University of Rochester College for Women - Croceus Yearbook (Rochester, NY)

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, f 555555 Miss Susan B. Anthony's Work in Behalf of Coeducation I Z' . OR fifty years the University of Rochester had been an insti- tution whose sole aim was the education of men. But during that half century a strong sentiment in favor of the higher education of women had been spreading through- out the land. ln the west great state universities were growing up which were planned on a coeducational basisg while in the east the older and more conservative colleges, one after another, were reluctantly opening their doors to women. It was in the early nineties that the question of coeducation first began to be agitated in Rochester. For years, Susan B. Anthony had desired that young women should be allowed an equal share in the educational advantages afforded by this university. And furthermore, as college education for girls became more popular, a feeling grew up among the citizens of Rochester that, with a well-equipped college in their city, they should be able to educate their daughters as well as their sons at home. ln l89l the first conference with regard to the matter was held. The Trustees of the University decided, however, that the scheme was quite impracticable on account of the lack of funds to meet the increased expense which the admission of women would entail. But the matter continued to be agitated, and in l898, the Trustees of the University agreed to make the institution coeducational, provided the women of Rochester would raise flil 00,000 to be added to the endowment of the university, within a year. At the yearis end the stupendous task was far from being accomplished, though considerable progress had been made. Yielding to the pressure of public opinion, the Trustees extended the time for another year, and reduced the sum demanded to 350,000 Miss Anthony, fully occupied with the strenuous duties of her calling, left the actual collection of the funds to others, and was quite appalled to hear, on Friday, September 7, 1900, from the secretary of the fund committee, that there was still lacking 358,000 to complete the required

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IO CROCEUS amount, and that the time limit expired the next day. The burden of the enterprise which she had inaugurated was to fall upon her shoulders after all. Yet she was equal to the emergency. She spent a sleepless night, but by mid-afternoon of the next day she had succeeded in secur- ing additional pledges for 56,000 The day was waning, however, the Board was in session and was liable to adjourn at any timeg and the cause would be lost. Finally, at the crucial moment, her indomitable perseverance conquered. The last 352,000 was pledged by an aged and wealthy citizen of Rochester, and Miss Anthony proceeded in triumph to the place where the Trustees were in session. But her triumph was short-lived. The pledges were duly examined and approved, with the exception of that for the last 332000, which was declared invalid owing to the age and precarious health of the donor. Miss Anthony was stunned. Should the battle be lost, and on a technicality? Never! She had not wished the cause of coeducation to suffer from any connec- tion with her name, she told the august gentlemen, and then added hrmly: U I now pledge my life insurance for the S2,000.,' The deed was done - the task accomplished - and in the language of the press, the doors of the University of Rochester were opened to women. That they had been opened by the women, for the women, might with equal propriety have been added. There is one grave fact regarding this enterprise that the public per- haps did not grasp. When the credit for the success of the coeduca- tional movement is attributed to Miss Anthony, few but those who knew her best are able adequately to count the cost. The strain had been stupendous upon a woman of her years: and it resulted in a stroke of apoplexy, slight and apparently not serious, but marking the begin- ning of the final collapse. l-ler physical vigor was never regained in all its fullness, and her buoyant spirit sank under a depression that she was never able fully to shake oft. And what would it have meant if Miss Anthony had not been moved to complete the work that she had begun and to fling herself into the breach at the critical moment? Simply this - that the consummation of the cause of coeducation would have been indefinitely postponed, and the girls of Rochester, for the future, at the price perhaps of much expense and sacrifice, would have had to seek their college training elsewhere, or never have been able, many of them, to attain it at all. The Trustees, owing to the apathy of the wealthy citizens of Rochester, and the growing hostility of the alumni, were by no means ready to