As William and Mary was becoming co-ed, the institution probably realized that they needed at least one "appropriate" subject for their new female students to take. This was achieved with the addition of Home Economics to the Courses of Study before the start of the fall semester. On August 24, 1918, future President of the College, Julian Alvin Carroll Chandler, wrote to President Tyler to express that his committee had "decided favorably on home economics for William and Mary." Chandler also expressed his hope that it would be a "real satisfactory college department."
While to the modern reader Home Economics sounds like a fluff subject, in 1918 it was not intended to be. According to the 1918-1919 Course Catalog, the department was "intended primarily for the training of teachers of Home Economics," but "open to all women of the college, and to others who may desire to elect them."
The Home Economics major included classes in the more "traditional" women's work, such as sewing and cooking, but it also included Math, English, and even Organic Chemistry. This department prepared women to become not only educated in the liberal arts, but also prepared them for a career. It provided them with an option that not a lot of women had: respectable employment. Through this department, some women at the college probably realized that they had choices about the direction of their lives and their futures.
This post was composed by Jordan Ecker.
For additional information about the first women students at the College of William and Mary see: When Mary Entered with her Brother William: Women at the College of William and Mary, 1918-1945 by Laura F. Parrish; "The Petticoat Invasion": Women at the College of William and Mary, 1918-1945; The Martha Barksdale Papers; and the Women at the College of William and Mary page on the Special Collections Research Center Wiki.
August 12, 2008
August 12, 1918: The Governor Weighs in on Co-Education
On August 12, 1918, Virginia's Governor, Westmoreland Davis, wrote to President Lyon G. Tyler, and voiced his opinion on the College's preparations for the women students who were arriving on campus in a little more than a month.There were many issues that Davis could have had with William and Mary's co-education, such as not enough class offerings or faculty to accommodate the new students, or the fact that these women would be housed on campus. However, Davis had another concern that needed Tyler's immediate attention: the showers in the Tyler Hall bathrooms.
Davis explains that Tyler was "disregarding, at a good deal of expense, shower baths and replacing them with tubs," and that he should have been brought the matter before the State Health Department before doing so because "they [did] involve an outlay of the State's money."
Well, there are two ways to view this letter. First, if Governor Davis had the time to complain to President Tyler about the College's bathing options, then that means that the Governor had no other issues with women being present on William and Mary's campus. The other interpretation would be that Davis had such an issue with it that he was trying to find any reason why these women should not be at the College. I prefer the more positive option. Besides, if the Governor really had an issue with co-education, I think Davis would be able to find other things to complain to Tyler about, not the showers!
This letter is available in the folder "World War I" in the University Archives Subject File Collection.
This post was composed by Jordan Ecker.
For additional information about the first women students at the College of William and Mary see: When Mary Entered with her Brother William: Women at the College of William and Mary, 1918-1945 by Laura F. Parrish; "The Petticoat Invasion": Women at the College of William and Mary, 1918-1945; The Martha Barksdale Papers; and the Women at the College of William and Mary page on the Special Collections Research Center Wiki.
August 10, 2008
August 10, 1918: The College Continues to Confront the Effects of World War I
The College of William and Mary did not decide on a whim to admit women. While the College was busily preparing for the first co-ed incoming class, there was a war raging across the Atlantic in Europe.
World War I had begun four years earlier, and the United States joined the previous year, 1917. In the summer of 1918, the country was unsure of how long the war would continue, and had to prepare for the worst. The College's admissions were probably dropping as prospective and returning William and Mary students were being shipped off to the European front, and something had to be done to try to raise or at least maintain enrollment at the small institution.
On August 10, 1918, previous male students of the College received a letter from the registrar H.L. Bridges urging them to return to William and Mary. The registrar stated that he understood that "there seems to be some doubt in the minds of students as to what they should do next session," but urged them to enroll for the fall semester. Why would the registrar be urging possibly needed soldiers to stay on the homefront? The registrar's letter went onto explain that "provision is being made to train all college students while they are doing their regular [college] work....The War Department wants you in college next year."
Instead of shutting down the educational opportunities for the men who had not been drafted, and possibly saving small colleges, such as William and Mary from closing their doors, the United States government wanted to keep their prospective soldiers prepared for possible deployment as well as educated.
The registrar may have also been pushing this new option on returning male students to possibly offset the effect of women coming on campus. If women did not make up a significant percentage of the incoming class, than their influence in the fall would be limited or not even felt. Also, co-education was still an untried experiment. If the experiment did not work out, and the war continued for multiple years, then the College might have been in an enrollment bind from which it could not free itself.
However, none of the worst case scenarios came to pass. World War I ended in November 1918, and co-education at the College was successful. But, it is interesting to see how people were reacting to and preparing for the unforeseen continuation of World War I.
The letter cited in this post is available in the folder "World War I" in the University Archives Subject File Collection in the Special Collections Research Center.
This post was composed by Jordan Ecker.
For additional information about the first women students at the College of William and Mary see: When Mary Entered with her Brother William: Women at the College of William and Mary, 1918-1945 by Laura F. Parrish; "The Petticoat Invasion": Women at the College of William and Mary, 1918-1945; The Martha Barksdale Papers; and the Women at the College of William and Mary page on the Special Collections Research Center Wiki.
World War I had begun four years earlier, and the United States joined the previous year, 1917. In the summer of 1918, the country was unsure of how long the war would continue, and had to prepare for the worst. The College's admissions were probably dropping as prospective and returning William and Mary students were being shipped off to the European front, and something had to be done to try to raise or at least maintain enrollment at the small institution.
On August 10, 1918, previous male students of the College received a letter from the registrar H.L. Bridges urging them to return to William and Mary. The registrar stated that he understood that "there seems to be some doubt in the minds of students as to what they should do next session," but urged them to enroll for the fall semester. Why would the registrar be urging possibly needed soldiers to stay on the homefront? The registrar's letter went onto explain that "provision is being made to train all college students while they are doing their regular [college] work....The War Department wants you in college next year."
Instead of shutting down the educational opportunities for the men who had not been drafted, and possibly saving small colleges, such as William and Mary from closing their doors, the United States government wanted to keep their prospective soldiers prepared for possible deployment as well as educated.
The registrar may have also been pushing this new option on returning male students to possibly offset the effect of women coming on campus. If women did not make up a significant percentage of the incoming class, than their influence in the fall would be limited or not even felt. Also, co-education was still an untried experiment. If the experiment did not work out, and the war continued for multiple years, then the College might have been in an enrollment bind from which it could not free itself.
However, none of the worst case scenarios came to pass. World War I ended in November 1918, and co-education at the College was successful. But, it is interesting to see how people were reacting to and preparing for the unforeseen continuation of World War I.
The letter cited in this post is available in the folder "World War I" in the University Archives Subject File Collection in the Special Collections Research Center.
This post was composed by Jordan Ecker.
For additional information about the first women students at the College of William and Mary see: When Mary Entered with her Brother William: Women at the College of William and Mary, 1918-1945 by Laura F. Parrish; "The Petticoat Invasion": Women at the College of William and Mary, 1918-1945; The Martha Barksdale Papers; and the Women at the College of William and Mary page on the Special Collections Research Center Wiki.
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