Vassar CollegeVassar College was founded in 1861, two miles from the banks of the Hudson River in Poughkeepsie by Matthew Vassar, a self-made businessman. The college grew to confirm its founder's precedent-breaking vision that women would profit from intellectual opportunities in the liberal arts similar to those that Ivy League institutions had long offered the other gender. The college has grown and changed with the times, first countering Victorian prejudices that women were not suited for serious study, always leading the way as opportunities to broaden the spectrum of women's education developed. In the tumultuous decade of the 1960s, Vassar College again broke precedent, turning itself from a single-sex institution into one in which true coeducation exists. After 139 years, Vassar is poised for the changes under way and yet to come in the twenty-first century. |
Contents
Twice Breaking Precedent | 7 |
18861914 | 35 |
19151946 | 59 |
19461967 | 83 |
1968 to the Present | 99 |
Acknowledgments | 128 |
Common terms and phrases
1951 OBSERVATORY academic Alumnae House Benson Lossing BIRTHDAY SHOOTOUT Blodgett Hall board of trustees Bronson Ingram Library built campus Caroline Swift celebrated chapel charter trustee Class classroom Club coeducation college community college's Courtesy Frances Lehman Cushing dean designed by architect Diane Zucker Dixie Sheridan Ellen Swallow Richards faculty members Fergusson Founder's Day Frances Lehman Loeb Frederick Ferris Thompson Gate Lodge gathered graduate gymnasium honor Hudson River James Renwick Jr Jewett John Guy laundry Lehman Loeb Art Loeb Art Center Main Building Maria Mitchell Martha Rivers Mary McCarthy Matthew Vassar Photograph by Dixie Photograph by George picture Poughkeepsie President MacCracken president of Vassar President Taylor Prof professor Rayfield Raymond Avenue Riding Academy Samuel F.B. Morse seniors SHAKESPEARE GARDEN Swift Theater Vassar alumnae Vassar Brothers Laboratory Vassar College Vassar College Art Vassar Experimental Theatre Vassar Jr VASSAR LAKE Vassar students VASSAR TRUSTEE women women's field day York