Mt. Holyoke image courtesy of mtholyoke.edu

During the 1800s it was very hard for women to get an education. Boston and New York didn’t even allow girls to go to high school until 1826. Society believed that women weren’t physically or mentally able to learn or do the same things as men. Luckily Mount Holyoke was founded in 1837. Located in Massachusetts, it was the first women's college. 

In 1833, Oberlin college was the first to accept women and men in the same school. Most of the schools that taught men and women were located right here in the midwest. In the 1800s, jobs that were available to women were teachers, seamstress, factory jobs, washer woman, helping their husbands in the fields, and taking care of family and house. 

“Elizabeth was very proud to receive her diploma from geneva Medical College in 1849.” ~ Barbara Somervill (Author of Elizabeth Blackwell - America's First Female Doctor)