“Intriguing and Almost Alien”: The Intertwined Histories of 19th-Century Boston Marriages and Women's Colleges

• In Event: Transnational and Intercultural Shifts in Education: Histories, Movements, and Analysis From the 19th to 20th Centuries

Abstract

Histories of female friendships and Boston Marriages in the nineteenth century have so far been largely distinct from the histories of the rise of women’s colleges during the same time period, even though they are stories about the same group of historical women. Here, the two conversations are surveyed and brought together to investigate the complex professional, sororal, and even sacramental facets of Boston Marriages within their most prominent historical context: the women’s colleges whose leaders, cultures, and goals were tightly bound up in lifelong committed partnerships between professional, intellectual women.

Author

• Ivy Tyson, The Ohio State University