"O fairest Monticello": Monticello female seminary

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

One of the requirements for graduation in the early years was two days of public oral examination. The annual event was advertised in the Alton Telegraph, and members of the audience were encouraged to ask questions. Each candidate was allowed to have one friend with her for moral, and perhaps even physical support. As her friend fanned her blushing face, the student would attempt to answer questions on all the courses she had studied at Monticello. The mathematics portion was conducted by an officer who came from West Point for the exams. By 1845 these exams rated coverage in St. Louis newspapers as well and the reporters were impressed. They fairly gushed about the intelligence and poise of the students.31

The girls may have appeared calmly in control but it was a traumatic experience. In the first 25 years only 135 students graduated out of a total enrollment of 1594. Some failed because they just couldn't go through the oral exams, others left early due to financial or family problems. On the other hand, more than 300 young women who had studied at Monticello during those years became teachers, a mere 66 of whom had received diplomas. It was easy to find work as a teacher on the frontier without a diploma as long as they didn't expect a very high salary.32

One girl who enrolled in 1838 was only nine years old although anyone under 14 had to have special permission from Godfrey himself. She was one of a class of 16, all from Illinois. After classes began, more students arrived until in the first year there were 57 students, of whom 13 came from other states.33 Initially Baldwin found it necessary to have a preparatory program for those students who weren't advanced enough in their studies for the regular program. One lasting effect of female seminaries as a whole was to elevate the level of elementary and secondary schools because admission standards were high and got increasingly so as the years passed. By proving women's fitness for higher education, they raised the bar all across the board.34

At Monticello prep students and their teacher lived together in the financial agent's home. His job was a difficult one as the school got off to a shaky start due to the Panic of 1837. Godfrey paid Baldwin's salary himself and persuaded several local men to donate $300 each to pay the teachers, of whom there were five by the second year. For the first two years Godfrey retained ownership of the building and grounds, but during that time he spent a total of $45,000, a considerable fortune in ante-bellum Illinois. To stop the drain on his personal finances, Godfrey was forced to deed over the school to a board of trustees. Then Baldwin could raise money; prospective donors had balked at the idea of donating to a privately owned school.35

One of the fundamental principles upon which Monticello was founded was that it would have the same library, laboratories, and other facilities without which no college for men would have undertaken their education. On the other hand, it also intended to offer quality education "on a scale of expense so reduced as to bring [it] within the reach of the mass of community and even of the indigent." Thus, tuition was initially set at $9 for the summer term and $22 for the winter term, for a total of $31. By 1844, only six years later, annual tuition had already risen to $110, and the administration employed various means to serve the poor.36