




































Reappraising the Roles of Girls' Preparatory Schools

Quynh Dang
Indiana University

Historiography of women's education in
the United States has been dramatically enriched
both its depth and breadth since the publication
of the foundational work In the Company of
Educated Women by Barbara Solomon
(Solomon 1985). Solomon contributed
significantly to the exploration of women's
struggles for access to higher institutions and
furthered the understandings of the contestations
between achieving higher education and
complying with gender expectations. Since then,
historians and education scholars have
researched extensively about seminaries,
academies, women's organizations, and the
implications of the power structures, class,
ethnicity, and nationalities on the educational
experience of women (Nash 2008 2018;
Woyshner, Hao Kuo Tai 1997)

Contemporary scholarship has continued
to refine the understandings of female
institutions and the impacts of social
stratifications on women's education. Andrea
Turpin's work underscores the two contrasting
educational philosophies of Catherine Beecher
and Mary Lyon (Turpin 2010). Catherine
Beacher, the founder of the Hartford Female
Seminary, believed that education should help
women fulfill the role of mothers and wives.
Meanwhile, Mary Lyon founded the Mount
Holyoke Female Seminary on the basis that
knowledge should help to liberate women and
serve their own purposes. In recent years, more
research has investigated the impacts of social
class, ethnicities, and nationalities on women's
educational experience. Regarding the
relationship between race and education, Linda
Perkins (1983) uncovered the educational
experience of African American women during
the mid-and late nineteenth century and asserted
that the primary purpose of their education was
to "uplift" their race. Perkins (1983) also points
out the social barriers such as racial segregation

and discrimination that impeded women of color
from receiving the same quality of education as
white women. The research concerning
women's social, racial, and ethnic backgrounds
has both enriched and complicated the history of
women's education in the United States.

In the field of the history of curriculum,
scholars have analyzed the curriculum for men
and women to understand opportunities and
challenges for women better once they had
access to schooling. While popular beliefs had
that female institutions were more ornamental or
less intellectual curriculum than that of male
counterparts, Margaret Nash (2016) argues that
both men and women in most academies shared
similar curricular subjects in the eighteenth-
century. As science has become more accessible
for women, the history of women in science has
drawn attention of scholars. In the
groundbreaking book The Science Education of
American Girls, Kim Tolley (2014) enunciates
the structural and cultural obstacles limiting
girls' access to science from the antebellum area
to the twentieth century. Whether it was the
curriculum or the treatment of women in
different fields, women nonetheless had to
overcome significant impediments and
prejudices to earn their education.

A missing piece in the history of female
institutions – girls' preparatory schools

Preparatory schools were established
during the transitional time between the late
nineteenth century and early twentieth century.
By the end of the nineteenth century, female
seminaries and academies were being criticized
and gradually replaced by common schools. At
the same time, colleges were established mainly
for men and women who wanted to attain a
higher degree. However, in their early days,
public high schools were considered unqualified
for preparing students for college administration;



15

thus, most collegial preparation work
was done through private study (Kliebard 2004).
This demand offered a great opportunity for
establishing a specialized kind of school under
the name preparatory schools were rapidly
established as an alternative choice for those
who wanted to pursue higher education. These
preparatory schools played

Woody's book informs that nineteenth-
century girls' high schools such as the New
York High School for Females (1826), the Girls
High and Normal School of Philadelphia (1848),
or the Boston Girls' High School (1852) aspired
to provide a thorough education for women
(Woody 1929). While these high schools
offered secondary education for women, they
did not perform well in preparing their students
for colleges. Students needed to attend college
preparatory departments or private study to
prepare for college entrance (Krug 1969). As a
result, private pre-collegiate institutions played
an increasingly prominent role in preparing
young men and women for colleges. That said,
historical research so far has not been paying
adequate attention to preparatory schools
(Eisenman 2001).

There are two probable reasons for the
scarcity of research on preparatory schools. First,
research on female institutions in the nineteenth
century has heavily investigated seminaries and
academies, the most dominant kinds of female
schools. Second, by the end of the nineteenth,
co-educational high schools grew noticeably,
and more women could make their way to
colleges. Female colleges and higher education
institutions conveniently became an appealing
research site as they were the newest
educational frontier for women at that time. The
preparatory schools whose names differed from
seminaries, academies, and colleges did not fit
into any category. While these schools
contributed profoundly to the achievement of
many women's education, they did not receive
enough attention from researchers. Therefore, a
study of girls' pre-collegiate schools offers
critical insights into the changes in women's

educational experience in the late nineteenth
century.

This article examines the curriculum and
practices of the Classical School for Girls in
Indianapolis, Indiana. Theodore A. Sewall
(1853-1895) and May Wright Sewall (1844-
1920) founded the school in 1882. Mr. and Mrs.
Sewall were college graduates from Harvard
University and Northeastern University,
respectively. They shared the same commitment
to educational reform and transformed their
visions into practice. In 1876, Mr. Sewall
founded the Indianapolis Classical School for
Boys, where Mrs. Sewall later taught German.
The notice of the Classical School for Girls'
establishment appeared six years later in an
announcement of the boys' school in June 1882.
While Theodore A. Sewall's name remained as
the school's principal until he died in 1895,
Mary Wright Sewall was the person in charge of
running the school. As stated in the
announcement for school establishment,
Classical School for Girls served to "provide a
thorough Course of Study preparatory to the
Colleges that admit women" (Indianapolis
Classical School Scrapbook Vol. 1 n.d). The
school curriculum for girls was similar to that of
the school for boys, which "modeled on the plan
of the leading New England Academies"
(Indianapolis Classical School Scrapbook Vol. 1
n.d).

The review of sources – including school
catalogs, scrapbooks, personal manuscripts, and
newspaper articles – reveals a broader reform
agenda that was infused in the school
curriculum and practice. The school presented
itself as a pioneering institution that confronted
popular norms about women's intellectual and
physical capacities. Not only did the school
provide female students with an equally
rigorous curriculum as the males' school but
also did it offer innovative courses such as
physical training and domestic sciences. The
Classical School for Girls furthered women's
access to higher education and reimagined
gender norms related to women's ability and
their place in society. This study contributes to



16

the understanding of female preparatory schools
in the late nineteenth century and calls for a
reappraisal of this kind of school in shaping
women's educational experience.

Improvements and challenges of female
education in the late nineteenth century

The last few decades of the nineteenth
century saw significant achievements in
secondary education for women in the United
States. Vocal proponents supported the
establishment of secondary schools for girls and
promoted women's education. In 1840,
Alexander Dallas Bache submitted a plan for a
High School for Girls and a Seminary for
Female Teachers to the Controller of the Public
School of Philadelphia. He asserted that "Yes,
the High School for Girls! - that is what
Philadelphia lacks" and "educate the girls
properly, and the world will soon be a better and
nobler race of men" (Woody 1929, 524). The
establishment of high schools and female
colleges allowed more women to pursue
secondary and higher education. Between 1850
and 1870, there were approximately 160 public
high schools, and the number increased to 2,536
in 1890. By 1890, more girls attended and
graduated from high schools than boys (Woody
1929, 545-46). Private schools and academies
provided a wide range of courses for students
and prepared them for colleges. Some
academies even extended their course of study
and obtained the pretentious name of colleges,
and many male colleges started accepting co-
education (Dexter 1919, 433).

The growth of women's colleges offered
more significant opportunities for those who
aspired to pursue higher education. Between
1875 and 1885, the number of female students
in non-coeducational increased from 9,572 to
14,049 (Dexter 1919, 440-44). Solomon (1985)
suggests several factors that promoted women's
attendance at colleges, such as family finance
and beliefs. Middle-class families were among
those who often supported their children's
higher education, intending to maintain
economic prosperity. In the Annual Reports of

the Present of the Columbia College presented
to the Trustees in 1882, Frederick A.P Barnard
affirmed women's positive impacts on
improving the standard of scholarship. He also
disputed the assumption that women's
constitutions did not fit the rigorous course of
study in colleges (Barnard, 1882).

Despite the increasing support, women
continued facing some intense opposition. In
1872, Edward Clarke, a Harvard Medical
School professor, proposed one of the most
profound critiques of women's intellectual
capacity. Clarke (1874) claims that the study at
schools and colleges was strenuous for women's
brains and potentially caused nerve disease or
mental power loss. In other words, women's
physical and intellectual capacity could not meet
the intensity of higher schooling. Another
objection came from the fear that education
would adversely affect women's marriage. Men
perceived educated women as those who might
engage in public discussions and neglect
housework (Burstyn 2016). Opponents to
women's education in the late nineteenth
century fiercely denounced co-education. They
perceived co-education as a cause of the
masculinization of women and the feminization
of men. Opposing people also believed that
women's participation in the same environment
could impede men's success (Nash 2016).
Multisided attacks on women's capacity and
dignity indeed impeded most women to access
higher education, yet did not necessarily affect
middle-class families who could afford private
schooling for their children.

Education in Indiana in the nineteenth
century.

It took several decades for the
State of Indiana to constitutionalize common
schools. In 1816, Indian's first Constitution
included education provision, which called for
"a general system of education" (Carmony and
Peckham 1950, 22). However, it was only until
1852 that Indiana passed a School Law for
establishing a common school fund. The
"County Seminary Law of 1818" was the first



17

State's attempt to encourage the establishment
of a trustee to fund public seminary. That said,
the law was not meant to secure public funds for
education. Seminaries were ultimately
dependent on tuitions, which were afforded by
only a few (Boone 1892). In the 1840s, Indiana
faced the challenge of illiteracy that happened
one-seventh of the entire population (Moores
1905). Caleb Mills, a professor at the Wabash
College, acknowledged the State of emergency
in Indiana's education system and actively
advocated public education through his
publications. In his infamous writing, the series
of One of the People submitted to the
Legislature members; Mill presented suggested
plans for free public schools for Indiana
children. His proposal influenced the Governor
and the legislature makers to pass an act that
collected public opinions on free education
between 1847 and 1848 (Moores 1905). In 1851,
the new Constitution acknowledged the
formation of a Common Schools system, "where
tuition shall be without charge, and equally open
to all" (Indiana Constitution 1851). In the
following year, the School Law of 1852
mandated the use of state taxation to support
public education, including building schools and
hiring teachers. The proliferation of public
schools resulted in the decline of private schools.
Over four decades, Indiana transformed an
education system from a mostly private and
charted to a state-funded one.

Education for Indian women underwent
some similar experiences with women in other
parts of the country. In the early nineteenth
century, female seminaries emphasized the
teaching of etiquette rather than academic rigor.
The two first female schools in Indianapolis
were the Indianapolis Female School and Miss
Hooker's Female School. The former school was
founded in 1830 and offered coursed in English
grammar, geography, astronomy, and
needlework. The latter was opened in 1834 and
extended its courses of study to history, natural
philosophy, and painting (Ubriel 1994). These
seminaries were often short-lived and offered
limited opportunities only for those who could

afford their tuition. By the 1840s, female
education achieved growing recognition and
momentum for improvement. The number of
female seminaries and colleges increased
noticeably across the State. The Rockville
Female Seminary was founded in 1840; then,
the De Pauw Female College at New Albany
opened five years later (Boone 1892). Many of
the girls' schools remained private and under
churches' influences. The curriculum
emphasized less on subjects like needlework,
astronomy but more on English and history. The
development of private schools ceased in the
1850s by the time public education and co-
education became viable (Boone 1892).

By the 1860s, co-education became a
favorable option in Indiana. Boone (1892)
claims that the county seminaries were
nominally open to both sexes, although, in some
exceptions, female students were not as
welcomed as males. As early as 1819, Rev.
William Martin founded the Martin's Academy
in Livonia, Washington County, which opened
the door to both male and female students. The
Monroe County Seminary admitted both sexes
in 1833. When Caleb Mills advocated for free
public education, he also acknowledged his
support for girls' education. In his speech,
"Knowledge is Power," Mills disputed the
notion of intellectual inferiority and expressed
his belief in the impacts of education for women
and public goods (Natali 2007). After the
School Law in 1852, public schools steadily
developed across the States and offered free
education for all children (Boone 1892). Not
only girls attended the same schools as boys at
all levels, but also high school female graduates
outnumbered males (Littell 1916).

However, private institutions such as
female seminaries and preparatory schools
continued to play a critical role in women's
education until the end of the nineteenth century.
Students who intended to go to college chose
private schools over public high schools for
college examination training. The public high
schools did not offer the courses that were
required by colleges, and teachers were not



18

qualified to teach those courses either (Boone
1892). A majority of the township high school
was finishing schools. Their primary purpose
was to "do the best things it can for those who
presumably will go no farther" (Cotton 1904,
473). After finishing high school, students
needed to take courses at private schools or
college preparatory departments to be
considered qualified for admission. This new
development generated renewed and favorable
conditions for the revival of seminaries,
academies, and private schools of their kind.
Between the 1850s and 1870s, an estimate
indicates that more than 70 seminaries were
founded across the State. This estimation
included co-educational institutions and other
institutions, which listed under the names of
colleges yet preserved the seminary functions.
There are four major groups of seminaries
(Boone 1892). The first group consisted of the
revived academies built on the ruins of the early
nineteenth-century county seminaries. The
second group was formed and run by churches.
The third kind of seminaries was mostly
privately developed and run. The schools of this
kind provided good-quality teaching and made a
notable reputation. The last category, the least
mentioned, was named under "business schools"
or "farmer's academies." Among the four groups,
the privately-owned schools committed the most
to academic works, thus played the most
prominent part in furthering education for
students.
May Wright Sewall and the Classical School
for Girls

May Wright Sewall was a dedicated and
eminent educator. She was born in Milwaukee
in 1844. She graduated from the Northwestern
Female College in 1866 and received her Master
of Arts degree at the alma mater in 1871. After
earning her Master's degree, Mrs.Sewall taught
at schools in Mississippi and Michigan, where
she became the first woman principal. In 1882,
she served as the Classical School for Girls'
principal until the close of the school in 1907.
She advocated for higher education for women
and asserted its values in developing a better

society. Sewall disputed the public doubts on
women's intellectual capacity and encouraged
women to use education for the domestic and
public good (Sewall 1887). Since the beginning
of her career, Sewall had been devoted to
education and worked for its betterment.

May Wright Sewall and her husband
Theodore L. Sewall established the Classical
School for Girls – later named as Girls'
Classical School, a leading preparatory school
in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1882. The school
opened in September 1882 in the southeast
corner of North Pennsylvania and St. Joseph
Street (Catalogue of the Classical School for
Boys n.d). The school was privately-owned,
which aimed "to provide a thorough Course of
Study preparatory to the Colleges that admit
women" (Classical School Scrapbook Vol.1 n.d).
The founders also saw the school's foundation
as a timely response to the need for preparing
young girls for higher education. The school
opening announcement in 1882 wrote: "The
present state of higher education for women
makes schools of this character as necessary for
girls as for boys" (Classical School Scrapbook
Vol.1 n.d). More importantly, the school was an
ideal place for Sewall to practice her education
reformist ideas. Under her leadership, the school
became the best female school in Indianapolis
with pride in curriculum rigor, advanced
physical training program, and a comprehensive
course of study (Ubriel 1994).

Within a few years of its foundation, the
Classical School for Girls established a wide-
spread and prestigious reputation in Indiana and
the nearby areas. In the first year, the school
enrolled forty-four students, and the enrollment
increased to fifty-nine in the following year. The
school was proud of offering a similar Course of
Study as in the Classical School for Boys. In
1886, the two graduates from the school became
the first Indiana girls to take Harvard
examinations and obtained admission
certificates (Classical School for Girls 1886). In
the first year, the school mostly offered courses
in the Advanced Department, which consisted
of five years of study. This Department was



19

designed for girls who finished secondary
school from other institutions and only attended
Classical School for Girls for college
preparation. After a few years, the school
provided a whole range of levels from
Kindergarten, Primary, Upper Primary,
Intermediate to Advanced. By the ninth year,
the school admitted 176 students, among which
27 residence students came from other states
such as California, Utah, Kansas, Minnesota,
and Washington DC. Beyond its emphasis on
academic excellence, the Classical School for
Girls embraced a bold reform agenda. The
analysis of the school curriculum and practices
further uncovers the reformist aspects of this
school.

A commitment to academic excellence
Since its establishment, the Classical

School for Girls had made a strong statement on
its dedication to academic excellence. The
school arranged the courses at the Advanced
Department following the latest requirements
for the Harvard Examinations for Women. It
explained that Harvard's requirements were "the
highest, and therefore including all others"
(Classical School for Girls 1889). Other female
education advocates shared the same vision that
admission to Harvard was both a significant
academic achievement and a success in the fight
for equal access to higher education. However,
together with other elite male-dominant private
institutions such as Princeton and Yale, Harvard
remained a close door for women in the
nineteenth century. The push by the Women's
Education Association of Boston only led to the
Harvard Examinations for Women set up in
1874. In 1894, Harvard Cooperation agreed to
have Havard president countersign on the
degree granted by Radcliffe College. That said,
co-education was still not accepted on the
Harvard campus (Solomon 1985). The Classical
School for Girls aspired to send girls to colleges
and prepared them for the most distinguished
one. By 1889, the school's catalog named
dozens of students who successfully passed the
Havard Examinations. Due to Harvard's

restriction, these highly-achieved female
graduates could only attend female colleges or
co-ed institutions such as Smith College, Bryn
Mawr College, or the University of Michigan
(Classical School for Girls 1891). That said,
their achievements demonstrated females'
determination and competence to meet the
demands of the highest-ranking college.

The school viewed education as "a
paramount business" and raised female
education standards (Classical School for Girls
1889). The program in the Advanced
Department consisted of five years of study with
intensive training in such subjects as
Mathematics, Latin, Greek, History, French,
Natural Sciences, and English. The catalog
emphasized that these courses were "more
extended than the courses in these subjects
usually given in preparatory and high schools"
(Classical School for Girls 1889). An article on
the Indianapolis News assessed the Classical
School for Girls' range of study as "higher than
many famous female colleges and female
seminaries" (Dean 1888). Reading culture
played a significant role both at school and at
home. At school, students were expected to read
English words correctly with taste and
expression. The school sent home a reading list
in response to mothers' questions, "What do you
advise me to have my daughter read?" (Classical
School for Girls1891) The recommendations for
a reading list underscored an ultimate principle:
Read books of permanent value. In other words,
the school encouraged students to read books
not just for short-term amusement but, more
importantly, for long-term intellectual
development. The business of study required an
investment of a measurable amount of time.
Apart from the study time at school, Sewall, in
an Announcement, advised students in the
Upper Department (or Advanced Department)
to spend two to three hours daily to study at
home. The rigor and comprehensiveness of the
school curriculum and practice dispute the most
common critiques of female institutions in the
nineteenth century for having either an
ornamental or lax curriculum.



20

The school took great pride in
employing college-bred teachers who were
"familiar with college methods and college
requirements" (Classical School for Girls1903).
This statement was best reflected in the list of
the teachers on the annual catalogs. For example,
the catalog of the school year 1886-1887
enumerates the names of teachers graduating
from the University of Michigan, Indiana
University, and Wesley College. Sewall herself
obtained a Master's degree at Northwestern
University. She insisted on the implications of
higher education for women, especially for
those who served as teachers. In her words,
higher education was the essential instrument
for women who entered "the lists of competitive
intellectual service as paid workers" (Sewall
1887). Therefore, having college-trained
teachers reinforced the school's commitment to
providing excellent academic education for
students. Employing female college-bred
teachers also demonstrated an appreciation for
women's higher education achievement. These
teachers were the best role models for girls who
aspired to obtain a college education. In short,
the team of college-graduated teachers
exemplified the school's quality and orientation.

Physical Education and Women's Images
In the nineteenth century, physicians and

doctors believed that the magnitude of
schoolwork and a lack of health provisions at
school were the causes of female health
deterioration (Clarke 1874). They called for
establishing a system of calisthenics or
gymnastics training at school and domestic
training at home. Catherin Beecher was among
proponents for physiology and calisthenics for
young women. She published the book
Physiology and Calisthenics: For schools and
families simple to propose a system of
physiology and a short and comprehensive
course for physical training and hygiene
(Beecher 1867). However, physical activity
truly gained public attention in the 1860s thanks
to the Boston educator's work, Dio Lewis. He
suggested different calisthenics exercises such

as the dumbbell exercises, gymnastics crowns,
exercises with rings, and wands in the articles
The New Gymnastics published on The Atlantic
(Lewis 1862). He lectured on gymnastics at
various schools and put his ideas into practice at
the short-lived Dr.Dio Lewis's School for Young
Ladies school (1864-1867) (Woody 1929). His
writings, lectures, and training contributed to
popularizing calisthenics at female institutions.
By the end of the nineteenth century, physical
training or gymnastics was a part of high
schools and academies' curriculum.

With the advantages of a private school,
the Classical School for Girls offered a thorough
course of physical training. The introduction of
calisthenics, physical training, and hygiene
courses to girls' schools and academies
responded to critiques about the exclusion of
health provision in their curriculum. The school
dedicated the third floor that was 64 by 41 feet,
with a height of 21 feet, to be the gymnasium.
The gymnasium was equipped with jumping
poles, horizontal ladder parallel bars, weights,
and rings. Its spacious area could even afford to
march. At the beginning of the school year,
students received physical examinations to
decide on the types and intensity of the
exercises. The availability of resources allowed
the school to provide individualized programs
for students (Classical School for Girls 1886).
From Monday to Friday, students of all
departments spent 30 minutes at the gymnastics
class. Mrs. Sewall also reinforced the school's
standards of excellence in gymnastics.
Accordingly, the physical training course
concentrated on improving both students' health
and vigor, precision, and accuracy. The school
catalog consistently highlighted the success of
the program over the years. "The gymnasium
work, so conducted for eight years, has proven
uniformly beneficial. The good effect upon the
health and carriage of the girls has been most
marked, and many girls have been brought from
a state of physical weakness to settle, robust
health by means of their gymnasium practice"
(Classical School for Girls 1891). The provision
of the physical training program reassured a



21

balance between mental health and physical
health.

The gymnastics program contributed to
reshaping the images of the feminine both at
school and in public. In the school year 1888-
1889, the school appointed Pauline Morton, a
graduate from Woman's Medical College, New
York City, as the gymnasium director. Morton
was in charge of the gymnasium instruction and
the lectures on health and hygiene throughout
the school year. These lectures were open to
students and parents to educate them on the role
of physical training and hygiene for women's
health (Classical School for Girls Catalogue
1889). The Annual Gymnastic Examination was
one of the most significant school events that
promoted the image of strong and physically
skilled young ladies. Local newspapers praised
Sewall for introducing physical culture into
girls' schools and advertised it as a pleasing
experience (Indianapolis Classical School
Scrapbook Vol 2. n.d). The school invited
parents and friends to attend the annual
examination. The Annual Gymnastic
Examination program in 1899 consisted of free-
standing for stronger movement and general
posture improvement, heaving movement for
Expansion of chest, club swinging for the
shoulder joint and hand development, and
vaulting for courage, elasticity, and co-
ordination. These exercises' purposes were
utterly different from the common beliefs of the
images of middle-class women in the nineteenth
century. Female students at the Classical
Schools for Girls were not feeble creatures with
incapable minds for academic work. They were
trained to be intellectual, physically capable,
and courageous young women who pursued
excellence and life balance.

Household Science and Women's Roles in
Society

The household science curriculum
resonated with the emerging trend of the social
efficiency curriculum in the 1890s. The social
changes demanded adjustments in the
curriculum to fit the demands of a broader

population instead of affording only a few
brightest ones. The social efficiency reformers
attacked the college-preparatory curriculum for
being distant from real-life circumstances, thus
called for more practical subjects (Kliebard
2004). The birth of household science
responded to that call. The emergence of home
economics or domestic science among white
middle-class women in the nineteenth century
was partly influenced by the notion of separate
spheres which ditates women’s roles involving
around the house. However, Catherine Beecher,
a renowned education reformer, pushed this
discourse further to promote domestic science as
a field of study in women’s schools – a public
space (Puaca 2020). On the one hand, the
introduction of this course could be understood
as a reinforcement of normative gender roles
that associated housework with women's
responsibilities. On the other hand, this course
represents a new definition of woman's roles
and a reappraisal of their work in the public
sphere.

The Girls' Classical School announced
the establishment of a Household Science
Department in 1899 under the Director of Anna
Hedges, a Drexel Institute, Philadelphia
graduate (Classical School for Girls 1889). The
guiding principle of this Department was that
housekeeping was both an art and a science. The
pupils who signed up for the class would attend
two hours per week. One hour was designated
for theory, and the other was for practice. For
the first time, a course at the Girls' Classical
School was open for the general public who
were interested in the scientific knowledge of
home subjects and improving their
housekeeping skills. This Department offered
two separate courses – an Applied Science
Course and a Cooking course. The former class
embraced four scientific subjects, including
Chemistry, Physics, Physiology, and
Composition of food and cooking. These
subjects promised to provide students with
intellectual knowledge about the science of
housekeeping. The cooking class, on the other
hand, offered practical opportunities to apply



22

theories. The initiative at the Girls' Classical
School resonated with a shifting trend in
women's education in which the topics of
household science and domestic economy had a
position in formal educational settings
(Youmans 1856).

The most fundamental distinction of the
Household Science courses at Sewall's school
was rooted in her perception of these courses'
roles. Most social efficiency reformers believed
that schools should teach subjects that prepared
students for life. Household science subjects, in
particular, should meet the home needs and help
the girls be more efficient at home. Women's
worth depended on their contribution to the
home, for instance, how well they could cook,
take care of the children, or do other housework
(United States Bureau of Education 1919). In
other words, the teaching of household science
served the house's needs rather than the desires
of individual women. In contrast, Sewall
asserted that household science should
appreciate the "dignity of labor" and the
"intelligence and skill required in the practical
service of any family" (Sewall 1900). She
referred to the household science as exemplary
work that could yield happiness, yet being in a
deplorable condition among middle-class
families. Sewall criticized the middle class or
the leisure class for condemning housework.
She affirmed that educating the minds should be
of equal importance as educating the body. The
household science courses at the Girls' Classical
School aimed at developing an appreciation for
the women's labor work and not necessarily to
meet a home need. More than a course that
taught people how to cook properly, the
Household Science course was designed to
change a social class's perspectives on women's
domestic work values.

Conclusion
During twenty-five years in operation

(1882-1907), the Girls' Classical School
initiated trail-blazing practices that shaped the
educational experiences of its students and
created changes in the community. First and

foremost, the school provided a pathway for
women who aspired to go to college. It
successfully sent female students to respected
colleges and disputed the belief of women's
inferior intelligence. The course in physical
training was a bold statement that attested to
female physical capability. The course in
Household science advocated for a reappraisal
of the domestic work and women's roles. The
school's initiatives contributed to promoting the
new images of women and changing public
perspectives.

The story of the Classical School for
Girls demonstrates distinctive attributes of
nineteenth-century girls' preparatory schools
that were often overlooked in the history of
women's education. The examination into the
growth and changes of preparatory offers
critical understandings of women's educational
experiences and the female school leaders'
reformist ideas. Ultimately, the changes that
happened within the four walls of a female
school could out to the public and reshaped
women's images in society.



23

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