Ingham University in Le Roy,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, was the first women's college in New York State and the first chartered women's university in the United States. It was founded in 1835 as the Attica (NY) Female Seminary by Mariette and Emily E. Ingham, who moved the school to Le Roy in 1837. The school was chartered on April 6, 1852, as the Ingham Collegiate Institute, and a full university charter was granted in April 1857. After financial difficulties, the college closed in 1892 and its property was sold at auction in 1895. Over several years, the college's former buildings were demolished; the stone from the Arts Conservatory, the last campus building to be dismantled, was used to build the Woodward Memorial Library at the same location in Le Roy. Ingham University was the alma mater of

Sarah Frances Whiting Sarah Frances Whiting (August 23, 1847 – September 12, 1927) was an American physicist and astronomer. She was one of the founders and the first director of the Whitin Observatory at Wellesley College. She instructed several notable astronom ...

, who later founded the physics department and establish the astronomical observatory at

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficial g ...

.''Historical Dictionary of Women's Education in the United States''
edited by Linda Eisenmann, page 462. Greenwood Publishing Group.

Notable people

Nancy H. Adsit Nancy H. Adsit (, Warren; pen name, Probus; May 21, 1825 – April 27, 1902) was a 19th-century American art lecturer, art educator, and writer. A graduate of Ingham University, she contributed for half a century to art literature. Adsit was the f ...

, author *

Ruth Webster Lathrop Ruth Webster Lathrop (May 23, 1862 – July 31, 1940) was an American physician and medical school professor, who taught physiology at the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania. Early life Lathrop was from Le Roy, New York, the daughter of ...

(1862-1940), physician *

Marion Juliet Mitchell Marion Juliet Mitchell (September 4, 1836 – January 30, 1917) was an American poet and educator. She received a thorough education, and inherited literary tastes from her parents. She contributed extensively both prose and verse to magazines a ...

, poet *

Mary Mortimer Mary Mortimer (December 2, 1816 – July 14, 1877) was a British-born American educator. She served as principal of the Milwaukee Female College and other women's educational institutions. When just a child, Mortimer and her family emigrated fro ...

(1816–1877), British-born American educator *

, physicist, astronomer

References

Former women's universities and colleges in the United States Defunct private universities and colleges in New York (state) Educational institutions established in 1835 Educational institutions disestablished in 1892 Le Roy, New York History of women in New York (state) {{NewYork-university-stub