Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, is the oldest institution for the higher education of women in the United States. The educator Mary Lyon founded it in 1837, at a time when women had few opportunities to obtain a college education. Lyon named the school Mount Holyoke Female Seminary for a mountain that stands near South Hadley. She served as the school’s principal until 1849, establishing strict entrance requirements and a challenging course of study that did not include cooking or other homemaking skills. The college adopted its present name in 1893. It was one of the original members of the “Seven Sisters,” a conference of seven women’s colleges that also included Barnard, Bryn Mawr, Radcliffe, Smith, Vassar, and Wellesley. Mount Holyoke’s curriculum emphasizes liberal arts and sciences.
Well-known alumnae of Mount Holyoke include the poet Emily Dickinson, the physician Virginia Apgar, the playwright Wendy Wasserstein, former governor Ella T. Grasso of Connecticut, and Frances Perkins, the first woman U.S. Cabinet member.
The college’s website at https://www.mtholyoke.edu/ offers additional information.
