Union Female College (Mississippi)
Other name | Southern Female College University Training School |
|---|---|
Former names | Oxford Female Seminary |
| Type | Private single-gender |
| Active | 1853–1911 |
Religious affiliation | Cumberland Presbyterian Church |
| Location | , , United States |
| Campus | Urban |
Union Female College was a private female school in Oxford, Mississippi in the United States. It was founded around 1838 and existed until 1911. The college was associated with the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.
History
The Oxford Female Institute was a female seminary in Oxford, Mississippi.[1] It was incorporated and established in 1838 by the local community.[2][1] Its principal Cyras Collins in 1848, and J. H. Visor in 1850.[3][4][5] Rev. S. G. Burney, D.D., became its principal in 1853.[6]
In 1851, the Synods of Mississippi, Union, and West Tennessee of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church agreed to form two colleges: one for men and one for women.[6] The campus of the Oxford Female Institute was transferred to the Cumberland Presbyterian Church for its college for women.[6] The citizens of Oxford made other gifts to help start the college.[6]
In the fall of 1853, the church opened Union Female College.[2][1][6] Burney, moderator of General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, became the college's first president.[7][6] The college received its charter on February 4, 1854, and expanded its buildings in 1856.[6] Under Burney's leadership, the college "became on of the educational powers of Mississippi".[6]
When Burney retired in 1859, he was replaced by faculty president Rev. R. S. Thomas who oversaw the college until its operations were disrupted by the Civil War.[8][6] It reopened in the fall of 1865 with Rev. C. H. Bell as its president.[6] Bell was replaced by R. J. Guthrie in 1873, followed by Rev. J. S. Howard in 1875.[6]
Rev. Alvin S. Maddox became the president of Union Female College in the fall of 1894.[9] The college closed in late 1896 when Oxford was placed under a quarantine due to a typhoid fever outbreak.[10] In 1898, the college was again closed; this time, for a yellow fever outbreak.[2][9] At the time, Maddox was traveling to promote the college.[9] Anxious to open the school, Maddox leased a property in Little Rock, Arkansas where he established Little Rock University, later called the Maddox Seminary.[2][9]
In 1899, the college had graduated 275 students and was owned and controlled by the Synod of Mississippi.[6] The college's enrollment declined in the early 20th century when women were allowed to attend universities.[10] The college moved to West Point, Mississippi and changed its name to Southern Female College.[2] The Cumberland Presbyterian Church sold the former college campus, which reopened as the University Training School.[10][11] Union Training School closed after it was destroyed in a fire in 1911.[1][10]
Campus
An 1854 advertisement for the school described its buildings as "commodious and well-ventilated", similar to the Oxford Female Institute's ad in 1850 which noted buildings that were "large and commodious".[8][5] In 1856, the building was expanded to include a three-story brick addition to the main building for $25,000.[6][10] After an 1897 renovation, it had classrooms, seven music rooms, a studio, a chapel, parlors, dining halls, and seventeen bedrooms.[10] It had extensive grounds.[10]
Academics
Oxford Female Institute had two divisions: primary and academical.[3] It was primarily a finishing school.[4] The primary school taught geography, basic mathematics, reading, spelling, and writing.[5] The three grades of the academical track included English grammar, writing, poetry, geography, U.S. history, rhetoric, botany, physiology, astronomy, moral and mental philosophy, Greek, Latin, French, and Spanish, higher mathematics, chemistry, natural philosophy,[4][5] Extra class included drawing, painting, vocal and instrumental music (piano, harp, and guitar), and ornamental needlework.[5][4]
Union Female College advertised that it "molded cultured women and Christian ladies".[10] It taught elocution, gymnastics, and music.[2] Additionally, it had a normal school department for teacher training.[11]
Notable alumnae
- Effiegene Wingo – member of the United States House of Representatives
See also
- List of women's universities and colleges in the United States
- Women's colleges in the Southern United States
References
- ^ a b c d Brown, Adam (2015-08-31). "Oxford Olden Days: North Mississippi College". HottyToddy.com. Retrieved 2025-08-08.
- ^ a b c d e f "Union Female College, Mississippi, elocution program | Other Documents". University of Memphis Digital Commons. Retrieved August 8, 2025.
- ^ a b "Oxford Female Institute". The Weekly Mississippian. Jackson, Mississippi. 1848-08-11. p. 3. Retrieved 2025-08-08 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d "Oxford Female Institute". The Organizer. Oxford, Mississippi. 1850-12-07. p. 3. Retrieved 2025-08-08 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d e "Oxford Female Institute". The Organizer. Oxford, Mississippi. 1850-04-20. p. 3. Retrieved 2025-08-08 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m McDonnold, B. W (1899). "Chapter 44". History of the Cumberland Presbyterian church (4th ed.). Nashville: Cumberland Presbyterian Board of Publication. pp. 572–573. Retrieved August 8, 2025 – via Cumberland Presbyterian Church.
- ^ "S.G. Burney, President of Union Female College, Oxford, Miss. Moderator of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in 1860". The New York Public Library Digital Collections. Retrieved 2025-08-08.
- ^ a b "Union Female College". The Oxford Intelligencer. 1860-12-05. p. 3. Retrieved 2025-08-08 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d Kent, Carolyn Yancey (March 8, 2024). "Alvin S. Maddox (1868–1939)". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Retrieved 2025-08-08.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Ford, Jennifer. "1896 Typhoid Fever Outbreak in Oxford, Mississippi: A New Letter from James Ezekiel Edmonds." The Southern Quarterly, vol. 53, no. 3 (2016): 190. via Project MUSE.
- ^ a b "Cedar Oaks Treasure: Almost Time for School - Who's Your Teacher?". Cedar Oaks Guild Newsletter (Summer): 4. August 31, 2022 – via University of Mississippi.