Mount Holyoke College, a liberal arts college in South Hadley, Massachusetts, is the oldest institution of women's higher education in the world.

Founded in 1837, Mount Holyoke is the oldest member of the Seven Sisters, founded as the women's equivalent to the Ivy League (which, at that time, excluded women). It is also a member of the Five Colleges consortium.

For several consecutive years, the Princeton Review has named Mount Holyoke's 2,000 acre (8 km²) campus as the "Most Beautiful College Campus in America." The founders of Mount Holyoke later traveled westward to found the Western College for Women (which later became the Western College Program) in Oxford, Ohio which is now a part of Miami University.

It is named for Mount Holyoke, with an elevation of 878 feet (268 m).

General information

Mount Holyoke is the second oldest continuing institution of women's education after Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia in the world. Today, Mount Holyoke enrolls approximately 2,100 undergraduates from across the country and around the world. Approximately 18 percent of students are African American, Latina, Asian American, or Native American. A further 15 percent are international students. The College is known for its strong science programs, for its interdisciplinary studies (such as International Relations and Critical Social Thought), and for its beautiful campus. The College is also an incubator for writers, having produced scores of professional writers and poets, beginning with Emily Dickinson.

History

Mount Holyoke College was founded as a seminary (Mount Holyoke Female Seminary) on 8 November 1837 by Mary Lyon (1797-1849), who also founded Wheaton College (originally Wheaton Female Seminary).

Famous alumnae and faculty

Alumnae

Famous alumnae of Mount Holyoke College include:

• Emily Dickinson, who dropped out of the college in 1849 because her religious ideologies differed from those of the college's founder
• Suzan-Lori Parks playwright; Pulitzer Prize winner, Topdog/Underdog
• Frances Perkins (Class of 1902) who was the first woman Cabinet member as Secretary for Labor
• Dr. Virginia Apgar (Class of 1929) who developed the Apgar score for newborns
• Ella Grasso (Class of 1940), Governor of Connecticut who was the first female Governor elected in her own right in United States history
• Wendy Wasserstein (Class of 1971) playwright; Pulitzer Prize winner, The Heidi Chronicles
• Elaine Chao (Class of 1975), Labor Secretary
• Barbara Cassani (Class of 1982), the American busineswoman who is spearheading London's Olympic effort for 2012

Faculty

Distinguished faculty at Mount Holyoke include:

• W. Anthony Lake, former National Security Advisor
• Cabinet member Cyrus Vance
• Joseph Brodsky, Russian poet and Nobel Laureate.

Fictional alumnae

In the movie Dirty Dancing, Jennifer Grey's character "Baby" spent her last summer dancing before going off to Mount Holyoke College.

The lead character of the film, "Black Widow," was also a Mount Holyoke alumna.

Blow: mentioned along with other "Four Colleges" as luractive place to sell cocaine

External links

• Mt. Holyoke College
• History of the College
• History of Mount Holyoke Seminary During Its First Half Century 1837-1887, by Sarah D. Stowe
• A Postcard Collection of Mount Holyoke College