Hartshorn Memorial College

Hartshorn Memorial College was a private college for African-American women in Richmond, Virginia, active from 1883 until 1932. When it closed, it was merged into Virginia Union University.^[1]

Hartshorn Memorial College was created in Richmond, Virginia, in 1883 as a college for the education of African-American women.^[2] The college's namesake, Joseph C. Hartshorn donated the funds for the school in honour of his wife Rachel Hartshorn.^[3] The school was co-founded by Dr. Lyman Beecher Tefft and Carrie Victoria Dyer.^[4]

Tefft became the first president while Dyer became the principal.^[4][5][6] Classes started in the basement of the Leigh Street Ebenezer Baptist Church before moving to the corner of Lombardy and Leigh Street, the former Bowe plantation, in 1884.^[7] The site is now occupied by the Maggie L. Walker Governor's School. Hartshorn was considered a sister school to the neighbouring Virginia Union University.^[8]

In 1892 the school conferred three baccalaureate degrees, a first for an African-American women's college in the country.^[8] Geoffrey W. Rigler replaced Tefft as president in 1912 while Dyer became dean for two years before resigning.^[4] Hartshorn merged into Virginia Union University in 1932.^[8] The seal of the school was a map of Africa and Madagascar in front of a rising sun with the Latin inscription, "Sigillum colegii" (college seal).^[8]

While Hartshorn provided homemaking classes and technical training its focus was on academics.^[8] Hartshorn was known for its teacher education including a "model classroom" program similar to today's student-teaching approach to help future students gain experience in the classroom.^[8]

Health and fitness was also a large part of the curriculum. The faculty was mostly women, including Dr. Lyman Beecher Tefft's daughter Mary who worked for free given the school's small budget.^[8] Only one African-American faculty member served at the school, Rosa Kinckle Jones, a graduate of Howard University and wife of Virginia Union University professor Joseph Endom Jones. She started at Hartshorn in 1888 and was a music instructor for almost 40 years.^[8]

The students at Hartshorn were closely supervised and it had a reputation for being a strict environment. Chapel attendance was required and any sweets were banned.^[8] The students had to follow a strict dress code, were not allowed to use the streetcars, or go on dates on the weekends.^[8] The young women participated in events with the men of Virginia Union University as well as events on their own campus such as "Industrial Teams" competitions.^[8] They were encouraged to support temperance and abstain from wearing corsets.^[8]

Shortly after merging with Virginia Union University, Hartshorn's buildings were demolished.^[8] The only physical reminder of the school is a memorial plaque on the campus of the Maggie L. Walker Governor's School Campus. The last known alumna of the school died in 2003.^[8] The records of the Hartshorn Memorial College are held at the L. Douglas Wilder Library and Learning Resource Center at Virginia Union University and include catalogs and reunion materials.

• Bessye J. Bearden, journalist, civic activist, and mother of artist Romare Bearden
• Eva Roberta Coles Boone, educator and missionary to the Congo
• Lucy Coles, missionary
• Revella Hughes, soprano and early recording artist
• Rosa Kinckle Jones, head of the Music Department for 40 years

• L. Douglas Wilder Library's Archives and Special Collections