Charleston Female Seminary: Difference between revisions
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The history previously given was for the Charlestown Female Seminary in Massachusetts. This is now updated for the seminary in South Carolina. |
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{{about|the school in South Carolina|the school in Massachusetts|Charlestown Female Seminary (Massachusetts)}} |
{{about|the school in South Carolina|the school in Massachusetts|Charlestown Female Seminary (Massachusetts)}} |
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{{Infobox school |
{{Infobox school |
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| streetaddress = |
| streetaddress = |
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| city = [[Charleston, South Carolina|Charleston]] |
| city = [[Charleston, South Carolina|Charleston]] |
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| state = |
| state = South Carolina |
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| country = |
| country = United States |
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| religion = Christian |
| religion = Christian |
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| founder = Henrietta "Etta" Aiken Kelly |
| founder = Henrietta "Etta" Aiken Kelly |
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| motto = ''[[Mens sana in corpore sano]]'' |
| motto = ''[[Mens sana in corpore sano]]'' |
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| motto_translation = "A sound mind in a sound body." |
| motto_translation = "A sound mind in a sound body." |
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| established = |
| established = 1830 |
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| status = |
| status = |
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| closed = |
| closed = |
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}} |
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The '''Charleston Female Seminary |
The '''Charleston Female Seminary''', was a private Christian school for wealthy white girls in [[Charleston, South Carolina]], United States.<ref name="poston">{{cite book |last1=Poston |first1=Jonathan H. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GHBfBOdwsCkC&pg=PA579 |title=The buildings of Charleston: a guide to the city's architecture |date=December 1997 |publisher=[[University of South Carolina Press]] |isbn=978-1-57003-202-8 |page=579 |access-date=17 January 2012}}</ref> Opened in 1830, the [[female seminary]] was the second school in Charlestown for young women. |
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==Background == |
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The establishment of Charlestown Female Seminary was part of a movement to facilitate the education of young women that took root in the United States in the 1820s and 1830s. The movement started in 1814 with the establishment by Catherine Fiske, in [[Keene, New Hampshire]], of the "Young Ladies Seminary." Another important early school was Emma Willard's [[Troy Female Seminary]], opened in 1821 in [[Troy, New York]]. |
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The school was opened in 1870 by Henrietta "Etta" Aiken Kelly (March 17, 1844 – January 18, 1916)<ref group=upper-alpha>Henrietta Kelly was well born to a prominent Charleston family, with a "silver spoon in her mouth". Henrietta Aiken's christening set is silver with gilt and "finely engraved with the Aiken crest" probably engraved in a northern city. It originated with Heloise boudo (d. 1837), who was a Charleston silver dealer specializing in spoons. Cup and spoon, c. 1827–1837. Charleston, S.C. {{cite news |url=http://www.historiccharleston.org/about/annual_reports/2007.pdf |format=pdf |title=2007 Annual Report |publisher=Historic Charleston Foundation |year=2007 |accessdate =January 17, 2012}} Her parents were William Kelly (1799–1882) and Mary Stoll Kelly (1811–1867). She is buried at [[Magnolia Cemetery (Charleston, South Carolina)|Magnolia Cemetery]] in Charleston. [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=41761829 Henrietta Aikin Kelly at] [[Find a Grave]].</ref> initially in her own home.<ref name="mazyck">{{cite book|last=Mazyck, Arthur|title=Guide to Charleston illustrated: being a sketch of the history of Charleston, S. C. with some account of its present condition, with numerous engravings |publisher=Walker, Evans, and Cogswell|location=Charleston, South Carolina|date=1875|pages=176–179|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=o2FAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA177&dq=charleston+female+seminary&hl=en&sa=X&ei=M9QUT97qDOjo0QH468mBAw&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=charleston%20female%20seminary&f=false}}</ref> Kelly, who was an expert on [[silk worm]]s,<ref>{{cite book |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=_4waAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1&source=gbs_selected_pages&cad=3#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=The culture of the mulberry silkworm |first1=Henrietta Aiken |last1=Kelly |place=Washington DC |publisher=[[Department of Agriculture]], [[Government Printing Office]] |year=1903 |accessdate=17 January 2012}}</ref> had earlier sought to have female students admitted to study at the [[College of Charleston]]. After that effort proved unsuccessful, she established the Charleston Female Seminary to offer females access to higher education.<ref name=Wooten>{{cite |url=http://thetandd.com/lifestyles/article_91101844-4758-5205-aa1b-379b5bf7d82d.html |title=Beautiful faces without names |last=Wooten |first=Nancy C. |date=3 March 2007 |newspaper=Times and Democrat |location=Orangeburg, South Carolina |accessdate=8 February 2012}}</ref> Beginning in 1872, the school was housed on 50 Philip Street,<ref name="mazyck" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/csas200803650/|title=Charleston Female Seminary, 50 Philip St., Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina|publisher=[[Library of Congress]]|last1=Johnston |first1=Frances Benjamin (1864–1952), photographer |year=1937|accessdate=17 January 2012}}</ref> in a building constructed in 1871 by architect [[John Henry Devereux]].<ref name="Philip">{{cite web|url=http://www.ccpl.org/content.asp?id=15651&action=detail&catID=6026&parentID=5747|title=Philip Street|publisher=Charleston County Public Library|accessdate=17 January 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Guide to Charleston illustrated: being a sketch of the history of Charleston, S. C. with some account of its present condition, with numerous engravings|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=o2FAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA177|year=1875|publisher=Walker, Evans & Cogswell|pages=177–79}}</ref> Devereux used "mixed Roman" [[Italianate]] architecture, and "an arcaded and pedimented facade".<ref name="Philip"/><ref>{{cite book |year=1976 |title=Charleston, come hell or high water: a history in photographs |first1=Robert N. S. |last1=Whitelaw |first2=Alice F. |last2=Levkoff |place=Columbia, S.C. |publisher=[[University of South Carolina Press]] |page=89}}</ref> |
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Charlestown became the site of a pair of what amateur historian Charles Zellner, of the Charlestown Historical Society, called the "earliest boarding schools" for young women. The first of these was the Mount Benedict Academy, a combined [[Roman Catholic]] [[convent]] and [[finishing school]] for young ladies, established in 1828 by [[Benedict Fenwick]], Roman Catholic [[bishop]] of [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston|Boston]]. That academy was staffed by [[Ursuline nuns]]. Mount Benedict acquired a superior reputation, leading both Catholic and Protestant families to enroll their daughters there. Despite that acceptance, in 1834 the Academy [[Ursuline Convent riots|was burned by an anti-Catholic mob]]. |
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Kelly ran the school using the motto ''[[Mens sana in corpore sano]]'' and incorporated physical education into the curriculum.<ref name="mazyck" /> |
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In the 1890s, the school occupied the [[Benjamin Lazarus House]] on 151 Wentworth Street, at which time a third floor was added to the building.<ref name=poston>{{cite book|last1=Poston|first1=Jonathan H.|title=The buildings of Charleston: a guide to the city's architecture|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=GHBfBOdwsCkC&pg=PA579|accessdate=17 January 2012|date=1997-12|publisher=[[University of South Carolina Press]]|isbn=978-1-57003-202-8|page=579}}</ref> "From 1882 to 1896, the building housed Miss Kelly and boarders of her 'rigorous but genteel' academy".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ccpl.org/content.asp?id=15652&catID=6026&action=detail&parentID=5747 |title=151 Wentworth St. c.1849 |publisher=Charleston County Public Library |accessdate=January 17, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Thomas |title=Do you Know Your Charleston (DYKYC) |date=September 27, 1971 |publisher=[[The Post and Courier]]}}</ref> Thereafter, it was at a location that became the [[Nathaniel Russell House]] at 51 Meeting Street.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Breibart|first1=Solomon|title=Explorations in Charleston's Jewish History, Volume 1|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Qr7ty-w5aLUC&lpg=PA88 |
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|accessdate=17 January 2012|date=2005|publisher=The History Press|isbn=978-1-59629-047-1|page=88}}</ref> |
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==Historical context== |
==Historical context== |
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The Charlestown Female Seminary, located at 50 Philip Street, in a building constructed in 1871 by architect John Henry Devereux. Devereux used "mixed Roman" Italianate architecture, and "an arcaded and pedimented facade". |
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The establishment of [[Female seminary|Female seminaries]] was a cultural trend across the United States. They were associated with a large and growing trend toward women's equality.<ref name="Donnaway">{{cite journal |url=http://www.loyno.edu/~history/journal/1984-5/donnaway.htm |title=Women's Rights Before the Civil War |publisher=The Student Historical Journal 1984–1985 |first1=Laura |last1=Donnaway |accessdate=21 January 2012}}</ref> Beginning round 1815 and close to the Civil War, it has been said to be at the confluence of various liberation movements.<ref name="Donnaway"/><ref name="Melder">{{cite book |first1=Keith E. |last1=Melder |title=Beginnings of Sisterhood: The American Woman's Rights Movement, 1800–1850 |place=New York |publisher=Schocken Books |year=1977 |page=15}}</ref>.<ref name="clements"/> |
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Southern iterations were "among the most advanced in the country" offering the equivalent of four-year college programs even before the [[American Civil War]].<ref name="clements"/> It was part of "an unprecedented social experiment in women's education."<ref name="Farnham">{{cite book |url=http://books.google.com/books/about/The_Education_of_the_southern_belle.html?id=5AdvjrxqZbMC |title=The Education of the Southern Belle |first1=Christie Anne |last1=Farnham |publisher=[[NYU Press]] |date=January 1, 1994 |pages=208 |format=Hardcover |isbn=0-8147-2615-1}} ISBN 978-0-8147-2615-0</ref> Southern female seminaries educated daughters and "education in a renowned and fashionable seminary conferred social capital as well as intellectual and artistic satisfaction".<ref name="clements">{{cite journal |url= |
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| ⚫ | A notable alumna was author [[Beatrice Witte Ravenel]], mother of the South Carolina architectural historiographer Beatrice St. Julien Ravenel.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/r/Ravenel,Beatrice_Witte.html |title=Collection Number: 03944 Collection Title: Beatrice Witte Ravenel Papers, 1892–1948 |publisher=[[Southern Historical Collection]] |access-date=January 17, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.charlestonlibrarysociety.org/Chas_Library_Soc_Fall_NL_2009.pdf |title=From the Collections: Beatrice Witte Ravenel |volume=X |number=2 |page=1 |date=Fall 2009 |journal=The Charlestown Reader |publisher=Charlestown Library Society |access-date=January 19, 2012 }}{{dead link|date=August 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name="Ravenel">{{cite book |title=Architects of Charleston |url=http://www.lib.muohio.edu/multifacet/record/mu3ugb1809819 |first1=Beatrice St. Julien (1904–1990) |last1=Ravenel |first2=Carl (photographs) |last2=Julien |author3=Carolina Art Association |page=295 |lccn=91034126 |isbn=0-87249-828-X |place=Columbia, S.C. |publisher=[[University of South Carolina Press]] |year=1992 |access-date=2012-01-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005012841/http://www.lib.muohio.edu/multifacet/record/mu3ugb1809819 |archive-date=2013-10-05 |url-status=dead }}</ref> |
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http://www.clements.umich.edu/exhibits/online/womened/Institutions.html |title=Academies & Seminaries" Women’s Education Home Page |publisher=[[William L. Clements Library]] [[University of Michigan]] |work=Women's Education Evolves, 1790–1890{{spaced ndash}}Selected Primary Works from the W.L. Clements Library|accessdate=January 17, 2012}}</ref> The continuing changes at Charleston Female Seminary aligned with trends throughout the United States. They included ever growing facilities in a more institutional format. Classical building structures became a norm, and were in sharp contrast to earlier forms of female education which moved from boarding schools and private education to seminaries. By midcentury, "female seminaries and academies were everywhere, replacing the homelike atmosphere of boarding schools with a more institutional setting". These larger buildings housed "dormitory rooms, chapels, dining halls, and classrooms".<ref name="clements"/> The timing of the opening of a female seminary in 1870 was significant, as there was a retrenchment in female education following the Civil War.<ref name="Farnham"/> |
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| ⚫ | Another was Hermine Kean Bulwinkle (1868–1942), who married Solomon Anderson Wolff (1861–1954) in 1890. Both were on the faculty [[Gaston College]], Dallas, N.C.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/w/Wolff,Hermine_Kean_Bulwinkle.html |title=Collection Number: 04160 Title: Hermine Kean Bulwinkle Wolff Papers, 1878–1892 |publisher=[[Southern Historical Collection]] [[University of North Carolina]] |access-date=January 19, 2012}}</ref> |
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Another Charleston female seminary was Miss Murthen's Seminary for Young Ladies.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.carolana.com/SC/1800s/antebellum/educational_opportunities.html |title=South Carolina – Antebellum Educational Opportunities |first1=J.D. |last1=Lewis |year=2007 |accessdate=January 22, 2012}}</ref> |
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| ⚫ | A third notable alumna was Sarah Campbell Allan (1861–1954), who went on to become a [[physician]] in spite of educational and professional barriers she encountered as a woman. After completing a medical preparatory course at the [[South Carolina College for Women]] in [[Columbia, South Carolina|Columbia]] and studying medicine at the Women's Medical College of the [[New York Downtown Hospital|New York Infirmary for Women and Children]], in 1894 she was licensed as a physician by the state of South Carolina. She was the only woman in the pool of applicants examined by the [[South Carolina Medical Board]] that year, the first time the board sat to examine applicants, and she received the board's highest grade. As a doctor, for 11 years Allan worked with female patients at the [[South Carolina Hospital for the Insane]] in Columbia and taught anatomy and physiology to nursing students.<ref name="Wooten">{{citation |last=Wooten |first=Nancy C. |title=Beautiful faces without names |date=3 March 2007 |url=http://thetandd.com/lifestyles/article_91101844-4758-5205-aa1b-379b5bf7d82d.html |newspaper=Times and Democrat |location=Orangeburg, South Carolina |access-date=8 February 2012}}</ref> |
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| ⚫ | A notable alumna was author Beatrice Witte Ravenel |
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[[Sarah Visanska]] graduated from the Charleston Female Seminary in 1889. She was president of the South Carolina Federation of Women's Clubs from 1910-1912.<ref>John William Leonard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=aHUEAAAAYAAJ&dq=Rachel%20Epstein%20Toledano&pg=PA840 ''Women's Who's Who of America''] (American Commonwealth Company 1914): 840.</ref> |
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| ⚫ | Another was Hermine Kean Bulwinkle (1868–1942), who married Solomon Anderson Wolff (1861–1954) in 1890. Both were on the faculty [[Gaston College]], Dallas, N.C.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/w/Wolff,Hermine_Kean_Bulwinkle.html |title=Collection Number: 04160 Title: Hermine Kean Bulwinkle Wolff Papers, 1878–1892 |publisher=[[Southern Historical Collection]] [[University of North Carolina]] | |
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The writer, lecturer, and artist, [[Louise Hammond Willis Snead]], was a student at Charleston Female Seminary, and also had charge of the painting and drawing classes.{{sfn|Willard|Livermore|1893|p=785}} |
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| ⚫ | A third notable alumna was Sarah Campbell Allan (1861–1954), who went on to become a [[physician]] in spite of educational and professional barriers she encountered as a woman. After completing a medical preparatory course at the [[South Carolina College for Women]] in [[Columbia, South Carolina|Columbia]] and studying medicine at the Women's Medical College of the [[New York Downtown Hospital|New York Infirmary for Women and Children]], in 1894 she was licensed as a physician by the state of South Carolina. She was the only woman in the pool of applicants examined by the [[South Carolina Medical Board]] that year, the first time the board sat to examine applicants, and she received the board's highest grade. As a doctor, for 11 years Allan worked with female patients at the [[South Carolina Hospital for the Insane]] in Columbia and taught anatomy and physiology to nursing students.<ref name=Wooten/> |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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*[[Women in education in the United States]] |
*[[Women in education in the United States]] |
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==References== |
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===Footnotes=== |
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{{Reflist|group=upper-alpha}} |
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===Bibliography=== |
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* {{Source-attribution| {{cite book|last1=Willard|first1=Frances Elizabeth|last2=Livermore|first2=Mary Ashton Rice|title=A Woman of the Century: Fourteen Hundred-seventy Biographical Sketches Accompanied by Portraits of Leading American Women in All Walks of Life|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_zXEEAAAAYAAJ|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_zXEEAAAAYAAJ/page/n789 785]|edition=Public domain|year=1893|publisher=Moulton}} }} |
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[[Category:Education in Charleston, South Carolina]] |
[[Category:Education in Charleston, South Carolina]] |
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[[Category:Defunct girls' schools in the United States]] |
[[Category:Defunct girls' schools in the United States]] |
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[[Category:Defunct schools in South Carolina]] |
[[Category:Defunct schools in South Carolina]] |
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[[Category: |
[[Category:Universities and colleges established in 1870]] |
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[[Category:1870 establishments in |
[[Category:1870 establishments in South Carolina]] |
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[[Category:Female seminaries in the United States]] |
[[Category:Female seminaries in the United States]] |
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[[Category:History of |
[[Category:History of women in South Carolina]] |
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[[Category:History of women in the United States]] |
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Latest revision as of 22:04, 15 October 2023
| Charleston Female Seminary | |
|---|---|
 Charleston Female Seminary at its Philip Street location | |
| Location | |
| , South Carolina United States | |
| Information | |
| Type | Private, All-Female |
| Motto | Mens sana in corpore sano ("A sound mind in a sound body.") |
| Religious affiliation(s) | Christian |
| Established | 1830 |
| Founder | Henrietta "Etta" Aiken Kelly |
The Charleston Female Seminary, was a private Christian school for wealthy white girls in Charleston, South Carolina, United States.[1] Opened in 1830, the female seminary was the second school in Charlestown for young women.
Background
[edit]The establishment of Charlestown Female Seminary was part of a movement to facilitate the education of young women that took root in the United States in the 1820s and 1830s. The movement started in 1814 with the establishment by Catherine Fiske, in Keene, New Hampshire, of the "Young Ladies Seminary." Another important early school was Emma Willard's Troy Female Seminary, opened in 1821 in Troy, New York.
Charlestown became the site of a pair of what amateur historian Charles Zellner, of the Charlestown Historical Society, called the "earliest boarding schools" for young women. The first of these was the Mount Benedict Academy, a combined Roman Catholic convent and finishing school for young ladies, established in 1828 by Benedict Fenwick, Roman Catholic bishop of Boston. That academy was staffed by Ursuline nuns. Mount Benedict acquired a superior reputation, leading both Catholic and Protestant families to enroll their daughters there. Despite that acceptance, in 1834 the Academy was burned by an anti-Catholic mob.
Historical context
[edit]The Charlestown Female Seminary, located at 50 Philip Street, in a building constructed in 1871 by architect John Henry Devereux. Devereux used "mixed Roman" Italianate architecture, and "an arcaded and pedimented facade".
Distinguished alumnae
[edit]A notable alumna was author Beatrice Witte Ravenel, mother of the South Carolina architectural historiographer Beatrice St. Julien Ravenel.[2][3][4]
Another was Hermine Kean Bulwinkle (1868–1942), who married Solomon Anderson Wolff (1861–1954) in 1890. Both were on the faculty Gaston College, Dallas, N.C.[5]
A third notable alumna was Sarah Campbell Allan (1861–1954), who went on to become a physician in spite of educational and professional barriers she encountered as a woman. After completing a medical preparatory course at the South Carolina College for Women in Columbia and studying medicine at the Women's Medical College of the New York Infirmary for Women and Children, in 1894 she was licensed as a physician by the state of South Carolina. She was the only woman in the pool of applicants examined by the South Carolina Medical Board that year, the first time the board sat to examine applicants, and she received the board's highest grade. As a doctor, for 11 years Allan worked with female patients at the South Carolina Hospital for the Insane in Columbia and taught anatomy and physiology to nursing students.[6]
Sarah Visanska graduated from the Charleston Female Seminary in 1889. She was president of the South Carolina Federation of Women's Clubs from 1910-1912.[7]
The writer, lecturer, and artist, Louise Hammond Willis Snead, was a student at Charleston Female Seminary, and also had charge of the painting and drawing classes.[8]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Poston, Jonathan H. (December 1997). The buildings of Charleston: a guide to the city's architecture. University of South Carolina Press. p. 579. ISBN 978-1-57003-202-8. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
- ^ "Collection Number: 03944 Collection Title: Beatrice Witte Ravenel Papers, 1892–1948". Southern Historical Collection. Retrieved January 17, 2012.
- ^ "From the Collections: Beatrice Witte Ravenel" (PDF). The Charlestown Reader. X (2). Charlestown Library Society: 1. Fall 2009. Retrieved January 19, 2012.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Ravenel, Beatrice St. Julien (1904–1990); Julien, Carl (photographs); Carolina Art Association (1992). Architects of Charleston. Columbia, S.C.: University of South Carolina Press. p. 295. ISBN 0-87249-828-X. LCCN 91034126. Archived from the original on 2013-10-05. Retrieved 2012-01-17.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Collection Number: 04160 Title: Hermine Kean Bulwinkle Wolff Papers, 1878–1892". Southern Historical Collection University of North Carolina. Retrieved January 19, 2012.
- ^ Wooten, Nancy C. (3 March 2007), "Beautiful faces without names", Times and Democrat, Orangeburg, South Carolina, retrieved 8 February 2012
- ^ John William Leonard, Women's Who's Who of America (American Commonwealth Company 1914): 840.
- ^ Willard & Livermore 1893, p. 785.
Bibliography
[edit]
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Willard, Frances Elizabeth; Livermore, Mary Ashton Rice (1893). A Woman of the Century: Fourteen Hundred-seventy Biographical Sketches Accompanied by Portraits of Leading American Women in All Walks of Life (Public domain ed.). Moulton. p. 785.
