Sarah Gibson Blanding
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
educator and academic administrator who served as Vassar’s
Vassar College
Vassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...
sixth president (1946-1964) and its first female president. A strong public advocate, she worked hard to advance the professional, political, and academic place of women in the world and was a general proponent of expanded educational opportunity.
Early history
Blanding was born on a farm in KentuckyKentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
in 1898. She attended the New Haven Normal School of Gymnastics, where she graduated in 1919. That same year, Blanding was hired as a physical education instructor by the University of Kentucky
University of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky, also known as UK, is a public co-educational university and is one of the state's two land-grant universities, located in Lexington, Kentucky...
, where she simultaneously began her undergraduate work in the A.B. program. While at UK she coached the women's basketball team
Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball
The Kentucky Wildcats women's basketball team represent the University of Kentucky in the Southeastern Conference, which has historically been the most dominant conference in women's basketball. However, despite reaching national rankings as high as #4, the team has never reached the national...
from 1919 through 1922, leading the team to a 3-14-1 record. She played on the team as team captain in 1923 under coach A.B. "Happy" Chandler. Upon graduation in 1923, Blanding was appointed the university’s acting dean of women, becoming the youngest dean in the country, at age twenty-four. Blanding obtained her master’s degree in political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
in 1926, and pursued graduate studies at the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
under Harold Laski
Harold Laski
Harold Joseph Laski was a British Marxist, political theorist, economist, author, and lecturer, who served as the chairman of the Labour Party during 1945-1946, and was a professor at the LSE from 1926 to 1950....
. In 1929, she was appointed dean of women and professor of political science at the University of Kentucky. She served in these positions until 1941, when she was selected as the first dean of Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
’s College of Home Economics
Cornell University College of Human Ecology
The New York State College of Human Ecology is a statutory college at Cornell University. The college is a unique compilation of studies on consumer science, nutrition, health economics, public policy, human development and textiles, each part of the discipline of human ecology.Students at the...
and became the first female dean at Cornell.
Vassar
Blanding was named president of Vassar CollegeVassar College
Vassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...
in 1946. One member of the Board of Trustees explained that they selected her because she impressed them as a “great personality”. Indeed, Blanding was always known for her outspoken character; at Cornell she was praised for being an effectively aggressive administrator. Blanding herself credited her independent and charged personality to her upbringing on a farm and to the running of her own tobacco farm in Kentucky for many years.
During her tenure at Vassar, Blanding instituted several important changes. In 1949, she helped establish the Mary Conover Mellon Foundation for the Advancement of Education, a research program that studied and promoted the psychological welfare of college students. An evaluation of Vassar was conducted under Blanding’s leadership in the form of a two-year assessment, which reviewed everything from living conditions to academic objectives. A new curriculum
Curriculum
See also Syllabus.In formal education, a curriculum is the set of courses, and their content, offered at a school or university. As an idea, curriculum stems from the Latin word for race course, referring to the course of deeds and experiences through which children grow to become mature adults...
that emphasized independent study was put into place as a result. Blanding encouraged the advancement of faculty members at Vassar on a merit system, not years served, and increased faculty salaries by 116%. She also instituted the house fellow system, where faculties lived in dormitories
Dormitory
A dormitory, often shortened to dorm, in the United States is a residence hall consisting of sleeping quarters or entire buildings primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people, often boarding school, college or university students...
alongside students. Blanding raised $25 million for Vassar in nine years, tripling its endowment
Financial endowment
A financial endowment is a transfer of money or property donated to an institution. The total value of an institution's investments is often referred to as the institution's endowment and is typically organized as a public charity, private foundation, or trust....
. Three new buildings (Ferry House, Chicago, and Noyes House) were erected, and three major reconstructions of older buildings occurred during her presidency.
Other work
Sarah Blanding served on many boards and commissions, often as the only woman. Her positions: consultant to the U.S. Secretary of WarUnited States Secretary of War
The Secretary of War was a member of the United States President's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War," was appointed to serve the Congress of the Confederation under the Articles of Confederation...
as member of the Joint Army and Navy Committee on Welfare and Recreation (1943-1946); member of the President’s Commission on Higher Education under President Truman
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
; and member of the Public Advisory Board of the Economic Cooperation Administration
Economic Cooperation Administration
The Economic Cooperation Administration was a United States government agency set up in 1948 to administer the Marshall Plan. It reported to both the State Department and the Department of Commerce. The agency's head was Paul G. Hoffman, a former head of Studebaker. Much of the rest of the...
. Blanding had a prominent public presence. In the 1950’s, she spoke out to protect the rights of several faculty members against allegations made by Senator Joseph McCarthy
Joseph McCarthy
Joseph Raymond "Joe" McCarthy was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957...
. Blanding received international attention on another occasion. Many students found an impromptu speech at a required convocation in 1964, reproaching premarital sex, alcohol, and “vulgar conduct” among Vassar students, out of step with their own mores. She also served as the first female on the First Board of Foreign Scholarships administering Fulbright Scholarships, and the National Committee that chose the first Marshall Scholarship
Marshall Scholarship
The Marshall Scholarship, a postgraduate scholarships available to Americans, was created by the Parliament of the United Kingdom when the Marshall Aid Commemoration Act was passed in 1953. The scholarships serve as a living gift to the United States of America in recognition of the post-World War...
s.
Upon her retirement as Vassar president in 1964, the college presented Blanding with a tractor “evoking both the practical effects of her tenure and her Kentucky childhood”. Blanding died in 1985. She had been a lifelong advocate of academic freedom and independent thinking for her students. “I like people,” Blanding once said. “I like all kinds of people. I get along well with them because I trust them. I make it plain to everyone on my staff that I want them to stand up and fight for their own ideas. If they have better arguments, they win.”
Legacy
Blanding Tower as well as the low-rise Blanding I, II, III and IV dormitories at the University of KentuckyUniversity of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky, also known as UK, is a public co-educational university and is one of the state's two land-grant universities, located in Lexington, Kentucky...
are named for Sarah Blanding.
Sources
- Daniels, Elizabeth Adams. “Sarah Gibson Blanding” American National Biography. 1999 ed.
- “Everybody’s Weekly." The Philadelphia Enquirer. 7 April 1946.
- “Sarah Gibson Blanding Obituary.” New York Times. 4 March 1985.
- “Vassar Saddened by Death of Sarah Gibson Blanding.” Vassar Views. No. 80 March 1985: 1
- "Vassar College and its Eight Presidents, 1861-1986: An exhibition prepared to honor Frances D. Fergusson on the occasion of her inauguration as the ninth president of Vassar College." October 11, 1986.
External links
- Biography at Vassar College Encyclopedia
- Biography at the University of Kentucky
- Sarah Gibson Blanding Papers. Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University