Rutgers Female College

Rutgers Female College
487–491 Fifth Avenue, New York City
Location
New York City, New York, U.S.
Information
Other names	Rutgers Female Institute
School type	Private women's seminary
Opened	May 6, 1839
Founders	William B. Crosby, Isaac Ferris
Closed	1894

Rutgers Female College was a private women's seminary, chartered in April 1838 under the name Rutgers Female Institute. It was located in New York City, and moved to a few locations within the city before closing in 1894.

History

Its first home was at 262–66 Madison Street on the Lower East Side of New York City, on land lent by William B. Crosby, one of the first incorporators. Isaac Ferris was a co-founder. The cornerstone of a new building was laid August 29, 1838, and the institute was opened on May 6, 1839.^[1] It was the first seminary for the higher education of women in the City of New York.

In 1860, it moved uptown to 487–91 Fifth Avenue.^[2]An application for a full collegiate charter was made to the New York State Legislature, and granted April 11, 1867, expressly conferring on Rutgers all rights, powers, and privileges enjoyed by any college or university in the state, except the authority to grant medical or legal diplomas.^[2]

By 1870, a branch had been established in Harlem, at the corner of Second Avenue and 124th Street.^[2]

At the 1870 commencement the college conferred an honorary doctorate upon Maria Mitchell, a professor at Vassar College, and one of the first well known women astronomers.^[3]

By 1889, the college had moved to 54 and 56 West 55th Street.^[4] The college celebrated its 55th anniversary in 1894,^[5] and ceased operations that same year.^[6]

Notable people

Alumni

• Caroline Hart Merriam (1827–1893), mother of Clinton Hart Merriam, biologist, and Florence Augusta Merriam Bailey, ornithologist^[7]
• Susie Barstow (1823–1936), landscape painter
• Mary Helen Peck Crane (1827–1891), activist, writer
• Margaret Winship Eytinge (1832–1916), author
• Florence Carpenter Ives (1854–1900), journalist and editor
• Jennie de la Montagnie Lozier (1841–1915), physician
• Anna Oliver (1840–1892), preacher
• Emma Homan Thayer (1842–1908), botanical artist and author

Others

• Julia Keese Colles (1840–1913), faculty
• Oliver Crane (1822–1896), faculty
• Samuel D. Burchard (1812–1891), president

References

1. "Its First Half Century; Celebrating An Anniversary Of Rutgers Female College". The New York Times. May 7, 1889. Retrieved 2023-08-09 – via TimesMachine.
2. Hardy, Joseph, ed. (1870). "Rutgers Female College". Manual of the Corporation of the City of New York. New York: Common Council: 322–323.
3. "Addresses at the commencement of Rutgers Female College, New York City, on conferring the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws upon Thomas C. Upham, and of Doctor in Science and Philosophy upon Maria Mitchell". Women Working, 1800-1930 - CURIOSity Digital Collections. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
4. "TimesMachine: Tuesday May 7, 1889 - NYTimes.com". The New York Times. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
5. "Rutgers Female College Anniversary". The New York Times. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
6. Beadie, Nancy (1997). "Emma Willard's Idea Put to the Test". In Maschke, Karen J. (ed.). Educational Equity. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc. p. 199. ISBN 0815325185.
7. Biermann, Carol A.; Grinstein, Louise S.; Rose, Rose K. (1997-07-16). Women in the Biological Sciences: A Biobibliographic Sourcebook. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. p. 30. ISBN 978-1-56750-779-9.

External links

• Media related to Rutgers Female College at Wikimedia Commons