"A number of Professors and other Instructors in Harvard
College have
consented to give private tuition to properly qualified young
women who
desire to pursue advanced studies in Cambridge. No instruction will be
provided of a lower grade than that given in Harvard College."
With these words, the long, productive, and singular relationship
between Harvard College and its women\''s "Annex"
began in 1879. From
the start, the founders of the
new school for women proceeded
cautiously in their quest for, at first, a Harvard education, and,
eventually, a Harvard degree. While other institutions for women had
been established – Vassar, Smith, and Wellesley – none had the close
ties with a men\''s college that Radcliffe had.
Resistance against coeducation was powerful and entrenched, and
Elizabeth Cary Agassiz and Radcliffe\''s other founders chose to walk a
thin line between two obvious alternatives: coeducation and the
establishment of a separate women\''s college. In 1894, through
Agassiz\''s unstinting efforts, the "Annex" was incorporated by the
Massachusetts Legislature and authorized to "confer on women all honors
and degrees as fully as any
university or college in the Commonwealth."
So the newly named Radcliffe College achieved a certain authority but
not autonomy: Harvard
faculty taught Harvard courses to Radcliffe
women, and Radcliffe degrees were approved by the President and Fellows
of Harvard.
Agassiz described the partnership thus: "Virtually then they say to us,
\''Keep your independence – the management of your property, and of all
the other general interests of your establishment. We will assume the
guardianship of the instruction, and endorse the work of your
students as approved and certified by the professors and teachers of Harvard.\''
This places us, as it seems to me, just where we wish to be."
As Radcliffe\''s first president predicted, the relationship proved
congenial to both institutions. Gertrude Stein (Class of 1897), for
instance, could look back on her college years and remember that the
"most important person in . . .
Radcliffe life was William James."
And for its part, the University could be grateful to Radcliffe for
innovations in, among other areas, the arts. When George P. Baker
decided to offer a course in playwriting in 1904, he chose Radcliffe as
a try-out venue. After the course had a successful "out of town" run,
Baker offered it at Harvard. English 47 soon begot the 47 Workshop,
which developed a host of theatrical productions, many of which ended
up on the stage in Boston and New York.
In 1899, the new Radcliffe Choral Society, together with the Harvard
Glee Club, became the first university chorus to sing with a major
orchestra. Archibald Davison, who conducted both groups (1915-25),
recalled years later, "I sometimes wonder how much, if anything,
Harvard realizes that it owes to Radcliffe. . . . Without the early and
enthusiastic cooperation of the \''young ladies of Radcliffe\'' the
impressive tradition of college choral singing, which is now nationwide
and which is always associated first with Cambridge, would almost
certainly have been established much later here or would have
originated elsewhere."
Radcliffe women began taking classes at Harvard alongside men during
World War II. "In 1943 . . . a lot of faculty members and students were
in the service and overseas fighting," said Mary Maples Dunn, who
served as interim Dean at Radcliffe. "It was just more efficient for
women to take their courses at Harvard. At that point, Radcliffe gave
up its responsibility to provide a curriculum for undergraduates."
In the same year, according to Dunn, what is now known as the
Schlesinger Library was founded. "Looking back, 1943 is a very symbolic
year. . . . hat\''s when undergraduates began moving toward
Harvard, and Radcliffe began moving toward research and advanced
study," she said.
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