Barnard Beginnings: the First Quarter Century, 1889 – 1914
Middle-class American women achieving outside-the-household roles in education of girls and young ladies;
Women in abolition movement…
Largely excluded from professions – midwives/nurses ..
NYC Higher Educational Scene in 1880s
Columbia College — It and affiliated schools closed to women
Law School
School of Mines
School of Political Science
College of Physicians and Surgeons – ditto
[New York University – its professional schools opens to women on co-educational basis in 1890s]
Beyond
1860s-80s — Founding of several women’s colleges in US; opening of women’s college at Cambridge (Girton); Cornell/BU/Syracuse/state universities
Harvard – 1879 – Created an “Annex” (later, Radcliffe College) where Harvard instructors walked to offer instruction to enrolled women; way of avoiding co-education but also responsive to community pressure to provide women with higher educational opportunities ….
1884 — Brearley School in NYC [girls college-preparatory school]
The Columbia situation;
Requests in 1870s for admission to law school; to attend science courses in S/Mines
President Barnard supportive – Alabama/Ole Miss co-ed earlier —
1879-1881 – 3 annual reports making the case for full co-education at Columbia
opposed by trustees, most faculty (John W. Burgess) , most students (Nicholas Murray Butler)
Burgess crack in 1930s: Barnard plan “would make the College a female seminary, and a Hebrew female seminary, in the character of the student body, at that.”
Exceptional case of Winifred Edgerton – Wellesley 1882 graduate; TC communicant; CC trustee Morgan Dix her “rabbi”; to receive segregated instruction from astronomy instructor John Krum Rees — 1886 PhD in astronomy; next Columbia woman PhD a decade later
1883 – “Collegiate Course for Women” – instructional program after hours and off campus
7 years – 99 women; four degrees
Annie Nathan/colonial NYC Jewish family; ties to Gershon Seixas,, the sole Jewish trustee – 18-year-old admittee – married instead – Not monied in the way of Matthew Vassar/Sophia Smith/the Durants
Annie Nathan Meyer – Takes up the cause of women’s higher education; secures support of prominent women, some ministers (Arthur Brooks) and heads of families with daughters of college-age
article writing/petitions to trustees….
CC trustees see an affiliated college insured CC would stay all-male; Meyer OK with this if not financially responsible; FAPB would not have been
April 1 – CU trustees OK for “Barnard College” – FAPB on his death bed (d. three weeks later)
Lease a brownstone at 343 Madison/44th – 5 blocks south of CC campus
Barnard Board – 22 members; ½ women (ANMeyer, Ella Weed; several wives of rich husbands 9Laura Rockefeller); a couple educators); mostly Episcopalian (Rev. Arthur Brooks, Church of the Incarnation) but at least two Jewish trustees (Jacob Schiff, ANM) , a Catholic, Dutch Reformed, Presbyterians (George Plimpton) – several estate lawyers…..
1898 — Board provides for upwards of 6 alumnae-elected members for 6-year terms
Some coming and going over first decade; board finding difficult the raising money for move to Morningside
Finances – Tuition ($150 a year) revenue insufficient to cover expenses and planned expenditures following Columbia’s announced plans to move to Morningside Heights – land and building needed
George Plimpton succeeds Jacob Schiff as Treasurer in 1894 à 1936
Principal donors –
1892 — Mary E. Brinckerhoff — $100,000 for Brinckerhoff (east wing of Milbank)
1895 – Elizabeth Milbank Anderson — $100,000 –1897 – Mrs Josiah Fiske – $140,000 (west wing of Milbank)
1903 – Mrs. Anderson, another $1,000,000 for 116th-118th blocks
1916 – Jacob Schiff gives $500,ooo for “Students Hall” (now Barnard Hall)
Other early prominent donors: J. P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, estate of Daniel Fayerweather, Horace Carpentier, John S. Kennedy)
Administration
Ella Weed, 1889-1894 died
Emily James Smith, first “Dean,” 1894-1900 – resigned when pregnant
Laura Gill, 2nd dean, 1901-1906, resigns under fire from CU
William T. Brewster, interim dean, 1907-11; then provost (to 1928)
Virginia C. Gildersleeve, 3rd dean, 1911-1947 [ BC 1899; CU PhD 1908];
Barnard instructional staff (not “Faculty” until 1900)
7 instructors borrowed from CC – Greek/Latin/English/Math to cover first-year program
Subsequent additions
1890 – Emily Gregory – Zurich PhD botanist
1895 – 3 professorships underwritten by CU president Low – Math/Economics/History
1900 – 30 members of instructional staff; most still drawn from Columbia but some
permanently constituting the Faculty of Barnard College
Students
Steady growth in enrollments from a starting group in 1889-90 of 14 regular students and 22 “ specials” (taking specific courses not for a degree) to regular enrollments approaching 600 in 1913-1914, with “specials” taking science courses peaking in 1903-04 with 170, and declining thereafter.
|
Enrlmts. |
Specials |
Total |
|
| 1889-90 |
14 |
22 |
36 |
| 1890-91 |
19 |
34 |
53 |
| 1891-92 |
30 |
32 |
62 |
| 1892-93 |
51 |
37 |
88 |
| 1893-94 |
59 |
47 |
106 |
| 1894-95 |
71 |
48 |
119 |
| 1895-96 |
81 |
66 |
147 |
| 1896-97 |
85 |
118 |
203 |
| 1897-98 |
111 |
123 |
234 |
| 1898-99 |
131 |
148 |
279 |
| 1899-00 |
171 |
162 |
333 |
| 1900-01 |
223 |
161 |
384 |
| 1901-02 |
269 |
162 |
431 |
| 1902-03 |
294 |
151 |
445 |
| 1903-04 |
330 |
170 |
500 |
| 1904-05 |
339 |
27 |
366 |
| 1905-06 |
367 |
23 |
390 |
| 1906-07 |
391 |
28 |
419 |
| 1907-08 |
405 |
48 |
453 |
| 1908-09 |
451 |
47 |
498 |
| 1909-10 |
481 |
54 |
535 |
| 1910-11 |
497 |
50 |
547 |
| 1911-12 |
584 |
56 |
640 |
| 1912-13 |
569 |
49 |
618 |
| 1913-14 |
628 |
56 |
684 |
Degrees – Equally steady upward trend from first graduating class of 8 in 1893 to graduating classes in the low 100s in the 190-14 period.
|
AB |
BS |
|
|
Degrees |
Degrees |
|
|
1893 |
8 |
|
|
1894 |
7 |
|
|
1895 |
8 |
|
|
1896 |
18 |
|
|
1897 |
22 |
|
|
1898 |
22 |
|
|
1899 |
21 |
|
|
1900 |
39 |
|
|
1901 |
50 |
|
|
1902 |
50 |
|
|
1903 |
47 |
|
|
1904 |
79 |
|
|
1905 |
83 |
|
|
1906 |
75 |
|
|
1907 |
76 |
|
|
1908 |
97 |
|
|
1909 |
98 |
|
|
1910 |
88 |
2 |
|
1911 |
103 |
|
|
1912 |
114 |
4 |
|
1913 |
136 |
3 |
|
1914 |
113 |
7 |
Curriculum
Began similar to Columbia College, with many required courses, but began offering more electives and more possibilities for focusing on (majoring in) a given subject than was the case in the College. Would not follow Columbia’s lead in developing a core curriculum in the 1920s but departmental specializations. Early on Greek and soon thereafter Latin dropped as entrance requirements or as part of required curriculum; opened up the prospect of public high school graduates being admitted without additional tutorial preparation.
Extra-Curriculum
Somewhat circumscribed by most students living at home and commuting. Fiske serves as dormitory for residential students until Brooks Hall opened in 1907.
Yearbook
1902 — Barnard Bulletin
1903 — Greek Games – sophomores vs. freshmen in athletic contests
Sororities – proscribed in 1913
25 Years On – Barnard in 1914
Plant – 4-city block campus (116th to 120th/Broadway to Claremont; Milbank/Fiske/Brinckerhoff Hall and Brooks Hall; Students’ Hall in the offing
Student body of 400-500 students; 2/3s of them commuting; most from metropolitan NY; substantial portion Jewish (25%?), a matter of institutional concern
Faculty – Consisted of xx Barnard-based professors and an equal number of instructional faculty hired by Barnard; some Columbia-based faculty retain membership on Barnard faculty and provide instructional and administrative services. Men constitute a majority of the upper ranks of the faculty, but not a majority of the instructional staff. Faculty organized in 16-18 departments. Hiring done by Barnard departments with involvement of CU counterpart departments . Most faculty with some part of their education at Columbia.
Finances – More stable than in early years, but still characterized by a very modest endowment and a substantial reliance upon tuition and fundraising to cover expenses. George A. Plimpton midway through his extended term as devoted and treasurer and chief fundraiser.
Leadership – Virginia Gildersleeve at start of long and effective deanship; maintains good relations with CU’s President Butler throughout her long deanship; successfully presses for admission of Barnard students to Columbia’s medical and law schools.
Relations with Columbia – Stable and mutually respectful.
Last revised: February 26, 2014
ram31@columbia.edu