Women's Education in 19th Century United States:

The Morrill Land Grant Legislation of 1862 and Women Entering College in Vermont

Bella Thayer

History Thesis, Castleton University

April 30, 2023

 1

Women have been treated as inferior in the United States for much of the country’s

history and have been thought of as less capable and less intelligent than men. Because of this,

women were not allowed admission in higher education for a considerably long time. Women

entered the college system in the mid nineteenth century, but by no means was education equal

among sexes at this time. Until the end of the nineteenth century, the majority of women in

higher education studied at female seminaries, normal schools, and literary institutes, rather than

colleges and universities.1 This is important to note as these forms of higher education focused

primarily on religion and teaching, and gave women very little choice or opportunity to decide

what they wanted to study. Men of means had the luxury of higher education for far longer, and

in this higher education they were allowed the freedom to choose what subjects they wanted to

study. Although not all men were allowed this education, as a college degree was not available to

lower classes.

For much of the nineteenth century a college education was only available to the elite of

society; however, Justin Morrill, senator of Vermont at the time, wanted to change this.2 With

men in mind, proposed the Morrill Land Grant Legislation in 1857 to address this problem. This

legislation allowed states to open public colleges funded by either the development or sale of the

federal land each state was granted.3 The legislation was then vetoed by President James

Buchanan, but was later signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln in 1862. One of these

land grant colleges was the University of Vermont, which had opened prior to the passing of the

legislation, but was turned into a land grant college in 1865 and the university added their

1
John Thelin, A History of American Higher Education, (United States: John Hopkins University Press,
2011).
2
Historical Dictionary of Women's Education in the United States, (United Kingdom: Greenwood Press,
1998), 375-385.
3
Historical Dictionary, 264.
 2

Agriculture College.4 The process of turning an already existing university into a land grant

college was very common and happened in many states, including Vermont.5

Although women were not mentioned in any way in this legislation, it has been well

established by historians that women did attend these land grant colleges in the late nineteenth

century.6 By the end of the nineteenth century there was a much larger push for women, and from

women, to obtain college degrees than there had been at any other time period in American

history.7 By 1870, twenty nine percent of colleges in the United States were co-educational; by

1910 that number had jumped to sixty nine percent.8 However, there is one crucial piece missing

in this research: how significant the Morrill Land Grant Legislation was in terms of women

entering colleges. This thesis will focus on this question of significance with a focus on Vermont.

It is essential to understand this question in order to develop a deeper understanding of

Vermont’s culture at the time, as well as women's roles within this society. Without

understanding how women were allowed these new opportunities, their place in society at the

time cannot be accurately determined.

Vermont is at the forefront of this history due to it being the home state of Senator

Morrill. He grew up in Strafford, Vermont and although he received no formal higher education,

he was very passionate about the state and became a state representative, and then a senator.9

Morrill spent considerable time in northern Vermont, southern Vermont, and Montpelier which

4
Statistics of Land-Grant Colleges and Universities, (United States: U.S. Government Printing Office,
1955), 23.
5
Historical Dictionary, 355.
6
Allison Thorne, Visible and Invisible Women in Land-Grant Colleges, 1890-1940, (Logan, Utah, United
States: Utah State University, 1985), 1-3.
7
Thorne, Visible and Invisible Women, 2.
8
Barbara Miller Soloman, In the Company of Educated Women: A History of Women and Higher
Education in America, (New York, United States: Routledge, 1985), 44.
9
Matthew Buckham, Memorial Address on Honorable Justin S. Morril, (U.S. Department of Agriculture,
1898).
 3

gave him a greater perspective of the state. Morrill even had so much love for Vermont that he

designed the architect for his own home in Strafford, which is still kept as a historic sight today.10

In addition, his seat as a senator allowed Morrill to have a stronger say over how his legislation

was implemented in Vermont than in any other state.

The historiography is thorough in terms of the experiences these women had, the

accomplishments they achieved, and the struggles they have faced.11 Many historians have

written on the topic of women's experiences, and far less have written about the significance of

the legislation. Research on this topic increased largely in the 1980s and 1990s as an increase in

feminism led to an increase in the amount of research being done on women’s experiences in the

United States.

One of the earlier historians who focused on the experiences of women at Land Grant

colleges was Allison Thorne, who published her work in 1985.12 Thorne’s writing stands alone in

terms of how in depth she goes into the experiences of women at the land grant colleges. She

examines the inequalities these women experienced, and she even goes as far as to discuss the

experiences of the female faculty, female staff, and the wives of the faculty.13 One of the major

points that she makes is how the legislation was explicitly focused on “classes” rather than

“men,” and how this wording was significant in terms of how these land grant colleges operated:

based on the laboring class, rather than based on gender.14

In addition, Barbra Miller Solomon also focused on the Morrill legislation with her work

that aimed to explore the history of women in education, as well as highlight the inequalities that

10
Buckham, Memorial Address.
11
Solomon, In The Company of Educated, 115.
12
Thorne, Visible and Invisible Women, 1.
13
Thorne, Visible and Invisible Women , 1.
14
Thorne, Visible and Invisible Women , 3.
 4

existed at the time of her writing.15 Solomon illustrates how the passing of this legislation was

essentially the federal government agreeing with the public opinion that higher education was

vital and needed to be more easily available to lower class citizens.16 She also points to the

Morrill Land Grant Legislation of 1890, that was an addition to the original legislation, which

required “all federal allocations” to be equally divided between white citizens and African

Americans.17

Furthermore, A History of Women's Education published by the Department of Education

in 1997 mentions the Morrill legislation. This was written by three historians, Irene Harwarth,

Mindi Maline, and Elizabeth DaBra.18 They aimed to provide a history of women entering

colleges in the United States, as well as to compare the experiences of these women to those of

men. Harwarth, Maline, and DaBra discuss the Morrill Land Grant in terms of expanding

American’s access to education, but more importantly, they provide information on colleges

accepting women during the mid nineteenth century, stating that before the American Civil War

there were only five colleges in the country that accepted women as students, and by 1870 there

were only eight.19

The Historical Dictionary of Women’s Education in The United States, published in 1998,

provides more information about the federal government's eventual mandating of women’s

acceptance into colleges.20 This publication defines the Morrill legislation, explaining how it was

originally vetoed in 1857, and later signed into law in 1862. This work also provides important

information about women's education in the twentieth century, stating that by 1900 there were

15
Solomon, In The Company of Educated.
16
Solomon, In The Company of Educated, 315.
17
Solomon, In The Company of Educated, 348.
18
Harwarth, Irene, Maline, Mindi, DeBra, Elizabeth, Women's Colleges in the United States: History,
Issues, & Challenges,(Darby, Pennsylvania, United States: Diane Publishing Company, 1997), ch. 2.
19
Harwarth et al., Women's Colleges in the United States, ch. 2.
20
Historical Dictionary, 264.
 5

61,000 women in coeducational college institutions. In 1996 the Supreme Court ruled that the

public sector of education, including higher education, was now required by law to be

coeducational.21

The 1990s was a significant time for publication about women's education, as they were

increasing at the time. Bonnie Tanner, one of these historians writing in this era, focuses on the

history of women in agriculture, and seeing these women in light of entrepreneurship.22 She does

mention the Morrill Land Grant Legislation, explaining how the legislation focused on providing

education in the subject of agriculture, and in turn expanded women's access to this education.

In more recent years, there has been far less publications that mention the Morrill Land

Grant in terms of women’s education. However, there is still a large amount of work being

published by historians surrounding women’s education in general. Averil McClelland published

a book in 2014 discussing the history of women in education.23 McClelland describes the

political atmosphere surrounding women's rights in the mid-nineteenth century. She points to the

first Woman's Rights Convention that was held in Seneca Falls, New York in the year 1848.24

This convention consisted of three hundred individuals (only forty of which were men) and the

focus of the convention was women having more governmental influence. McClelland then goes

on to relate this convention to modern times and what similarities can be seen today. It is

important to note this political atmosphere during the mid-nineteenth century as it provides more

insight into American culture during the passing of the Morrill Land Grant.

21
Historical Dictionary, 264.
22
Bonnie O. Tanner, The Entrepreneurial Characteristics of Farm Women, (United Kingdom: Garland
Pub., 1999).
23
Averil McClelland, The Education of Women in the United States: A Guide to Theory, Teaching, and
Research, (New York, United States: Routledge, 2014).
24
McClelland, The Education of Women in the United States, ch. 7.
 6

Many historians have explored the experiences that women had in higher education

institutions, with specific importance placed on coeducational institutions.25 The majority of

historical works mentioned previously explore this topic in depth. Many of these historians' cite

the Morrill Land Grant legislation as being vitally influential to education as a whole, as it

expanded the amount of higher education institutions in the United States drastically. However,

these historians fail to establish the significance of the Morrill Land Grant Legislation of 1862 in

terms of women entering colleges. Although this legislation does not explicitly mention women,

it is evident that this legislation benefited far more than just the groups mentioned in the way that

it served as a means of redefining higher education in the United States. It has not been fully

explained how significant this legislation was in terms of women entering college. This thesis

aims to bridge a part of this gap and determine how significant this legislation was in terms of

women's education in Vermont.

This project originated in September of 2022 as I was researching women's education and

came across the Morrill Land Grant legislation being mentioned by many historians.26 At this

point the Morrill Land Grant Legislation became the primary focus of my research. After

conducting thorough secondary source research and gaining the knowledge needed to understand

the historiography, I began conducting primary source research. The focus of my project began

to shift slightly at this point because of the sources available to me. I decided to focus my

research on the significance of the Morrill Land Grant in terms of women entering college in

Vermont. The majority of my primary source research has consisted of newspaper articles, legal

documents, board of trustees reports, personal correspondence, speeches, advertisements, and

25
Thorne, Visible and Invisible Women in Land-Grant Colleges, 2.
26
“Morrill Act (1862),” (United States: National Archives and Records Administration, 2022).
https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/morrill-act.
 7

yearbooks.27 The approach used to analyze each source varied depending on the content of the

primary source and the way in which the source was used to defend my argument.

The first source analyzed was the Morrill Land Grant legislation itself.28 To access this

source I used the National Archives website. I had no trouble accessing this legislation as the

website is open access and provides both the original document, as well as a transcript of the bill.

When looking at this document I was most interested in the language used and intent of the

legislation. The most prominent language in this bill referred to socio-economic class,

agriculture, and public education. All of this language was significant as it identifies the intent of

the legislation.

The next primary source I discovered was a newspaper article from the year 1891.29 I

accessed this article using the Newspapers.com database. In the database, I made my search

specific to Vermont and specific to the time period I was looking at (1862-1900). The primary

reason I was interested in locating a newspaper article was to see how the public was interpreting

the legislation at this time. The article I found was written by S.C. Armstrong and published in

The Vermont Chronicle. I analyzed this article for both public perception of the bill, as well as to

see how the rollout of the bill was going. It is important to identify the intent of the bill versus

what it accomplished. This is why I looked to analyze the public's perception as well as the

state's use of the bill through this newspaper article.

27
Armstrong, “Practical Industrial,” 7; “Morrill Act (1862)”; Thirteenth Annual Report, 8; Morrill and
Buckham, “Letters to UVM President”; University of Vermont, “Ariel Vol. 020 (1907)”;“Burlington
Weekly Free Press, The Young Women and the University of Vermont,” Chronicling America Historic
American Newspapers (Library of Congress);The University of Vermont and State Agricultural College,
Board of Trustee’s Report Excerpts 1865-1928 (Montpelier, Vermont: Freeman Steam Printing House and
Bindery, 1928); Matthew Buckhman, University of Vermont Inauguration Services, (United States,
Vermont: University of Vermont, 1871); Matthew Buckham, University of Vermont and State Agriculture
College, Burlington, Vermont. (Burlington, Vermont: University of Vermont, 1873).
28
“Morrill Act (1862)” .
29
Armstrong, “Practical Industrial;” The Vermont Chronicle, (United States: Newspapers.com, 2022), 7.
 8

I was also able to locate a newspaper article from the year of 1871.30 I located this article

in the same way as the last, using the Newspapers.com database. In the database I narrowed by

search by date, state, and by using keyword searches. I was most interested in locating another

newspaper article to determine the public's opinion closer to the time of the university beginning

to accept women. The article I found did not state the author by name; instead it only stated

“alumnus.” This article was helpful as it provided a point of view from before the university had

made its decision, and it offers the point of view of someone who attended the university.

Furthermore, I found a Board of Trustees report from the Massachusetts Agricultural

College (now University of Massachusetts) from the year 1893.31 This year was significant as it

was the first year the university had admitted a woman. I accessed this report via the National

Archives website as I was looking into New England land grant colleges and the first years they

accepted female students. I was most interested to see what the Board of Trustees said about

admitting a woman, and whether or not they connected this to the Morrill Land Grant. I was also

looking to see if they explicitly stated the attitude of the school regarding women being admitted.

The next source I discovered was a series of letters between Justin Morrill and the

President of the University of Vermont (UVM).32 These letters were located via the University of

Vermont Libraries’ Digital Collection website. This collection contains over sixty letters from

the Senator to Matthew H. Buckingham. Buckingham was the President of UVM beginning in

1887, and into the beginning of the 20th century. This is significant as Morrill was a member of

the Board of Trustees beginning in 1865, when the Agricultural College was implemented.33 The

30
“Burlington Weekly Free Press, The Young Women and the University of Vermont,” Chronicling
America Historic American Newspapers (Library of Congress)
31
Thirteenth Annual Report of the Massachusetts Agricultural College (Boston: Wright & Potter Printing
Co. State Printers, 1893), 8.
32
Justin Morrill and Matthew H. Buckham, “Justin Smith Morrill to Matthew H. Buckham,” (United
States: University of Vermont Library, Special Collections, 2020).
33
Morrill, “Justin Smith Morrill to Matthew H. Buckham”.
 9

website provides a few sentences of information about the letters, including the date they were

sent and the subject, as well as the actual letters themselves. This was very helpful to me as I was

able to narrow down which letters would be the most useful to analyze. I was most interested in

looking into these letters to see if the two men had discussed problems at school, specifically

surrounding coeducation, and to see how the implementation of the Morrill Grant was going at

UVM in Morrill’s opinion.

In addition, I was able to locate a group of year books from the University of Vermont.34

This collection was located very similarly to the group of letters, as it was found in the UVM

Libraries’ Digital Collections website. This collection was easier to locate, as it is advertised on

the front page of the website. The entire “Ariel” series was included, beginning in 1886 and

ending in 1997.35 “Ariel” was the name of the university’s yearbooks during this time period.

When looking into this collection I was most interested in seeing the student body’s opinion of

the university being co-educational, as well as seeing what was written about the women

attending the school. Furthermore, I wanted to find out if women were as active in campus life as

men.

Because the source available through UVM’s online archive did not prove as helpful as

anticipated, I went to UVM in order to look at their physical archives to see what I could

discover there. The first source that I was able to discover was the Board of Trustee’s Report

Excerpts from 1865-1928.36 I was focused on looking for information about UVM in the late

19th century. My aim I had in locating these reports was to determine if there were any meeting

minutes that mentioned the admission of women. I discovered the resolutions regarding the state

34
University of Vermont, “Ariel Vol. 001 (1886),” (United States: University of Vermont, 2019).
35
University of Vermont, “Ariel Vol. 001 (1886),” (United States: University of Vermont, 2019).
36
The University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, Board of Trustee’s Report Excerpts
1865-1928 (Montpelier, Vermont: Freeman Steam Printing House and Bindery, 1928), 63.
 10

Agriculture College being added to UVM. These resolutions were addressed to the secretary of

UVM and were sent by the Secretary of the State of Vermont.

Furthermore, while at UVM’s special collections, I was able to locate the Board Of

Trustee’s Report from the academic year of 1871-1872.37 This source is crucial in my research

and was the main reason I traveled to UVM. I was so interested in locating this report because it

comes from the first year that women were admitted to the college. I looked to this source in

hopes that there would be some discussion of what exactly influenced the schools decision in

admitting women, as well as minutes of debates that possibly went on surrounding the issue.

This source was not as thorough as I had hoped, but it still contained important information, and

became an important part of my research.

In addition to these sources, I analyzed the Inaugural Address of Matthew Buckham,

which is located in the Buckham Papers at UVM.38 I knew that the sources regarding President

Buckham would be of interest to me because he was inaugurated the first year that women were

admitted to the university, and he had a relatively close relationship with Morrill. When reading

Buckham’s speech, I was most interested in seeing if he addressed women on campus, general

issues regarding the student body, or possibly provide more information about the decision to

admit women.

The last source I located at UVM was an advertisement for the university, from the year

1873, also in the Buckham Papers..39This advertisement was interesting to me because it was in

the form of a letter written by Buckham. I hoped that this advertisement would offer me some

37
The University of Vermont and State Agriculture College, Biennial Report of the Trustees of the
University of Vermont and State Agriculture College 1871-1872 (Montpelier,Vermont: Freeman Steam
Printing House and Bindery, 1872).
38
Matthew Buckhman, University of Vermont Inauguration Services, (United States, Vermont: University
of Vermont, 1871).
39
Matthew Buckham, University of Vermont and State Agriculture College, Burlington, Vermont.
(Burlington, Vermont: University of Vermont, 1873).
 11

information in terms of what the school thought its strongest points were through what they

decided to include in the advertisement, and what the school was not so proud of through what

they chose to not include. When looking through these papers, I primarily focused on searching

through the documents that were from 1871 into the end of the 19th century, as this is the time

period I am studying.

Over the course of this research the specific focus of the thesis has changed many times;

however, this thesis aims to evaluate the significance of the Morrill Land Grant legislation in

terms of women entering college in the state of Vermont. This law aimed to increase American’s

access to higher education by permitting the Federal Government to grant each state 30,00 acres

of land per number of senators and representatives that state has; meaning that states with a

higher population would be allotted more land. This land had to be used to either build a college

on, or sold to have the revenue used for an existing college in the state. An important part of this

act to note is that the primary purpose of it was to “provide colleges for the benefit of agriculture

and the Mechanic arts”.40 However, these colleges were not limited to teaching only agriculture

and mechanics, and nearly all of the Land Grant colleges taught a variety of subjects. This

legislation increased America's access to education by providing more colleges, or more seats at

existing colleges, in every state. With a higher education system that received aid from the

Federal Government, far more Americans were attending college. This meant that college was no

longer a luxury only available to the elite of society, and the public had to readjust their views on

higher education accordingly.

Public opinion expressed in Vermont newspapers on the Morrill Land Grant legislation

was somewhat mixed. An article from 1891 published in The Vermont Chronicle exemplifies

this. This article was written by a man named S.C. Armstrong, who aimed to define what these
40
“Morrill Act (1862).”
 12

new Morrill Act colleges were and assess how well they were operating.41 Armstrong begins by

claiming that the public, in New England at least, felt that these colleges were not living up to

their goal of providing enough agricultural and mechanical education; many even felt that these

colleges should only provide education on these two subjects. However, he argued that these

colleges were more than sufficient in providing citizens the education they needed. The article

begins by referring in opposition to a separate article that was published earlier in that same year

critiquing the Land Grant Colleges, then continues to explain the funding of the Hampton

Normal Institute of Virginia (a Land Grant College), and finally reflects on the impacts this has

had on African Americans.42

Armstrong states, “Within the past year, under the Morrill Act, approved August 30,

1890, negro industrial education has made remarkable progress; state legislation has

improved.”43 This quote is significant as it illustrates how American’s ideas as to who could

obtain a higher education were changing rapidly as a result of this legislation. Slavery had been

in practice not even 30 years before the publication of this article, and now African Americans

were being admitted to colleges. It would be naive to think that these societal changes in the state

would not also impact women's admissions into higher education, as higher education had slowly

become more inclusive. The article goes on to state “More and more our work is to train them in

our recently much-enlarges shops, … where a hundred pupils of both races, some of them girls,

are taught trades completely.”44 This statement brings women into the picture by mentioning that

women are also learning in these schools.

41
Armstrong, “Practical Industrial,” 7.
42
Armstrong, “Practical Industrial,” 7.
43
Armstrong, “Practical Industrial,” 7.
44
Armstrong, “Practical Industrial,” 7.
 13

However, by the time of Armstrong’s article, women had already been in attendance at

the University of Vermont for two decades. This prompts the question of the public's opinion on

women entering college not only nationally, but also in Vermont. An article published in the

Burlington, Vt Free Press written by a University of Vermont alumnus from the year of 1871

explores the idea of women being admitted to the institution.45 It is important to note that 1871 is

also the year that the University of Vermont began admitting women. The article was titled “The

Young Women and the University of Vermont” and discussed the absence of women at the

university. The author, only referred to as “alumni”, began by establishing that the university has

not admitted any women because they claim there have been no applicants. The author goes on

to state “That many of the young ladies of this region desire advanced educational facilities has

been well known” and that “Even from this city, young women go to Vassar and other distant

schools.”46 The author then describes the negatives of sending students away for school, and the

high cost, before stating that “[the University of Vermont] could do much towards meeting the

demand of the time in regard to the advanced education of women.”47 The author concludes by

recommending women to apply to the university and stating:

LET THEM APPLY, we say; and let not any young lady who would seek

Admission, be afraid lest she should find herself alone at the college gates.

It ought not to be expected that the door will be opened before anyone knocks

at it.48

45
“Burlington Weekly Free Press, The Young Women and the University of Vermont,” Chronicling
America Historic American Newspapers (Library of Congress)
46
“Burlington Weekly Free Press, The Young Women and the University of Vermont,” Chronicling
America Historic American Newspapers (Library of Congress)
47
“Burlington Weekly Free Press, The Young Women and the University of Vermont,” Chronicling
America Historic American Newspapers (Library of Congress)
48
“Burlington Weekly Free Press, The Young Women and the University of Vermont,” Chronicling
America Historic American Newspapers (Library of Congress)
 14

It is clear that this UVM alumni feels very strongly about the admission of women, and the lack

of educational opportunities available in Vermont.

Both of the previous newspaper articles mentioned provide important insight into the

public's opinion of both the Morrill Land Grant and women entering higher education. It is clear

that at this time there is at least somewhat of a push from the public to allow women to enter the

university. It is also clear that the public is concerned with the quality of education being offered,

and wants to be assured that Vermont is holding up to the rest of society in terms of education

regarding both women and the Morrill Land Grant. Higher education was being discussed often

at the end of the nineteenth century, as education was expanding drastically. Morrill was very

much a part of this conversation both nationally, and on a state level. He was not only a senator

for the state of Vermont, but also a member of the University of Vermont Board of Trustees as of

1865.49 Morrill joined this board the same year that the Agricultural College was added to the

university (this can be seen in the excerpts of board meetings from the year 1865, which declares

the agricultural college a part of the university, and adds him to the Board of Trustees).50 This

made sense considering his position in the senate, drafting of the bill, and relationship to

Vermont.

A collection of letters addressed to Matthew Buckham from Senator Morrill reveal more

about his relationship with the school, and thus the school’s relationship with the Morrill Land

Grant act. The earliest letter of the collection dated back to 1873, while the latest was from

1890.51 This is somewhat significant as it shows Morrill’s dedication to the University, as he

49
The University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, Board of Trustee’s Report Excerpts
1865-1928 (Montpelier, Vermont: Freeman Steam Printing House and Bindery, 1928), 63.
50
The University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, Board of Trustee’s Report Excerpts
1865-1928 (Montpelier, Vermont: Freeman Steam Printing House and Bindery, 1928), 63.
51
Justin Morrill and Matthew H. Buckham, “Justin Smith Morrill to Matthew H. Buckham,” (United
States: University of Vermont Library, Special Collections, 2020).
 15

served on the Board of Trustees for three decades. Furthermore, these letters indicated a

somewhat personal relationship between Morrill and Buckham, as there was a large amount of

correspondence discussing Morrill’s son, as he was attending the University.

The letters did not mention women entering the University, nor did they mention

coeducation. However, the most significant part of these letters make many mentions of Morrill

wishing to improve the school in terms of how it compared to other universities. There were

mentions of UVM compared to Middlebury College and Norwich College (the other colleges in

Vermont at the time). In two of the letters from 1890, Morrill states that “The farmers league [of

Vermont] are organizing to establish a fourth college in Vermont” and goes on to say “shame on

Middlebury… for their envy of Burlington.”52 These letters indicate that there were high tensions

between the colleges existing in Vermont, as well as between the colleges and the Farmer's

league. These mentions made it clear that Morrill felt UVM was a better institution, and that

there was somewhat of a competitive nature to the higher education community at the time. In

addition, Morrill had mentioned UVM in comparison to Dartmouth and other land grant colleges

(such as Amherst), as well as the possibility of adding a law school to UVM.53 This is significant

as it shows that Morrill was eager to make UVM the best institution it could be, and many other

institutions were already accepting women at this time. Morrill’s desire to improve the school is

significant as it shows that the Board of Trustees was concerned with the university in

comparison to other universities, some of which were already admitting women.

52
Justin Morrill and Matthew H. Buckham, “Justin Smith Morrill to Matthew H. Buckham,” (United
States: University of Vermont Library, Special Collections, 2020).
53
Justin Morrill and Matthew H. Buckham, “Justin Smith Morrill to Matthew H. Buckham,” (United
States: University of Vermont Library, Special Collections, 2020).
 16

This comparison of UVM to other universities is made very clear in the Board of Trustees

report from 1871-1872. This report is vitally significant, as it includes the university’s decision to

admit women.54 The report states:

At the annual meeting, August, 1871, the Trustees voted to admit young

women to the Academic and Scientific Departments of the University…

The Faculty, after full deliberation, recommended, and the Trustees

at a special meeting confirmed the recommendation.55

The report goes on to follow a consistent theme of comparing the university to others, and states

“This step which appears bold to many, and rash to some- though several of the most

conservative European Universities have partially committed themselves to it.”56 This is

significant as it shows just how important these comparisons were to the Board and the school.

The report also says that this decision was “made in the hope of meeting one of the greatest

needs of the times.”57 This quote is important because it illustrates how the university is

responding to the demands of the public, and this statement even uses the same wording that was

in the Burlingron, Vt Free Press earlier that year.

It is clear that both the desire to be as highly regarded as other universities and pressures

from the public were both very significant in terms of the university admitting women. However,

there is one reason that the board states as being very influential in their decision, and that is the

54
The University of Vermont, Biennial Report of the Trustees of the University of Vermont and State
Agriculture College 1871-1872
55
The University of Vermont, Biennial Report of the Trustees of the University of Vermont and State
Agriculture College 1871-1872
56
The University of Vermont, Biennial Report of the Trustees of the University of Vermont and State
Agriculture College 1871-1872
57
The University of Vermont, Biennial Report of the Trustees of the University of Vermont and State
Agriculture College 1871-1872
 17

acceptance of women at Michigan University.58 It is very important to note that Michigan

University was a land grant college, and did not exist before the Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862.

UVM’s interest in Michigan University was due to the president of the university at the time,

President Angell, who had held office at UVM prior to President Buckham. In his inaugural

address, Buckham stated that he had a lot of respect for Angell, and this might explain why the

board felt Michigan’s acceptance of women was so significant.59 Angell stated, “The young

women have addressed themselves to their work with great zeal, and have shown themselves

quite capable of meeting the demands of severe study.”60

The University of Vermont (UVM) was the first college in Vermont to accept women.

This institution decided to admit women to the college due to pressure from the public and in an

attempt to establish themselves among other universities they deemed highly regarded. The

Morrill Land Grant Legislation was significant to the acceptance of women into higher education

in Vermont in two ways: the influence of other Land Grant colleges, and the influence that the

legislation had on the way society viewed higher education at the time.

Justin Morrill was a very highly regarded man in his time and today. Unlike many other

figures in history, his reputation has not become tainted over time. This is because of the

immense impact that Morrill had on the higher education system of the United States. Not only

did he expand higher education, but he also expanded mechanical and agricultural education, as

well as the access that women and the lower classes had to this education. The impact that

Morrill had on higher education cannot be understated. Morrill accomplished all of this without a

58
The University of Vermont, Biennial Report of the Trustees of the University of Vermont and State
Agriculture College 1871-1872
59
Matthew Buckhman, University of Vermont Inauguration Services, (United States, Vermont: University
of Vermont, 1871).
60
Matthew Buckhman, University of Vermont Inauguration Services, (United States, Vermont: University
of Vermont, 1871).
 18

formal degree, and his accomplishments did not go uncelebrated. Matthew Buckham celebrated

the life of Morrill after his death with a considerably long memorial speech about the senator in

Washington.61 Buckham stated it perfectly, when he said, “Why did our little State of Vermont

have the great good fortune to be represented by such a man?... Vermont and Mr. Morrill were

exactly, ideally fitted to each other. He would have been a fit representative of no other state.”62

61
Matthew Buckham, Memorial Address on Honorable Justin S. Morrill, (U.S. Department of
Agriculture, 1898).
62
Matthew Buckham, Memorial Address on Honorable Justin S. Morrill, (U.S. Department of
Agriculture, 1898).
 19

Acknowledgements

The first person I would like to thank for her immense help in the process of

writing this thesis is Dr. Trish van der Spuy. The amount of advising, support, and help that she

provided me cannot be overstated. Aside from being our thesis instructor, Trish offered her help

to me day or night with any issues I ran into, and offered unwavering support in moments of

stress. I would also like to thank Dr. Taylor Tobias for sharing his research process, and his

overall contagious enthusiasm for history. As well as Dr. Andre Fleche for his dedication to the

Castleton History department, and his passion for research that he has shared and inspired in

students.

I would also like to thank all those who wrote their theses alongside me: Andy Phelan,

Jacob Weber, Rowan Kidder, Meghan McGurl, and Joey Kinney. As well as Tom Sykes who

attended the first part of this process, and provided valuable insight, wisdom, and knowledge

about the local history of southern Vermont. I would like to especially thank Joey Kinney for all

of his support and friendship throughout the semester, and my time at Castleton. I greatly

appreciate the rides to West Rutland and the valuable feedback he provided.

In addition, I would like to thank Charlotte Gerstein, the Reference and Instruction

Librarian at the Calvin Coolidge Library of Castleton University, for her dedication to us

students, as well as for help in locating sources and in the overall research process. I also thank

the team at the Silver Special Collections Library of the University of Vermont for their help in

locating sources and accessing archived materials.

 20

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1891.https://vsara.newspapers.com/image/490809460/?terms=%22morrill%20act%22%2

0girls&match=1

Buckham, Matthew. Memorial Address on Honorable Justin S. Morrill. U.S. Department of

Agriculture, 1898.

Buckham , Matthew. University of Vermont and State Agriculture College, Burlington, Vermont.

Burlington, Vermont: University of Vermont, 1873.

Buckham, Matthew. University of Vermont Inauguration Services. University of Vermont, 1871.

“Burlington Weekly Free Press, The Young Women and the University of Vermont .”

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