Wilson College is a private,

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

-related college in

Chambersburg, Pennsylvania Chambersburg is a borough in and the county seat of Franklin County, in the South Central region of Pennsylvania, United States. It is in the Cumberland Valley, which is part of the Great Appalachian Valley, and north of Maryland and the ...

. Founded in 1869 by two

ministers, it was named for its first major donor, Sarah Wilson of nearby St. Thomas Township, Pennsylvania, who gave $30,000 toward the purchase of the land and home of

Alexander McClure Alexander Kelly McClure (January 9, 1828 – June 6, 1909) was an American politician, newspaper editor, and writer from Pennsylvania who served as a Republican member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1858 to 1859, the Penns ...

. For 144 years, Wilson operated as a

women's college Women's colleges in higher education are undergraduate, bachelor's degree-granting institutions, often liberal arts colleges, whose student populations are composed exclusively or almost exclusively of women. Some women's colleges admit male stud ...

. In 2013 the college's board of trustees voted to make the college coeducational beginning in the 2013–2014 academic year, with male residential students beginning in fall 2014.

History

1869–1900

The college was founded by the Rev. Tryon Edwards and the Rev. James W. Wightman, pastors of Presbyterian churches in nearby Hagerstown, Maryland, and

Greencastle, Pennsylvania Greencastle is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, Franklin County in south-central Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,996 at the 2010 census. Greencastle lies within the Cumberland Valley of Pennsylv ...

. The original charter was granted by the Pennsylvania Legislature on March 24, 1869. First named Wilson Female College, it took its present name in 1920. Wilson was one of the first colleges in the U.S. to accept only female students. Its 1870 promotional materials stated that the college was a place for women "to be leaders, not followers, in society". Instruction began in 1870, with the first academic degree awarded in 1874. The college was modeled after

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely foll ...

. It was named for Sarah Wilson (1795–1871), whose donations were used to purchase the campus land.

1900–2000

Anna Jane McKeag was inaugurated as Wilson's first woman president in 1911, and served until 1915 when she was succeeded by Ethelbert Dudley Warfield. In 1967 the Wilson College sailing team won the first Intercollegiate Sailing Association national championship held in a women's event (dinghy). In the 1970s, two tropical storms, Agnes in 1972 and Eloise in 1975, caused flood damage to low-lying buildings on campus. Although it nearly closed its doors in 1979, a lawsuit organized by students, faculty, parents and an alumnae association succeeded in allowing the college to remain open, making it one of the few colleges to survive a scheduled closing. It subsequently adopted the

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

as its mascot, to symbolize the college's survival. In 1982, Wilson began offering a continuing studies program (now known as the Adult Degree Program) to meet the needs of adults seeking post-secondary education. In 1996, the college was one of the first in the nation to offer an on-campus residential educational experience for single mothers with children.

2000–present

Beginning in summer 2006, Wilson offered its first graduate-degree program, a Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) for certified elementary school teachers. The college currently offers six graduate degree programs. The first men to attend Wilson entered at the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

when an influx of male students created shortages at co-educational and men's colleges. These men attended classes for one year before transferring to other colleges. Men later became eligible to earn degrees from Wilson through the Adult Degree Program, although the traditional undergraduate college remained a College For Women. In January 2013, the college's board of trustees voted to extend coeducation across all programs; male commuter students were admitted in fall 2013, with the first male residential students beginning in fall 2014.

Campus

The Wilson College campus is located at the edge of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, on both sides of the

Conococheague Creek Conococheague Creek, a tributary of the Potomac River, is a free-flowing stream that originates in Pennsylvania and empties into the Potomac River near Williamsport, Maryland. It is in length,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset h ...

. The property was originally bought from

, whose home ''Norland'', had been burnt in 1864 by Confederates under the orders of General

Jubal Early Jubal Anderson Early (November 3, 1816 – March 2, 1894) was a Virginia lawyer and politician who became a Confederate States of America, Confederate general during the American Civil War. Trained at the United States Military Academy, Early r ...

. The home was rebuilt before being sold to the college.

Academics

The college offers 34 undergraduate majors, 40 undergraduate minors, and master's degrees. The most popular majors are in the fields of agriculture and agricultural sciences, animal-assisted therapy, biological sciences, nursing, and veterinary/animal health.

Athletics

Wilson athletic teams are the Phoenix. The college is a member of the

Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

level of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

(NCAA), primarily competing in the

Colonial States Athletic Conference The Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) is an NCAA Division III collegiate athletic conference in the Mid-Atlantic United States. There are currently nine full member institutions as of 2018. The conference's membership, as with most Mid ...

(CSAC) since the 2018–19 academic year. The Phoenix previously competed in the United East Conference (UEC; formerly known as the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) until after the 2020–21 academic year) from 2007–08 to 2017–18. Wilson competes in 11 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, golf, soccer and volleyball; while women's sports include basketball, field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball and volleyball. Club sports include archery, equestrian and pep talk. The women's equestrian team competes in numerous IHSA and other events. Wilson began sponsoring men's sports since the 2014–15 academic year when the college became coeducational; starting with basketball and golf, followed by soccer, volleyball and baseball in the following years.

Notable alumnae

* Betty Andujar, Texas politician * Emily Bacon (1891–1972), physician * Pauline Morrow Austin, meteorologist * Pauline Donnan (1885–1934), opera singer * Amy Gilbert (1895–1980), historian *

Zack Hanle Dorothea Zack Hanle (c. 1915 - February 17, 1999), was an American cooking author and journalist who served as an editor of '' Bon Appetit'', in addition to writing books about cooking, diet and exercise, as well as gardening. In 1976, she was one ...

, cooking author and journalist * Katherine Laich (1910–1992), librarian * Kate Hevner Mueller (1898–1984), psychologist and educator * Irene Neal, painter *

Mary Lawson Neff Mary Lawson Neff (December 4, 1862 – November 1, 1945) was an American neurologist, and the first woman psychiatrist practicing in Arizona.

(1862–1945), neurologist * Hannah J. Patterson (1879–1937), suffragist *

Bonnie Lineweaver Paul Bonnie Lineweaver Paul (born June 6, 1940) is a Virginia lawyer and Republican politician, who represented a district in the Blue Ridge Mountains in the Virginia House of Delegates for two terms. Early and family life Bonnie Lineweaver was bor ...

, attorney and politician * Joan Risch, homemaker who went missing from her home in the Boston suburbs in 1961 * Sally Hoyt Spofford (1914–2002), ornithologist * Elizabeth Schofield (1935–2005), archaeologist and classical scholar * Rosedith Sitgreaves (1915–1992), statistician and professor * Delia Velculescu, economist * Frances Wick (1875–1941), physicist

References

External links

Wilson College

Wilson College Athletics
{{authority control Second Empire architecture in Pennsylvania Colonial Revival architecture in Pennsylvania Gothic Revival architecture in Pennsylvania Former women's universities and colleges in the United States Liberal arts colleges in Pennsylvania Educational institutions established in 1869 School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Chambersburg, Pennsylvania Universities and colleges in Franklin County, Pennsylvania Pennsylvania state historical marker significations 1869 establishments in Pennsylvania Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania National Register of Historic Places in Franklin County, Pennsylvania Universities and colleges affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) Private universities and colleges in Pennsylvania