Women, Remain in College!

By Brianna Neusch

In 1917, P.P. Claxton, the United States Commissioner of Education, appealed to women to remain in college. He was worried “That many young women now in the colleges, universities, and normal schools of the United States [might] not return to continue their work at the beginning of the next school year.”[1] The possibility deeply disturbed him.  While he praised women desire to aid in the war effort, Claxton feared they would abandon institutions of higher learning in pursuit of employment.  He mused, “It is good to see the readiness and the willingness with which women [are]…offering their services by the thousands”.[2]  Nevertheless, he issued a formal nationwide appeal pleading with women to remain in college stating, “I make this appeal to all young women in college, university, normal school, and technical school who can do so to continue their studies [until] graduation.”[3]  Claxton believed it was crucial for women be prepared to fill roles that required higher education after the war. This appeal appeared in newspapers all over the country including the Vassar Miscellany in upstate New York.

Although his appeal appeared in New York newspapers, there is no evidence that the women of New York State stopped attending college. In New York, increased industrial demand during wartime coupled with the decrease of manpower caused a labor and goods shortage. Women rose to the occasion to meet this problem head-on and, by the time the war had ended, women comprised a significant percentage of the state’s labor work force.[4]  Additionally, after the second draft of 1918, the number of female workers increased even more. Historian Maurine Greenwald notes how the war simply accelerated previous trends in women labor, and the attitudes towards female workers.[5] Given the number of women entering these positions, it is not surprising that Claxton was concerned about college enrollment numbers. However, the increased demand for labor was not filled by college students, but rather by working class women who could not afford tuition rates. It appears Claxton was concerned that the women in colleges would pursue the same path and forsake their academic careers to help with the workforce shortages.

Women had always fought and endured hardships for their right to attend college. The historian Caroline Zilboorg notes that, “In fact, until the 1870s, few institutions encouraged women to follow a cohesive and intellectually demanding course of study.”[6]  Women enrolled in institutions of higher education normalized somewhat after 1905 when women began to enroll in universities.[7] It is astonishing therefore that the Commissioner of Education was begging women to study and take college courses during a time where many people believed that a women’s place was in the home. Despite Claxton’s fears, women were not giving up their right to attend college so easily.  In fact, the June 1917 issue of the Vassar College newspaper confirmed the New York college would be “Opening… with full enrollment in the fall.”[8]  The Vassar annual catalog records also show the numbers of students in attendance never dropped below the maximum limit of 1,000 student during the entire time in which the Great War took place.[9]  The data demonstrates Claxton’s fears were invalid and that at least in New York women remained in college.

[1] P.P. Claxton, “An Appeal for Women to Remain in College,” Miscellany News, Volume I, Number 28, 30 May 1917

[2] P.P. Claxton, “An Appeal for Women to Remain in College,” Miscellany News, Volume I, Number 28, 30 May 1917

[3] P.P. Claxton, “An Appeal for Women to Remain in College,” Miscellany News, Volume I, Number 28, 30 May 1917

[4] Aaron Noble, Keith Swaney, Vicki Weiss, A Spirit of Sacrifice: New York State in the First World War (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2017), 105

[5] Maurine Weiner Greenwald, “Women Workers and World War I: The American Railroad Industry, a Case Study,” Journal of Social History Vol. 9, No. 2 (1975) 154-177.

[6] Caroline Zilboorg, “Women before World War I: An Exploration of Their Awakening in the College Novel,” The Great Lakes Review Vol. 7, No. 2 (1981) 29-38 https://www.jstor.org/stable/20172596?seq=2#metadata_info_tab_contents

[7] Caroline Zilboorg, “Women before World War I: An Exploration of Their Awakening in the College Novel,” The Great Lakes Review Vol. 7, No. 2 (1981) 29-38 https://www.jstor.org/stable/20172596?seq=2#metadata_info_tab_contents

[8] Vassar College, “The Trustees’ Luncheon” Miscellany News, Volume I, Number 31, 16 June 1917 https://newspaperarchives.vassar.edu/?a=d&d=miscellany19170616-01.2.23&srpos=1&e=–1917—1919–en-20–1–txt-txIN-+enrollment+down——-

[9] Vassar College. Annual Catalogue. New York [etc.], 1915-1919

https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/002133289

Image: “The Entrance, Vassar College,” c. 1900-1910, Library of Congress https://www.loc.gov/resource/det.4a28044/

Bibliography

• Claxton, P.P.  “An Appeal to Women to Stay in College” The Miscellany News, Volume I, Number 28, 30 May 1917. Hudson Valley Historical Newspaper, accessed 2021. https://news.hrvh.org/veridian/?a=d&d=vcmisc19170530-01.2.5&srpos=10&e=—–1920–en-20–1–txt-txIN-world+war+I——.
• Noble Aaron, Swaney Kieth, Weiss Vicki. A Spirit of Sacrifice: New York State in the First World War. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2017.
• Greenwald, Maurine Weiner. “Women Workers and World War I: The American Railroad Industry, a Case Study.” Journal of Social History Vol. 9, No. 2 (1975) 154-177. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3786250?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents
• Zilboorg, Caroline. “Women before World War I: An Exploration of Their Awakening in the College Novel.” The Great Lakes Review Vol. 7, No.(1981) 29-38. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20172596?seq=2#metadata_info_tab_contents
• College, Vassar “The Trustees’ Luncheon” Miscellany News, Volume I, Number 31, 16 June 1917, Vassar Newspapers and Magazine Archive, accessed October 2021 https://newspaperarchives.vassar.edu/?a=d&d=miscellany19170616-01.2.23&srpos=1&e=–1917—1919–en-20–1–txt-txIN-+enrollment+down——-
• College, Vassar, Annual Catalogue. New York [etc.], 1915-1919
• https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/002133289
• Image: “The Entrance, Vassar College,” 1900-1901, Library of Congress https://www.loc.gov/resource/det.4a28044/