H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Main article: Tulane University

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. 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 disbanded and integrated into the new Newcomb-Tulane College in 2006.

1 History
2 Restructuring
3 External links
4 References

[edit] History

Josephine Louise Newcomb 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 alternate to volleyball was first played at Newcomb College and bears its name. The sport was very popular in the 1920s.^[1]

[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 that will 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." 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."

Arguing this plan violates the donor's intention of the gift, Newcomb's heirs are suing the university to invoke the restrictions on Newcomb's lifetime gifts and bequest in her will. The Future of Newcomb College, Inc. maintains a Save Newcomb College website: http://www.newcomblives.com.[4]