The Seven Sisters are seven liberal arts colleges in the Northeastern United States that are historically women's colleges. They are Barnard College, Bryn Mawr College, Mount Holyoke College, Radcliffe College, Smith College, Vassar College, and Wellesley College. All were founded between 1837 and 1889. Four are in Massachusetts, two are in New York, and one is in Pennsylvania. Radcliffe (which merged with Harvard College) and Vassar (which is now coeducational) are no longer women's colleges.
Irene Harwarth, Mindi Maline, and Elizabeth DeBra note that "Independent nonprofit women’s colleges, which included the 'Seven Sisters' and other similar institutions, were founded to provide educational opportunities to women equal to those available to men and were geared toward women who wanted to study the liberal arts".[1] The colleges also offered broader opportunities in academia to women, hiring many female faculty members and administrators.
Harwarth, Maline, and DeBra also state that "the 'Seven Sisters' was the name given to Barnard, Smith, Mount Holyoke, Vassar, Bryn Mawr, Wellesley, and Radcliffe, because of their parallel to the Ivy League men’s colleges" in 1927.[1][4]. The schools are sometimes referred to as "the Daisy Chain."
The name Seven Sisters is a reference to the Greek myth of The Pleiades (mythology), the seven daughters of the TitanAtlas and the sea-nymph Pleione. The daughters were collectively referred to as The Seven Sisters and included, Maia, Electra, Taygete, Alcyone, Celaeno, Sterope, and Merope. In the field of astronomy, a cluster of stars in the constellation Taurus is also referred to as The Pleiades (star cluster) or the Seven Sisters.
Back in the day as they say, it was considered quite prestigious for a girl to attend one of the 7 Sisters schools.
Irene Harwarth, Mindi Maline, and Elizabeth DeBra note that "Independent nonprofit women’s colleges, which included the 'Seven Sisters' and other similar institutions, were founded to provide educational opportunities to women equal to those available to men and were geared toward women who wanted to study the liberal arts".[1] The colleges also offered broader opportunities in academia to women, hiring many female faculty members and administrators.
Harwarth, Maline, and DeBra also state that "the 'Seven Sisters' was the name given to Barnard, Smith, Mount Holyoke, Vassar, Bryn Mawr, Wellesley, and Radcliffe, because of their parallel to the Ivy League men’s colleges" in 1927.[1][4]. The schools are sometimes referred to as "the Daisy Chain."
The name Seven Sisters is a reference to the Greek myth of The Pleiades (mythology), the seven daughters of the TitanAtlas and the sea-nymph Pleione. The daughters were collectively referred to as The Seven Sisters and included, Maia, Electra, Taygete, Alcyone, Celaeno, Sterope, and Merope. In the field of astronomy, a cluster of stars in the constellation Taurus is also referred to as The Pleiades (star cluster) or the Seven Sisters.
Back in the day as they say, it was considered quite prestigious for a girl to attend one of the 7 Sisters schools.
