The History of Radcliffe
Radcliffe College has long been one of the most-esteemed institutions of higher learning for women. Indeed, the seed of its conception was planted under the long shadow of Harvard University as women began to demand access to the same sort of study opportunities their male counterparts received. The college played a significant role in the development of educational equality for American women and today exists as one of Harvard's institutes for advanced study.
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Namesake
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Lady Anne Mowlson, christened Anne Radcliffe, founded the Lady Mowlson scholarship at Harvard College in 1643. Her initial award of 100 English pounds is believed to be the first gift ever to the college by a woman and the first scholarship funded by any individual.
Inception
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By 1878, women were beginning to express interest in achieving an education from the esteemed halls of Harvard College. Spurred by demand, the institution developed a private program for the education of women by Harvard faculty. Elizabeth Agassiz, the eventual first president of Radcliffe College later wrote, "The idea of a woman's college in Cambridge, so situated that it might share in the advantages of the University (without demanding, or even suggesting, any change in its long-established policy), took definite shape in 1878 and soon gave rise to stated meetings in which many of the professors joined and which ended in the formation of a very simple unwritten organization."
Incorporated as "The Society for the Collegiate Instruction of Women," and commonly referred to as "Harvard Annex," the institution had no official connection with Harvard, aside from shared faculty, until December 6, 1893. On that date, the corporation petitioned the state legislature for a name change to Radcliffe College and for Harvard University seals to be affixed to Radcliffe diplomas. In 1894, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts approved the charter of Radcliffe College.
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Separate But Equal
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Well into the next century, Harvard and Radcliffe existed as separate but equal entities. According to the 1913 book "Radcliffe College" by Henry Payson Dowst and John Albert Seaford, "The requirements for admission to the freshman class of Radcliffe are the same as those of Harvard; the instruction at Radcliffe is given by the professors and other teachers in Harvard (who conduct corresponding courses in the University); and degrees and honors at Radcliffe are awarded upon a basis exactly similar to the basis for degrees and honors at Harvard."
As World War II drew away male students, women were allowed to venture into Harvard classrooms for the first time in 1943.
Union
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Close relations between the two schools, perhaps as a result of the growth of feminism, continued in the 1960s and 70s. The Radcliffe Graduate School closed its doors in 1963 as the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences welcomed female grad students for the first time. By 1970, the two schools held their first joint commencement in Harvard Yard and, five years later, limits on the number of female undergraduates accepted at Harvard were abolished. In 1977 the two institutions signed an agreement governing their partnership---a move which essentially placed all female undergrads under the auspices of Harvard College. For the next 22 years, graduates continued to receive diplomas with the seals of both institutions.
Merger
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Radcliffe College and Harvard University officially merged in 1999 and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard was established. Today, the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study exists to foster research and creative work while awarding fellowships to prominent academics. The institute's Schlesinger Library is noted as containing one of the largest collections of manuscripts devoted to the study of American women.
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