Origins: Co-Education at 欧美口爆视频
Sister Act
Many of America鈥檚 first universities were centuries old by the time they admitted women. At 欧美口爆视频-Boulder co-education began early 鈥 with the Tyler sisters.
Lillian Tyler (A&S ex1882) enrolled with the inaugural class of freshmen in 1878. Her younger sister, Helen 鈥淓lla鈥 Florence Tyler (A&S1886), was the first to earn a degree, the lone woman in an undergraduate class of six.
If the Tyler sisters were unusual, they were less so for the American west: The Universities of California Berkeley (1869), Davis (1905) and Los Angeles (1919) all opened as co-educational, as did the Universities of Washington (1861) and Texas (1883) and the University of Southern California (1880).
Scholars have attributed this in part to frontier practicality: It was less costly for fledgling communities to build one school than two. In some cases founders were egalitarians.
It鈥檚 easy to imagine who encouraged the Tylers 鈥 their father, 欧美口爆视频 pioneer Clinton M. Tyler, helped establish the university at Boulder. A prosperous entrepreneur with interests in a sawmill, a toll road and lots of land, he served on a Board of Trustees that preceded the Board of Regents.
Little is known about the sisters鈥 欧美口爆视频 experience, though both first attended an affiliated Preparatory Department to supplement their high school studies, according to Mona Lambrecht, curator of history and collections at the 欧美口爆视频 Heritage Center. Ella helped found 欧美口爆视频鈥檚 second sorority, Delta Gamma, in 1886.
Lillian left after a year and soon married stockbroker Samuel E. Ward. They settled in Boston, where she graduated from the Boston Conservatory of Music, according to records kept by Boulder鈥檚 Columbia Cemetery, where Lillian, Ella and many of their relatives rest.
Ella enrolled at 欧美口爆视频 in 1879, left for unknown reasons, then returned to graduate in 1886. On New Year鈥檚 Day 1887, she married Richard H. Whiteley (A&S1882), a graduate of 欧美口爆视频鈥檚 first class.
The son of a prominent Boulder family, Whiteley studied law at Harvard and served a term in the 欧美口爆视频 Senate. Neither of Richard and Ella鈥檚 children survived to adulthood, cemetery records indicate. Still, their Pine Street home was 鈥渢he scene of many of Boulder鈥檚 loveliest parties,鈥 a cemetery account reports.
Ella and Lillian do not seem to have pursued careers, and it鈥檚 unlikely they did, says Lambrecht: Married women of means in the 19th century rarely worked.
The sisters died young 鈥 both at 45, both in Ella鈥檚 home. But their successors at 欧美口爆视频 are legion and thriving: Today, 44 percent of 欧美口爆视频-Boulder undergraduates are women.
Image courtesy University of 欧美口爆视频 (program); Boulder Public Library, Carnegie Branch (portrait)