Thursday, November 8, is a very special day at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts. A Founder’s Day celebration of MHC’s 175 years will begin with an ice cream social hosted by MHC President, Dr. Lynn Pasquerella, an alumna of the college, at the grave of MHC’s founder, Mary Lyon, in the center of campus.
Lyon was an early pioneer in the quest for women’s education. During her own education she was introduced by her mentor to an environment where women were treated as intellectual equals, an uncommon experience in the early 1800s. Her dream of having her own school prompted her to establish a women’s seminary (a seminary in Mary Lyon’s day and age was a secular school for women, not a religious training institution). It took her two years to find interested people who gave $15,000 to help make her idea a reality. Chartered in 1836, Mount Holyoke Seminary opened on November 8, 1837. Training women to become strong teachers was its primary mission.
Mary Lyon’s last year of full-time teaching was 1847-48 and she died the following year. By the late 1800’s, it had become necessary for the seminary to evaluate its educational status in order to keep up with the changing American society. Mount Holyoke Seminary moved away from being a seminary and became a full-fledged women’s college. The admission standards were changed in order to attract a more diverse student body. Four-year graduation requirements were established. The college began hiring professors rather than teachers. Science and literary courses were added and new buildings were constructed.
Field Memorial Gate Dedication, October 9, 1912
A campus landmark celebrated 100 years a month ago. The Fidelia Nash Field Memorial Gateway was dedicated on October 9, 1912 during the 75th Anniversary celebration. A gift of Helen Field James and Joseph Nash Field to honor the memory of their mother, the gate is made of brownstone and wrought iron. It is at the main entrance on College Street, near Lyon Hall. Their brother, Marshall Field, Chicago department store magnate, died in 1906.
Sigma Theta Chi Society, 1900
Around 1900, there were two Greek-letter literary societies at MHC. Sigma Theta Chi (pictured above) and Chi Phi Delta. A college publication noted, “The Sigma lately furnished the reading-room handsomely, and both are working heroically in the interests of endowment.”
Mount Holyoke, the first of the “Seven Sisters” colleges, would be followed by six others: Vassar (1861), Wellesley (1870), Smith (1871), Radcliffe (1879), Bryn Mawr (1885), and Barnard (1889). Two of these colleges were started as co-ordinates to men’s colleges. Radcliffe began as the co-ordinate to Harvard and Barnard was Columbia’s co-ordinate.
As the mother of a proud Mount Holyoke College alumna, I am well aware of how the college can change women’s lives. Thank you, Mary Lyon, for the adventures you have fostered in the lives of American women since 1837. Here’s to another 175 years of uncommon experiences!
Photos from the Mount Holyoke College Archives Digital Collection.
