"O fairest Monticello": Monticello female seminary

Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, Autumn 2000 by Mitchell, Barbara J

Although Godfrey did his best to convince Baldwin to take on his school project that first evening, it wasn't until January 1836, after several more conversations, that Baldwin finally agreed.9 At that time, as Harriet Rice Congdon wrote, "higher education of women was considered a subject of hilarity to all but a few bold thinkers."10 Girls were taught the sort of things that would prepare them for a busy social life and the best marriage possible. Elaine Kendall writes in "Peculiar Institutions": An Informal History of the Seven Sister Colleges:

As a result, there were many young women who could trill their way through 'Greensleeves' but never heard of the composer's other activities, who could model a passable wax apple but couldn't read a recipe, who had memorized the language of flowers but had only the vaguest grasp of the English grammar.11

On the other hand, one benefit to women of the Second Great Awakening of the early nineteenth century was that religious leaders believed teaching was a natural, nurturing role for women. As frontier teachers, they would promote Christianity and morality. Even in the antebellum period there was an excess of women in settled areas because so many men were migrating west or going to sea. What to do with the unmarried women became quite a problem; one answer was to let them teach.12

Meanwhile, in southern Illinois, people were too busy just getting by to put much store in education. Even such popular preachers as Peter Cartwright were proud of their lack of education; some could not even read the Bible. But, as local know-it-alls derided what they inevitably referred to as "Godfrey's Folly" and made wagers on how long it would be before Godfrey's fancy building was put to good use as a barn, construction proceeded.13

The school would open in a four-story, 110-by-40 foot stone building. The design was based on one of Godfrey's favorite buildings, Old Nassau Hall at Princeton University. The stone came from bluffs along the Mississippi River. After trees were cut and a sawmill built, Godfrey had to import carpenters and other skilled tradesmen from the East because there weren't enough of them available locally. The expense quickly mounted to $50,000.14 Meanwhile, Baldwin traveled throughout the East, consulting people at various educational institutions for advice in setting up a curriculum and other details. He also began to collect recommendations for teachers. He spoke to Emma Willard at her Troy (NY) Female Seminary. He consulted with Catharine Beecher, who would subsequently visit Monticello several times.

He spent several days in South Hadley, Massachusetts, consuiting with Mary Lyon as she personally superintended construction of Mount Holyoke Seminary, the first of the "Seven Sisters." Baldwin and Lyon sat on a pile of bricks talking while she counted the loads of bricks coming in. Her influence would be obvious at Monticello in the rules adopted, and also in instruction since many of the nineteenth and early twentieth century teachers were Mount Holyoke alumnae. Baldwin also lingered at Ipswich Female Seminary for discussions with Zilpah Grant, Mary Lyon's former associate. Many years later when Ipswich closed, Grant donated its library and miscellaneous equipment to Monticello, along with a $753.50 loan fund for prospective teachers that was used for the same purpose at Monticello.15