Higher education for Females in the Antebellum South

Szuying Wu

HIST 4000

Jul. 25, 2005

Education of Women: Higher education for female in antebellum south.

Education has become important for women during antebellum period; it had helped women changed their roles and values a lot, especially in the South of United State. During antebellum period, southerners had encouraged the higher education for women than appeared in the North. According to one of Farnhams sources, during the 1850s thirty of the thirty-nine chartered female colleges in the country were located there. In this paper, I would like to discuss about how women’s education develop the world of southern women’s college, academies, and their perspective in antebellum period. Also, how education helped women to improve their skills and intelligence and make them become more valuable during that time.

Secondary Sources

1. Akers, Samuel Luttrell. The first hundred years of Wesleyan College: 1836-1936. Macon, G.eorgia: Wesleyan College, 1976.

This book explains about founding and process of the first college for women, the Georgia Female College, later known as Wesleyan College. It discusses the development and great change of women’s education. In the paper, it could help for in the history and founding subject.

2. Boney, F. N. “"The Pioneer College for women": Wesleyan over a century and a half.” The Georgia Historical Quarterly 72, no. 3 (1988): 519-532.

The article presents a photo essay featuring Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia. It was the first institution in the country to grant college degrees to women. In this book, it shows lots of detail and information about Wesleyan College. I would use those information to explain how does the first female college looks like and how did it educate women as a first female college.

3. Coleman, Kenneth, ed. “An 1861 view of Wesleyan College, Macon, Georgia.” The Georgia historical quarterly 51, no. 4 (1967): 488-491.

This article represents a former student's letter, her view of Wesleyan Female College in 1861. The letter deals mainly with typical college food and professors. This shows the view and thoughts about the Wesleyan College; it could be help for my paper to describe about how females thought about the Wesleyan College during that time and understand their feelings.

4. Fox-Genovese, Elizabeth. “Education of women in the United States south.” Journal of women's history 9, no. 1 (1997): 203-211.

This article reviews Christie Anne Farmham's “The Education of the Southern Belle: Higher Education and Student Socialization in the Antebellum South”. It explains that women received very similar in kind and quality to that of men’s colleges. It would help me to describe how education would help women become more knowledgeable and could study as same as male.

5. Farnham, Christie Anne. The Education of the Southern Belle: Higher Education and Student Socialization in the Antebellum South. New York : New York University Press, 1994.

In this book, the author shows that higher education was more accepted for white women in the South than in the North before 1860. The education was expected to prepare women for cultured wifehood and motherhood, not for entry into a paid occupation. This book explains the detail process about how female education grew and developed. It would be most helpful book for my paper to describe the women education.

6. Griffin, Richard W. “Wesleyan college: Its Genesis, 1835-1840.” The Georgia Historical Quarterly 50, no. 1 (1966): 54-73.

It discusses in detail the founding and early years of Wesleyan Female College in 1842. It talks about the financial difficulties and controversies of the college to prevailing national, state and local conditions. I could use the information in my paper to describe in the beginning, how hard founders tried to found the female college and how they made it successful.

7. Jabour, Anya. “"Grown girls, highly cultivated": Female education in an antebellum southern family.” The journal of southern history 64, no. 1 (1998): 23-64.

The article states about during the 1820's education for Southern women emphasis shifted to domestic topics. Attorney General William Wirt (1772-1834) and his wife, Elizabeth, struggled with the education of their several daughters in Washington, Maryland, and Virginia. Their letters show how an elite Southern family prepared their daughters for participation in Southern life. I could include that in my paper to show how some people and females desired to learn and be educated during antebellum period with that difficult issue.

8. Johansen, Mary Carroll. “All useful, plain branches of education: Educating non-elite women in antebellum Virginia.” Virginia Cavalcade 49, no. 2 (2000): 76-83.

In antebellum Virginia, white women provided schools for most women. This schooling provided women with basic literacy skills and domestic training, and intended to make them better domestic workers. This shows the purpose of educated women during antebellum. It would help to represent the view and feelings about women’s education in my paper.

9. Malkmus, Doris. “Origins of coeducation in antebellum Iowa.” Annals of Iowa 58, no. 2 (1999): 162-196.

The article describes that land speculators and town builders used coeducation to attract families who could educate their sons and daughters locally rather than send them to expensive Eastern schools. Coeducation spread beyond isolated denominational colleges. In 1861 Iowa's board of education publicly sanctioned the right of women to higher education by opening the State University of Iowa to both sexes. I could use the source to explain the development of education; how it processed and grew.

10. Warner, Deborah Jean. “Science education for women in antebellum America.” Isis 69, no. 246 (1978): 58-67.

In the article states that during the early 19th century, education for American women advanced remarkably. One significant aspect of this was education in science. As a result, some women found careers, or partial careers, in science. Women started to choose their own careers and tried to learn more significant subjects. This source would help to describe that how education helped women to develop their own interests and build their own careers.

11. Parris, Lori. “The development of female education in early Spartanburg County, 1820-1860.” The proceedings of the South Carolina Historical Association 50, (1988): 50-58.

The article traces the development of women's education in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, from 1820 to 1860. The first female school in the county was the Scarborough school, which was founded in the 1820's. The people who establish female schools were women, men of wealth, and church leaders. In the paper, I would use this source to explain not only states, but also other cities and counties would also help to help developing female’s education.

Primary Sources

1. Edward, Richard. “The Richmond Female Institute.” Statistical gazetteer of the state of Virginia, embracing important topographical and historical information from recent and original sources, together with the results of the last census population, in most cases, to 1854. (11855):204,224

This article can be found at http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=moa;cc=moa;g=moagrp;xc=1;sid=b3f1c0321467a1aa4a370c3215262ae9;q1=female%20education;rgn=full%20text;idno=AJA2520.0001.001;view=image;seq=0196

In this article, I found some information about female college. It explains the

time and purpose for building the Norfolk Female College and the Richmond Female Institute. It could be one evidence to show the beginning of female education.

2. Sigourney, Lydia Howard Huntley. “Mrs. Sigourney's Address on Female Education” Southern literary messenger; devoted to every department of literature and the fine arts. 1, no. 4 (1834):169-170.

This article can be found at http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=moajrnl;cc=moajrnl;g=moagrp;xc=1;sid=b3f1c0321467a1aa4a370c3215262ae9;q1=female%20education;rgn=full%20text;idno=acf2679.0001.004;view=image;seq=0173

This document states that how female’s role had changed during that age, and how female education standard need to be improved and elevated, which I think that would be a good article to support my research of supporting the female education during antebellum period.

3. “Female Education: Young Ladies Seminary, at Prince Edward Court House.” Southern literary messenger; devoted to every department of literature and the fine arts. 1, no. 9 (1835):519-520.

This article states that people should pay more attention and consider more on female education; it was time for changing the female roles. In this article, it points out the specific idea relate to my research, how people thought about female education and how people tried to support the female education.

4. Carolina, N. “Female Education.” Southern literary messenger; devoted to every department of literature and the fine arts. 6, no. 6 (1840):451-456.

The article describes that women should be educated as men did; women and men are alike, people need to give women more opportunity to learn and to be educated. This would support my paper about how people aware that the position of women was not like the old time, and how women’s value should be elevate.

5. Atwater, Caleb, Esq. “Female Education.” The Ladies' repository: a monthly periodical, devoted to literature, arts, and religion. 1, no. 1 (1841):10-13.

This article explains that people should aware about how excellent of women’s job in the society, and women should get more knowledge beside house work. The purposes of educating women are to develop all their powers and faculties, and to prepare them for happiness and usefulness. In my paper, I could use the source to support my idea about people thought that women deserved to own more knowledge beside house working and kitchen skills.