Margaret Morrison Carnegie College (MMCC) was the

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 ...

for

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...

. It was founded in 1903 and opened its doors to students in 1906 as the Margaret Morrison Carnegie School for Women. The school was closed in 1973.

Founding and early history

MMCC was founded in 1903 as one of the four colleges of the Carnegie Institute of Technology (Carnegie Tech).

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans in ...

, the founder of Carnegie Tech, named the college after his mother. MMCC's principal aim would be to train young women to earn their livelihood. The curriculum in the first year included principles of science and economics, history, English, accounts, social ethics, sewing, drawing, cookery, and personal hygiene. In their second and third years, students could choose to specialize in secretarial courses, household arts and institutional management, technical dressmaking, costume design, applied design, or architectural and interior decoration. Of the goals of the college, Eileen McConomy, steering committee chairperson of the MMCC Centennial, stated, "although some of the major disciplines available to us may seem archaic to current students, for our era they were relevant ..our education was rigorous. Our women professors were the forerunners of the feminist movement and inspired us to take charge of our lives, to not be afraid to speak out for what we believed was right, and to demand excellence in all that we did."

Closing

Margaret Morrison Carnegie College closed in 1973 due to declining enrollment: "Entering on the coattails of the 1950s were societal and institutional changes that would ultimately seal the fate of MMCC. Homemaking was less apt to be considered a profession; women students were turning increasingly to careers based in the liberal arts and sciences. A steadily climbing enrollment in these fields led to the integration of many MMCC programs into Tech’s other schools."

Legacy

The end of Margaret Morrison Carnegie College also marked the beginning of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (now known as the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences), and several programs and departments were absorbed into the new college as well as the

Mellon College of Science The Mellon College of Science (MCS) is part of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US. The college is named for the Mellon family, founders of the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research, a predecessor of Carnegie Mellon Unive ...

and

College of Fine Arts The School of Fine Arts or College of Fine Arts is the official name or part of the name of several schools of fine arts, often as an academic part of a larger university. These include: The Americas North America *Alabama School of Fin ...

. Margaret Morrison Street runs through the west end of the campus. The Margaret Morrison Apartments and the Margaret Morrison Courtyard are located along the street. Margaret Morrison Carnegie Hall serves as the headquarters of the

Carnegie Mellon School of Design The School of Design at Carnegie Mellon University is a degree-granting institution within a private university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The School of Design is one of five schools within the Carnegie Mellon College of Fine Arts ...

and a principal facility of the Carnegie Mellon College of Fine Arts. In 2006, a dining facility called the Maggie Murph Café was opened within Hunt Library, the main library at Carnegie Mellon University.

Notable alumnae

Alumnae of the college are known as Maggie Murphs.

Stephanie Kwolek Stephanie Louise Kwolek (; July 31, 1923 – June 18, 2014) was a Polish-American chemist who is known for inventing Kevlar. Her career at the DuPont company spanned more than 40 years. She discovered the first of a family of synthetic fibers o ...

, the inventor of

Kevlar Kevlar (para-aramid) is a strong, heat-resistant synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed by Stephanie Kwolek at DuPont in 1965, the high-strength material was first used commercially in the early 1970s a ...

, graduated from Margaret Morrison Carnegie College in 1946 with a B.S. in General Science (Chemistry).

Newbery Medal The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished cont ...

winning-author

E. L. Konigsburg Elaine Lobl Konigsburg (February 10, 1930 – April 19, 2013) was an American writer and illustrator of children's books and young adult fiction. She is one of six writers to win two Newbery Medals, the venerable American Library Association aw ...

is a 1952 graduate of Margaret Morrison Carnegie College.

References

External links

History of MMCC
*
The Maggie Murphs 1906-73: A History of Margaret Morrison Carnegie College
' {{Pittsburgh Defunct private universities and colleges in Pennsylvania Educational institutions established in 1903 Schools and departments of Carnegie Mellon Educational institutions disestablished in 1973 Andrew Carnegie 1903 establishments in Pennsylvania 1973 disestablishments in Pennsylvania