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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 October 2016
During the decades around 1900, changing intellectual currents and the creation of the research university led American colleges and universities to alter the role of religion in students' education. Simultaneously, women matriculated in large numbers for the first time, forcing individual institutions to ask whether and how to incorporate them. Using the lens of all-male Princeton University, this article explores how these two trends combined to help instill gender ideals in the Progressive Era male elite. Princeton sought to attract an elite constituency by no longer seeking to inculcate in students simply moral excellence in general, but rather traits associated with prominent men specifically. Princeton's leaders reinforced this gendered moral formation as they shifted from evangelical spirituality focused on relating rightly to God to modernist spirituality focused on relating rightly to the human community. That students embraced these changes suggests that a new approach to moral formation at prominent men's colleges—and coeducational universities that copied their approach—may help explain why, in an era when women could first access an education equal to men's, educated men nevertheless continued to see themselves as uniquely suited for certain public leadership roles by virtue of their sex.
1 Research travel for this article was made possible by a Friends of the Princeton University Library Research Grant. Thanks to the anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions. Thanks also to Brendan Payne and to the Mudd Library staff for research assistance.
For excellent accounts of Princeton's history in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, see Kemeny, P. C., Princeton in the Nation's Service: Religious Ideals and Educational Practice, 1868–1928 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998)Google Scholar; Leslie, Bruce, Gentlemen and Scholars: College and Community in the “Age of the University,” 1865–1917 (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1992)Google Scholar; and Axtell, James, The Making of Princeton University: From Woodrow Wilson to the Present (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2006)Google Scholar.
2 Gordon, Lynn, Gender and Higher Education in the Progressive Era (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1990), 2 Google Scholar; Charles W. Eliot, “Women's Education—A Forecast,” Association of Collegiate Alumnae Publications, Feb. 1908, 101–5, Folder 216, Box 221, Records of the President of Harvard University: Charles William Eliot, UAI 5.150, Harvard University Archives.
3 On the changing role of religion in the academy, see especially Roberts, Jon H. and Turner, James, The Sacred and the Secular University (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2000)Google Scholar; Reuben, Julie, The Making of the Modern University: Intellectual Transformation and the Marginalization of Morality (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996)Google Scholar; and Marsden, George M., The Soul of the American University: From Protestant Establishment to Established Nonbelief (New York: Oxford University Press, 1994)Google Scholar.
4 Lucas, Christopher J., American Higher Education: A History, 2nd ed. (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006), 213 CrossRefGoogle Scholar. For an overview of changes in American higher education and the influence of college graduates, see also Geiger, Roger, The History of American Higher Education: Learning and Culture from the Founding to World War II (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2014)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Thelin, John R., A History of American Higher Education, 2nd ed. (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2011)Google Scholar. On college students’ gendered service and career paths, see, for example, Clark, Daniel A., Creating the College Man: American Mass Magazines and Middle-Class Manhood, 1890–1915 (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2010)Google Scholar; Setran, David P., The College “Y”: Student Religion in the Era of Secularization (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Gordon, Gender and Higher Education in the Progressive Era; and Solomon, Barbara, In the Company of Educated Women: A History of Women and Higher Education in America (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1985)Google Scholar.
5 Kemeny, Princeton in the Nation's Service, 87–172.
6 The Association of American Universities (AAU) was founded in 1900. Of the original twelve members, Congregationalist Yale, and, to some extent, Unitarian Harvard are the only others to have previously been traditional nineteenth-century denominational colleges; see https://www.aau.edu/about/article.aspx?id=5476. Marsden, The Soul of the American University; Reuben, The Making of the Modern University; Kemeny, Princeton in the Nation's Service; Leslie, Gentlemen and Scholars.
7 Leslie, Gentlemen and Scholars; Clark, Creating the College Man; Ingrassia, Brian M., The Rise of Gridiron University: Higher Education's Uneasy Alliance with Big-Time Football (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2012)Google Scholar. On masculinity in higher education during this era, see also Townsend, Kim, Manhood at Harvard: William James and Others (New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 1996)Google Scholar.
8 On the gender dynamics of student life at coeducational universities, see, for example, Myers, Christine D., University Coeducation in the Victorian Era: Inclusion in the United States and the United Kingdom (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Gordon, Gender and Higher Education in the Progressive Era.
9 On Princeton's early years, see Noll, Mark A., Princeton and the Republic, 1768–1822: The Search for a Christian Enlightenment in the Era of Samuel Stanhope Smith (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1989)Google Scholar; and Wertenbaker, Thomas Jefferson, Princeton, 1746–1896 (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1946)Google Scholar.
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11 YMCA Report/Prospectus, 1914/15, Box 6, Office of Ethics and Religion Records, 1860–1991, University of Michigan Archives, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan; Geiger, The History of American Higher Education, 379–94; Clark, Creating the College Man; Leslie, Gentlemen and Scholars, 235, 246; Francis L. Patton, “The Problems and Prospects of College Men as Seen by Their Presidents: Should a Businessman Have a College Education?,” Saturday Evening Post, May 26, 1900, 1094.
12 For recent overviews of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century religious liberalization and its causes, see, among many, Bowman, Matthew, The Urban Pulpit: New York City and the Fate of Liberal Evangelicalism (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Coffman, Elesha, The Christian Century and the Rise of the Protestant Mainline (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013)CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Some evangelicals also embraced the social gospel movement as an outworking of their faith in Christ, and many other modernists instead interpreted interpersonal ethics in a more individualistic way.
13 For a recent detailed overview of these changes, see Geiger, The History of American Higher Education, 270–422.
14 McCosh, James, The New Departure in College Education: Being a Reply to President Eliot's Defense of It in New York, Feb. 24, 1885 (New York: Scribner, 1885)Google Scholar; Kemeny, Princeton in the Nation's Service, 72–78. Under McCosh, Princeton went from 281 to 523 students. For the most complete overview of the history of Evelyn, see Frances Healy, “A History of Evelyn College for Women, Princeton, New Jersey, 1887 to 1897” (PhD diss., Ohio State University, 1967).
15 See notes 3 and 12.
16 McCosh, James, Religion in a College: What Place It Should Have—Being an Examination of President Eliot's Paper Read before the Nineteenth Century Club, in New York, Feb. 3, 1886 (New York: A. C. Armstrong and Son, 1886)Google Scholar. Also on McCosh's views, see Marsden, Soul of the American University, 204–15.
17 McCosh, Religion in a College; McCosh, James, Inauguration of Rev. Jas. M'Cosh, D.D., LL.D., as President of Princeton College, October 27, 1868 (Princeton, NJ: Printed at the Standard Office, 1869), 15–32, esp. 25Google Scholar; McCosh, James, Lessons Derived from the Plant: The Baccalaureate Sermon Preached before the College of New Jersey, June 26, 1870 (Princeton, NJ: Stelle and Smith, 1870), 25–32, esp. 25Google Scholar; McCosh, James, Faith in Christ and Faith in Doctrine, Compared and Contrasted: The Baccalaureate Sermon Preached before the College of New Jersey, June 23, 1872 (Princeton, NJ: Stelle and Smith, 1872), 25–26 Google Scholar; McCosh, James, Unity with Diversity in the Works and Word of God: The Baccalaureate Sermon Preached before the College of New Jersey, June 25, 1871 (Princeton, NJ: Stelle and Smith, 1871), 23–30 Google Scholar; McCosh, James, The World a Scene of Contest: The Baccalaureate Sermon Preached before the College of New Jersey, June 25, 1876 (New York: Robert Carter and Brothers, 1876), 25–32 Google Scholar; McCosh, James, Twenty Years of Princeton College: Being a Farewell Address Delivered June 20th, 1888 by James McCosh, D.D., LL.D., Litt.D. (New York: Scribner, 1888), 45 Google Scholar; McCosh, James, The Imagination: Its Use and Its Abuse, Prepared for the Young Men's Christian Association, London (New York: American Tract Society, 1857)Google Scholar.
18 For an overview of Patton's presidency, see Kemeny, Princeton in the Nation's Service, 87–126.
19 Francis L. Patton, “Religion and the University,” Education Report (1896–97): 1317–26, esp. 1317–18, Folder 1, Box 1, AC141 Sesquicentennial Records, c. 1887–1993 (bulk 1894–1904), Princeton University Archives, Mudd Library, Princeton University (henceforth PUA).
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21 Chicago Tribune, Apr. 16, 1894, 8; “Women at Princeton,” Logansport (Indiana) Pharos, Dec. 30, 1897, 6. Proquest Historical Newspapers. Many thanks to Joby Topper for pointing out these sources.
22 Patton, Francis L., Religion in College: A Sermon Preached in Marquand Chapel, Princeton, N. J., Sept. 22, 1889 by Francis L. Patton, D.D., LL.D., President of Princeton College (Princeton, NJ: The Princeton Press, C. S. Robinson, 1889), 3–4, 11–12Google Scholar.
23 McCosh, Twenty Years of Princeton College, 43–47. See also Ingrassia, The Rise of Gridiron University, 27–29.
24 Francis L. Patton, Inauguration, 15–44 at p. 41; Patton, Religion in College; 6, 8–11, 14; Kemeny, Princeton in the Nation's Service, 108; Francis L. Patton, Speech of Prof. Francis L. Patton, D.D., LL.D., President-Elect of Princeton College at the Annual Dinner of the Princeton Club of New York, Mar. 15, 1888 (n.p., [1888]), 7.
25 Woodrow Wilson, “Princeton in the Nation's Service: Oration by Prof. Woodrow Wilson,” Education Report (1896–97): 1326–32, Folder 1, Box 1, AC141 Sesquicentennial Records, c 1887–1993 (bulk 1894–1904), PUA, esp. 1329; Woodrow Wilson, “Princeton for the Nation's Service: Inaugural Address by President Wilson,” The Daily Princetonian 23, Oct. 25, 1902, 3, 5, esp. 5. For an overview of Wilson's Princeton presidency, see Kemeny, Princeton in the Nation's Service, 127–72.
26 Woodrow Wilson, “Princeton for the Nation's Service: 3–5, esp. 5; Marsden, Soul of the American University, 227.
27 Wilson, “Princeton for the Nation's Service,” 3–5, quoted in Kemeny, Princeton in the Nation's Service, 127; Woodrow Wilson, “The Statesmanship of Letters” in The Eighth Celebration of Founder's Day at the Carnegie Institute, Pittsburg, Thursday, November 5, 1903 (n.p., n.d.), 7–21, Folder 5, Box 57, AC117 Presidents, Rare Books and Special Collections (hereafter, RBSC), Harvey S. Firestone Library, Princeton University. quoted in Kemeny, Princeton in the Nation's Service, 131; Woodrow Wilson, The Relation of University Education to Commerce, Address by Woodrow Wilson, LL. D., President of Princeton University, November 29, 1902 (n.p., n.d.), Folder 5, Box 57, AC117 Presidents, RBSC.
28 Arthur S. Link, “Woodrow Wilson and the Life of Faith,” Presbyterian Life, Mar. 1, 1963, Folder: Biographical Articles, Pamphlets, Etc., Box 1, 3H/Wilson, Bryn Mawr College Archives; Brown, Victoria Bissell, “Conservative among Progressives: Woodrow Wilson in the Golden Age of American Women's Higher Education” in Axtell, James, ed., The Educational Legacy of Woodrow Wilson: From College to Nation (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2012), 122–68Google Scholar; Wilson, Baccalaureate Address to the Class of 1909, Folder 5, Box 57, AC117 Presidents, RBSC; Solomon, In the Company of Educated Women: 115–40.
29 Kemeny Princeton in the Nation's Service, 164–72, 169; Bradley, Stefan, “The Southern-Most Ivy: Princeton University from Jim Crow Admissions to Anti-Apartheid Protests, 1764–1969,” American Studies 51 (Fall/Winter 2010): 109–30 at 109–113CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
30 Hibben, John G., “The Essentials of Liberal Education: The Inaugural Address of John Grier Hibben, President, Princeton University, May 11, 1912,” Official Register of Princeton University 3 (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1912), esp. 13, 15Google Scholar. On Hibben's presidency, see Kemeny, Princeton in the Nation's Service, 173–219. On elitism under Patton, see Topper, Joby, “College Presidents, Public Image, and the Popular Press: A Comparative Study of Francis L. Patton of Princeton and Seth Low of Columbia,” Perspectives on the History of Higher Education 28 (2011): 63–111 Google Scholar.
31 Hibben, “The Essentials of Liberal Education,” Register of Princeton University 3, 15–20, esp. 20; Kemeny, Princeton in the Nation's Service, 187–88; John G. Hibben, “President Hibben's Address,” Princeton Alumni Weekly 12 (Feb. 28, 1912): 339–42 at p. 342.
32 Potts, David B., Wesleyan University, 1831–1910: Collegiate Enterprise in New England (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1992), 161–232 Google Scholar. Leslie, Gentlemen and Scholars demonstrates the widespread increase in the influence of urban alumni in eastern colleges at the turn of the twentieth century.
33 Benjamin Ide Wheeler, “The Pioneer Mother,” Writings and Addresses, Benjamin Ide Wheeler, vol. 7, no. 18a (1915), University of California Archives. On the University of California during this era, see Stadtman, Verne A., The University of California, 1868–1968 (New York: McGraw Hill, 1970), 173–201 Google Scholar.
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35 For an excellent recent history of the collegiate YMCA, see Setran, The College “Y,” esp. 80.
36 Kemeny, Princeton in the Nation's Service, 96, 106–8; Daniel Edward Sack, “Disastrous Disturbances: Buchmanism and Student Religious Life at Princeton, 1919–1935” (PhD diss., Princeton University, 1995), 27–55, quotation at 51.
37 Kemeny, Princeton in the Nation's Service, 56–57, 108–9, 160–63, 186–88.
38 Kemeny, Princeton in the Nation's Service, 56, 106–7, 160–63, 186–88, quotation at 188; Sack, “Disastrous Disturbances,” 45–47.
39 Report of the General Secretary of the Philadelphian Society, 1915–16, PUA; Bible Study Committee Chairman's Book 1893, Folder 8, Box 5, Student Christian Association Records, AC-135, PUA; “President's Report,” The Philadelphian, June 1902, 9–11, PUA; Kemeny, Princeton in the Nation's Service, 106–7, 160–63, 187; Sack, “Disastrous Disturbances,” 50.
40 Kemeny, Princeton in the Nation's Service, 106–7, 160–63, 187; Sack, “Disastrous Disturbances,” 43–44, 50; “President's Report,” The Philadelphian, June 1902, 4–27, PUA; Report of the General Secretary of the Philadelphian Society, 1910–11, 1914–15, and 1915–16, all PUA.
41 Kemeny, Princeton in the Nation's Service, 163; Report of the General Secretary, 1910–11, 6–7, and 1915–16; “Princeton and Service: Deputation Work of Princeton University,” n.d.; and “Princeton and Service: The Deputation Work of the Philadelphian Society, the Christian Association of Princeton University” (New York: Association Press, 1920), Philadelphian Society AC135, Box 13, Folder 8: Publications, PUA. As noted on page 3, “Princeton and Service” drew heavily from text in Fred M. Hansen and A. J. Elliott, “College Deputations for Evangelistic Work: Gospel Team Work; A Handbook of Principles and Methods” (New York: Association Press, 1912).
42 “President's Report,” The Philadelphian, June 1902, 4–27, 12.
43 Report of the General Secretary, 1915–16, and 1914–15, 7; Kemeny, Princeton in the Nation's Service, 188–92.
44 Princeton Social Service Bulletin, 1st ed., Dec. 1916, Philadelphian Society AC135, Box 12, Folder 6, PUA; Report of the General Secretary, 1914–15, 10–11.
