Mississippi University for Women

When Mississippi University for Women was chartered in 1884, it made educational history as the first state-supported college for women in America. Her founding mothers had been persistent and tireless in their efforts, which had spanned over twenty years. Energetic campaigning in the 1860s and 1870s by activist Sallie Reneau had resulted in legislative approval, but no appropriations. A decade later Olivia Valentine Hastings and Annie Coleman Peyton joined forces to lobby legislators and journalists in support of a public women’s college. Originally known as The Industrial Institute and College (II & C), this institution was created by the Mississippi Legislature to provide a unique hybrid: a high quality collegiate education for women coupled with practical vocational training. As one legislator said, it was a “Godsend” for the “poor girls of Mississippi.” In a time when intellectual training for women was considered by many to have disastrous consequences, Mississippi had the foresight to recognize that her young women were going to have to be taught not only to think for themselves, but also to support themselves.