Women’s education in America in 1800s in pdf books and articles free. Women and girls in High School and College 19th, early 20th centuries.
Table of contents
Book Collections about Women’s Education 1800s, 1900s
Female College Education – Collection
33 selected books on the Hathi Trust site, published between 1839 and 1904. “Mostly 19th c sources about college education for young women in US, including arguments for/against college education, reminiscences about education by women of the day, and descriptions of curricula used.” – Compiler.
College Girl Fiction – Collection
Collection of 66 selected books on the Hathi Trust site. “Fictional accounts of life at women’s colleges from approximately 1870 to 1930. This list also includes some contemporary nonfiction about women’s colleges and women’s education, as well as more recent secondary sources.” – Compiler. Five of the books can not be read online.
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Suggested Books and Articles on Women’s Education in America
“College Life for Women” – Women’s Education in America in 1800s PDF
Sunday Magazine Volume 25, page 99, 1896
Aitken, Edith
London: Strahan Dewey Dec. 376
This 1896 article in a British popular magazine describes the daily life of a typical student at a British women’s university.
“Woman in College”
Harvard Magazine Volume 6: page 353, 1860
Alden, Leonard Case
Boston: Harvard University Dewey Dec. 376
This essay addresses the question: “Ought women to be admitted to our colleges?”. The author considers it beyond serious discussion that women are equal to men in intellectual capabilities. Instead he concerns himself with the question as to whether women and men should be educated together in the same institutions, and if so, what would be the impact on the character of men and women students.
“Educated to Death: a Mother’s Story”
Popular Science Monthly Volume 6: pp 57-60, 1874
Anonymous
NY: Appleton Dewey Dec. 376
This is a narrative by the mother of a teenager who was sent to a boarding school, where her health was destroyed by overwork.
Report on the Organization of a High School for Girls, and Seminary for Female Teachers, and Seminaries for the Education of Teachers for the Primary Schools
Bache, Alex
Philadelphia: 1840 Dewey Dec. 376
The first document is a plan proposed to the Board of Controllers of the Public Schools in Philadelphia for the high school and seminary mentioned in the title. The plan for the girls’ high school includes: -(Requirements for) Admission, Course of Study (includes justification), -Discipline, -Exercise, etc., -Building
For the proposed Seminary for Female Teachers, the plan covers similar topics to those above. There is also a discussion of the proposed ‘organization’ or administration of both institutions.
The document entitled “Seminaries for the Education of Teachers for the Primary Schools” seems to be a description of various existing seminaries in Europe.
See our History magazines pdf
“Self-help among American College Girls”
Nineteenth Century Volume 39: page 502, 1896
Banks, Elizabeth L.
London: King Dewey Dec. 376
By “Self-help” the author refers to the means by which girls earn money to pay for college.
The Condition of Woman in the United States; a Traveler’s Notes
Bentzon, Therese
Boston: Roberts 1895 Dewey Dec. 376
Bentzon, better known as Madame Blanc, was a popular French author of both fiction and non-fiction.
Contents: Biographical Sketch of Madame Blanc, 1. First Impressions. In Chicago. Women’s Clubs, 2. Boston, 3. Colleges for Women. Co-Education. University Extension, 4. A Woman’s Prison. Homes and Clubs for Working Women. Domestic Life. Industrial Schools. Agricultural Institute at Hampton: Negroes and Negresses.
A Visit to some American Schools and Colleges
Blake, Sophia Jex
London: Macmillan 1867 Dewey Dec. 376
Contents: 1. Boston to Oberlin, 2. Oberlin, 3. Hillsdale, 4. St. Louis, 5. Antioch, 6. The Public Schools of America, 7. The Public Schools, continued. – Salem Normal School, 8. And Last.
The Education of American Girls: Considered in a Series of Essays
Brackett, Anna C., ed.
NY: G. P. Putnam’s Sons 1874 Dewey Dec. 376
A book of essays, all written by women working in the education field. Some are reports of women’s education at universities that were written by or officially approved by administrators.
Contents: -Education of American Girls, -A Mother’s Thought, -The Other Side, -Effects of Mental Growth, -Girls and Women in England and America, -Mental Action and Physical Health, -Michigan University, -Mount Holyoke Seminary, -Oberlin College, -Vassar College, -Antioch College, -Letter from a German Woman, -Review of “Sex in Education”, -Appendix.
Woman and The Higher Education – Women’s Education in America in 1800s PDF
Brackett, Anna C., ed.
NY: Harper 1903 Dewey Dec. 376
Sex in Education; or, A Fair Chance for Girls
Clarke, Edward H., M.D.
Boston: Osgood 1875 Dewey Dec. 376
The first edition of this book was released in 1873 and stimulated a discussion in periodicals in 1873 and 1874. See the collection of essays in the volume edited by Julia Ward Howe, found on this page.
See our Vintage magazine archive
American Female Education: What? And By Whom? A Lecture – Women’s Education in America in 1800s PDF
Cushman, Robert Woodward
Boston: Jewett 1855 Dewey Dec. 376
Cushman was the Principal of the Mount Vernon Ladies’ School, a French and English Protestant boarding school, at the time he delivered this lecture before the Columbian Association of Teachers at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
An Address on Female Education, delivered Nov. 21, 1827 at the Opening of the Edifice Erected for the Accommodation of the Hartford Female Seminary
Gallaudet, Thomas Hopkins
Hartford: Huntington 1828 Dewey Dec. 376
Gallaudet was a pioneer in the education of the deaf.
Sex and Education; A Reply to Dr. E. H. Clarke’s “Sex in Education”
Howe, Julia Ward, ed.
Boston, Roberts 1874 Dewey Dec. 376
This volume is a collection of essays by the writers below, responding to the book by Dr. Edward H Clark entitled Sex in Education; or, A Fair Chance for Girls, which can be found on this page.
Contents: 1. Julia Ward Howe, 2. Thomas Wentworth Higginson, 3. Mrs. Horace Mann, 4. Ada Shepard Badger, 5. Caroline H. Dall, 6. By C., 7. Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, 8. From “Boston Daily Advertiser”, 9. Mercy B. Jackson, 10. Professor Bascom, 11. Abby W. May, 12. Maria A. Elmore, 13. A. C. Garland
Testimony from Colleges, – Vassar College, – Antioch College, – Michigan University, – Lombard University, – Oberlin College Women’s education 1800s.
What Shall we Do With our Daughters? Superfluous Women, and other Lectures
Livermore, Mary Ashton
Boston: Lee and Shepard 1883 Dewey Dec. 376
Contents: 1. Changed Conditions of Woman’s Life, 2. Physical Education, 3. Higher Education, 4. Need of Practical Training, 5. Industrial and Technical Training, 6. Moral and Religious Training, 7. Superfluous Women.
Letters to School Girls
Mathews, Joseph (Rev.)
Cincinnati: Swormstedt & Poe 1853 Dewey Dec. 376
A set of essays by the principal of the Oakland Female Seminary in Hillsboro, Ohio. Titles are: -Study, -Reading, -Lies, -Conversation, -Manners, -Religion, -Prayer, -The Sabbath, -Eighth Commandment, -Dancing, -Health, -Temperance, -Missions, -Vulgarisms, -Marriage, -Duties to Parents, -Temper, -Spoiled Girls, -Teaching, -Valedictory.
Liberal Education of Women: The Demand and the Method. Current Thoughts in America and England
Orton, James, ed.
NY: Barnes 1873 Dewey Dec. 376
The book contains articles from the U.S. and England that touched on liberal or collegiate education of women, and were considered to offer “leading thoughts upon the method of meeting this demand of the age.” The 36 chapters include published articles from magazines and student publications, and reports by University administrators.
Address on the Education of Woman, delivered at the Anniversary of the Pittsfield Young Ladies’ Institute
Palmer, Ray
Albany: Gray, Sprague 1852 Dewey Dec. 376
Catalog of Literature for Advisers of Young Women and Girls
Pierce, Anna Eloise
Wilson 1921 Dewey Dec. 016.3
“An annotated list of about two thousand titles of the most representative and useful books and periodical articles for the use of Deans and Advisors of women and girls; Heads of women’s schools; Instructors of young women …” [goes on to list many other types of advisors to young women]
The contents are organized under about 50 selected subject categories in the Dewey Decimal system.
“History of the Michigan Female College, and a Sketch of the Life and Work of Miss A. C. Rogers”
Report of the Pioneer Society of the State of Michigan Vol 6, 1884, 284-290
Smith, Eliza C.
Lansing: W. S. George Dewey Dec. 376
This paper, authored by an alumnus of the subject college, describes the efforts by Miss A. C. Rogers and others, beginning in 1855, to establish a university for women in Lansing. The ‘college’ was begun in the face of great adversity and indifference, and operated for about 15 years, apparently without achieving recognition as a university. A substantial portion of the article consists of a biographical sketch of Miss Rogers.
The College Woman
Thwing, C: F.
Baker 1894 Dewey Dec. 376
Discusses problems of woman’s college life, her preparatory work, studies, environment, health and her duties to and influence on the community. -A.L.A.Catalog 1904.
Contributions towards a Bibliography of the Higher Education of Women
Trustees of the Public Library in Boston
Boston: 1897 Dewey Dec. 376
Woman’s Unfitness for Higher Coeducation
Van De Warker, Ely M.D.
NY: Grafton 1903 Dewey Dec. 376
The author was Commissioner of Schools, Syracuse, New York.
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