For too long, the history of higher education for the Southern female has lagged behind the research of the Northern female. Additionally, many misconceptions exist about the quality of education and encouragement received to pursue an education. Christie Anne Farnham uncovers evidence which speaks specifically to patterns which can be traced about the making of the Southern Belle focusing on higher education and the institutional social life. Farnham examined over a more than the span of a decade the correspondence, journals of faculty and students, school catalogues, public examination records and records of social events. She believes the “history of higher education for women in the antebellum South is largely uncharted” (1) and any attempts to locate solid information on women’s higher education in the South will prove Farnham correct. Farnham clearly shows how the “antebellum South was an innovator in collegiate education for women, which was explicitly designed to be the equivalent of men’s colleges” (7).

Farnham begins her study with a lengthy examination of the differences in higher education for the Southern female as compared to her Northern counterpart. Farnham says that historically, Southern education has been viewed as “derivative” and “deficient” when compared to the North. She believes this is not accurate and notes as an added paradox that there was less impediment to a higher education for a Southern female because purposes were different. Northern higher educational institutions prepared their studies for “middle-class women who might have to work before marriage or after the deaths or financial reversals of their spouses” (2). There was a very real possibility that these women would put their education to use and Farnham believes this was seen as a threat to the segregation of the professions in the North and hence led to resistance. In the South, women were sent to college as  “marker of gentility” (2).  Farnham believes women were sent to school never expecting to put their degrees to use beyond the social sphere. There was no threat to patriarchy in the South with educating females because it was a more controlled environment due to not only slavery but also the rural nature of the South. In fact, Farnham further states that in many families, it was looked upon with disgrace if a female had to work because the spouse was viewed as not being able to provide for his wife and the father as not being able to provide for his daughter or family. As Farnham points out, the region’s emphasis on  “conventional gender ideology, specifically, its focus on gentility” (28) was critical to fostering higher education for women which on the surface seems as if these two items might deter education.

Additionally, higher education was affordable generally to the wealthier Southern white women, which again meant it did not threaten the status quo. These students did not intend to use their education to enter professions but rather, “to maintain class distinctions within their communities.” Ironically, education for the Southern female was seen as non-empowering and therefore it was not resisted, while it was indeed an important element in the empowerment of women. Conversely, Northerners had a suspicion of gentility as elitist and imitative of the British upper classes, so the education fostered for Northern women consisted of a means of “preparing middle-class women to be self-supporting until they married or when widowed” (31).

Farnham discusses at length the offerings of female colleges and compares them to male colleges. Farnham believes that female colleges successfully transferred and transformed the curricula designed for young men. Course catalogs reveal strikingly similar requirements for degrees and in general, women’s colleges are credited with pioneering the study of music, art and modern languages which are all present in today’s universities.

Farnham also explores the social world of the female student and the female faculty. The faculty initially was recruited from the North. The social part of the educational experience inculcated in women the southern feminine model. A female’s moral obligations and purity of sexuality were discussed with their connections with class and their power over slaves.  Examining student essays, Farnham discusses how Southerners relied on  “shame” as a control for behavior and the emphasis which was placed on one’s reputation. The Northerners on the other hand, taught their students “conscience-building strategies” (78) which would help them self-regulate. The “What would people think?” was (is) a common reminder for the southern female. Farnham notes the single biggest concern with Southern male colleges was alcohol and the single biggest concern in the female colleges was the male.

Farnham also discusses the tension which existed between the evangelicals and teachers who were recruited from the North who focused on "self-discipline, self-denial, and personal achievement" and the Southern society which valued "sociability, leisure activities, and honor” (137). She concludes that it is hard to determine "the overall impact of the attempts of the ministers to modify the ideal of the Southern Belle" (178). The books ends with the recognition that the Southern women college's failed to keep pace with "national standards primarily due to the poverty of the region" and a reaction to military defeat which resulted in an adherence to Southern tradition.

For all of its strengths, the book does contain some weaknesses notably with writing style and sentence level errors. Additionally, her narrative often gets mired with numbers and names with no seeming way out of the litany. The work could be fleshed out more, especially with respect to the tensions between the evangelicals and Northern teachers and the Southern ideal, and with her "epilogue" which  discusses the "enduring image of the Southern belle" which was covered in 4 brief pages.
All told, this is an excellent source book for information on the higher education of women in the South. The research notes are copious and  students or scholars could easily use them as a springboard for their own interest and research.

Diana Vela       Texas Christian University