838 



WOMEN'S COLLEGES IN THE UNITED STATES. 



reasonable charge is made for breakages and for 

 chemicals used in the laboratories. The college 

 has at its disposal various aid funds, which are 

 used for candidates who present evidence of their 

 need and of their ability to maintain good rank as 

 students. 



Wellesley College, at Wellesley, Norfolk Coun- 

 ty, Mass., founded by Henry F. Durant, was in- 

 corporated in 1870, and opened to students in 1875. 

 It is authorized to grant such honorary testimonials 

 and confer such honors, degrees, and diplomas as 

 are granted or conferred by any university, college, 

 or seminary of learning in the State. The college 

 is undenominational, but distinctively and posi- 

 tively Christian in its influence, discipline, and in- 

 struction. Systematic study of the Bible and at- 

 tendance upon morning prayers are required ; the 

 Sunday service is conducted by clergymen of dif- 

 ferent denominations, and students are expected to 

 attend this or some other public religious service. 

 The grounds of the college comprise about 350 

 acres, on Lake Waban, 15 miles from Boston. The 

 buildings are on natural elevations, surrounded 

 by lawns and fragments of the original forest, 

 and the drive from the college gate to the main 

 building is over a smooth shaded avenue three 

 fourths of a mile long. The lake affords a most 

 attractive place for boating and skating, and the 

 Playstead, or out-of-door gymnasium, furnishes op- 

 portunity for organized sports and pastimes, and 

 in suitable weather is used also by the gymnastic 

 classes. College Hall, the main building, is 475 

 feet in length, and 150 feet wide at the wings ; it is 

 in the form of a double Latin cross, designed in the 

 Renaissance style, with mansard roof, and is con- 

 structed of brick laid in black mortar, with plain 

 trimmings of brown stone. Since the opening of 

 the college, 3 buildings for instruction have been 

 added : the school of music in 1881, the Farnsworth 

 School of Art in 1889, and the chemistry building in 

 1894 ; also Stone Hall and 7 cottages for dormi- 

 tories. The Art Building contains a lecture room, 

 working studios, and galleries in which are 2,000 

 photographs, engravings, and drawings, a collection 

 of paintings in oil and water colors, and a small 

 collection of casts from the antique. The new 

 chemistry building contains a laboratory for gen- 

 eral work, separate rooms for analytical work in 

 qualitative and quantitative branches, a room spe- 

 cially arranged for making organic preparations, a 

 reading room, and a large lecture room for experi- 

 mental illustrations. The other laboratories are all 

 well equipped, and are adapted to a wide range of 

 work. The general library of the college, endowed 

 by Eben Norton Horsford, contains 47,200 volumes. 

 Students have free access to it, and a special effort 

 is made by the librarians to train them in thorough 

 methods of research. About 37 daily, weekly, and 

 monthly journals are taken for the reading "room, 

 and 175 American, English, .French, and German 

 periodicals for the general library. The gymna- 

 sium, in College Hall, is equipped with apparatus 

 for Swedish educational gymnastics, and is in charge 

 of a trained instructor. Two systems of lodging 

 are in use at the college the cottage system and 

 the hall system. College Hall furnishes "accommo- 

 dations for 277 persons, and Stone Hall for more 

 than 100. The 7 cottages accommodate from 11 to 

 50 persons. Each building contains single rooms 

 as well as suites for 2 students. 



The college offers 209 courses of study. On rec- 

 ommendation of the Academic Council, the degrees 

 of bachelor of arts and master of arts are conferred 

 by the trustees. Unless a certificate of scholarship 

 can be pres<-ntfd from a school whose equipment 

 and curriculum enable it to prepare students for the 

 freshman class, any candidate for a degree must pass 



examination in the following subjects : English, 

 geography, history, mathematics. Latin, and the 

 maximum requirement in either Greek, French, or 

 German ; and, in addition, either the minimum re- 

 quirement in a third language or one of the following 

 sciences: physics, chemistry, zoology. Entrance ex- 

 aminations are offered at the college in June and Sep- 

 tember of each year. Every candidate for the degree 

 of bachelor of arts must complete before gradua- 

 tion the equivalent of 59 one-hour courses, of which 

 a certain number are required, the rest elective. 

 The following subjects are required : Mathematics, 

 1 full course ; philosophy. 1 full course ; physi- 

 ology and hygiene, 1 one-hour course ; Bible study. 

 4 one-hour courses ; English, 3 one-hour courses ; 

 language, 1 full course ; natural sciences, 2 full 

 courses. A full course is one given three or four 

 times a week for one year. The candidate for the 

 degree is also required to show before graduation 

 that the equivalent of 18 one-hour courses has been 

 taken as follows : (a) Nine in each of 2 subjects, re- 

 lated or unrelated : (6) 9 in 1 subject, with 9 divided 

 between 2 tributary subjects ; (c) 12 in 1 subject, 

 with 6 in a tributary subject ; (d) 12 in 1 subject, 

 with 6 divided between 2 tributary subjects. Ex- 

 cept by special permission, a student may not take 

 fewer than ten nor more than fifteen hours of work 

 in any one year. The college recognizes 2 classes 

 of graduate students those who are candidates 

 for the degree of master of arts and those who are 

 not. Graduate students who are not candidates for 

 the master's degree must have taken the bachelor's 

 degree, and must submit for approval the plan of 

 study they wish to pursue. The amount of work 

 required of candidates for the degree of master of 

 arts consists of the equivalent of 15 one-hour 

 courses chosen from prescribed courses. One year is 

 the shortest time in which a candidate can complete 

 the work required. On completion of the work 

 for a degree, either an examination or a thesis or 

 both will be required. 



The president of the college is Julia J. Irvine. 

 From the opening of the college it lias had for its 

 president a woman ; and of the 90 officers of gov- 

 ernment and instruction 83 are women. In 1896 

 the students enrolled numbered 721, and the total 

 number of graduates is 1.304. The cost to the stu- 

 dent for tuition and board is $400 a year. The 

 charge for tuition alone is $175 a year, with an 

 additional charge for materials in certain labora- 

 tory courses. 



Wells Colleare, at Aurora, Cayuga County, N. Y.. 

 was incorporated in 1868 as Wells Seminary for the 

 Higher Education of Young Women, but "in 1870, 

 on application of the Board of Trustees to the re- 

 gents of the University of the State of New York, 

 its name was changed to Wells College. The insti- 

 tution takes its name from its founder. Henry 

 Wells, through whose generosity the first building, 

 thoroughly equipped, together with about 20 acres 

 of land, was given to the Board of Trustees. In 

 1873 a permanent endowment fund of $100.000 was 

 established by Edwin B. Morgan, Esq., for the 

 benefit of the college, and this was increased subse- 

 quently, by the provisions of his will, to $200.000. 

 Other valuable gifts were made also by Mr. Morgan 

 to the college during his lifetime, and in 1875 Mr. 

 Wells increased his benefactions by the gift of a 

 building, together with 12 acres of land, for the 

 residence of the president of the college. From 

 1875 until 1894. the college, which had begun with 

 a large proportion of preparatory and special in- 

 struction, showed a steady increase in the average 

 annual enrollment of strictly college classes, to- 

 gether with a constant elevation of the standard of 

 admission, and in 1894 all preparatory work was 

 abolished. While the college, in accordance with 



