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One of the best college traditions...today is Mountain Day at Mount Holyoke . The college web site indicates the tradition began in "...1838, the year after Mount Holyoke was founded. On Mountain Day, classes and other obligations are cancelled. In a nod to Mary Lyon, students are invited to balance their intellectual pursuits with outdoor activities. The actual date is kept secret until it is announced by the early-morning pealing of the bell in Mary Lyon Hall. Mountain Day typically involves climbing to the Summit House atop Mount Holyoke." The above image is fr om Mountain Day in 1903...source: Mount Holyoke Archives & Special Collections ,  @ASCatMHC.

The Florence-Lauderdale Public Library Digital Archive posted a couple of historical sketches on Facebook for Southern Female University and Florence University for Women . Text from the posts follows for those without access to Facebook: Florence’s Southern Female University . In its Friday, July 11, 1890 issue, the newly-founded *Florence Times* stated: “Florence already has buildings of which she may feel justly proud, but when the Baptist University is completed it will be the most magnificent structure in the city.” The *Times* was referring to the Southern Female University, under the auspices of the Baptist Church, which was then under construction near the water tower on Seymour Avenue, which in 1890 was a mile or two outside town. The Southern Female University was created in 1889 by the Alabama Baptists led by Rev. Dr. JB Hawthorne and the Hon. William B. Wood and the Florence Educational, Land and Development Co. The building was designed by the architectural firm of Rouss...

The Alabama Pioneers website offers a number of posts on higher education institutions that include historical sketches written by Donna R. Causey.  Each post includes photographs and notes on sources for the information. Judson College in Marion, Alabama is the fifth oldest women’s college in the United States opened its doors on January 7, 1839 Here is the way young women attending college dressed around 1900 when they went on an outing May 23, 1973 – one of the oldest university buildings in Alabama was destroyed by a tornado  -- Old Southern University founded in 1856 and later merged with Birmingham College to form Birmingham Southern College Troy once burned to the ground in 1901 and was rebuilt, now it’s a thriving college town Summerfield – Beautiful, rare of a forgotten college and community in Alabama  -- Centennary Institute and Summerfield College Do you know the name of the college in Alabama (still exists) that was once the leading college in the South ? --...

BuffaloReflex.com published a couple of interesting articles as part of a series by Paul Johns exploring the history of Cottey College.  The first, " Alice Cottey and her women's college in the MOzarks ," was published May 14, 2018 and provides background information on Alice Cottey and how she decided to start an educational institution in Nevada, MO.   " The saga of Cottey College of Nevada, MO ," followed two days later on May 16, 2018 and offers a number of incidents in the early history of the institution. I will update this post when additional articles in the series are published.  In the interim, you can review several earlier College History Garden posts on Cottey College: Cottey College (MO)   from July 15, 2011, links to a dissertation written by Mary Rhodes, "Dried flowers : the history of women's culture at Cottey College, 1884-1965," that was submitted to the Graduate School of The Ohio State University in 1981. Missouri Colleges and...

The SoGlos online magazine in  Cheltenham,  Gloucestershire published a fascinating interview with Rachel Roberts, archivist at Cheltenham Ladies' College .  Roberts discusses  her responsibilities for collecting, recording and displaying the archives and the insight they offer into the school’s history. The college was founded in 1853 and serves as an independent boarding and day school. The college website includes a number of innovative presentations of historical information.  The  COLLEGE IN ONE HUNDRED OBJECTS  was set up to celebrate our landmark 160th anniversary in 2014.  The projects brought together pupils, Guild members (alumnae) and staff in developing a shared tribute to Cheltenham Ladies' College distinctive values and atmosphere. You can visit the archives web page  and also follow the archives on Twitter @CLCArchives for regular informative tweets.

New Brunswick Today published " Douglass Celebrates a Century of Higher Education for Women " on March 29, 2 018.  The article written by Benjamin Clapp coincides with several events that commemorate the founding of New Jersey College for Women in 1918.  The institution was renamed as Douglass College in 1955 and changed its name again in 2007 to Douglass Residential College . You can visit Douglass web pages for more information on college traditions , a timeline , and " Douglass: The Power of 100 Years ," a web pages where alumnae and students can review memories or learn more about various centennial events.  Clapp a lso notes that a new book,  The Douglass Century: Transformation of the Women’s College at Rutgers University , written by three Rutgers faculty members, Kayo Denda, Mary Hawkesworth, and Fernanda Perrone, is published by the Rutgers University Press.

The Washington Post published, " Answer Man visits the National Park Seminary in Forest Glen, Md. ," by John Kelly earlier this week.  Kelly provides an interesting historical sketch of the property that became home to  National Park Seminary for young women after1894 in Forest Glen, MD.  The seminary occupied the former Forest Inn Hotel that previously operated from 1887-1894.  The seminary name changed to National Park College in 1937 and it then closed in 1942 when the U.S. Army  invoked the War Powers Act and condemned the property. An earlier post on the College History Garden , " National Park Seminary (MD) ," includes links to several fascinating web sites devoted to the history of the site.

The Atlas Obscura web site offers a fascinating post by Anika Burgess from January 4, 2018, " Student Life at the First Medical College for Women: The pioneering women who faced jeers and discrimination to become doctors ."  Burgess incorporates numerous historical photos and other items to both describe student life and also highlight some of the significant contributions of the women as they pursued their professional lives.  The medical institution was founded in 1850 as the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania.  It was renamed as the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1867 and the Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1970 when it became coed.  It then merged with merged with Hahnemann University to become McP Hahnemann University School of Medicine as part of Allegheny University of Health Sciences.  This university later declared bankruptcy in July 1998 and Drexel University took over management of MCP Hahnemann University of Health Sciences a...