Long College for Women facts for kids

The Long College for Women was a special school just for women. It was a liberal arts college, which means it taught a wide range of subjects like history, science, and art. It was connected to Hanover College in Hanover, Indiana. Long College was open from 1947 to 1978.

History of Long College

How Long College Started

Long College had a longer official name: Henry C. Long College for Women of Hanover College. It was created to work alongside Hanover College. Hanover College itself had started letting women attend in 1879. Calla Harrison was the first woman to graduate from Hanover in 1883.

A man named Henry C. Long from Indianapolis was a big supporter of education for women. After he passed away, his estate gave a large donation of $750,000. Because of this generous gift, the college decided to open a new school just for women.

Long College officially opened on June 2, 1947. It was first planned to be open for only ten years. However, Hanover College decided to keep it going in 1957.

Adding Long College helped Hanover College's budget a lot. Over $1 million was added each year. New buildings were also built, like dining halls and student housing, especially for the women attending Long College.

How the Colleges Worked Together

Long College was a "coordinate" college. This means it worked closely with Hanover College. Other famous schools, like Pembroke College at Brown University, used a similar system.

Students at Long College shared many things with the male students at Hanover. They used the same campus, had the same teachers, and even took the same classes. Even though the colleges were technically separate, students shared almost everything. At first, women received their degrees from Long College, and men received theirs from Hanover.

By the early 1960s, many colleges were becoming fully co-educational, meaning both men and women attended the same school. Because of this, the college decided to let women receive their diplomas from Hanover College instead of Long. However, women still had to register as Long College students.

The Final Years

On April 3, 1974, a very strong tornado hit the Hanover campus. It caused about $10 million in damages. The college needed to find ways to save money after this disaster.

Because of the need to save money and the growing trend of co-education, Long College fully joined Hanover College. This happened on November 2, 1978. This change meant that Hanover College became a fully co-educational school, and the separate college system ended.

Notable Alumnae

One famous person who went to Long College was American-Canadian writer Carol Shields. She was part of a sorority called Alpha Delta Pi while she was there. Carol Shields used her experiences at Long and Hanover Colleges as ideas for some of her books, especially The Stone Diaries.