That one time in Michigan: When two sisters pioneered women’s higher education

The story of Michigan Female College.

In the mid-1800s, Michigan was a young developing state that was working hard to establish an educational foundation. Part of that development was founding higher learning institutions.

Unfortunately for women at the time, pursuing higher education was seen strictly as a man’s endeavor. But for two women in Lansing, that barrier was unacceptable. So, they took matters into their own hands.

Today, we’re bringing you a short history of the Michigan Female College.

Early schools in Michigan

Michigan has long been a champion of public education, with the creation of schools dating back to before statehood. According to the Michigan State Board of Education, judicial districts had created schools and levied taxes to support them dating back to 1809. Boys and girls attended these primary schools together, and coeducation was fairly commonplace.

In the decades that followed, Michigan created school districts, and universities also began being founded—the first of which was the University of Michigan, which was established in 1817 and started as more of a high school before becoming a full-fledged university in 1837.

But despite the progress Michigan was making in education during the 19th century, women were barred from entering the state’s top-level schools.

For some years, that was the status quo. In 1855, there was an effort from the Michigan Legislature to establish a higher education school for women in the state. While the governor even endorsed the plan, it ultimately failed to pass.

But two sisters in Lansing were about to become the spark for change.

Establishing a college for women

Abigail Rogers in an undated photo. (Image via Archives of Michigan/Public Domain)

The story of the Rogers sisters doesn’t begin in Michigan, but in New York.

Abigail and Delia Rogers were raised in a family that strongly believed in the value of education. The family, as was not the norm at the time, wanted both their boys and girls to be educated and sent all of them to the local seminary (a type of private school that was the highest level of education they could achieve in the area).

Abigail was trained in academic leadership, and by the early 1850s, she and Delia had relocated to Albion, Michigan. Following an administrative role at Wesleyan Seminary (now Albion College), Abigail was hired to lead girls’ education at Michigan Normal School in Ypsilanti.

Throughout this time, both Abigail and Delia still believed girls could achieve higher ambitions in their education and, in October of 1855, relocated to Lansing and founded the Michigan Female College, which taught both classical and scientific studies.

Lacking their own facilities, the school was first located inside the Michigan State Capitol (although it’s unclear who permitted them to hold lessons). For two years, classes were held daily until funds were secured to build their own facilities in 1857.

By 1867, the college had admitted over 1,000 female students from ten states. Abigail continued lobbying the state for women’s rights to attend public universities until her death in 1869.

Universities open doors to women

While she wasn’t able to see it for herself, Rogers’ advocacy is widely credited as the catalyst for opening the doors for women to attend public universities in Michigan.

Shortly after her death, the Lansing Republican newspaper called Rogers “the acknowledged and leading champion of the higher education of women in Michigan.”

Months later, the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan (now Michigan State University) began allowing women to enroll in classes. U of M would follow suit shortly after.

The Michigan Female College closed its doors following these advancements, as the school was no longer necessary. Several years later, the building became the Michigan School for the Blind.

In 2007, Abigail Rogers was posthumously inducted into the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame for her work advancing education for women in the state.

The building in Lansing that once housed the Michigan Female College is now an apartment complex for seniors named “The Abigail” in Rogers’ honor (it’s also allegedly haunted).

One last note: In the present day, women outnumber men in higher education in Michigan, with 54.6% women compared to 45.4% men—something that Abigail and Delia would undoubtedly be very proud of.

Much of this information was gathered from a lecture by Michigan Capitol Historian Valerie Marvin. This is just a tiny portion of the story of women’s education in Michigan. To see Marvin’s full lecture on YouTube, click here.