Promoting women’s education

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Newton Female Seminary – Equal, Accessible Education for All

Authored by Pamela C. Zacher

Cover page of the Third Annual Catalogue of Newton Female Seminary, for the 1856-1857 academic year. Printed by Francis Hart, Printer and Stationer, New York, NY

America’s Antebellum period brought with it a fervor to see its women educated, despite previously held beliefs that women’s education was not as important as men’s (Sweet 1985, 41). Thus, a movement began to provide quality education for the nation’s females, that would be available for women of all socio-economic classes, would be of quality parallel to that offered to men, and expand beyond etiquette and instruction in domestic duties. “Feeling the call of God to educate women, America’s Evangelical denominations…with passionate engagement built female seminaries” (Sweet 1985, 41).

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Ahead of the Curve: The Legacy of Empowering Women at Gordon

Authored by Sammy-Jo Watt

An image of Gordon State College building a dressing room for young women

Taken at the end of 1965, this photo shows Gordon Military College providing women their own dressing room despite not being required by law to do so. The college is providing equality among the genders by not only giving women their own, private dressing room but also, at the above words indicate, also increasing their physical education.

Unfortunately, society has not always provided equality among its inhabitants. Dr. Anne Sutherland noted that there is an “urgent need to extend…protection…to women in institutions of higher education” (History Matters, n.d.). Regrettably, the serious issue for discrimination against women was not truly solved with women speaking out, the 19th Amendment, or the Equal Protection Clause. Women could vote but still had difficulty with access to higher education. According to the Law Library, “the Equal Protection Clause does not require states to satisfy the same strict standards for gender discrimination as for racial” (The Law Library, n.d.). Continue reading →