Millicent Carey McIntosh (November 30, 1898 – January 3, 2001) was an educational administrator and American feminist who led the Brearley School from 1930 to 1947, and

Barnard College Barnard College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college affiliated with Columbia University in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a grou ...

from 1947 to 1962. The first married woman to head one of the Seven Sisters, she was "considered a national role model for generations of young women who wanted to combine career and family," advocating for working mothers and for

child care Child care, also known as day care, is the care and supervision of one or more children, typically ranging from three months to 18 years old. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(ren), childcare typica ...

as a dignified profession.

Early life

McIntosh was born in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

on November 30, 1898 to Anthony Morris Carey and Margaret Cheston Thomas, both active Quakers. She was also a Quaker. Her mother was in the first graduating class of

Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh language, Welsh: ) is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as a ...

in 1889. Her aunt, M. Carey Thomas, also a leader in women's education, founded the Bryn Mawr School in Baltimore and served as the president of

. McIntosh attended Bryn Mawr College for her undergraduate, majoring in Greek and English and graduating in 1920 magna cum laude. After graduating, she worked for the

YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swit ...

as a social worker in Baltimore, and acted as a summer school tutor at Bryn Mawr in 1922, then moved to study abroad upon the suggestion of her aunt. McIntosh studied economics at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, and earned an English Ph.D. from

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

with a dissertation on 14th century

mystery play Mystery plays and miracle plays (they are distinguished as two different forms although the terms are often used interchangeably) are among the earliest formally developed plays in medieval Europe. Medieval mystery plays focused on the represe ...

s. After graduating with her Ph.D. in 1926, McIntosh became an assistant professor of English at Bryn Mawr College. Shortly afterward, she was appointed dean of freshman and then acting dean of the college. In 1930, she was appointed as the headmistress for the Brearley School, a position she held for seventeen years. She converted the school from a half-day format to full-day, and pioneered a

sex education Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexuality education or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including human sexual anatomy, Human sexual activity, sexual activity, sexual reproduction, safe sex, birth ...

class for sixth grade students at Brearley. In 1932, she married pediatrician Rustin McIntosh, with whom she had five children.

Barnard career

McIntosh became Dean of Barnard College in 1947, and became the institution's first President in 1952. As the president, McIntosh doubled Barnard's endowment and was able to increase faculty salaries by initiating Operation Bootstrap, a campaign that solicited funding from alumnae and donors like

John D. Rockefeller John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He was one of the List of richest Americans in history, wealthiest Americans of all time and one of the richest people in modern hist ...

. She helped to centralize the Barnard Fund and begin forming long-term development plans for the school, which allowed for the renovation of Milbank Hall and the construction of the Minor Latham Playhouse, Lehman Hall, and Reid Hall. She funded more merit scholarships from the school's endowment, opening the college to many underrepresented groups. McIntosh worked closely with Columbia presidents

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

and Grayson Kirk during her tenure. In 1948, she was awarded the Roosevelt Medal of Honor. She was elected a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

in 1966. McIntosh also volunteered as a trustee of the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...

, and was the first woman to sit on the board of

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

. McIntosh retired in 1962 and was replaced by Rosemary Park. After Barnard, she helped to found

Kirkland College Kirkland College was a small, private liberal arts women's college located in Clinton, New York, from 1965 to 1978. It was a female counterpart to Hamilton College, at that time all male, and its campus was adjacent to Hamilton's. It was named ...

in the 1960s, serving as the chair of the founding advisory board. In 1992, she received the Barnard College Medal of Distinction.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McIntosh, Millicent Carey 1898 births 2001 deaths American feminists Presidents of Barnard College Barnard College faculty Bryn Mawr College faculty Bryn Mawr College alumni Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Johns Hopkins University alumni Educators from Baltimore Bryn Mawr School people American women centenarians American Quakers Quaker feminists