Oldest Women’s College in Nation Marks 150th Year
- Share via
SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. — Mount Holyoke College, the nation’s oldest continuing college for women, kicked off its 150th birthday party Sunday, a planned two-year celebration of women’s pioneering achievements.
Mount Holyoke is one of five original “Seven Sisters” colleges to maintain an all-woman admissions policy. The others are Smith, Bryn Mawr, Wellesley and Barnard. The other two were Vassar, which became co-ed, and Radcliffe, which became a part of Harvard University.
Mount Holyoke prepared to begin its sesquicentennial festivities Sunday night with a convocation, musical procession and fireworks on the campus of the western Massachusetts college founded in 1837 by New England educator Mary Lyon.
More to Read
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.