All-Girls Education from Ward Seminary to Harpeth Hall, 1865–2015 by Mary Ellen Pethel

Author:Mary Ellen Pethel [Pethel, Mary Ellen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, United States, State & Local, South (AL; AR; FL; GA; KY; LA; MS; NC; SC; TN; VA; WV), Education, Organizations & Institutions, Photography, Subjects & Themes, Regional
ISBN: 9781625852908
Google: TOjuBwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Published: 2015-03-23T02:50:52+00:00

The original doors of Ward Seminary on Eighth Avenue North, now Rosa L. Parks Boulevard, are now part of the Idanelle McMurry Center for Arts and Athletics.

Harpeth Hall avoided such cultural stagnation with the change in leadership that occurred in 1963 with Souby’s retirement and McMurry’s hiring. McMurry was an alumna who understood and respected the tradition behind Harpeth Hall but was also a motivated administrator who realized that if Harpeth Hall was to survive and thrive, the school’s curriculum and campus needed to grow and change.

The 1960s and early 1970s brought with it a generation of students more likely to challenge authority and push the limits of school rules and social norms previously thought nonnegotiable. Moreover, the passage of Title IX greatly reduced the number of girls’ schools in the country, as many merged with boys’ schools or became coeducational—affecting single-sex public and private schools. At the beginning of McMurry’s tenure, there were approximately 1,132 private girls’ high schools; by the end of her tenure, only 561 girls’ high schools were still in operation.343 Single-sex colleges also moved to a coeducation model; even Ivy League Schools such as Princeton and Harvard Universities began admitting women in 1969 and 1976, respectively. The closure or merger of women’s colleges trickled down to single-gender high schools. Many all-boys high schools began to admit girls with far greater success than girls’ schools who decided to admit young men. As such, remaining private girls’ college preparatory schools struggled to find their identity and niche in the 1970s.

Harpeth Hall survived this period, to a great extent, because of its Board of Trustees and administration. These groups kept enrollment and finances steady, in part, by adding the Middle School and fundraising. Moreover, the school’s academic reputation was enhanced by Winterim and the addition of new faculty, staff, courses, and induction as a chapter of the Cum Laude Society.344 Applicants increased and admission to Harpeth Hall remained competitive. A school newsletter reported in 1975: “The school operates at its maximum enrollment of 570 students, and each year there are approximately 25 percent more applicants than the school has space to accept. Students come from a wide area of the city and county, and several commute from nearby towns. There has been an addition of a wide variety of courses.”345 McMurry’s foresight in forming an official alumnae organization also supported the school in various ways. The Alumnae Association reaffirmed the bonds between Ward-Belmont and Harpeth Hall while also organizing the school’s growing base of young alumnae.

Harpeth Hall students in the 1970s reflected national trends as participants of a changing cultural and political scene. However, the school and its students remained insulated from the topsy-turvy world beyond campus. The school did react to certain trends that it found in violation of a southern girls’ prep school, though it modified other rules in order to abide by changing gender roles. For example, sunbathing was expressly forbidden, but girls were allowed to ask boys to dances held on campus. Gone were the days of man-less dancing, strict chaperonage, and white gloves.

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