Western College for Women, known at other times as Western Female Seminary, The Western and simply Western College, was a

women's A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

and later

coed Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

liberal arts college A liberal arts college or liberal arts institution of higher education is a college with an emphasis on undergraduate study in liberal arts and sciences. Such colleges aim to impart a broad general knowledge and develop general intellectual capac ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, between 1855 and 1974. Initially a

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

, it was the host of orientation sessions for the

Freedom Summer Freedom Summer, also known as the Freedom Summer Project or the Mississippi Summer Project, was a volunteer campaign in the United States launched in June 1964 to attempt to register as many African-American voters as possible in Mississippi. ...

in 1964. It was absorbed by

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the 10 ...

in 1974 after dwindling finances. Now known as the Western Campus of Miami University, it was designated a

U.S. Historic district Historic districts in the United States are designated historic districts recognizing a group of buildings, properties, or sites by one of several entities on different levels as historically or architecturally significant. Buildings, structures ...

known as the Western Female Seminary Historic District in 1979.

History

Western College Alumnae Hall from southwest n

Western College was founded in 1853 as Western Female Seminary. It was a daughter school of

Mount Holyoke College Mount Holyoke College is a private liberal arts women's college in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It is the oldest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite historically women's colleges in the Northeastern United States. ...

South Hadley South Hadley (, ) is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 18,150 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. South Hadley is home to Mount Holyoke Colleg ...

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 ...

, and its first principal, Helen Peabody, was a Holyoke graduate. The college changed its name three times, in 1894 to The Western: A College and Seminary for Women, in 1904 to Western College for Women, and in 1971 to The Western College when the institution became coeducational. Western remained an independent women's college until 1970 when it formed a "committee of cooperation" with the adjacent

, which opened enrollment between the colleges on a limited basis. This allowed Western students to take classes at Miami and use Miami's computer and hospital facilities, for example, while allowing Miami students access to intramural fields, library space, and cross-country runways on Western grounds. Before the 1973–74 school years, both presidents signed an agreement for an affiliation between the two schools. In 1974, Western became part of Miami due to financial difficulties. On September 17, 1979, 15 buildings and 11 structures from the former Western College were designated the Western Female Seminary Historic District.

Civil Rights Movement

In June 1964, an orientation and training in nonviolence techniques was held on the campus of Western College for Women for volunteers heading south to Mississippi for

. While training at Western was still on-going, Mickey Schwerner, a veteran civil rights worker who had come to Oxford to help train the new recruits, received word that one of the churches that had agreed to host Freedom Summer activities had been attacked and burned. Schwerner and Andrew Goodman, a new volunteer, left Oxford immediately to head back to Mississippi. Schwerner's wife, Rita, remained behind at Western College to finish the training. Within days, Schwerner and Goodman, along with James Chaney, a native Mississippian and voting rights activist, were reported missing in

Philadelphia, Mississippi Philadelphia is a city in and the county seat of Neshoba County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 7,118 at the 2020 census. History Philadelphia is incorporated as a municipality; it was given its current name in 1903, two year ...

. Their bodies were found months later, buried in an earthen dam. Public uproar over these murders helped pass the

Civil Rights Act of 1964 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 () is a landmark civil rights and United States labor law, labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on Race (human categorization), race, Person of color, color, religion, sex, and nationa ...

and the

Voting Rights Act The suffrage, Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of Federal government of the United States, federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President of the United ...

a few months later. A memorial tribute to the Freedom Summer activists was recently dedicated on the Western College campus.

Western today

In 1974, the Western College for Women merged with Miami University and became the

Western College Program The Western College Program was created in 1974 when the Western College for Women merged with Miami University. The program consisted of an interdisciplinary living/learning community with small class sizes and student-designed focuses. Majors inc ...

(School of

Interdisciplinary Studies Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several other fields like sociology, anthropology, psychology, ec ...

). In 2007, the Western College Program was integrated into the College of Arts and Sciences and is now known as the Western Program for Individualized Studies at Miami University. Of the original Western College buildings, Boyd Hall, Clawson Hall,

Hoyt Library The Hoyt Library is a historic library in downtown Saginaw, Michigan, United States. Built in the late 19th century by Eric Pinchet, the Richardson Romanesque library is home to numerous genealogical records of the Mid-Michigan area. History In ...

Kumler Chapel Kumler Chapel is a building of architectural interest located on the Western Campus for Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. It was built in 1917-18 for what was then the Western College for Women by the architect Thomas Hastings, in a "Transitional ...

, McKee Hall, Thomson Hall, and Peabody Hall were retained as either academic building or dormitories. Since the merger, four new dormitories and a dining hall were also added to the Western Campus.

Notable alumnae

Portrait print of Lilian Wyckoff Johnson, Ph

Margaret Caroline Anderson Margaret Caroline Anderson (November 24, 1886 – October 19, 1973) was the American founder, editor and publisher of the art and literary magazine ''The Little Review'', which published a collection of modern American, English and Irish writers b ...

(1886–1973), founder-editor ''

The Little Review ''The Little Review'', an American literary magazine founded by Margaret Anderson in Chicago's historic Fine Arts Building, published literary and art work from 1914 to May 1929. With the help of Jane Heap and Ezra Pound, Anderson created a maga ...

'' *

Edith Evans Asbury Edith Evans Asbury (née Snyder; June 30, 1910 – October 30, 2008) was an American journalist who spent nearly 30 years as a reporter with ''The New York Times''. Biography Born Edith Snyder on June 30, 1910, in New Boston, Ohio, she was the el ...

, journalist *

Esin Atıl Esin Atıl (June 11, 1938 – February 20, 2020) was a Turkish-American historian of Islamic art and curator of Islamic art at the Freer Gallery of Art. Education Esin Atıl graduated from the American College for Girls in Istanbul 1956 with B ...

, curator * Robin L. Bartlett, economist *

Mary Letitia Caldwell Mary Letitia Caldwell (December 18, 1890 – July 1, 1972) was an American chemist. Growing up she valued education and strived to achieve. She was an instructor at Western College teaching chemistry. She was known for being unique and descriptiv ...

, winner of the

Garvan Medal Garvan may refer to: People *Francis Patrick Garvan (1875–1937), American lawyer, president of the Chemical Foundation *Genevieve Garvan Brady (1880–1938), American philanthropist and Papal duchess * Garvan McCarthy (born 1981), retired Irish s ...

for chemistry *

Penny Colman Penny Colman is an author of books, essays, stories, and articles for all ages. In 2005, her social history, ''Corpses, Coffins, and Crypts: A History of Burial,'' was named one of the 100 Best of the Best Books for the 21st Century by members of t ...

, author *

Eliza Calvert Hall Eliza Caroline "Lida" Obenchain (née Calvert), (February 11, 1856 – December 20, 1935) was an American author, women's rights advocate, and suffragist from Bowling Green, Kentucky. Lida Obenchain, writing under the pen name Eliza Calvert Hall ...

, author and suffragist * Sarah Jane Dawes Shedd, missionary in Persia *

Natalie de Blois Natalie Griffin de Blois (April 2, 1921 – July 22, 2013) was an American architect. Entering the field in 1944, she became one of the earliest prominent woman in the male-dominated profession. She was a partner for many years in the firm of ...

, architect *

Ameerah Haq Ameerah Haq is a Bangladeshi technocrat who served as United Nations Under-Secretary-General for the Department of Field Support, the highest-ranking Bangladeshi official at the United Nations, from April 2012 until her resignation in July 2014. ...

Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations An under-secretary-general of the United Nations (USG) is a senior official within the United Nations System, normally appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the secretary-general for a renewable term of four years. Under-s ...

Mary Garrett Hay Mary "Mollie" Garrett Hay (August 20, 1857 – August 29, 1928) was an American suffragist and community organizer. She served as president of the Women's City Club of New York, the Woman Suffrage Party and the New York Equal Suffrage League. ...

(1857–1928), suffragist and community organizer *

Dorothy Misener Jurney Dorothy Misener Jurney (May 8, 1909 – June 19, 2002) was an American journalist. As women's page editor for the ''Miami Herald'', she shifted the focus of those pages from the "Four F's – family, food, fashion, and furnishings" – to ...

, the "godmother of women's pages" *

Helene Mambu Hélène Mambu-ma-Disu (born February 28, 1948) is a Congolese public health expert, physician, pediatrician and United Nations diplomat. She served as a Regional Adviser for the African regional office of the United Nations' World Health Organi ...

, Congolese physician and International Public Health Expert * Nancy Barr Mavity, crime mystery writer *

Ann Marcus Ann Marcus (August 22, 1921 – December 3, 2014) was an Emmy Award-winning American television writer and film producer. She graduated from Western College for Women, worked for the ''New York Daily News'' and ''Life'', where she worked with fa ...

, television writer *

Pamela Mboya Pamela Mboya (1938 – 26 January 2009) was a Kenyan political activist and diplomat, the wife of Tom Mboya the Kenyan trade unionist, educationist, Pan Africanist, author, independence activist, Cabinet Minister and one of the founding fathers of ...

, Kenyan representative, UN-Habitat *

Gladys Milligan Gladys Milligan (1892 — 1973) was an American painter. Biography Born in LaRue, Ohio, McMillan attended the Western College for Women and Westminster College in Pennsylvania. She then studied under George Luks and Hans Hofmann and at the ...

(1892–1973), painter *

Hank Phillippi Ryan Hank Phillippi Ryan (born Harriet Ann Sablosky) is an American investigative reporter for Channel 7 News on WHDH-TV, a local television station in Boston, Massachusetts. She is also an author of mystery novels. Biography Ryan is a native of ...

, reporter and novelist *

Donna Shalala Donna Edna Shalala ( ; born February 14, 1941) is an American politician and academic who served in the Carter and Clinton administrations, as well as in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2019 to 2021. Shalala is a recipient of the Presid ...

, former member of the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

, 5th president of

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...

(Florida); 18th

United States Secretary of Health and Human Services The United States secretary of health and human services is the head of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, and serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all health matters. The secretary is ...

* Sylvia Stanfield, diplomat *

Maliha Zulfacar Maliha Zulfacar (born 1961) is an Afghan university professor and was the ambassador of Afghanistan to Germany from 2006 to 2010. Early life Zulfacar was born in 1961 in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. Her father was a diplomat. After complet ...

, professor and Afghan ambassador to Germany * Ester Neira de Calvo,

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

and

women's right Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

advocate. *

Greta Pope Greta Pope is an American Singer, songwriter, bandleader and Podcast Host. An international entertainer, Greta Pope and the Greta Pope Orchestra have performed throughout Europe, the Far East, South America, the Caribbean, Canada and the United S ...

, vocalist and vocal coach

References

External links