The History of Women's Education in the U.S.

The idea of educating women was, until the past 100 years, not deemed necessary by most societies around the globe. No American College educated female students until 1834, when Ohio's Oberlin College opened its doors to women. Many debated the health implications for women engaging in intellectual thought, and many highly educated men openly shared their aversion to educating women.

Harvard Physician Edward Clarke was one man who expressed his stance against women’s higher education very clearly. Clarke wrote a book entitled “Sex in Education; or, A Fair Chance for the Girls” which was published in 1873 and warned the public of the “dangers” of educating women. He argued that when women studied, blood and energy were taken from reproductive organs that were in fragile and critical stages of maturation. He asserted that at least one week of the month, women should be required to rest regardless of their possible necessities to study, else they would not mature and develop correctly. 

Although men like Clarke were assumed to have extensive knowledge and insight, many challenged such misogynistic ideas. The Association of Collegiate Alumni, for example, released a statement in 1885 undermining peculiar claims such as that of Dr. Clarke:

"The facts…would seem to warrant the assertion…that the seeking of a college education on the part of women does not in itself necessarily entail a loss of health or serious impairment of the vital forces. [Female] graduates, as a body, entered college in good health, passed through the course of study prescribed without material change in health, and since graduation, by reason of the effort required to gain a higher education, do not seem to have become unfitted to meet the responsibilities or bear their proportionate share of the burdens of life."

This statement was a powerful reassurance for many women who had been encouraged by their friends, family, and society as a whole to abstain from higher education. As the 19th century came to a close and the 20th century began, advocacy for female education steadily grew alongside suffragism, and with time American society grew to embrace it. Once the concept of educating women was widespread and generally accepted, the next debate arose: should women be educated alongside other women, or should they be invited into traditionally male institutions and environments?

This timeline dives into the general history of women's education in the United States starting in the 18th century and ending in the 1990s. It focuses on both education in general and coeducation.