Evanston College for Ladies
Encyclopedia
The Evanston College for Ladies, in Evanston, Illinois
, was a female-only Methodist-affiliated institution closely linked with Northwestern University
. The college was established in 1871 as a boarding house "in a building at Chicago Avenue between Greenwood and Lake Streets, formerly occupied by the North-Western Female College (no connection to the University). The 236 students in attendance included Sarah Rebecca Roland, later Northwestern University’s first female graduate" and offered supplementary coursework for women working towards degrees at Northwestern (which became coeducational in 1869). "Despite having popular opinion against them, a group of Evanston women led by Mary Haskin conceived of a nurturing, intellectual college run entirely by women." The first dean of the college was Frances Willard
, and the college was run by female trustees and an all-female Board of Directors.
While the college provided mainly room and board, it also offered a Bachelor of Arts degree that combined classes from Northwestern and the College. The institution also operated a college preparatory program open to both boys and girls. Evanston College for Ladies merged with Northwestern University in 1873. Upon merging with Northwestern University, Willard became Northwestern's first Dean of Women.
Evanston, Illinois
Evanston is a suburban municipality in Cook County, Illinois 12 miles north of downtown Chicago, bordering Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, and Wilmette to the north, with an estimated population of 74,360 as of 2003. It is one of the North Shore communities that adjoin Lake Michigan...
, was a female-only Methodist-affiliated institution closely linked with Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
. The college was established in 1871 as a boarding house "in a building at Chicago Avenue between Greenwood and Lake Streets, formerly occupied by the North-Western Female College (no connection to the University). The 236 students in attendance included Sarah Rebecca Roland, later Northwestern University’s first female graduate" and offered supplementary coursework for women working towards degrees at Northwestern (which became coeducational in 1869). "Despite having popular opinion against them, a group of Evanston women led by Mary Haskin conceived of a nurturing, intellectual college run entirely by women." The first dean of the college was Frances Willard
Frances Willard (suffragist)
Frances Elizabeth Caroline Willard was an American educator, temperance reformer, and women's suffragist. Her influence was instrumental in the passage of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution...
, and the college was run by female trustees and an all-female Board of Directors.
While the college provided mainly room and board, it also offered a Bachelor of Arts degree that combined classes from Northwestern and the College. The institution also operated a college preparatory program open to both boys and girls. Evanston College for Ladies merged with Northwestern University in 1873. Upon merging with Northwestern University, Willard became Northwestern's first Dean of Women.