General Historical Information Prior to 1900

   A collegiate institution for women, situated in New York City, and
affiliated with Columbia University (q.v.). Barnard College proper was
organized in 1889, as an indirect result of efforts conducted for some years
by Frederick Augustus Porter Barnard and others interested in the higher
education of women to induce the trustees of Columbia to admit women to its
courses upon equal terms with men. Upon the reiterated refusal of the
trustees to go further in this direction than to grant the degrees of
Columbia to women able to pass the requisite examinations, a movement was
started in 1888 to establish a separate woman's college, which, however,
should be affiliated with Columbia. In 1889 the charter for such a college
was granted. The arrangements then made with Columbia, providing for a
varying amount of exchange instruction between the two institutions, proved
unsatisfactory, as Barnard was enlarged, and on January 19, 1900, the
connection between Columbia and Barnard was formally fixed as follows: The
President of the University to be ex officio President of Barnard and a
trustee of Barnard; the internal administration of Barnard to be conducted
by its Dean, who is entitled also to a vote in the University Council:
Barnard to retain its separate corporate existence and Board of Trustees, to
provide for its own financial support, and to maintain complete separate
undergraduate instruction; all Barnard degrees to be granted by, and in the
name of Columbia; the University Library to be free to Barnard students, and
a number of post-graduate courses in Columbia to be open to Barnard
graduates.
   Although as originally organized Barnard had no further financial
resources than the promise of a number of persons to pay a small sum
annually for four years, it has been able, through subsequent subscriptions,
to meet all the expenses of a rapidly growing college. In 1889 there were 36
students; in the academic year 1891-92 there were 62, and in 1901-02 there
were 431, representing an increase during the decade of over 700 per cent.
The buildings include Milbank Hall, the gift of Mrs. A.A. Anderson; Fiske
Hall, given by Mrs. Josiah M. Fiske, and Brinkerhoff Hall, built mainly by
the gifts of Mrs. Van Wyck Brinkerhoff. In March, 1902, the endowment of the
college was increased by $500,000, $250,000 being given by Mr. John D.
Rockefeller and $250,000 being obtained through numerous other gifts. The
present endowment of the college is $750,000, the value of the buildings and
grounds is estimated at $700,000, while the total value of the property
under the control of the college is $1,500,000. Gross income, $100,000. Miss
Laura Drake Gill, A.M., was made dean in 1901.

Source:   The New International Encyclopaedia
Publisher:  Dodd, Mead and Company-New York
Copyright:  1902-1905        Total of 21 Volumes
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                  Transcribed by Miriam Medina
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