The Evanston College for Ladies was a women's college in Evanston, Illinois between 1871 and 1873. [1] Female students attended classes at Northwestern University, resided at the college, and attended supplemental courses such as fine arts, foreign language, and housekeeping. The mission of the Evanston College for Ladies was to give women access to Northwestern University similar to that which was granted to men. [2] The college was merged with Northwestern University on June 25, 1873. [3]
The Evanston College for Ladies had its inaugural class in the Fall of 1871, with 236 women enrolled as students. [1] The new school aimed to provide women with the same advantages neighboring Northwestern University did to its male students, while also providing a home where the women's health, morals, and behavior would be attended to by female staff. [2] It replaced the Northwestern Female College as the primary institution for the education of women in Evanston. The transition between the two colleges was smooth, and the charter was transferred to the Evanston College for Ladies at the final commencement for the previous school. [4] Alumnae were accepted by the new college, and plans were made for the building that housed the Northwestern Female College to be rented to the Evanston College for Ladies until their own facilities were constructed. [5]
Frances Willard was chosen as the new president of the College, and fundraising for the new College began, with the most prominent costs being those associated with the construction of the new building. [5] A large celebration was held on July 4, 1871, titled a "Ladies’ Fourth of July," in order to fundraise a portion of these costs. [6] The day included baseball games, comedy, a parade, and laying the cornerstone of the new edifice. [7] Despite the success of this event, and other efforts to secure funding for the new college, the Chicago Fire of 1871 caused significant financial suffering for many of the donors and new sources of funding had to be sought out. [8] This time, the call was answered by Stephen Lunt, who donated $50,000, from the proceeds of the sale of land in Rogers Park, towards the construction of the new building. [9]
The newly-established Evanston College for Ladies had a notably all-female administration, given that the mission of the institution was "promoting education for girls that was directed and controlled by women." [10] The leadership team was made up of Frances E. Willard: College President, Elizabeth M. Greenleaf: President of the Board, Mary F. Haven: Treasurer, and Anna S. Marcy: Recording Secretary. [1] The College was very proud of its all-women faculty, and the 1871 graduating class was the first of its kind to receive diplomas from women and to hear the baccalaureate address given by a woman.
Before becoming an internationally-known suffragist and reformer, Frances E. Willard was a schoolteacher. Being appointed the first president of the Evanston College for Ladies in 1871 was the start to Willard’s rise out of the inconspicuousness of her former occupations. [10] Due to her leadership of the College, Willard received increasing recognition within the community.
In Willard’s journal, she highlights several teachers who she appointed posts to in the Evanston College for Ladies. Emma B. White was given an honorary diploma from the College and also served as the secretary to the College Board of Trustees. [10] Hannah Maria Pettingill was hired by Willard to be an art teacher in 1871, and was also mentioned in Willard’s journal. [10] Ada Frances Brigham was a student of Willard’s in the Northwestern Female College, and later became a professor at Evanston College for Ladies. [10] Willard wrote in her journal about spending time with Brigham in Evanston. Katharine Jackson, Willard’s longtime friend, became a professor of French and literature at the College in 1871. She lived next door to Willard her whole life.
The main purpose for the Evanston College for Ladies was to provide a supplement to women’s enrollment at Northwestern University. Young women at the college received lodging and supervision from staff who lived in the facility. [1] Students typically enrolled in classical and scientific courses at Northwestern University and received supplemental education from the Evanston College for Ladies. The institution also operated a college preparatory program open to both boys and girls. [1]
The courses offered fine arts, foreign language, kindergarten teaching, and housekeeping classes. [1] Students also had the option of pursuing a Baccalaureate of Arts through the college’s "Historical and Aesthetic Course of Study," which consisted mainly of history and foreign language courses. [1] According to Northwestern University's student newspaper, The Tripod, officers in charge of the curriculum strove to furnish interesting and profitable lectures every week for the students of The Evanston College for Ladies, on topics ranging from dress to health. [11] As part of their curriculum, residents of the college attended lectures on health and hygiene from a female physician, and attended church every Sunday. [1] Every Friday afternoon, young men and women from Evanston and Chicago attended lectures of various topics in the College chapel. [11]
The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 devastated the Evanston College for Ladies due to the fact that the donors, who had pledged money to pay off the debts acquired by the College’s expansion, could no longer pay. [13] As a result, the Evanston College for Ladies ceded its property and management to Northwestern University in 1873. Northwestern assumed the College’s debts and also promised to include at least five women in the University’s Board of Trustees. [14] [15]
The Evanston College for Ladies was then known as the Women’s College of Northwestern University. Frances E. Willard, who was the president of The Evanston College for Ladies, became the Dean of Women as well as Professor of Aesthetics at Northwestern. [14]
The Women’s College of Northwestern University continued to offer fine arts and college preparatory programs, but the main function was to provide meals, housing, and supervision to Northwestern’s female students. [16] In 1892, the faculty of Northwestern proposed changing the title from "Women’s College" to "Women’s Hall". [17] In 1901, the building finally became known as Willard Hall, and is still named that to this date. In 1940, Willard Hall was transformed into a music administration building for Northwestern University. [12] In 2015, the building was left vacant as the Bienen School of Music was moved to a new campus building. [12]
Evanston is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. A suburb of Chicago, Evanston is 12 miles (19 km) north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, Wilmette to the north, and Lake Michigan to the east. Evanston had a population of 78,110 as of 2020.
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the former Northwest Territory, it is the oldest chartered university in Illinois. The university's main campus lies along the shores of Lake Michigan in the Chicago metropolitan area.
Frances Elizabeth Caroline Willard was an American educator, temperance reformer, and women's suffragist. Willard became the national president of Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) in 1879 and remained president until her death in 1898. Her influence continued in the next decades, as the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution were adopted. Willard developed the slogan "Do Everything" for the WCTU and encouraged members to engage in a broad array of social reforms by lobbying, petitioning, preaching, publishing, and education. During her lifetime, Willard succeeded in raising the age of consent in many states as well as passing labor reforms including the eight-hour work day. Her vision also encompassed prison reform, scientific temperance instruction, Christian socialism, and the global expansion of women's rights.
Jane Currie Blaikie "A. K." Hoge was a welfare worker, fund raiser, and nurse during the American Civil War. She was a founder of a homeless shelter in Chicago before the war. After the war, she raised funds, helped organize and served on the board of trustees of the Evanston College for Ladies. She served as head of the Woman's Presbyterian Board of Missions of the Northwest for thirteen years.
The Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music is the music and performance arts school of Northwestern University. It is located on Northwestern University's campus in Evanston, Illinois, United States.
Charles Henry Fowler was a Canadian-American bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church who served as the 4th President of Northwestern University from 1872 to 1876.
Evanston Township was a civil township in Cook County, Illinois, United States from 1857 until 2014, when it was dissolved. At the time it was dissolved, its boundaries were coterminous with the city of Evanston, and the population at the 2010 census was 74,486.
The history of Northwestern University can be traced back to a May 31, 1850, meeting of nine prominent Chicago businessmen who shared a desire to establish a university to serve the former Northwest Territory. On January 28, 1851, the Illinois General Assembly granted a charter to the Trustees of the North-Western University making it the first recognized university in Illinois. While the original founders were devout Methodists and affiliated the university with Methodist Episcopal Church, they were committed to non-sectarian admissions.
The Frances Willard House is a historic house museum owned by the National WCTU and is a National Historic Landmark at 1730 Chicago Avenue in Evanston, Illinois. Built in 1865, it was the home of Frances Willard (1839-1898) and her family, and was the longtime headquarters of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). Willard called the house Rest Cottage because it became a place for her to rest in between her tours and WCTU activities.
Joseph Cummings was an American academic who served as the 5th president of Wesleyan University from 1857 to 1875, the 5th president of Northwestern University from 1881 to 1890, and the president of Genesee College from 1854 to 1857.
Emily Clark Huntington Miller was an American author, editor, poet, and educator who co-founded St. Nicholas Magazine, a publication for children. Earlier in her career, she served as the Assistant Editor of The Little Corporal, a children's magazine and Associate Editor of the Ladies' Home Journal. Miller and Jennie Fowler Willing were involved with organizing a convention in Cleveland in 1874, at which the National Woman's Christian Temperance Union was formed. In September 1891, Miller was appointed Dean of Women at Northwestern University in Illinois.
Humphrys Henry Clay Miller, or H.H.C. Miller (1845–1910), was an American attorney, and civic leader and three-term president of the village board of Evanston, Illinois. His first name is also frequently spelled Humphrey or Humphreys. He was the first Evanston mayor to be popularly elected.
The Woman's Christian Temperance Union Administration Building is a historic building in Evanston, Illinois, United States. It has served as the publishing house and national headquarters of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union since its construction in 1910. The organization had an important role in the national discussion on prohibition and women's suffrage.
Mary H. Bannister Willard was an American editor, temperance worker, and educator from the U.S. state of New York. She was the founder of the American Home School for Girls in Berlin, Germany, earlier having served as editor of the Post and Mail and The Union Signal.
Elizabeth Morrison Harbert was a 19th-century American author, lecturer, reformer and philanthropist from Indiana. She was the first women to design a woman's plank and secure its adoption by a major political party in a U.S. state.
Jennie Fowler Willing was a Canadian-born American educator, author, preacher, social reformer, and suffragist. She married a lawyer and Methodist pastor at age 19. In 1873, she and her husband became professors at Illinois Wesleyan University. In addition to teaching, she was a leader in the temperance movement. Willing came to notice when she joined the Illinois Woman's State Temperance Union, serving as its leader for some years. She and Emily Huntington Miller were involved with creating and presiding over the First Woman's National Temperance Convention of 1874 in Cleveland where the National Woman's Christian Temperance Union was formed. She served as the editor of the national organization's journal for a period. In 1895, she created the New York Evangelistic Training School. Willing wrote several books including From Fifteen to Twenty-five: A Book for Young Men and serials for newspapers.
Minerva Brace Norton was an American educator and writer. She was from her early youth until her last days a constant contributor to periodical literature. For most of her life, she also filled the role of a pastor's wife.
Northwestern University Woman's Medical School is a defunct American medical school for the professional education of women. Located in Chicago, Illinois, it was organized in 1870 as the Woman's Hospital Medical College of Chicago, and it was in close connection with the Chicago Hospital for Women and Children. In 1879, it severed its connection with the hospital and took the name of the Woman's Medical College of Chicago. Co-education of the sexes, in medicine and surgery, was experimentally tried from 1868 to 1870, but the experiment proved repugnant to the male students, who unanimously signed a protest against the continuance of the system. The result was the establishment of a separate school for women in 1870, with a faculty of sixteen professors. The requirements for graduation were fixed at four years of medical study, including three annual graded college terms of six months each. The first term opened in the autumn of 1870, with an attendance of twenty students. The original location of the school was in the "North Division" of Chicago, in temporary quarters. After the fire of 1871 a removal was effected to the "West Division," where a modest, but well arranged building was erected. A larger structure was built in 1884. In 1891 or 1892, the institution became part of the Northwestern University, and changed title to Northwestern University Woman's Medical School. The university closed the college in 1902. The college, in all its departments, was organized along the lines of the best medical schools of the country. In 1896, there were twenty-four professorships, all capably filled, and among the faculty are some of the best known specialists in the country.
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