Analysis Of The Top Hat Scandal

In 1861, Matthew Vassar and Milo Jewett had endowed a college that defied beliefs of the time and was unparalleled among other academic institutions in America – a chartered college that would give women an education equal to that of Harvard or Yale for men. The two men had worked together arduously for years to complete this task, yet after all this time, tensions arose and tempers flared between them. They were firmly divided over one issue – the opening date. Jewett wanted the college to open in the fall of 1864; Vassar preferred to wait until 1865. Unable to persuade Vassar, Jewett wrote a frustrated letter to a trustee, William Hague, in which he described Vassar’s decision as “fickle” and “childish.” Having read the letter, Hague

How did Jewett manage to persuade Vassar to spend his fortune in women’s higher education, an idea that went against popular sentiment, and a project to which his nephews objected? A description of Jewett in the journal of Benjamin Moran from 1862, an acquaintance of Jewett, expressed the view that there was nothing particularly prepossessing about him, and nothing in his character that would inspire a man such as Vassar to adopt Jewett’s vision for a women’s college: “A tall, stout man,” wrote Moran, “whose manners indicated a very slight knowledge of the world, but a very high opinion of himself, has been honoring us and boring us today. His name is M.P. Jewett and his real profession is that of a school master, he being the ‘President’ not of a republic, but of a young Ladies’ seminary at Poughkeepsie, New York. President Jewett is about 5 feet and 10 inches high, has a meaningless face and is about 50 years of age.” While Moran doubted Jewett’s ability to pursue such a great venture as founding a college, Jewett did just that. Jewett came to Poughkeepsie as an outsider in 1855, but in just six years convinced Vassar of his obligation to women and of the importance of women’s education. However, his “very high opinion of himself” that

But unable to come up with a solution, he exclaimed to Jewett, “I wish somebody would tell me what to do with my money. It is the plague of my life!” Jewett wasted no time in telling Vassar of his dream to establish an endowed women’s college to match Harvard and Yale. He now had Vassar’s attention, but he needed to gain Vassar’s confidence in the project. To accomplish this, Jewett first corresponded with his colleagues in education about their thoughts on a women’s college and presented their responses to Vassar. The responses were in agreement that a women’s college was needed, and the time was right for Vassar and Jewett to pursue such a project. Additionally, in a letter to Vassar in 1856, Jewett acknowledged that the task would be challenging and would have plenty of critics, but all grand schemes to benefit the human race have opposition; Vassar College would be worth it. Moreover, “the wise man, planting himself on fixed principles . . . unterrified by obstacles, unmoved by sneers, goes serenely onward” and does not let harsh critiques dissuade him from completing the project. He also noted that if Vassar were to pursue this endeavor, his name would be “more lasting than the pyramids,” do honor to Poughkeepsie, and would be revered for