Radcliffe College was a private liberal arts college for women in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with close ties to Harvard University. Radcliffe was founded as the Harvard Annex in 1879. At that time, the school delegated to the Harvard faculty responsibility for the instruction of its students. The name Radcliffe College was adopted in 1894.
Radcliffe was a separate institution designed to advance society by educating women. By the mid-1970’s, however, women students began to be admitted jointly to Harvard and Radcliffe, although Radcliffe remained an independent college for undergraduate women. In 1999, Radcliffe College and Harvard University merged. On the Radcliffe campus, the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study was established, offering advanced scholarship and research with a focus on women, gender, and society. The institute inherited Radcliffe College’s famous Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America. The library houses the papers of many notable women, including Susan B. Anthony, Julia Child, Shirley Graham Du Bois, and Amelia Earhart.
