A portion of American history (1880-1930) in which institutional sex discrimination was strong is discussed with focus on Teachers College, Columbia University, which became a major center for training teachers and school administrators. Though it became known as the world's foremost education institution, its history reflects the institutionalization of sex bias in the staffing of all educational levels. Three themes are reflected: (1) the significant leadership of earlier values centering on philanthropy and service became relegated to minor roles; (2) the newly created institutional structures systematically segregated and devalued those roles and those who filled them; and (3) those deemed minor players were denied resources, advancement opportunities, and societal influences offered to the increasingly dominant scientific professionals. Women philanthropists founded the college to train young women for work as house servants, but subsequent male leaders focused on educating mainly men for professional school leadership. The college formalized its two-school structure with its School of Practical Arts and School of Education. Although there was unequal treatment of women and men faculty in terms of salary, power, and prestige, in 1927-28, the college began to appoint women holding doctorates nearly as often as their male counterparts to prestigious positions. As this occurred, it became obvious that the two-school structure was dysfunctional. Early traces of today's problems in education can be seen in the definitions of male/female role as practiced at Teachers College. Contains 18 graphs. (SM)