The Seven Sisters are a group of liberal arts colleges on the east coast of the US, founded in the 19th century to provide educational opportunities for women. Two of the colleges have since become mixed. The colleges are Mount Holyoke, Vassar, Wellesley, Smith, Radcliffe, Bryn Mawr, and Barnard. They have produced many famous graduates and are highly ranked. Each college has its own unique history and offerings, with some being part of consortia with other colleges.
The Seven Sisters are liberal arts colleges on the east coast of the United States. Many of them are also sister schools to formerly all-male Ivy League colleges. Since 1927, when the term Seven Sisters was coined, in honor of the Pleiades, two of the colleges have become mixed. The Seven Sisters were all founded in the 19th century with the aim of opening up educational opportunities for women, as most colleges were all-male at the time. Today they regularly feature in the top education rankings for the United States.
The colleges considered part of the Seven Sisters are: Mount Holyoke College, Vassar College, Wellesley College, Smith College, Radcliffe College, Bryn Mawr College and Barnard College. These colleges boast a number of famous graduates, including Jackie Kennedy, Margaret Mead, Katharine Hepburn, Gertrude Stein, Julia Child, Emily Dickinson and many more. Members of the Sisters who remain all female believe that maintaining a female student body has important value to their graduates, and many well-known graduates have written about the benefits of attending a women’s college.
Mount Holyoke College located in Massachusetts is the oldest of these colleges, having been founded in 1837. Mount Holyoke prides itself on educating unusual and strong women and has focused on providing high quality academics since 1837 when the College used the same textbooks used in men’s boarding schools. In addition to being a member of the Seven Sisters, Mount Holyoke is a member of the Five Colleges Consortium, which allows students to take courses at Amherst College, Smith College, Hampshire College, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Mount Holyoke College also joins Dartmouth College and the California Institute of Technology in offering a highly regarded engineering program.
Vassar College, New York, was founded in 1861. In 1969, she became the first of the Seven Sisters to go coeducational, after declining an offer to merge with Yale. In addition to granting bachelor’s degrees, Vassar offers a master’s degree program in chemistry. A number of famous people in the arts have graduated from Vassar.
Wellesley College, also in Massachusetts, opened in 1875. Wellesley has a strong program in the sciences, and many students go on to medical and other professional schools after graduation. Wellesley’s goals include the education of empowered women who intend to make a difference in the world at large, and the school is well known for its fine 500-acre grounds, including gardens designed by Frederick Law Olmstead.
Smith College, another member of the Five Colleges Consortium, was founded in Massachusetts in 1871 as a private women’s college. Smith’s undergraduate population remains all female, although men are admitted as graduate students. Smith is the largest private women’s college in the United States and remains very committed to high-quality education for women. Smith has a strong program in the sciences, particularly engineering, as well as a rich tradition of literature graduates.
Radcliffe College was founded in 1879, originally as an annex of Harvard for women’s education. Radcliffe has since been absorbed by Harvard and is today an Institute for Advanced Studies coeducational. The Radcliffe name is still used by many organizations at Harvard, and the Radcliffe crew team retain their colors and mascot.
Bryn Mawr was founded in 1885 and is one of the most elite of the seven sisters, accepting a limited number of applicants. It was originally affiliated with the Society of Friends, although the religious connection has since been dropped. Together with Haverford College and Swarthmore College, Bryn Mawr forms the Tri-College Consortium, with reciprocity between the schools allowing students to take classes on all campuses. Bryn Mawr, like Smith, admits men to higher education level.
Barnard College is the youngest of seven sisters, founded in New York City in 1889. It is affiliated with Columbia College, although it maintains a separate faculty, administrative staff, and budget. Admission to undergraduates at Barnard is for women only, although men at Columbia can participate in classes and activities.
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