The Early Days of the Ladies' Education
Society of Jacksonville, Illinois

The oldest women's organization in United States was formed on October 4, 1833, in Illinois. The ladies' Education Society of Jacksonville thrives and prospers still, 166 years later. It continues to serve the purpose defined by its founders when Jacksonville was a village of 600 souls on the very edge of civilization. The ladies who first met on October 3 agreed to establish an organization to help needy and worthy women obtain an education and to raise funds to pay all or part of their tuition. The following day, they reconvened to adopt a constitution and begin the work. It may well have been the first American women's self-help group ever.

Many questions were discussed: How old should recipients be? How far should they be advanced in their studies? What schools should they attend? Where would the necessary money be found?

The latter question was answered in part by Mrs. Joseph Duncan, whose husband would be elected governor of Illinois in 1834; she made the first gift to the officially organized Society, a five dollar gold piece. At her death, she made a small bequest to help continue the education of needy young women.

These founders were themselves educated; they had come West as wives of home missionaries and teachers. Some were married to men associated with the new Illinois College in Jacksonville. They were also supported by others elsewhere, like Mrs. John F. Brooks of St. Clair County and Mrs. Theron Baldwin in Bond County, wives of ministers. These two already had taught a few girls from poor families, either giving tuition or raising it from personal friends. They had discussed establishing a group to promote broader opportunities for such girls.

The immediate impetus for action was the receipt in Jacksonville of a large gift of money for schooling. It came from the widow of a physician who had died while visiting Jacksonville. When Mrs. Alldis S. Allen returned to her Eastern home, she found herself with means; she had seen the wilderness that was the Illinois Country, and she prayed for guidance as to how she could help those working there. Ultimately, she sent a gift of $190. The responsibility for distributing so much money seemed to require organized planning. A small group of Jacksonville women held counsel on the subject, resulting in the forming of the Society for Educating Females, so named to distinguish it from groups of educating young males.

The founders knew they would need financial help from a wide base and therefore must interest mission groups in the East. In 1835, while on a visit to New York City, Mrs. Baldwin, by request, explained the goal and operation of the Jacksonville group to meetings of ladies there and in New Jersey and other places. She received substantial donations for the Society. In fact, an auxiliary formed in New York City which provided essential aid for several years, as did interested women in other cities and towns. Sewing Circles in New Haven, Connecticut, and Brooklyn, New York, helped, as did support groups in Illinois — in Chicago, Galesburg, Springfield, Canton, Peoria, and Waverly.

Total receipts for the first year were $246.40. At the end of the third year, the treasurer reported donations of $705, and with it forty-five young ladies received aid. Some were awarded as little as $5.00; it went to pupils in many parts of Illinois and in Michigan, Wisconsin, and later Nebraska as well. In most cases, the girls receiving help provided their own board, usually by working in the homes of families near that of the tutor who gave instruction. The Society contributed to tuition costs and sometimes purchased books.

Children under the age of

twelve or thirteen were refused help. "Not," one report explains, "because we scorn their need, but because older girls will return to their homes and communities and in their turn teach younger children." The ladies did not want to merely educate girls; they wanted to prepare them to teach others. At several meetings, the age of beneficiaries was discussed at length. The usual conclusion was that they should not be less than 12 years old, but in case of unusual need or promise, a few were accepted at age 9.

In order to understand the urgency of such questions and the passion with which the founding members worked, consider the world in which they lived. Immigrants were pouring into the new state in 1833. Thoughtful people realized that the future of Illinois depended largely on the foundations then being laid. The Federal Constitution was, after all, only forty-four years old. There were in Illinois few settlements and fewer schools. Mrs. Celeste Ellis had opened a school for girls in the three-room log manse where she lived with her husband and two children, but she died after a short time, from cholera. In 1833, the Illinois legislature enacted a statute permitting, but not requiring, the payment of school teachers from the state school fund.

Writing fifty years later, a Society secretary recalled that there were no churches in the beginning, no bells to call the worshipers, no gathering of the children together.

Remembering her first years in Jacksonville, she said that "desolation was borne on every breeze." The writer was Emily Adams Bancroft, who as a young woman accompanied her father to the frontier, where he became principal of the new Female Academy in 1837. He had left his position as head of Exeter Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, to come West.

Illiteracy was rampant. There were whole families in which no one could read or write; often the parents did not understand that their children could learn to do so.

Naturally, then, the ladies worried that the lack of schools would produce an ignorant series of generations, totally unfitted for self government. The situation appeared to

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A few missionary efforts to send female teachers from the East had been unsuccessful.

some sure to lead to "moral depravity," which in fact was already evident in some quarters. Yet schools required non-existent teachers. A few missionary efforts to send female teachers from the East had been unsuccessful. Either these brave souls found life on the frontier too harsh to be endured, and returned home, or they married quickly, educated women being highly desirable wives. This experience convinced the benefactors in the East — who included Catherine Beecher, sister of Harriet Beecher Stowe - that it was a wasteful program.

Therefore, a consensus grew that the answer lay in educating young women already here to become teachers; they know how to endure hardship and survive. No one acted, however, until the Society for Educating Females began its work. The name was changed to the Ladies' Education Society, incidentally in 1853. In 1872, the Society was incorporated to enable it to receive and administer bequests.

Early members worked out a system of operation wonderfully practical and liberal. The only qualifications for an applicant were that she desire education and be capable of benefitting from it. The Society did not affiliate with any religious group, and even piety was not a requirement for grants. However, the ladies began every meeting with prayer, as members do today. Happily, a number of cases of conversion occurred every year among recipients under Christian instruction, and many of these are duly recorded in the minutes. Further, although the great objective was to prepare women to teach, no pledges were required. No attempt was made to decide where or how an individual could be most useful. No obligation of any kind was incurred by recipients who could attend schools of their own choice. A secretary in the early 1830's wrote: The great object was to instruct and elevate the human mind for its own sake, in the belief that a mind rightly educated "will not fail to enlighten and educate others."

From its beginning until sometime in the 1890's, the Society held annual meetings to report to the community on the year's work. In 1833, however, and for decades after, custom decreed that it was somehow unladylike and inappropriate for ladies to address public gatherings. Therefore, the reports prepared by Society officers were read at these public sessions, usually held at a church during the Illinois College commencement week, by gentlemen. Sometimes these were husbands of members, but more often they were distinguished local leaders like the president of the college. Society members sat in the audience and listened. Not until the late 1880's did this begin to change; secretaries and treasurers sometimes read their own summaries. Even then, a gentlemen usually gave a talk about education in general. From the mid 1890's on, annual meetings were held in members' homes, with a few friends joining. Open meetings and printed annual reports stopped in 1905, although triennial reports were printed for several more years.

The fiftieth anniversary report notes that when free schools were started, some felt that the Society would no longer be needed; its legitimate work was ended. But the schools were open only to those who resided in certain limits; tuition was required from non-residents. Further, "all in attendance must pursue a proscribed course of study, requiring a certain number of years,' minutes record. "One who is dependent and is looking forward to the time when she can teach and earn a support for herself and help to educate others in the family, cannot afford to devote the time required to complete the curriculum obligatory in a free school." There still were needs to be met. In fact, the managers (as members were called in early days), sent some girls to the free schools, books being furnished.

The fiftieth anniversary report notes that when free schools were started, some felt that the Society would no longer he needed; its legitimate work was ended.

That same report also looks back on the Society's accomplishments. By its fifth year of existence, 107 girls had been helped. The secretary wrote that, "fifteen had become Christians, their talents and attainments thenceforth hallowed."

An interest had been awakened and schools had been started in eleven counties. During the seventh year, fifty-two were aided — including seven in Wisconsin Territory and two in Iowa. By the thirteenth report, in 1848, there appears the following: About 500 are receiving instruction from those teachers sent out by this Association. (In the beginning)... settlements were few and far between. To supply these with teachers and bring the means of instruction within the reach of the poor, was all we dared anticipate. But what is true now? Towns, villages, and cities have sprung up...and more than 200 choice spirits have been received, educated, and sent forth to distribute good to others."

During its first half-century, the Society received a total of $25,091.35 in contributions. But in its fiftieth year, it spent only $138 on the training of six young ladies. In

By the Society's sixtieth anniversary in 1893, records showed that altogether, 1,406 young ladies received aid.

that same year, 1883, cash on hand was $29.65, and annual income from interest on an endowment of $4,000 came to $245, about five-and-one-half per cent. Three legacies had been received by 1883, the largest from a Mrs. Hale in Newburyport, Massachusetts. A former teacher, she contributed regularly for many years. Her gift, a magnificent sum at the time, was contested by her family. The Society engaged legal counsel and defended against the protest. In the end, it received not only $3,000, but $121.62 in interest as well.

Thus strengthened, the small band began its second fifty years. The 1872 reorganization limited membership to twelve women, by then called directresses, all from Jacksonville. New members are chosen only when vacancies occur, and are elected by unanimous vote of remaining members to serve for their lifetimes. Traditionally, daughters often have followed mothers into Society service.

By the Society's sixtieth anniversary in 1893, records showed that altogether, 1,406 young ladies received aid. That included those who took loans from the Bannister Fund, established in 1857 with a gift from a long-time supporter in the East. Up to $100 could be loaned, often to girls who were receiving grants as well.

Noting that "the Society (in its selection of beneficiaries) has respect only to capacity for mental improvement, a desire for an education, and indigence," the list of "our girls" that year included students at several Illinois schools, including one from Iceland who was enrolled at The Training School in Chicago; others studied in Nebraska and Michigan. Former recipients in those states regularly recommend women in need of help.

Although a national depression lasted through several years in the 1890's, this period was exciting in many ways, and Emily Jan Bancroft, charter member and secretary for forty years, dramatized it enthusiastically in minutes and reports. At Chicago's Columbian Exposition in 1893, a Women's Congress chronicled the progress of women since 1492. Organizations from around the world were represented. The object, Mrs. Bancroft reported, "was not to discuss the subjects (presented) but the relation of women to the subjects. Thousands gather daily," she wrote," to hear representative women, and are thrilled with their earnestness and eloquence." Many Jacksonville women attended the fair, and at least one women's literary society, Sorosis, displayed their paper written by its members. The Exposition, where the federal government actually funded a Women's Commission, sparked great hopes for women's opportunities in the coming century. "We feel that our Society, (moving on) through difficulties and discouragement, has helped to swell the tide which has burst over all barriers ... that impede progress," the minutes read.

In 1897, the third annual meeting of the Illinois Federation of Women's Clubs met in Jacksonville. Delegates were welcomed by the Society's president, "representing the earliest woman's organization in the U.S., according to records. So the claim of seniority was established early. The following year, an article in Harper's Bazaar quoted the Society's secretary who said that "the usual words of appreciation lose their salt when [applied] ... to the Ladies' Education Society of Jacksonville. It ... was established in 1833, thus antedating the New York Sorosis, often called the Mother of Clubs, by many years. It is a western club founded by eastern women . . ." It was documented and certified by the Federation officially in 1927 and again in 1965.

A gift of $200 from a former beneficiary late in the decade came with a letter recalling the desperation of former times: "... the Ladies' Education Society did for me what it has probably not done for any other ... there is no cause now in this day of common schools for ignorance such as I possessed 51 years ago when I entered Jacksonville Academy. I had been to school only eight months, and that in Homeopathic doses ... it was impossible at that time for me to have obtained an education in any other way. I thank you."

In the 1897 annual report, the secretary wrote that until recently, work by which a woman could become self supporting was limited to the schoolroom. "Now," she continued, "all avenues are open to her as fast as she demonstrates her ability, but. . . the demand is for dis

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On the fifty-seventh anniversary of founding, the hope was that coming years would bring opportunity, growing intelligence, larger benevolence, and more consecration."

ciplined minds and intellects of broadcast culture." That year, for the first time, aid went to two women attending medical school in Chicago. "We are deeply grateful for the privilege of the work," the writer continued, ". . . we are confident the young women under our care . . . are (gaining) clearer comprehension of their womanly worth and Christian duty."

The work always was accomplished quietly, with little public knowledge. Names of beneficiaries never appeared in printed reports, nor the amounts they received. Until recent years, needy girls were usually recommended by members, former recipients, and teachers. "Quietness" has been typical of the Society; while no attempt has been made at secrecy, and members take genuine pride in Society service, there is little local knowledge about the Ladies' Education Society.

On the fifty-seventh anniversary of its founding, the hope was that coming years would bring "opportunity, growing intelligence, larger benevolence, and more loving consecration."

However, many of the founders and early workers had come to the ends of their lives, and a tribute to one of them ended with these words: "Her life was beneficent, self-sacrificing, and consistent, and the memory of it is full of fragrance." With these losses, presidents sometimes complained that the old enthusiasm was being lost; even meeting attendance was poor. Yet, in 1891, the annual report declared that "This is the golden age of woman." That year, across the country, 8,000 women ministered to the relief of their own sex as physicians and nurses, and "prejudice was being disarmed." Thirty-eight medical colleges had been opened to women. They were also working as cashiers in banks, editors, architects, telegraph operators, lecturers, and caterers. A full eighty-two per cent of all public school teachers were women, but only that year did they become vice-presidents and directors of the National Education Association. Still, some 4,000 women were enrolled in colleges and universities. Industrial schools for girls were founded in almost every state.

"Verily," the secretary wrote, "woman is keeping pace with the world in which she lives. The air is electric with the tidings of woman's advancement and achievement." Then, perhaps feeling that she did not share in all this, she added: "If we can help some (young ladies) to ride out the storms and give a helping hand ... let us feel this is OUR work." A common feeling amongst the women is demonstrated in a case from 1894. One of the beneficiaries was a young Indian girl, described as bright and intelligent. The ladies congratulated themselves that although the aid they supplied was small, it had great results.

Another development was the emphasis given to physical education in public schools, and to the need to add elementary science to the curriculum. In 1892, the N.E.A. recommended that physical education be taught in all schools. The Society approved, pointing out that in the past "... a girl sits in a poorly ventilated school room, breathing the stifled air, her only exercise a slow walk accompanied by a teacher, while her brother is drawing in the oxygen needed for adding muscle and nerve and vigor to his growing body . . ." It has taken a long time for this logic to be fully accepted by the educational establishment.

For the first sixty-seven years of existence, The Ladies' Education Society of Jacksonville acted as a pillar to both their community and for women. They offered the means by which many young girls were given the chance to earn an education and bestow their knowledge onto the frontier communities in need of schools and teachers. But as the needs of the state and of women changed so did the goals of the Society. Through their financial support, women were able to push the boundaries of a woman's education. By the turn of the century, progressive thought as to the ability of women in school expanded and the Ladies' Education Society turned from supporting pioneers in the geographical sense to supporting pioneers in the field of women's education.