The Oread Institute was a

women's college Women's colleges in higher education are undergraduate, bachelor's degree-granting institutions, often liberal arts colleges, whose student populations are composed exclusively or almost exclusively of women. Some women's colleges admit male stud ...

founded in

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

in 1849 by

Eli Thayer Eli Thayer (June 11, 1819 – April 15, 1899) was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1857 to 1861. He was born in Mendon, Massachusetts. He graduated from Worcester Academy in 1840, from Brown University in 1845, and in ...

. Before its closing in 1934, it was one of the oldest institutions of higher education for women in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. According to the ''Worcester Women's History Project'': :''"The Oread offered three levels of instruction: primary, academic and collegiate. The four-year collegiate program offered a classical, college-level curriculum and is thought to be the first institution of its kind exclusively for women in the country. It was modeled after the program at Brown University, Thayer’s alma mater".'' Two graduates of Oread, Sophia Packard and ornamental music teacher Harriet Giles, would eventually found

Spelman College Spelman College is a private, historically black, women's liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia. It is part of the Atlanta University Center academic consortium in Atlanta. Founded in 1881 as the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary, Spelman re ...

, named after Oread graduate

Laura Spelman Rockefeller Laura Celestia "Cettie" Spelman Rockefeller (September 9, 1839 – March 12, 1915) was an American abolitionist, philanthropist, school teacher, and prominent member of the Rockefeller family. Her husband was Standard Oil co-founder John D. Roc ...

. Laura Spelman was the future wife of

John D. Rockefeller John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American business magnate and philanthropist. He has been widely considered the wealthiest American of all time and the richest person in modern history. Rockefeller was ...

, having attended Oread while her future husband, who dropped out of Cleveland's Central High School in the 1850s, worked as a clerk.Martha Burt Wright and Anne M. Bancroft (editors): History of the Oread Collegiate Institute, Worcester, Mass. (1849-1881): with biographical sketches.
Verlag: Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor Co. New Haven, Conn., 1905, page 126 Thayer constructed an enormous Gothic-style castle for his new college, complete with turrets. The college closed in 1881. From 1898 to 1904 the building was the ''Worcester Domestic Science Cooking School'' and was finally closed in 1934. The institute lent its name to

Mount Oread Mount Oread is a hill in Lawrence, Kansas upon which the University of Kansas, and parts of the city of Lawrence, Kansas are located. It sits on the water divide between the Kansas River and the Wakarusa River rivers. It was named after the long ...

, a hill in

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

, upon which the main campus of the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

is currently situated. Lawrence was founded in 1854 by settlers from Massachusetts who had been sent there by the

New England Emigrant Aid Company The New England Emigrant Aid Company (originally the Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Company) was a transportation company founded in Boston, Massachusetts by activist Eli Thayer in the wake of the Kansas–Nebraska Act, which allowed the population of ...

, which was created by Eli Thayer.

References

External links

*
Oread history from the Worcester Women's History Project

hosted by Assumption College
Information about the Oread Institute in an 1856 book about Worcester

Information about the Oread Institute in an 1879 history of Worcester County

Martha Burt Wright and Anne M. Bancroft (editors): History of the Oread Collegiate Institute, Worcester, Mass. (1849-1881): with biographical sketches.
Publisher: Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor Co. New Haven, Conn., 1905 - internet archive online Defunct private universities and colleges in Massachusetts Universities and colleges in Worcester, Massachusetts Educational institutions established in 1849 Educational institutions disestablished in 1934 1849 establishments in Massachusetts 1934 disestablishments in Massachusetts Former women's universities and colleges in the United States History of women in Massachusetts {{Massachusetts-university-stub