Western College for Women

Western College for Women
Clawson Hall
Type Women's College
Active 1855–1974
Location Oxford, Ohio, United States
Coordinates: 39°30′14″N 84°43′40″W / 39.5038889°N 84.7277778°W / 39.5038889; -84.7277778
Western Female Seminary
Location US 27 and OH 73, Western College, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio
Area 107 acres (43 ha)
Built 1861 (1861) to 1972 (1972)
Architectural style Romanesque, Colonial Revival
NRHP reference # 09000083[1]
Added to NRHP September 17, 1979


Western College for Women, known locally as Western College, was primarily a women's college in Oxford, Ohio between 1855 and 1974. In 1979, the former college, known now as Western Campus, was designated a U.S. Historic district known as the Western Female Seminary Historic District.

History

Lilian Wyckoff Johnson, the first woman to receive a doctorate from Cornell University, served as President of Western College 1904—1906.

Western College was founded in 1853 as Western Female Seminary.[2][3] It was a daughter school of Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, and its first principal, Helen Peabody, was a Holyoke graduate.[4] The university changed its name three times, in 1894 to The Western: A College and Seminary for Women, in 1904 to Western College for Women, and in 1971 to Western College when the institution became coeducational.[4]

Western remained an independent women's college until 1970 when it formed a "committee of cooperation" with the adjacent Miami University, which opened enrollment between the colleges on a limited basis. This allowed Western students to take classes at Miami and use Miami's computer and hospital facilities, for example, while allowing Miami students access to intramural fields, library space, and cross-country runways on Western grounds. Before the 1973-74 school years, both presidents signed an agreement for an affiliation between the two schools. In 1974, Western became part of Miami due to financial difficulties.[4]

Notable alumnae

Civil rights movement

In June 1964 a civil rights demonstration orientation program for Freedom Summer was held at Western College. Three volunteers, including one recently trained at Western, were murdered in Philadelphia, Mississippi. Public uproar helped pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act a few months later.

Western today

In 1974, the Western College for Women merged with Miami University and became the Western College Program (School of Interdisciplinary Studies). In 2007, the Western College Program was integrated into the College of Arts and Sciences and is now known as the Western Program at Miami University.[5]

Western Female Seminary Historic District

On September 17, 1979, 15 buildings and 11 structures from the former Western College were designated the Western Female Seminary Historic District.

See also

References

  1. ↑ National Park Service (2013-11-02). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. ↑ "Western College for Women - Ohio History Central". www.ohiohistorycentral.org. Retrieved 2018-02-11.
  3. ↑ "Western College". The Independent. Jul 6, 1914. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  4. 1 2 3 "Western College Memorial Archives | Miami University Libraries Steward & Sustain Department". spec.lib.miamioh.edu. Retrieved 2018-02-12.
  5. ↑ "The Western Program at Miami University". Oxford, Ohio: Miami University. 2010. Retrieved July 25, 2010.
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