, and an empty 
 purse." Henceforth he cannot accept office 
 without a compensation regulated by the 
 
 1 Equivalent to $3500.
 
 JOHN H. RAYMOND 
 
 President of Vassar College 1864-1878
 
 THE LAST YEAR 243 
 
 value of service and not by usage. But in his 
 opinion the college resources would not justify 
 paying the salary he needed ($5000). The 
 large sum given had been, to the regret of all, 
 absorbed in material provisions, compelling 
 economy at the very start and at the vital 
 point. However, it should not be difficult to 
 find a stronger and a better man for President 
 on terms within its means. 
 
 One week later he writes to his wife: "As I 
 feared, they are going to come to my terms." 
 Mr. Vassar had declared his position "per- 
 fectly reasonable and right." But later, fear- 
 ing that the founder had misapprehended his 
 views, he determined on a personal interview 
 and visited him at Springside. For the first 
 time, he tells his wife, he was "brought into 
 direct contact with Mr. Vassar's heart: it is 
 as large as an elephant's and as tender as a 
 babe's." His admiration of the old man's 
 purity of motive and catholicity of spirit, com- 
 bined with broad common sense and much 
 business experience, calls out the remark, "If 
 thine eye be single, it shall be full of light." 
 The founder removed his anxieties as to future
 
 244 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 endowment, and convinced him that the way 
 was open for him to accept, and he wrote at 
 once to the Polytechnic Trustees announcing 
 his purpose. 1 What all this cost him one may 
 read in the account to his wife of the reaction, 
 the sick headache, and the day in bed amid 
 the exquisite beauties of Springside. On the 
 tenth of June, he addressed his formal ac- 
 ceptance to the Executive Committee. Mr. 
 Vassar's satisfaction was hard to express. The 
 last doubt and anxiety were removed "as to 
 the assured success of our college." 2 
 
 The Board met on June 28, 1864, and in his 
 address the founder announces "the highly 
 gratifying intelligence" "that the Rev. John 
 H. Raymond, D.D., has accepted the presi- 
 dency of our college on terms mutually satis- 
 factory to both parties." In this same address 
 is a reference to Dr. Jewett, not by name, 
 the only one made by him save those in June, 
 1866, of which we are aware, after the date of 
 his resignation. 3 He is referring to a disposi- 
 
 1 Life, pp. 512, 13. 
 1 Letter in Raymond's Life, p. 515. 
 
 8 These latter references were in connection with the use of 
 the word "Female."
 
 THE LAST YEAR 245 
 
 tion from the first to "lavish means unwisely," 
 through lack of knowledge of necessary details, 
 and says it was impossible for him ("from the 
 state of my health") "to guard against all 
 mistakes, especially those the earliest made, 
 which properly belonged to one who, by long 
 experience, knew, as I supposed, what was 
 wanted in the line of his practice, but which 
 mistake was not, until too late, brought to my 
 notice. Still, it is believed that these difficul- 
 ties are now substantially surmounted and at 
 last removed." 
 
 At this meeting, Henry Ward Beecher was 
 elected a Trustee; R. A. Fisher, the appointed 
 professor of chemistry, resigned; the founder 
 presented the art collection he had purchased 
 from Dr. Magoon at a cost of $20,000; and the 
 opening of the college was definitely fixed for 
 September, 1865, greatly to the satisfaction of 
 the founder and to the gratification of the new 
 President. The latter was instructed to pre- 
 pare a "Prospectus" for the public. 1 
 
 It is well to note again what had been accom- 
 plished up to this time. The charter had been 
 1 Minutes, June 28, 1864.
 
 246 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 granted in January of 1861, and ground had 
 been broken for the building that very year. 
 The supreme interest of the people was in the 
 war, but nevertheless the operations of build- 
 ing the college went on, often hindered, indeed, 
 by economic considerations due to the dis- 
 turbed condition of the country, and involving 
 at last an unanticipated draft on the generous 
 sum which, it had been hoped, would endow 
 as well as build the institution. Through these 
 three years the Building Committee and Ex- 
 ecutive Committee had unweariedly, and amid 
 constant anxieties, pushed the building oper- 
 ations, laid out the grounds, and prepared the 
 physical equipment. In his address at this 
 June meeting, the founder, who was chairman 
 of the Executive Committee, gives us a glimpse 
 of the work done and that in process. The 
 college building was largely finished, but all 
 the plumbing remained to be done, and the 
 bell-hanging, and the furnishing. The observ- 
 atory had been finished and arranged by Pro- 
 fessor Farrar. Gas-building and boiler-house 
 were in process. Contracts were out for fur- 
 nishing the kitchens. The mere recital fails
 
 THE LAST YEAR 247 
 
 to convey the truth : the gas apparatus, steam- 
 boiler and pipes for heating, alone cost $40,000. 
 The enormous size of the building must be 
 remembered if one would estimate what was 
 involved for the men who were guiding the 
 new experiment. Mr. Vassar did not exag- 
 gerate when he declared his doubt of another 
 instance on record where so much had been 
 done in a short period and this was fifty 
 years ago. The State Inebriate Asylum at 
 Binghamton, smaller than the college, and 
 begun about the same time, would require a 
 year or two to finish; all of the colleges had 
 required an average of "some twenty years to 
 get fairly at work." 
 
 Much had been done also on the academic 
 side, a museum established, an art gallery 
 purchased, a general scheme of education dis- 
 cussed, a library begun, and many practical 
 problems as to organization and appointments 
 considered by the Board. Moreover, applica- 
 tions were pouring in, and success seemed 
 assured. All were anxious to begin the actual 
 work, and none more so than the founder, but 
 his well-balanced mind suggested patience and
 
 248 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 thorough preparation. The new President, 
 also, while assuming no responsibility for de- 
 ferring the opening, satisfied the Trustees that 
 the true policy was to take ample time to 
 perfect all arrangements. The founder was 
 "vastly pleased" with the Board's decision. 1 
 He had been "almost worn out" by the "per- 
 petual pushing, pushing to have the college 
 started this fall" (1864), but had supposed 
 Dr. Raymond "favored haste," and "had 
 made up his mind to consent to a compromise 
 on January or February next." "He told me, 
 with tears in his eyes, that he felt a mountain 
 lifted off his heart and thanked God that he 
 had found a man who could not only under- 
 stand his ideas but make other people under- 
 stand them too." The meeting broke up amid 
 "general interchange of handshakes and con- 
 gratulations." 2 Evidently a crisis was passed, 
 time was gained, and the satisfaction was felt 
 in the new leadership that was so abundantly 
 justified by events. 
 
 The new President had practically carte 
 blanche in his planning, 3 a very natural 
 
 1 Raymond's Life, p. 517. 2 Ibid. * Ibid., p. 520.
 
 THE LAST YEAR 249 
 
 reaction after the recent strenuous and crucial 
 events. His chief idea as to the province of the 
 college was perfectly clear. It would offer "a 
 liberal education" built on the best and most 
 thorough training then attainable in "Ladies' 
 Seminaries." The former notion of a school for 
 "all ages," as Dr. Raymond interprets the 
 original scheme, 1 working up through various 
 schools to the full degree, was abandoned. 
 Jewett's plan was reversed. The new President 
 had become convinced that a novel experi- 
 ment for the new work was undesirable. A col- 
 lege for women would have enough to encoun- 
 ter without antagonizing every current view 
 of a college, and the practicability of Jewett's 
 scheme had by no means established its superi- 
 ority by its limited trial in the South. Un- 
 doubtedly its adoption then would have hin- 
 dered and fettered Vassar and would have 
 added enormously to the burden of a new and 
 untried faculty. Dr. Raymond, moreover, 
 was abundantly familiar with current modes 
 and discussions, and his professorships in 
 Madison and Rochester, as well as his familiar- 
 1 Raymond's Life, p. 519.
 
 250 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 ity with secondary school work, in Brooklyn, 
 naturally inclined him to an adoption of sys- 
 tems in vogue rather than to the introduction 
 of a scheme untried in the North. The result 
 abundantly proved his wisdom. What he tells 
 us later of the conditions of education of girls, 
 as revealed through his first students, proves 
 amply the requirement of a well-regulated 
 course whose purpose, at first, was steady, 
 regular, and compulsory training. 
 
 His scheme, however, was yet to be worked 
 out. Prudently fortifying himself by a sum- 
 mer's rest, and after helping the Trustees of 
 the Polytechnic to open the institution in Sep- 
 tember, he took up his solitary abode in Pough- 
 keepsie, for by himself he had determined to 
 work out his plans during the months that 
 would require much seclusion, much traveling, 
 and great uncertainties. Almost at once, as 
 illustrating the large and careful preparation 
 for the great scheme, he met a committee of 
 scientists, Dana, Torrey, Hall, and "possi- 
 bly Agassiz," who had come to examine the 
 "Cabinet" of scientific collections already 
 made. Dr. Magoon was found at work, also,
 
 THE LAST YEAR 251 
 
 hanging his pictures, and the copies of the 
 "Masters" the college had purchased. The 
 "Cabinet" was regarded by these gentlemen 
 as of rare worth, and unsurpassed in America 
 or Europe in its setting and arrangement. This 
 was one indication of the high standards which 
 had been set up. The great scale of the under- 
 taking must be remembered in any discussion 
 of the "originality" of the founder's idea. 
 
 Dr. Raymond set up his bachelor quarters 
 in the "Northern Hotel," even then an old- 
 fashioned house on the corner of Mill and 
 Washington Streets, and long since removed, 
 "a first-class country * tavern' of the olden 
 time, neat as wax, with good, savory eating and 
 quiet, civil, and attentive service," and there 
 he lived for months without sight of his wife 
 and children, while working out the great prob- 
 lem and the way to meet it. His quiet was 
 varied by trips in search of instructors and pro- 
 fessors for the new faculty, a quest always 
 of gravest difficulty, but greater than at any 
 ordinary time, in view of this new work and 
 the small supply of those fitted to begin it. 
 Already by December he had settled on Pro-
 
 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 fessor Tenney (natural history) as "sure for 
 an appointment; and Miss Mitchell, if we can 
 afford such a costly luxury"! The rest was 
 more difficult. He knew what he wanted, but 
 it was not easy to find it, and when found not 
 always obtainable for a work which was not 
 yet established and secure. In it all, however, 
 he was sustained by Mr. Vassar's hope and 
 faith. 1 Before the process was finished and he 
 was ready to report to the Board, he wrote his 
 wife that he was "thoroughly jaded with over- 
 much talk and the incessant asking and answer- 
 ing of questions." "If I die suddenly, I think 
 the ' crowner's quest ' will find, ' Died of School- 
 marm on the brain.'" 2 
 
 The most important post, from his admin- 
 istrative point of view, and in view of the so- 
 cial, moral, and spiritual responsibility of the 
 college, was the lady principalship. Nothing 
 could mean more, nor so much, to the satisfac- 
 tory conduct of the college, and nothing could 
 be so significant of its policy for the future. It 
 contemplated a social headship, instruction in 
 manners and morals, religious leadership, a 
 
 1 Raymond's Life, p. 531. * Ibid., p. 542.
 
 THE LAST YEAR 253 
 
 close counselor of the President, and a promi- 
 nent influence in the faculty itself. 
 
 President Raymond and Hannah Lyman 
 had corresponded for five months, 1 before he 
 was able to meet her in Montreal and definitely 
 settle her appointment. They had exchanged 
 views, written nobly of their ideals, questioned 
 seriously the appointment of one of her age, 2 
 and reached the conclusion, justified fully by 
 events, that hers was a divine call to a special 
 mission at just that juncture in the education 
 of women. She was the successful head of a 
 school, with theories of training that remind 
 one of Mary Lyon, and with a devotion equal 
 to that of the saint of Holyoke. She was the 
 rare woman for that hour, and no one can 
 exaggerate the debt of the college to her in 
 those years of the formation and fostering of 
 its fresh ideals. She held far stricter views on 
 amusements than the President, 3 but both were 
 catholic in their estimate of life, 4 and her 
 acceptance of the lady principalship was a 
 guaranty of a sound, strong, conservative 
 
 1 Raymond's Life, p. 537. 8 Ibid., pp. 554-55; cf. letter. 
 8 Ibid., p. 541. Ibid., pp. 545, 546, 547.
 
 254 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 administration of the college life at a time when 
 a sharply critical judgment awaited every act 
 of students or faculty. 
 
 Most important of all the President's labors 
 was the plan of education which the college 
 should offer. There was no faculty to discuss 
 it and confer about it: in a tentative form it 
 must be submitted to the Board at an April 
 meeting, and at that time the public must be 
 told of the scheme which the Trustees had 
 indorsed. With Jewett's scheme before him, 
 and with his long familiarity with college pro- 
 grammes in mind, he must face the question, 
 then hotly discussed, as to special provisions 
 for girls, and as to the possible adaptation to 
 their needs of existing methods and curricula. 
 He has summed up for us the conclusions 
 reached in one of the most important educa- 
 tional documents submitted to the Vienna 
 Exposition in 1873. . 
 
 The founder, he tells us, left the question to 
 experts, only demanding that women should 
 have "the best," "the advantages too long 
 monopolized by the other" sex. But just then 
 the standards for young men were all unset-
 
 THE LAST YEAR 255 
 
 tied. What was the proper function of a col- 
 lege? The champions of the "new education" 
 were demanding a large place for the physical 
 sciences; some were impugning the very value 
 of a classical education; and all were urging 
 larger individual choice. 
 
 But even if the question were settled for 
 men, would the same answer be true for wo- 
 men? There were no real precedents, only 
 theories and speculations. Some boldly de- 
 clared that young women were incapable, phy- 
 sically, of strenuous training; others main- 
 tained that there was "no sex in mind." "A 
 large and increasing number of intelligent ed- 
 ucators" took "middle ground." While hold- 
 ing that no amount of intellectual training 
 could be injurious or prejudicial, they claimed 
 that some fundamental principles stood out 
 that should dictate modifications of the present 
 system. While true that the better woman's 
 training and the broader her knowledge, the 
 better would she be fitted for life, it was also 
 true that her constitution and life demanded 
 special attention to sanitary conditions, to 
 personal and domestic comfort, and to social
 
 256 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 safeguards. From reflection on these issues 
 Dr. Raymond gained "two or three starting- 
 points." 
 
 First, there must be a complete domestic 
 system. The ideal was family relation, a 
 home in which responsibility should be as- 
 sumed for sanitary and social regulation of life 
 as well as intellectual training. The character 
 of the building and the business as well as the 
 domestic organization must be determined by 
 this viewpoint. 
 
 Second, the course must be liberal, not ele- 
 mentary. It must not be a higher seminary, 
 but a real college. 
 
 Third, it should not be a servile copy of ex- 
 isting models. If any way could be found better 
 to adapt the old methods to woman's needs, it 
 must be accepted and used. There must be a 
 recognition of real demands, but no lowering of 
 standards. The claims of aesthetic culture 
 were clear: was anything else? There was a 
 strong urgency then of the claim of "practical 
 studies " ; but what are practical, and what not? 
 Be it observed and emphasized, in reply to 
 many assertions in these later years, that "the
 
 THE LAST YEAR 257 
 
 fathers" had no conception of the special ques- 
 tions that their wise children are discussing, 
 that the letters and papers of this early history 
 of Vassar abound in references to the problem 
 of a peculiar education fitted for women, and 
 this first Board of Trustees, led by several very 
 prominent educators of that time, sought to 
 meet (as we shall see in the Prospectus) fan- 
 cied necessities which time did not sustain as 
 such. Not "a man's education for women," as 
 has been too often and too superficially de- 
 clared, was their purpose, but one suited to the 
 sex; and their trouble was just that of their 
 successors, the finding of such peculiarities as 
 call for a different kind of mental training 
 and different subjects to furnish the power of 
 clear thought, mental efficiency, and broad 
 culture. 
 
 Dr. Raymond had to meet another issue, 
 then very popular, the question of prescrip- 
 tion or free election. We have already seen the 
 plan of President Jewett submitted to the 
 Board in 1863. Dr. Raymond, who was on the 
 committee which permitted its presentation, 
 tells us that some thought it unsuited to the
 
 258 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 actual situation, fearing its free election of 
 "schools" would be fatal to sound training, 
 and that in leaving this important issue to the 
 student, the college was shirking its responsi- 
 bility. Moreover, public opinion must be taken 
 into account. The college must have paying 
 students, for it had no endowments. This 
 necessity bore on the policy and plans adopted. 
 The President concluded that a provisional 
 plan was necessary, to be matured in the light 
 of experience and after the testing of public 
 opinion and want. Only the most general cur- 
 riculum was possible till a fuller test could be 
 made than experience had offered, of the prep- 
 aration of girls for college and their demand for 
 college education. The absence of references 
 to the experiments already made is evidence 
 that they had not made a great impression on 
 the country. We shall see, in Dr. Raymond's 
 later reflections on the actual conditions re- 
 vealed in Vassar's opening year, how wise was 
 his prevision, and how justified he was insetting 
 standards that were regarded as insufficient 
 and low three years after the college was at 
 work. The college was singularly fortunate in
 
 THE LAST YEAR 259 
 
 that its formation was committed to a man of 
 highest educational ideals who yet recognized 
 facts and adapted the offer of the new college 
 to the actual conditions then prevailing in 
 the training of girls. The fuller result of this . 
 thinking was set forth in the Prospectus. Now 
 he was to meet his Trustees with the results of 
 his laborious winter. 
 
 The Board met on April 12, 1865. The Pres- 
 ident's scheme was "received with universal 
 favor and approval," 1 and he was directed to 
 prepare a Prospectus for the public, which em- 
 bodied it. The Board voted to open college on 
 the third Wednesday of September, the faculty 
 to assemble September 1, "to arrange for the 
 opening." The requisites for admission were 
 fixed : English grammar, arithmetic, geography, 
 United States history, or general history, al- 
 gebra to equations of the second degree, Latin 
 grammar, reader, five books of Caesar, French 
 grammar and half the reader, and proficiency 
 in English indispensable. These were low, 
 but must be compared with the standards of 
 1865, and not with those of to-day. That they 
 
 1 Raymond's Life, p. 551.
 
 260 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 were too high for the standard of female edu- 
 cation then was soon apparent enough, and 
 Vassar was driven to establish a preparatory 
 department. 
 
 The time of vacations was arranged. A plan 
 had commended itself to many which contem- 
 plated vacations in the winter, from January 
 to April (three months) and in the summer, 
 the month of August. This was urged on 
 grounds of "health, convenience, and utility"; 
 the maintenance of a "just proportion between 
 the periods of rest and labor"; the securing 
 "for collegiate uses the largest possible amount 
 of that season which, in our climate, is the most 
 propitious." The founder thus argues in his 
 address, 1 especially urging the advantage to 
 health in our rigorous climate of escaping these 
 harsh months. He devotes the principal por- 
 tion of his address to this subject. The Board, 
 however, voted to abide by the existing usage 
 in America, which was "the probable expecta- 
 tion of the public." 
 
 The classes were to be called first, second, 
 junior, and senior, though it is noticeable that 
 
 1 April 13, 1865.
 
 THE LAST YEAR 261 
 
 in his first annual report to the Trustees, 
 Dr. Raymond wrote freshman and sophomore. 
 The usage, however, persisted in the Catalogue 
 till 1872-73. 
 
 The Board voted that the departments be 
 "respectably" equipped before opening, to 
 place the high standing of the college beyond 
 question. There were to be nine professors, be- 
 sides instructors, and written contracts were 
 to be made with all. 
 
 The rates were fixed at $350, without extras, 
 except music and art, which were $50 each. 
 This was changed to $400 in 1866 and so re- 
 mained till 1905-06. Any surplus was voted 
 to reduce the bills of excellent indigent stu- 
 dents. This resolution was rescinded in 1868. 
 
 Professors Knapp, Farrar, Tenney, and 
 Mitchell were now elected. The founder 
 agreed to advance a sum not to exceed $25,000 
 to secure the opening and the first year. 
 
 One other subject had come close to his 
 heart. Again and again during two years Mrs. 
 Sarah J. Hale had urged the removal of "fe- 
 male" from the charter name of the college. 
 A large correspondence had been carried on,
 
 262 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 and already, as we have seen, a resolution to 
 make the change had been defeated in the 
 Board. Now the founder suggests the pro- 
 priety of the change, and leaves it to the Trus- 
 tees. It is suggestive of the conservatism of 
 the Board (probably enough, complicated with 
 legal timidity as to the danger of subjecting the 
 charter to revision by the Legislature), and of 
 the freedom of its action in view of a living 
 founder as well, that the motion to change the 
 title was again defeated at the regular June 
 meeting by a vote of 11 to 7. 1 The founder, 
 however, lived to see the change made by the 
 Legislature in 1867. He had made an earnest 
 plea for it in his address to the Board in June, 
 1866. 
 
 The account of this important meeting 
 should not be closed without reference to the 
 opening sentence of the founder's address. 
 "Just four years ago to-morrow," he says, "we 
 staked out the ground for the foundation of our 
 College, a day which was made singularly 
 memorable by the Fall of Fort Sumter." He 
 refers to the desolations of the war and to the 
 
 1 Minutes of the Board.
 
 THE LAST YEAR 263 
 
 progress through these terrible years of this 
 great enterprise. He was, perhaps, too near 
 the event to see how wonderfully his new foun- 
 dation was to answer the fresh demands of 
 American womanhood which had been devel- 
 oped and encouraged by this very war. 
 
 Now "half the burden," the President 
 wrote, "was off my mind." 1 Certain stakes 
 were driven to which he could work, and plans 
 were reduced to definiteness. He was longing 
 for the actual work and escape from the "ter- 
 rible cloudland of solitary speculation." 2 He 
 had been separated from wife and family 
 for four months, and his affectionate nature 
 was strained and he was lonely. He was lead- 
 ing a life of busy routine, breakfasting at 
 seven ; after a brisk walk into the country and 
 back, disposing of his great mail; meeting con- 
 stant callers; "chatting with Father Vassar 
 who tries to let me alone but cannot"; walking 
 again for a half-hour before dinner; working 
 through the afternoon till half after five; and 
 taking then "my glorious evening tramp" 
 "instead of supper, which I have eschewed, 
 
 1 Life, p. 552. 2 Ibid., p. 557.
 
 264 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 much to my inward salubrity." The country 
 about enchants him. Then he would have a 
 long evening of work, and frequently a stop on 
 the way back to his rooms " to break bread and 
 cheese" with Mr. Vassar. But he is at times 
 "savagely homesick." 1 It took more than the 
 founder's sacrifices to organize the great work. 
 
 Now his first business was to issue the Pro- 
 spectus, and then to complete his appoint- 
 ments before the June meeting of the Board. 
 
 The Prospectus, an adaptation of his report 
 to the Board in April, 2 is important not only as 
 giving us a closer view of the problems already 
 discussed, but as a revelation of what seemed 
 to Dr. Raymond especially demanded by the 
 public and needful for it to know. It is a 
 printed document of thirty-six pages. It de- 
 clares that the college seeks "not a feeble imi- 
 tation of the ordinary college curriculum," but 
 a general coincidence in the elevation of its 
 aims. It states the purposes of the college in a 
 full, but carefully analytical, style. 
 
 First, physical education is fundamental and 
 peculiarly important to women, though sadly 
 1 Letter to his wife, Life, p. 554. * Life, p. 552.
 
 THE LAST YEAR 265 
 
 neglected among educated American women. 
 The college will provide rooms, food, hours of 
 study and recreation under careful sanitary 
 regulation. It will give ample facilities and 
 regular instruction in exercise, and will secure 
 a gymnasium training, encourage outdoor 
 sports, calisthenics, riding, and open-air study 
 and instruction. 
 
 Second, the intellectual training will be lib- 
 eral, for women, a regular course, for four years. 
 While the ordinary college curriculum will fur- 
 nish a guide for the "essentially similar" intel- 
 lectual faculties of girls, constitutional dif- 
 ferences, intellectual and moral, will be kept 
 in view. The offering of too much, the bane 
 of seminaries, will be avoided. The required 
 studies will be those of universal importance, 
 and the elective will be guided by the judg- 
 ment of President and Faculty. Special courses 
 will be offered especially for such as have long 
 ago completed the then possible studies. The 
 regular branches will be English, Latin, French 
 or German, algebra, geometry, natural phi- 
 losophy, botany, zoology, mineralogy, geology, 
 physical geography, anatomy and physiology
 
 266 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 and hygiene, outlines of history, theoretic and 
 practical ethics. A generous line of electives is 
 offered in all the customary college branches, 
 but none in history. 
 
 Third, moral and religious education has the 
 "foremost place." No sectarianism will be tol- 
 erated, but Trustees and founder wish the col- 
 lege to be "a School of Christ." The President 
 and Lady Principal are charged especially with 
 the responsibility for this. There will be train- 
 ing in the President's classes in ethics and evi- 
 dences, daily chapel, morning and evening, 
 religious services on Sunday, Bible classes, so- 
 cial religious meetings, private interviews with 
 those in difficulty who wish to seek President 
 or Lady Principal, and parents may designate 
 some Christian minister as special adviser. 
 There will also be voluntary associations, mis- 
 sionary societies, sewing-circles, and kindred 
 organizations. 
 
 Fourth, domestic education. The household is 
 woman's peculiar province. She ought to be an 
 "accomplished housekeeper" if she hopes "to 
 be recognized as a thoroughly accomplished 
 woman." But home is the school for this. The
 
 THE LAST YEAR 267 
 
 Trustees are satisfied that a full course cannot 
 be successfully incorporated into a liberal edu- 
 cation. But the college has responsibilities to 
 teach a correct theory of household manage- 
 ment and to give some practical training in 
 such domestic duties as admit of illustration in 
 college life. It will teach domestic economy 
 theoretically by textbook and lecture, and il- 
 lustrate it in its kitchens, pantries, and table- 
 service. Where needed, it will give instruction 
 in care of clothing and room, in neatness, order, 
 and taste. The students will do no servants' 
 work, but will superintend the work in their 
 rooms. There will be regular sewing-hours for 
 all. 
 
 Fifth, social education. It is "hers to refine, 
 illumine, purify, adorn." The methods of social 
 training will be womanly. No encouragement, 
 therefore, would be given to oratory and de- 
 bate, which appeared mannish at that time. 
 Reading aloud would be encouraged, recitations 
 from the poets, tableaux vivants, and conversa- 
 tion. The college promised the public to seek 
 in its officers models and examples. Debating 
 societies were pronounced "utterly incongru-
 
 268 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 ous and out of taste." * The Lady Principal 
 would watch manners and correct faults. 
 
 Music would be encouraged, social sing- 
 ing and the rudiments of vocal music for all. 
 There would be practical lessons in decoration 
 of rooms, and bearing on dress, jewelry, gar- 
 dens, parterre of flowers, furniture, etc. Soi- 
 rees and receptions were also promised. 
 
 Sixth, professional education. The resources 
 were said to be few, but the spirit will- 
 ing. There might be a course of lectures on 
 teaching, but examples of good teaching were 
 assured in the instructors. The means of 
 instruction in "the peculiarly feminine employ- 
 ment" of telegraphy were at hand. Phonog- 
 raphy would be taught and the lecture rooms 
 and daily chapel would furnish opportunities 
 for its exercise (!). Bookkeeping would claim 
 attention for its general principles, and if it 
 was found practicable it would be carried far 
 enough to insure a respectable introduction to a 
 counting-room . 
 
 One suspects that much of this was urged by 
 the founder as "practical" rather than by the 
 1 Prospectus, p. JO.
 
 THE LAST YEAR 269 
 
 trained expert, the President. It is at least in- 
 teresting to note the absence of reference to 
 such opportunities, professional and domestic, 
 in the earliest catalogue of the college. 
 
 The Prospectus further gave details of the 
 equipment and the faculty. Descriptions follow 
 of kitchens, gardens, farm, and laundry. Rates 
 are fixed provisionally. There are no extras, 
 but sufficient charge must be made to meet 
 running expenses. The use of the permanent 
 investment of about $500,000 is free to all. 
 Riding, be it noted, was offered at $40 per year. 
 
 Reference was made to the discussion of va- 
 cations and the Board's decision not to depart 
 prematurely from usage, the conditions of ad- 
 mission stated, applicants warned that more 
 than one thousand letters had been received, 
 and that they must apply before June 15, that 
 day students would not be received, and no pu- 
 pil under fifteen. 
 
 The college thus made its bow to the public 
 little more than three months before it opened 
 its doors to the students. 
 
 The regular meeting of the Board convened 
 in June, on the twenty-seventh. The founder
 
 270 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 reminded the Board that it was their last meet- 
 ing before the opening, and recognized "the 
 favoring Providence" that had brought them 
 through the preparatory stages, through "the 
 stormy period of war," which, had they known 
 the difficulties it would involve for them, might 
 have stayed their hands from the undertaking. 
 All this they looked back upon and might well 
 thank God and take courage. The building 
 is ready, "the park" has been laid out and 
 graded, seeded, and planted with shrubbery, 
 shade trees, and evergreens. The drives and 
 paths have been mapped. The farm is in order 
 and the vegetable garden planted. And now he 
 claims the right to lay down his office as chair- 
 man of the Executive Committee which he had 
 held, and filled, for four years. For the busi- 
 ness done, his training had fitted him; but now, 
 he claimed, the responsibility would involve 
 larger experience with educational institutions. 
 He will retire with perfect satisfaction, and 
 during the remainder of his life, "now surely 
 drawing to its close, I shall look with assured 
 confidence, by the Divine blessing, for the 
 steady development and final success of this
 
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 THE LAST YEAR 271 
 
 the dearest object of my hopes." " I retire, gen- 
 tlemen, from my office and trust," he contin- 
 ued, "thanking you kindly for your generous 
 counsels and support hitherto." 
 
 One cannot overestimate the service given 
 in the actual building of the college by this man 
 of extensive and large business experience. 
 Through all these years the Building Commit- 
 tee and Executive Committee had held weekly 
 and often semi -weekly meetings, inspecting the 
 work, adjusting contracts in that difficult and 
 often ruinous war-time, studying every detail 
 of a vast and complicated structure, invest- 
 ing the money, spending it to the best advan- 
 tage, investigating new schemes for light and 
 heat, purchasing apparatus and furniture, ex- 
 pending almost a half-million dollars with care 
 and great result. It was a day of justifiable 
 pride when the old man could thus lay down his 
 office with the sense that his part of the great 
 problem was solved. 
 
 Nathan Bishop was elected in the founder's 
 place. It is worthy of note that the President 
 was never a member of the Committee until 
 1884-85.
 
 272 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 Miss Lyman was now elected Lady Principal ; 
 Delia F. Wood, of Boston, to the charge of Phy- 
 sical Training; a teacher of art was nominated, 
 but the nomination was referred to the Commit- 
 tee on the Art Gallery, and the name does not 
 appear in the Catalogue. Timothy H. Porter 
 was elected professor of rhetoric, belles-lettres, 
 and English language (this name also is not in 
 the earliest Catalogue); the appointment of 
 teachers was authorized and referred to the 
 Executive Committee. The Board adjourned, 
 and little remained now but to fill a few places 
 and await the new students. The President had 
 borne an extraordinary load during this year 
 of exhausting preparation, and generally with 
 great courage and faith, though at times in de- 
 spondency and anxiety. 1 There was a great un- 
 knownfactor looming up, shadows of doubts and 
 visions of failure, not to be wholly dispelled till 
 the college had ceased to be a thing of theory 
 and pulsated with its throbbing young life. At 
 last came the opening day, September twenty. 
 
 It requires little imagination to picture the 
 scene as the young women from all parts of the 
 
 1 Life, pp. 557-58.
 
 THE LAST YEAR 273 
 
 land gathered and filed up the long avenue from 
 the gate-house. Some came as school-girls, to 
 another seminary or boarding-school, as it 
 were, fancying in some vague way that this was 
 a new step forward for them. Some came as to 
 a Mecca, a holy place to whose opening they 
 had looked forward as a sign of opportunity 
 and progress for their sex. All must have come 
 with great curiosity to see what had been pro- 
 claimed through the land as a college for wo- 
 men so equipped and officered as to furnish for 
 the first time in human history an education 
 equal in grade to that bestowed on young 
 men. One alumna who entered college that 
 day, and who was later to become Maria Mit- 
 chell's distinguished successor, writes that all 
 seemed to be in good preparation and order; 
 that a feeling of happy cheer prevailed among 
 the girls, and kindness and though tfulness 
 among the officers: Miss Lyman, strong and 
 serene, Miss Mitchell, brusque and brilliant, 
 but always kind, all ready to make adjust- 
 ments in rooms and room-mates, and all cour- 
 teous and hospitable to parents and friends. 1 
 1 Letter from Mary W. Whitney, January 25, 1913.
 
 274 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 Another tells of the omnibus ride from the sta- 
 tion to the college door, the waiting, soli- 
 tary and forlorn, till asked if she had seen 
 Miss Lyman; the welcome, the impressiveness 
 of the Lady Principal, the preliminaries fin- 
 ished, and then the exploration of the new in- 
 stitution, girls everywhere and their kindred 
 to the fifth degree of cousinship. Then tea 
 (supper) was served, and chapel followed, when 
 the founder sat beside the President, with 
 "shining face," "as the face of one who comes 
 again rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with 
 him." 1 The writer recalls the words of one of 
 those students, later Lady Principal of the 
 college, who told of the joy with which she ap- 
 proached the Main Building, her face wreathed 
 in smiles as she felt that at last her hopes were 
 to be realized. 2 There were nearly three hun- 
 dred of them, certainly an enormous aggrega- 
 tion of girls for that epoch, and the numbers 
 reached a maximum, that fall, of three hundred 
 and thirty. 8 
 
 President Raymond's letter to his wife, that 
 
 1 Martha S. Warner, in Vassar Miscellany, February, 1889. 
 
 2 Abby Goodsell. 8 Raymond's Life, p. 573.
 
 THE LAST YEAR 275 
 
 day, describes all as working very smoothly, 
 " a splendid day, and the buildings and grounds 
 alive with people." Already over two hundred 
 had come as he wrote, and they "had dined" 
 three hundred people in the hall "quite com- 
 fortably." It argues well for a careful organi- 
 zation that he sat in his sanctum, busy with 
 his papers, answering such questions as were 
 brought to him. But "poor Miss Lyman" was 
 so hoarse she could scarcely speak, though 
 "smiling as the day and strong as a lion." 
 "Everybody would like to have the best room. 
 . . . A few are exceedingly pertinacious." That 
 is to say that human nature is constant. 
 
 On the following Saturday, however, he was 
 "very tired," with his first sermon just be- 
 fore him. "It seems like a dream," he writes, 
 "the sudden transmutation of this great 
 lumbering pile of brick and mortar, which hung 
 on my spirit like a mountainous millstone, into 
 a palace of light and life." He had succeeded, 
 Friday evening, in getting out for the first time, 
 after dark, about nine o'clock, and had walked 
 to the lodge and surveyed the great build- 
 ing from there, and then walked about it.
 
 276 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 "On every side it sparkled like a diamond." 
 "Everywhere . . . merry voices were heard in 
 conversation and song. At the rear pianos were 
 going, and you would have thought the build- 
 ing had been inhabited for years instead of 
 hours." "The work of reducing this beautiful 
 chaos to order is, of course, great, and we are 
 now at it." His fears had been disappointed, 
 and he was "working with a happy heart" un- 
 der his great burden, for be it remembered, 
 this was not an opening of an old institution, 
 but the beginning of what, in its proportions 
 and conditions, was a new experiment. 
 
 The founder had "only just lived through it. 
 He is almost sick of joy." Here was the frui- 
 tion of his labors, the realization, at last, of 
 the idea which had moved his heart for ten 
 years past. No words can picture what that 
 opening day must have meant to him. 
 
 But how did it impress the community? It 
 must be recalled that though this great build- 
 ing had been erected through four years, it was 
 two miles away in the country from what was 
 then a provincial and slow Dutch Hudson 
 River town, and was not connected with it by
 
 THE LAST YEAR 277 
 
 any public conveyance. Moreover, Mr. Vassar 
 was but a citizen who had grown up in the 
 town, and whose great idea was received with 
 doubt by many, with indifference by most, and 
 with approval and appreciation by few. The 
 coming and going of the Trustees, semiannu- 
 ally, occasioned little remark, and there was no 
 effort on the part of the authorities to seek pub- 
 licity. For example, after the most important 
 meeting of April, 1864, the "Telegraph" re- 
 ports a "rumor" that President Jewett had 
 resigned. It is in a very brief paragraph, 
 and the files in general do not abound in local 
 news. War items are naturally of chief inter- 
 est. So there seems to be no reference what- 
 ever in this weekly journal to the opening of 
 an institution that was to be the city's chief 
 claim to national and international recogni- 
 tion. 
 
 The "Eagle" of September 21, however, has 
 an article on the subject. "Yesterday," it re- 
 ports, "was the appointed time for opening 
 Vassar Female College, and as the building has 
 at length been finished and the preliminary ar- 
 rangements made, we suppose operations were
 
 278 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 commenced. The politeness and courtesy of 
 the managers having been entirely exhausted 
 in paying attention to strangers, they had none 
 left for our own city people ; and hence the only 
 announcement to the public from which au- 
 thentic information could be obtained was an 
 advertisement for servant-girls. ... It was a 
 very peculiar way of letting folks know that a 
 great educational institution was completed 
 and about to begin its career. . . . We do not 
 know whether any public exercises were held or 
 not, but presume there was a ceremony, a re- 
 port of which we will in due time be requested 
 to copy from the Pumpkinsville Gazette, or 
 some other equally interested newspaper." It 
 reports, further, a large number of strangers in 
 town, and adds, "Judging from appearances 
 the college will start well filled with an intelli- 
 gent and earnest class." "The opening does 
 not promise much, to be sure, but we hope it 
 will nevertheless prosper." 
 
 The prophet, evidently, was not without 
 honor, save in his own country. It was many 
 years before the city awoke to the fact that 
 Vassar College was not only its chief title to
 
 THE LAST YEAR 279 
 
 fame, but was also one of its chief commercial 
 assets. 
 
 We have already seen from the reports of Dr. 
 Raymond in April of 1865, and from the Pro- 
 spectus, what were the ideals of education 
 which the new college aimed to realize. The 
 requirements compare fairly with the average 
 college of 1865, but are inferior to the better 
 ones, and they were set, be it remembered, as 
 distinctly tentative, in the light of the necessity 
 of preparation of girls for actual collegiate 
 standards. Not for three full years was the 
 curriculum itself to be really established on a 
 firm basis, and it was, indeed, about 1870 
 that the colleges in general found themselves 
 rearranging, improving, and advancing their 
 work. But now, the final question concerns 
 us as to the condition of the education of 
 American girls which the opening of Vassar 
 discloses in 1865. Was the standard of the new 
 college high enough for the time, and was its cur- 
 riculum broad enough? 
 
 Happily, we have the manuscript of Dr. 
 Raymond's report to the Board for the first 
 year of the work of the college, made in June,
 
 280 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 1866. It contains the very material essential to 
 a just answer of the question, some of which 
 was later embodied in the great Vienna pam- 
 phlet of 1873, already referred to. The report 
 shows a contrast with the ideals of the Pro- 
 spectus. The year had passed without disaster, 
 though filled with problems of administration, 
 with adjustments of a new faculty and a new 
 student body, and new economic, academic, 
 and social issues. Circumstances had called for 
 the prevention of haste and of premature de- 
 cisions, as much as for progressive steps. Ad- 
 herence to the conditions of the Prospectus 
 would have reduced the numbers one half, and 
 have made the task easy. Why was it not done? 
 Because they had built a huge building and 
 spared no expense to provide excellent living 
 conditions and a large academic force, and the 
 war had so exhausted their funds as to make 
 numbers essential. They were obliged to be 
 patient and create a constituency, and them- 
 selves do preparatory work which could not 
 then be done in the schools of the country. 1 
 
 1 The following, though dating from an earlier time, is 
 suggestive in this connection: "As female teachers will not be
 
 THE LAST YEAR 281 
 
 So the girls came, ranging in age from fifteen 
 to twenty-four, and sporadic cases yet older. 1 
 From New York came 174 during that year; 
 from other Middle States, 47; from New Eng- 
 land, 59; from Western States, 55 (California 
 was represented : there was no transcontinental 
 railway yet); from Southern States, 6; from 
 the District of Columbia, 4; from Canada, 7; 
 from Hawaii, I. 2 In grade they reached down 
 from college juniors to a status for which the 
 President had no measure. The majority were 
 within a year of freshmen, if not indeed fresh- 
 men, but their education had been uneven, ir- 
 regular, unsystematic, and some were unbe- 
 lievably untrained. The general preliminary 
 training was superficial, unpreparatory, and 
 
 employed to conduct the education of pupils far advanced, 
 and as their mode of instruction is believed to be better adapted 
 to the infant mind, the same degree of knowledge of geography 
 and English grammar need not be required of them that is 
 exacted of males." (Laws relating to Common Schools in New 
 York State, September, 1841.) 
 
 1 One who entered then, fourteen years of age, tells of her 
 impression of the old age of some of the students, and men- 
 tions one "elderly woman" who said she had come because 
 she wanted to be as well educated as her son who was then 
 growing up. (From Mary W. Whitney's letter.) 
 
 3 First Catalogue, 1865-66.
 
 282 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 in the Vienna report it is characterized as a 
 ' ' wretched sham . " * No class arrangement was 
 even possible, and the adjustments of work in- 
 volved an extraordinary amount of labor. The 
 demand for special courses, along the same 
 lines of irregularity which cursed girls' educa- 
 tion everywhere, was very great, and "even 
 female young America" was found to have "a 
 will of her own." The aversions and excuses 
 were innumerable. They were unwilling to sub- 
 mit to training and lay foundations. A "large 
 proportion" was forced into preparatory work 
 for the first half-year. The better ones were 
 not neglected, and all worked toward a regular 
 course. 
 
 As Dr. Raymond looked backward, in the 
 
 1 One may recall Thackeray's letter from the famous Miss 
 Pinkerton, of Johnson House, Chiswick, to Mrs. Bute Crawley, 
 who has asked Miss Pinkerton's recommendation of two gov- 
 ernesses. The letter contains the following recommendation 
 which gives us some suggestion of the claim of an aristocratic 
 school in England: "Either of these young ladies is perfectly 
 qualified to instruct in Greek, Latin, and the rudiments of 
 Hebrew; in mathematics and history; in Spanish, French, 
 Italian, and geography; in music, vocal and instrumental; 
 in dancing, without the aid of a master; and in the elements 
 of natural sciences. In the use of the globes both are profi- 
 cients."
 
 THE LAST YEAR 283 
 
 Report of 1873, he remarked upon the zeal and 
 diligence of these girls, though their plans of 
 study showed little coherency and no concep- 
 tion generally of the subjective conditions of 
 mental growth and training. The parents, 
 meanwhile, dwelt on the value of chemistry for 
 cooking and French for a tour in Europe. The 
 type has not yet entirely changed ! The need 
 impressed on all examiners was "regulation 
 authoritative and peremptory." Something 
 intelligent and fixed was more essential just 
 then than a perfect system. 
 
 But the brains of the institution, Dr. Ray- 
 mond declares, were enlisted on the side of right 
 ideals, and he bears testimony, in the 1873 Re- 
 port, to the great help received from the steady 
 purpose and high demands of these students. 
 In short, the opening year was an "omnium 
 gatherum," an ill-assorted body of students 
 which only served to prove the great demand 
 for real education, and the need of a provisional 
 course till order could be brought out of chaos. 
 This condition endured till 1868, when all was 
 replanned, and a steady advance made possible ; 
 but at the end of the first year an attempted
 
 284 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 classification gave 1 senior, 5 juniors (4 con- 
 ditioned); between juniors and sophomores, 
 13; sophomores, 29 (19 conditioned); between 
 sophomores and freshmen, 22; freshmen, 66 
 (24 conditioned); preparatory, 22. The im- 
 provement was rapid, and the college classes in 
 1872-73 numbered 235 students. 
 
 That first year was a great crisis in woman's 
 education, and it was met in the spirit of an 
 educational statesmanship which bent itself 
 to the necessities of actual conditions, while 
 urging as far as possible its ideals, with intent 
 to accomplish them. It marked the President, 
 as all his subsequent career established him, as 
 the man of the hour, fitted to guide this great 
 venture to a success even more marked than 
 the founder had seen in his dreams. And the 
 founder! He may well have been "almost sick 
 with joy." A plain man, he had won a fortune 
 by his thoroughness, his attention to business, 
 his purpose to have nothing but the best. In- 
 telligent, with a strong, clear intellect, his 
 thirst for knowledge had made him a reader of 
 good books, especially of the poets then in 
 favor, Pope, Cowper, Young, and a diligent
 
 THE LAST YEAR 285 
 
 reader of the Bible, which colored his language 
 and doubtless affected his strong, simple, and 
 vigorous style. He was kind-hearted, though 
 rigorous in business matters, a friend and helper 
 of schools and the church. He was broad and 
 catholic where others were "shallow or narrow 
 in policy," * cautious and exact, but with a 
 large outlook. He loved the beautiful in na- 
 ture and surrounded himself, at Springside, 
 with the creations of the best-known of Ameri- 
 can landscape artists. His interest in the edu- 
 cation of women was the product of years, 
 awakened by his niece, fostered, encouraged, 
 and focused by Dr. Jewett, until it became the 
 key to all his thinking, and moulded afresh and 
 deepened and broadened all his character, un- 
 till Matthew Vassar the founder was a greater 
 and diviner man than Vassar the manufac- 
 turer and merchant. As his thought took form, 
 he gave to its realization all the benefit of his 
 wide experience, and all the wisdom of his en- 
 larged and invigorated spirit. As the cost in- 
 creased with the exactions of war-times, his 
 courage and steadfastness gained, and all the 
 1 Raymond's Life, p. 520.
 
 286 BEFORE VASSAR OPENED 
 
 exhausting cares of those years, which were 
 often punctuated by days of illness and phy- 
 sical depression, all the wearisome detail of 
 building, and equipment and planning, all the 
 hours of counsel on schemes for making broad 
 and strong the foundations of a great educa- 
 tional work increased his joy in life and 
 added to the happiness of his final days. Down 
 to the end his interest was unabated, and his 
 thought was fresh and stimulating and catholic. 
 When his final hour arrived, he sat among his 
 chosen councilors, reading his annual address, 
 at the Commencement time of 1868, in the par- 
 lor of the great building to which he had con- 
 secrated his thought and wealth. He had dis- 
 cussed the financial outlook of the college and 
 several matters of business organization, the 
 erection of a hothouse for flowers, provision for 
 Mr. Giraud'sgift and houses for professors, and 
 a projected public road which he feared would 
 affect plans he had for the college property. He 
 had just opened up the question of instruction 
 in domestic economy, when his manuscript fell 
 from his hands and he sank back and expired. 
 When, an hour later, the Board reconvened,
 
 THE LAST YEAR 287 
 
 this final paragraph of his address was read to 
 them : 
 
 And, now, gentlemen, in closing these remarks, 
 I would humbly and solemnly implore the Divine 
 Goodness to continue His smiles and favor on your 
 institution and bestow upon all hearts connected 
 therewith His love and blessings, having peculiarly 
 protected us by His providence through all our 
 college trials for three consecutive years, without 
 a single death in our Board or serious illness or 
 death of one of our pupils within its walls. Wishing 
 you, gentlemen, a continuance of health and happi- 
 ness, I bid you a cordial and final farewell, thanking 
 you kindly for your official attentions and services, 
 not expecting, from my advanced years and 
 increasing infirmities, to meet you officially again 
 and imploring the Divine Goodness to guide and 
 direct you aright in all your counsels and social 
 business deliberations. 
 
 So he died among his own. The college had 
 taken the place of his deceased wife. A child- 
 less old man, he passed out of life while hun- 
 dreds of adopted daughters were gathered 
 about him, and a generation called him friend 
 and benefactor.
 
 (Cftc 
 
 CAMBRIDGE . MASSACHUSETTS 
 U . S . A
 
 DATE DUE 
 
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 PKINTCO IN U S. A.
 
 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
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