The Midwest’s New American Mother: The Story of Coeducation at the Valparaiso Male and Female College
Level of Education of Students Involved
Undergraduate
Faculty Sponsor
Edward Upton
College
Christ College (CC)
Discipline(s)
History
Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Symposium Date
Spring 4-24-2025
Abstract
Against the backdrop of civil war threatening the United States, a push for patriotism and virtue surged throughout the North. Educating Americans, especially Northern white women, became the ultimate solution for both the social and economic gain of the United States. Americans realized that a mother was a child’s first teacher, so women needed to be educated themselves in order to pass on that learning to their children. This is a concept entitled in this paper as New American Motherhood. This movement stemmed from the ideology of Republican Motherhood, the 18th century belief that motherhood was a civic virtue and responsible for creating the next generation of upstanding citizens. In the mid-to-late 19th century, New American Motherhood ushered white American women into the college classroom, and institutions began to address this new need. The most innovative of these being coeducational colleges. Accordingly, the Northwest Indiana Conference of the Methodist-Episcopal Church formed a college that invited not only men but also women to take part in a complete, thorough educational and intellectual experience. Henceforth, the Valparaiso Male and Female College (1859-1871) came into existence. Scholarship, however, fails to include the Midwestern coeducational institutions that made these radical strides in women’s educational experience, focusing more on Northeastern women’s colleges. This paper expands into the study of nineteenth-century women’s education by uplifting the stories of Midwestern women in a coeducational institution. Moreover, this paper dissects the cultural context of women at the Valparaiso Male and Female College; and, in doing so, it explores how this new opportunity gave women a voice in the social and political machine, especially as the nation entered the Progressive Era and 20th century. The New American Mother, educated at a coeducational college, was indeed a woman rearing children for their success, her own success, and the success of future women.
Recommended Citation
Tambrini, Olivia, "The Midwest’s New American Mother: The Story of Coeducation at the Valparaiso Male and Female College" (2025). Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE). 1354.
https://scholar.valpo.edu/cus/1354
Biographical Information about Author(s)
Olivia Tambrini is a senior History major with a minor in German. She is a Christ College scholar and the Collection Assistant at the Porter County Museum. Her academic interests include studying the History of Womanhood, the History of Industrialization and Society, and 20th Century United States History. Post-undergrad, she plans to pursue a Masters degree in Public History and/or Material Culture. After, she wants to continue working in museums.