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Life Of A College For Women

Decent Essays
Vassar College was founded by Matthew Vassar in 1865 as an all woman 's school. Vassar, a wealthy man with no children was prepared to give his money to build a hospital that would immortalize his name, but Milo Jewett convinced him it would create a bigger legacy to build a college for women (Vassar admissions). Vassar agreed with Jewett and set about planning the school. He wanted to produce well rounded women that would eventually graduate from a college that would be considered the female equivalent of Harvard. The young women attending the college would receive all well-rounded, useful degree in liberal arts. This was uncommon during that time period because most ladies attended an all girls seminary school instead of a college. Even though the college provided a liberal arts education it still ran under many of the same governances as the seminary schools had. This created a strange mix between a college and seminary school which changed the way the architecture and the policy of the school were shaped. Jewett and Vassar wanted to provide a liberal arts education to young women but they still believed that the young women needed to be protected. At first Jewett only wanted to hire male professors for his school believing they would be the individuals best equipped to educate the students (Kluge 36). Not only did this idea counter the belief that women could learn the same material as men it also was seen as improper. Many people of that time period believed that the
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