Established in 1911 as a simple owner-operated commercial school in Providence, Rhode Island, the Katharine Gibbs School expanded over the decades to acquire an international reputation for excellence in secretarial training. This essay examines the origin, development, and ultimate demise of the chain, placing it within the context of the…

Christine Ladd-Franklin spent the first forty years of her life becoming one of the best-educated women in nineteenth-century America. She spent the rest of her life devising fellowship programs designed to enable educated women to have the same opportunities as men in their academic careers. The difficulty women had in becoming professors had a…

This essay examines the college lives of two generations of Iowa's black college women in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It focuses on the experiences of black women at Iowa's private colleges and the University of Iowa (UI) from 1878 to 1928. The experiences of black women in Iowa's colleges and universities are important for…

The author discusses three topics with which he analyzes educational history. These topics are teacher education and the role of women in education in the nineteenth century and the American educational experience abroad after the Second World War. (Author/KC)

Argues that during the late-nineteenth century, when teachers became de-skilled and women's access to top administration became limited, female spaces and social organizations emerged that were conducive to long service and career advancement at the low echelons of the bureaucracy. Focuses on a social history of teachers in Providence, Rhode…

Discusses attitudes and characteristics of northern female teachers from the American Missionary Society who volunteered to instruct newly-freed slaves after the Civil War. In the South, these women supplemented moral self-righteousness with a strong sense of professionalism to produce challenges to their male superiors in the areas of educational…

Reports on the history and accomplishments of the Philadelphia School of Design for Women (Moore College of Art and Design) during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Contends that the school negotiated tensions between the market forces of the job market and the individual aspirations of its students. (CFR)

Argues that female literacy in 18th-century America was more prevalent than suggested by previous studies. Relying on manuscript censuses and recent studies of deeds suggests that female literacy was almost universal by the 1790s. Explores the institutional opportunities for girls' education in colonial New England. (MJP)

Asserts that there has been growing interest in the last three decades in public education and its relationship to democracy. Discusses the development and importance of schools established by the Society of the Sacred Heart in frontier Saint Louis. Concludes that these schools pushed the limits of universal education. (ACM)

Maintains that rural school reform in California between 1900 and 1940 was motivated by many of the same concerns that underlay the national movement to reform rural education. Describes the growth of state control over classroom teachers. (CFR)

Follows the merging of Barnard College and Teachers College with Columbia University. Traces the struggle for power between the two institutions. Finds Barnard practiced exclusionary procedures based on social class and religion, and educated its students in strict liberal arts tradition as opposed to providing professional preparation. States…

Describes the role of Emma Willard in encouraging the New York State legislature to provide state support for women's education. Discusses political and social issues in the mid-1800s and Willard's vision of a separate system of higher education for women. Outlines establishment of teacher education programs. (CFR)