Pleasant J. Potter College

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Pleasant J. Potter College
Former name
Pleasant J. Potter College for Young Ladies
TypePrivate womens
ActiveSeptember 9, 1889–May 20, 1909
PresidentBenjamin F. Cabell
Location
Bowling Green
,
Kentucky
,
United States
ColorsGreen and Gold

Pleasant J. Potter College was an American private women's college that operated from 1889 to 1909 in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

History

In early 1884, a group of businessmen in Bowling Green, Kentucky formed a committee to establish a girls' school for local and boarding students.[1] Benjamin F. Cabell was elected president of the proposed school; he had taught at the Cedar Bluff College in Kentucky until that institution was destroyed by fire.[2] Cabell began planning and fundraising for the new college.[2]

The school committee purchased a 4-acre tract known as Vinegar Hill on the southern edge of Bowling Green in March 1889.[1][3] Cabell and the committee sold subscriptions to the local community for $25 a share to fund a "state of the art" building.[1][2] This scheme raised $17,000 but was short of the needed funds for the construction project.[2] Local businessman and banker Pleasant J. Potter donated the last $5,000 ($169,556 in today's money) required for construction.[1]

Pleasant J. Potter College was incorporated on February 9, 1889, with $21,160 set aside to construct its main building.[2] It was named for Potter in recognition of his donation.[4] Otis Wood of Louisiana was hired to construct the building; the construction workers were paid with shares in the building stock.[2]

Pleasant J. Potter College for Young Ladies opened on September 9, 1889.[4][1][3][2] Because the building was not completed until December, boarding students were housed in town.[2] Its students consisted of female students of "high position".[1] Cabell was the college's president.[4]

Potter College operated on what was considered an out-of-date congregate system with a single building.[1] This allowed the school's administrators to control the students, including locking them on their floors at night.[1] In contrast to more modern colleges of the era that gave female students more freedom, the students at Potter College "chafed at a succession of rules, bells, and institutional constraints".[1] Even its faculty petitioned to ease their duties as chaperons to the students.[1]

In 1901, Cabell caught local boys helping five students exit the second floor via a ladder for a late-night date.[1] Gunfire was exchanged between Cabell and the boys, but there were no injuries.[1] The female students were expelled.[1] Despite the college's attempt to reduce scandal, the incident made national news.[2]

Cabell moved into a separate house next to the school building in 1907.[1] However, his health declined, and the college suffered from financial difficulties as students went to other, more modern colleges.[1][2] Cabell closed Potter College after the spring 1909 term, on May 20.[5][6]

Western Kentucky State Normal School bought the buildings, properties, and adjacent 177 acres of Potter College in 1909 for $82,500.[7] In February 1911, Western relocated to the former Potter campus.[8] In the 1930s, the Potter College building was demolished.[2] Potter College alumnae became affiliates of Western's alumni association in 1930.[1]

Campus

Potter College was located at the summit of Vinegar Hill (also called Copley Knob), 125 feet (38 m) above downtown Bowling Green.[8][2] The four-story Italianate style college building was designed by Louisville architect Harry P. McDonald.[1] The building featured two wings; a third wing was added in 1890.[1] Its first floor included a chapel, classrooms, a dining room, a kitchen, a library, and reception rooms.[1] The second and third stories had a gymnasium, a music room, and 100 furnished bedrooms that housed two students each.[1][2] The building had modern conveniences; it was heated by steam, illuminated by gas light, and its nine bathrooms had hot and cold running water.[2][1] The college president and his wife also lived in the building until a nearby house was acquired in 1907.[4][1]

Academics

Potter College operated as a finishing school for upper-class girls but also provided a liberal arts education that prepared its students for work as artists, businesswomen, nurses, social reformers, teachers, and writers.[1] Its students graduated with Bachelor of Arts, Mistress of English language, or a Certificate of Proficiency.[2] The latter required "satisfactory completion" of coursework in elocution, English, French, German, Latin, math, music, and science.[2]

Cabell developed a curriculum focused on English studies, mathematics, and science.[2] Students studied a mix of classical and more recent writings, including Geoffrey Chaucer, Cicero, Nathaniel Hawthorne, William Shakespeare, and Virgil.[2] Science offerings include botany, chemistry, physics, and zoology.[2] Other required courses included history, logic, and political economy.[2] Over time, Bible classes, elocution, political geography, religious studies, and spelling were added to the college's curriculum.[2] Students could also take electives, including art, languages, and music.[2]

Student life

Students at Potter College were required to attend chapel daily; on Sundays, they attended the local church selected by their parents.[2]

One of the college's first clubs was the Young Women's Christian Association.[2] Other clubs were organized around the students' state residence, such as Kentucky, Tennessee, or Texas.[2] Two literary societies, Hypatian and Ossolian, was also established, as well as French, German, and Shakespeare Clubs.[2]

Potter College had social sororities, including chapters of Beta Sigma Omicron (1902), Sigma Iota Chi (1909) Eta Upsilon Gamma (1908) and Phi Mu Gamma (1908).[9] All four chapters went defunct in 1909 when the college closed.[9] The sororities established rooms in the school building.[2]

The students formed intramural athletic teams for basketball, bowling, and tennis.[2] The students also published The Green and Gold, quarterly.[2]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Niedermeier, Lynn E. (July 2007). "Western and the Pleasant J. Potter College: A Shared Heritage". TopSCHOLAR. Western Kentucky University Archives. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac Gibson, Stephen (2004). "The Pleasant J. Potter College" (PDF). TopSCHOLAR. Western Kentucky University Archives. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  3. ^ a b Ellis, William E. (2011). A History of Education in Kentucky. Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky, p. 363. ISBN 978-0-8131-4023-0
  4. ^ a b c d ""Education - Pleasant J. Potter College"". TopScholar: The Research & Creative Activity Database of WKU. Western Kentucky University Archives. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  5. ^ Ellis, William E. (2011). A History of Education in Kentucky. Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky, p. 365. ISBN 978-0-8131-4023-0
  6. ^ "End of Potter College". Lexington Herald-Leader. 1909-05-20. p. 9. Retrieved 2024-03-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Sign Contact for Purchase of Potte College Propety". The Courier-Journal. Louisville, Kentucky. 1909-03-13. p. 7. Retrieved 2024-03-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ a b "The History of WKU". Bowling Green, Kentucky: Western Kentucky University. 2011. Archived from the original on June 11, 2011. Retrieved August 14, 2016.
  9. ^ a b Carroll and Becque, Fran. (January 11, 2024) "Closed Institutions". Almanac of Fraternities and Sororities. Urbana: University of Illinois. Accessed March 5, 2024.
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