H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College
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H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College, or Newcomb College, was the coordinate women's college of Tulane University located in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was founded by Josephine Louise Newcomb in 1886.
Newcomb was the first women's coordinate college in the nation, and the first degree-granting college for women established within an American university. This model was later duplicated in partnerships such as Harvard University and Radcliffe College, Brown University and Pembroke College, and Columbia University and Barnard College.
Newcomb College was dissolved in 2006, as part of a renewal plan adopted by the Tulane Board of Administrators following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. However, a lawsuit, Howard v. Tulane, brought by heirs of Mrs. Newcomb, is challenging Tulane on the issue of donor intent and seeks to preserve Newcomb as a degree-granting coordinate college within the university.
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[edit] History
Josephine Louise Newcomb,1816–1901 (born Josephine Louise Le Monnier) established the college as a memorial to her daughter, Sophie, who died in 1870 at the age of 15. Newcomb College moved in 1918 to its current site, now adjacent to the uptown campus of Tulane.
Among its noteworthy success is the renowned Newcomb Pottery. More than 70,000 pieces were produced before the pottery program closed in 1939. The art program was enlarged to include other arts and crafts, such as illustrated bookplates, jewelry, embroidery, and hand-bound books, the latter often given embossed leather covers and elaborate clasps.
Newcomb also contributed greatly to the early development of basketball. The college was one of the first women's colleges to compete in national basketball games, along with schools such as Smith College, Mount Holyoke College, and Vassar College.
In 1895, the guidebook Basketball Rules for Women and Girls was published at Newcomb by their physical education instructor, Clara Gregory Baer. The book described both the one-handed shot and the jump shot that would not be carried over to men's basketball until 1936. The college also provided the first women's team to wear bloomers. The first publicly-played basketball game in the South was played by Newcomb students on March 13, 1895 before 560 other women at the Southern Athletic Club.[1][2][3]
Newcomb ball, a game played as an alternative to volleyball was first played at Newcomb College and bears its name. The sport was very popular in the 1920s.[1] The game is still played in various forms across the world.
[edit] Restructuring
The Tulane University board of directors announced in December 2005 that the university would be reorganized on July 1, 2006 due to restructuring following Hurricane Katrina. In March 2006, the board approved the establishment of the H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College Institute, an umbrella organization at Tulane to draw female students and faculty members in an interdisciplinary program designed "to enhance women's education and continue to enrich the women's community at Tulane." [2]
The board also approved the recommendation of a special Tulane "Renewal" task force to name a revised, co-educational, single undergraduate college "Newcomb-Tulane College," although the new college within the university is not a successor to Newcomb College.
Arguing the "renewal" plan violates the donor's intention of the gift, Newcomb's heirs filed suit against the university to invoke the restrictions of Newcomb's lifetime gifts and bequest in her will. The university claims that by naming Tulane her universal legatee in her will, Josephine Louise Newcomb placed no conditions on the use of her donations, but entrusted her gifts to the discretion of the Administrators of Tulane University, according to statements issued in The New Wave (a university publication) on May 9, 2007. [3]
On October 22, 2007, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal ruled in Tulane's favor, 2-1, in the suit. The court affirmed a previous ruling by Civil District Court Judge Rosemary Ledet which denied the plaintiffs’ petition for preliminary injunction. The trial court wrote: “A clear reading of Ms. Newcomb’s will shows that she intended for Tulane, as universal legatee, to use the balance of her estate to maintain a women’s higher education college.” However, the appeals court majority ruled that Mrs. Newcomb’s donor intent no longer deserves protection with the passage of time. The court found that the plaintiffs do not have a right to bring this action and instructed Judge Ledet to dismiss the case. However, based on the dissenting opinion, Newcomb's heirs announced their intent to apply to the Louisiana Supreme Court for reversal.[4]
Tulane's position in this legal matter prevailed in three different court rulings - at the state, federal and appellate levels. [5]
On February 22, 2008, the Louisiana Supreme Court voted unanimously to hear the Newcomb heirs' appeal of the lower court rulings. The Court held a hearing for the suit on May 20, 2008.[6] A decision remains pending.
[edit] H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College Institute
In its first year (2006-07), the Newcomb College Institute hosted 104 speakers and 110 different programs for women, men and guests at Tulane. In May 2007, the institute's first graduation awards ceremony was held, keeping some traditions alive, such as female students dressed in white, forming two lines, each carrying 40-foot length of green rope covered fresh-cut daisies and greenery.[7] Members of the class of 1957 were honored at the ceremony as they appeared in academic caps and gowns, sporting "Save Newcomb College" buttons.
[edit] External links
- H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College Institute
- Newcomb College Center for Research on Women
- The Future of Newcomb College, Inc., organized to preserve Newcomb College as a women’s degree-granting institution.
- "Enriching Education for All Women", university website to answer questions about Newcomb College and the Newcomb College Institute.
- Newcomb College Pottery
- Newcomb Pottery Marks
[edit] References
- ^ Paul, Joan, "A Lost Sport: Clara Gregory Baer and Newcomb Ball," Journal of Sport History, Vol. 23, No. 2 (Summer 1996)
- ^ Tulane Renewal Plan
- ^ Tulane's The New Wave, May 9, 2007
- ^ Descendants of Newcomb Founder to Appeal to Louisiana Supreme Court
- ^ Louisiana Court Rejects Newcomb Appeal
- ^ "Justices scrutinize Newcomb's intent in opening college," The Times-Picayune. May 21, 2008
- ^ The Times Picayune, May 19, 2007
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