Northwestern University - Syllabus Yearbook (Evanston, IL)

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:aff .- FIRST BUILDING of Northwestern Female College. School was independently founded by YVilliam Jones, in 1855. t, - - eeee lsflzwffifisg 3-TPLQEF f I GRN FEM45 - A . ' +895 I ' 000 1. NURTHI I .YQZLEG '- ' J' Ll?l?i.fg.z:L' f, '4 ff .'i'l f'Q i ,' ' l . -'Hifi-,,,, '54 w gg ii' .X .. .Q 1 , QU' Y,l.l,g.iiQ1,f 54:pg,:.-i.- i I .gf .ai '- q'S'-s...- V Qiiimii :dl :Elm he Flyer 5-'l:nf.uiIs. l . I ,nf f M. ,...... 11 f mf. ... .:....,..4... ...,,...:N f...,..af4 ,M l l N0RTHiVTIfSII'ffNlFI53D!ALE COLLEGE, ' , . .4 , ,. ,.. .. . ..a . , 14.-. ,, .,.,, 41 f' - IGQ-eff-2 . . . ., L A f . . ,W Y V ' N , f .., ,a..... .. .Jai f 1. - nn, ima, k iz' ., - ...,- ,.,..., . .,,,. .. .,,, . .1 , ,., LA-r1nx:Afx':s: or scznsnvcn, . X 1 , v ll A lam' on Iflofovl flu... ..: 4...' ..1 fa 1.4, ,1..1 4....a yy..-. Lf... ... ll 14. 4.11714 .Mu 1,.......a-.z ww J.. 1 -1 :f H.. rl x .4 . 'J - -' . .lc L'..........r If K 2 Q-Jjl r ' I vw- U Q Yfrql. - '3 , , S Jw fmu. Q ll . ,Q J. Q .. ..: af E -9F4f5f4+ J ' SF'.f'Q'....f'.'l-- TT 1 x s cv- .L .arzfel pf- f-+1 ..a- .N at ..,- if A gk, Q . f- UPPOSITION BY Northwestern men who believed women belonged in the home did not deter brave ladies of Northwestern Female College, who received diplomas such as this for completing their course. 20 and Latin classics are injurious to college students using them in connection with their course of studies. Faculty families showed a kindly concern for the social life of the students, and organ- ized parties and church sociables, in which the students of the Northwestern Female College participated. Unsophisticated fun was the chief feature of these gatherings, although one student from nearby Garrett Biblical Institute pursued a young lady of the Female College with the thought-provoking theo- logical conundrum: XYhat, in your-iudgment, is the dividing line that separates sin from holiness? Cultural influences were expanding in Frances NYillard's Classic Town, and now Evanston had a college for young ladies and a theological seminary. In I855 XVilliam P. Jones began the Northwestern Female Col- lege. Its beginnings were inauspicious, since in addition to entrenched male prejudice against highereducation for women, the Female College had to struggle with a con- tinual shortage of funds and the early destruc- tion of its first building by iire. The College's academic standards were high for such a pioneer institution, comparable, in fact, to those of the University. The disciplinary regulations were also rigorous, as one junior recorded: Heard the rules and regulations of

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UD. Bonbrightn that, I have the honor to receive your communication informing me of my election to the professorship of Latin in Northwestern University. I have the pleasure hereby to signify my acceptance of election. In accepting the invitation, Professor Bon- bright stipulated that he should be free for one year to continue his professional pre- paration in Europe. He studied for two years at Berlin, Gottingen and Bonn, estab- lishing even in that early day Northwestern's tradition of extensive post graduate prepara- tion for its faculty members. In 1858 Bon- bright began his teaching of the classics which was for fifty-four years one of the principal elements contributing to the success of the Liberal Arts curriculum. He lived in the memory of one student as standing there with his hands beneath his coat-tails, with his eyes fixed on the cob-webs in the cornice, and in his rich bass voice repeating the Odes of Horace. As he spoke we could see the Gods upon Olympus and the snow-white mountain top of Soractef' Regulation of student conduct during these early years was necessarily strict. Gambling, drinking or habitual disorderliness incurred a punishment of dismissal, while absences from prayers, recitations or Sunday religious serv- ices as well'as the students' academic standing were recorded for presentation to anxious parents on request. Parents were urged to deposit funds for students' use with faculty members, who could oversee their expenditure. The University circulars could claim with some justification that: We have never seen a community anywhere in which so large a preponderance of opinion was strictly moral and religious. Parents may send their sons here with the utmost confidence that they will be placed at a distance from temptation. There is almost no record of extracurricular student life during these early years. The small numbers fregistration had reached only 36 by the fourth yearj should have made close association of students easy, but this was counterbalanced by the fact that all but four of the students were boarded with families in the town. The Hinman Literary Society, founded in 1855 and named in memory of the first president, was the first attempt at extra- curricular organization. It met in the after- noons Qto save candle-lightl, heard papers by the faculty or seriously debated such ques- tions as: Resolved, that the Pilgrim Fathers were justified in their treatment of the North American Indian, or, of more current inter- est: That literal translations of the Greek . . ,,. , . . 1 K-.m-mi... diff xnz GRHEUAEING oi-HSS li V -. , Musxc. , ' r as 1: N:-san . ' fafi ' . 5149-is -QE-' ' Wm. ONLY FOUR OF TEN original freshmen and one student who entered later held on long enough I ,V g to graduate at Northwestern's sszwsnxo-non. a - V first commencement in June, 1859. 19

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,PN : . -X 3.- ,fx ' Lf' 5' 1: --Q are X, g .ji A S10 DONATION TO GARRETT entitled donor to copy of this picture of Mrs. Garrett, early benefactress. the school-a good many to be sure, but I guess we shall be able to keep them. The relations of the College with the Uni- versity were stormy. The trustees of the Uni- versity, already distrustful of such an institu- tion as a college for women, were naturally annoyed when the name Northwestern was usurped. Furthermore, the problem of dis- cipline among the University students was increased by the proximity of the two institu- tions. Professor Jones certainly agreed with the trustees on this last point. His life was embittered with foiling attempts of students of both institutions to thwart the rather rigid demands of nineteenth century pro- priety. It proved impossible to prevent oc- casional unchaperoned moonlight walks, going to church in couples and other such offenses. On the other hand, attempts by the ladies to invade male spheres of activity, such as debating and essay-writing, caused consider- able resentment on the part of the men, although they invited the girls to attend the debates of the Hinman Society when the subject of debate was: The Rights of VVomen to the Suffrage. It was more than a decade before the union of the two institutions was achieved, and the steps by which this was accomplished were many and complicated. In 1869 the board of trustees of the University voted to admit women to the University. In the same year Professor Jones retired and the facilities of the Northwestern Female College were taken over by the Ladies' Educational Association which founded the Evanston College for Ladies in its place. A new building, the present home of the School of Music, was begun in 1871, but the Chicago Fire of that year de- layed its construction and made unification with the University more than ever necessary. It was not until 1873, however, that, after long negotiation, the Evanston College for Ladies became at last the YYomen's College of Northwestern University, and FrancesXVil- lard, its former president, became North- western's first dean of women. Across the Rubicon ditch on the north campus, Garrett Biblical Institute was rapidly developing as the Methodist seminary of the Middlewest under the presidencyof Dr.John Dempster. It was named for the shrewd and colorful Chicago auctioneer, Augustus Gar- rett, and was financed by his pious wife, Eliza. In 1855 the first frame structure, Dempster Hall, was built on land donated by the University. By the terms of its charter the Institute was to remain forever inde- pendent,but a few of the same men served on both boards of trustees and the association GARRETT ROUND HOUSE, built of driftwood found by students, served as dormitory in early Garrett days. '21