Historians of higher education generally agree on a handful of ideas about the early years of the land-grant colleges that grew out of the Morrill Act of 1862. For their first three decades, the land-grant colleges struggled to survive: lacking students, funding, and public favor. Charged, by the Morrill Act, to promote "the liberal and…

Ruth Harris, the first African American female president of the segregated teachers' college, Stowe, implemented the preservice teachers' volunteer program throughout her tenure from 1940 to 1954. The idea was likely the outgrowth from her dissertation study completed at the time of her appointment that supported teachers knowing the neighborhoods…

In January 1932, two white women--Agnes Boeing Ilsley and Mina Buckner--were murdered in Ilsley's home in rural Middleburg, Virginia. Suspicion of who the murderer was settled on George Crawford, an African American man who was sometimes employed by Mrs. Ilsley to do various jobs, including serving as her chauffeur (Virginia Circuit Court 1933,…

In the early twentieth century St. Louis' public schools for Black children enjoyed a robust reputation, perhaps second only to those in the nation's capital. Herman H. Dreer, a "public school man," provided direction for those institutions similarly called to lead various segments and forces within the larger Black community…

Teacher education remains a largely unexplored area within the history of American education. This paper is an example of the types of state-specific stories that are needed as university administrators and policymakers make critical decisions about the content and purpose of teacher ed curriculum. These decisions, in turn, have a direct impact on…

This study attempts an analysis from 1944 to 1975 focused on the federal government support in the context of one highly successful program in international education--Fulbright's Amendment to the Surplus Property Act of 1946 (or the Fulbright Program). The choice fell on this flagship international educational exchange program for its explicit…

The sixties and seventies were a time of great cultural, social, and political change in the United States. Events including civil rights demonstrations, anti-war protests, environmental movements, and gender rights sparked activism among students and young people across the country. In order for American youth to mobilize, they turned to…

The discriminatory practices against African Americans during the Jim Crow era in St. Louis, Missouri did not deter Dr. Ruth Harris, the first African American female president of Stowe Teachers College (STC) in St. Louis, from accepting the challenge of leading the African American teachers' college from 1940 to 1954. Her appointment to President…

Are the following terms synonymous: service, volunteerism, community service, service-learning? This article offers a survey of service-related terms and definitions by various groups. It also shows a connection between service (and/or service- learning) and citizenship. Finally, it notes how some public and private institutions (organizations)…

One of the most well-known and infamous student protests was the Kent State University shootings of 1970. The aftermath of the Kent State tragedy gave rise to protests and riots on hundreds of college and university campuses across the nation. In the American South, only ten days after the Kent Sate tragedy, a very similar incident occurred on the…

In this paper, the author compares the conservative normative depictions of sweethearts in campus publications to representations of the figure in sorority newsletters by examining differences in the projection of domesticity, beauty, and passivity between the two types of publications. The author contends that the substantial variances between…

During the aftermath of the First Red Scare in the 1930s and during the early stages of the Cold War in the 1940s, the United States engaged in a great national effort to preserve and protect its capitalist system from international rival--the communist Soviet Union. In the American South, states such as Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama faced a…

Connecticut College for Women and its Progressive Era sister colleges (Douglass, Simmons, Skidmore, and William Smith) are distinctive for the prominent vocational and service elements each college had in its original mission and curriculum. Historians however have often left Connecticut College for Women out of the story of American women's…

Harvard is easily the most recognizable American institution of higher education, freighted with rich associations to the nation's leaders. This article provides an opportunity to examine the history of higher education through a lens often overlooked--fiction. By doing so, the authors provide a richer understanding of a particular institution and…

This article will examine a little known but long-standing group, the Lisle Fellowship, that endeavored to open the world to college students and foster international understanding--or "world-mindedness," as the organization's founders called it--ultimately with the goal to contribute to the ideal of world peace. It will also, in…