A Radical Idea

By D.H. Callahan
Photo courtesy of Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA – Vassar Students Display a Daisy Chain on Campus in 1918

In 1861, as the Civil War began, the United States was grappling with the notions of freedom and equality. This was a nation founded by white slave owners who had declared that only people like them could participate in the political process. Ninety-five years later, things were changing. The country was debating what it meant to be free and equal. But Matthew Vassar had no patience for this discussion. He believed real equality came through equal opportunity. At that time, many opportunities were reserved for highly educated white men of the Ivy League. So Vassar took action. He opened Vassar College, dedicated to the education of women, though admission was granted exclusively to white women until 1940. He built the best facilities and filled them with the finest equipment, literature, and professors in the country, holding his school to the exacting standards of those world-famous Ivy League institutions. Vassar students have succeeded in every imaginable industry, but the one that may be most important to the school’s mission is education itself. In 1865, Vassar declared he wished to build an institution where “women shall be the teachers and educators of women.” In this pursuit, the school was remarkably successful. Vassar alumnae have led nearly 20 institutions of higher education and have taught at—and even founded—countless others. By taking the bold step of normalizing women’s education, educated women could help more women become educated.