828 



WOMEN'S COLLEGES IN THE UNITED STATES. 



been noted within the past few years, and some of 

 the best work in the country has been done in the 

 colleges for women. Ten of the institutions de- 

 scribed below have courses in sociology Barnard, 

 Bryn Mawr, Cleveland College for Women, Elmira, 

 Radcliffe, Smith, 1 Vassar, Wellesley, Wells College, 

 and the Woman's College of Baltimore ; and five 

 of them have courses in charities and corrections 

 Cleveland College for Women, Elmira, Smith, Vas- 

 sar, and the Woman's College of Baltimore. Fif- 

 teen hours of recitation a week is the rule in these 

 institutions, but some allow more, even twenty hours 

 a week being taken. 



In nearly all the colleges the young women in 

 attendance live for the most part or wholly in build- 

 ings provided by the college corporations, and are 

 constantly under the supervision of the college 

 authorities. Opportunities for gymnastic training 

 are as generously provided as in colleges for men, 

 and the health of the students is said to be gener- 

 ally higher at the time of graduation than at the 

 time of entering college. The entire number of 

 professors and instructors reported by the 14 insti- 

 tutions is 561, and of this number 315 are women. 

 The total number of students enrolled in 1896 was 

 4.342. 



Barnard College, in New York city, was founded 

 in 1889 by 22 residents of New York, including both 

 men and women, who appealed to the regents of the 

 university for a temporary charter. Funds were 

 solicited for five years, until the first class should 

 be graduated and the experiment be proved. The 

 college is undenominational, and as yet has no en- 

 dowment. It occupies quarters in a private house 

 at 343 Madison Avenue, and a floor at 518 Fifth 

 Avenue, but a piece of land is owned on the Boule- 

 vard, between 119th and 120th Streets, where two 

 buildings are in process of erection, and they will 

 be the future home of the college. The plans call 

 for a reading room and a gymnasium. The college 

 library numbers 724 volumes, and the students have 

 full privilege in the use of the Columbia University 

 library. To meet the requirements of Columbia 

 University, which in offering its degrees to women 

 specifies that the preparation of candidates for such 

 degrees shall be identical with its own and under 

 its supervision, Barnard College duplicates for 

 women the curriculum of the university, and also 

 registers for graduate work under the university 

 faculties women who hold baccalaureate degrees 

 from institutions of good standing. The examina- 

 tions for entrance to the college are conducted by 

 Columbia University, and the instructors are also 

 instructors in Columbia University or such as are 

 approved by its president. Seniors and graduate 

 students attend lectures at the university under the 

 faculty of philosophy, and graduate instruction, 

 under the faculties of political science and pure 

 science, is given at Barnard College. Students are 

 received either as candidates for the degrees of 

 bachelor of arts, master of arts, or doctor of 

 philosophy, or to pursue special or partial courses. 

 Examinations for entrance to the college may be 

 taken in June or in September. The present ad- 

 mission requirements include examinations in Eng- 

 lish, Latin, Greek, ancient history and geography, 

 mathematics (including arithmetic, algebra, and 

 geometry), and French or German ; but under the 

 new requirements for admission, which go into effect 

 July 1, 1897, the privilege of substituting for Greek 

 either advanced mathematics or an elementary sci- 

 ence with French and German is given. Under 

 this change in requirements, the curriculum will 

 contemplate, in effect, two classes of students those 

 who enter with Greek and those who enter upon a 

 substitute for Greek. All students who wish to 

 pursue the former curriculum of the college, of 



which Greek is an essential part, can do so under 

 the new curriculum as well as under the old ; but 

 if they wish to make a thorough study of English, 

 or of modern languages, or of mathematics, or of 

 history, or of philosophy, they can do so under the 

 new curriculum, as could not have been done under 

 the old. To obtain the degree of bachelor of arts 

 it is required that something be known of at least 

 one ancient language, something of history, philoso- 

 phy, and political economy, a good deal of English, 

 something of mathematics, something of at least 

 one natural science, and a reading knowledge of 

 both French and German. This is the requirement 

 for every student. Within the same general range 

 of subjects emphasis may be placed upon one group 

 of subjects or another. The faculty of the college 

 numbers 35 members, of whom 1 is a woman. The 

 total number of graduates is 42, and in 1896 the 

 number of students enrolled was 205. Miss Emily 

 James Smith is dean of the college. The total 

 necessary expenses of a student for the academic 

 year are estimated at $13 a week. The annual tui- 

 tion fee is $150. 



Bryn Mawr College, at Bryn Mawr, Pa., opened 

 to students in 1885, was founded by Dr. Joseph W. 

 Taylor, of New Jersey. The site was purchased and 

 the buildings were begun during the lifetime of the 

 founder, who died in 1880, leaving the greater part 

 of his fortune to 13 trustees appointed under his 

 will. In the same year the college was incorpo- 

 rated by the State of Pennsylvania, and invested 

 with power to confer degrees. The first president, 

 Dr. James E. Rhoads, and a dean of the faculty, 

 Miss M. Carey Thomas, who succeeded Dr. Rhoads 

 as president in 1894, were elected in the spring of 

 1884. The college was opened for instruction with 

 44 students in the autumn of 1885. The buildings 

 are in the suburbs of Philadelphia, on the Pennsyl- 

 vania Railroad, a quarter of a mile from Bryn Mawr 

 station. The grounds cover 50 acres. Taylor Hall 

 contains the library, lecture rooms, seminary rooms 

 and reading rooms for graduate students, the chapel, 

 and the offices of administration. The library con- 

 tains 25,000 volumes and 7,000 doctors' dis'serta- 

 tions and pamphlets, while 190 scientific, literary, 

 and philological periodicals and reviews in Eng- 

 lish, German, French, Italian, Norse, and Swedish 

 are provided for the reading rooms. The scientific 

 departments, including the special scientific libra- 

 ries and the private rooms of the professors of sci- 

 ence, are in Dalton Hall. Around Taylor Hall are 

 grouped five halls of residence for students Meri- 

 on, Radnor, Denbigh, Pembroke East, and Pem- 

 broke West. Each hall, with the exception of Pem- 

 broke East and West, which have a common dining 

 hall, has its separate kitchen and dining hall, and 

 has accommodation for about 60 students. Music 

 rooms with sound-proof walls and ceilings are pro- 

 vided in Pembroke East. The gymnasium, which 

 is open to the students at all times, contains a large 

 hall for gymnastic exercises, a room for the director 

 (with an adjoining room for examination and rec- 

 ord of the physical development of the students), 

 and bath rooms. In the basement is a swimming 

 tank, 74 feet long, 20 feet wide, and from 4 to 7 

 feet deep, supplied with springboards, life preserv- 

 ers, and other apparatus for the teaching of swim- 

 ming. The gymnasium, built in accordance with 

 the system of Dr. Sargent, is furnished with his 

 complete apparatus, and is under the charge of a. 

 director who has completed his course of instruc- 

 tion. In connection with the work of the gym- 

 nasium a large athletic ground, planned by Fred- 

 erick W. Olmsted, is used for basket ball and tennis 

 in spring and autumn, and is flooded in winter for 

 skating. On the grounds, separated from the other 

 buildings, is a cottage hospital, with accommoda- 



