Compare And Contrast Lucy Cobb Institute And Spelman University

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Both Lucy Cobb Institute and Spelman Seminary are representations of the attempts to prepare southern women and girls for the New Century by using different philosophies created by the founders of each institution. Both institutions differentiated in the types of students that attended as well as the motivations of the students. Race, class, and ideology shaped secondary education, as well as how women saw their responsibilities as "leaders of their race". In Leaders of their Race, written by Sarah H. Case, the idea of race, respectability, and sexuality in Women's Education is thoroughly explored.
Although each of the institutions sought out to mold young women to fit the new century, there were many differences in things such as their education. …show more content…

The fathers of the households worked at jobs such as: agricultural merchant, mill owners, railroad directors, and insurance executives, which are all a position of power. The students at Lucy Cobb were very much similar and had a lot of similar motives. While the students were motivated and took advantage of the educational, club, and professional possibilities that of a woman in the New South was offered. Each of the students also maintained respectability and modesty that was related to the antebellum femininity. These characteristics would provide "protection from disrepute even as they took active roles in shaping the character of the new south" (pg …show more content…

These two schools took young girls from lines of slaves and slave owners and presented them with new, great opportunities. This protected the young women from allegations of perpetuity while proceeding into the public sphere after graduation. As Lucy Cobb graduates, they would be able to take advantage of the roles offered in the public sphere and were able to defend their racial and class interest as white women. Lucies would be able to take their education into the public sphere and improve the southern society. In contrast, woman of Spelman did not have it so easy. Even though the young girls had also learned values in morality and respectability, in addition to domesticity, their challenge was much more difficult. Black women were labeled in a stereotype "black Jezebel" which dated back to slavery and "served to excuse sexual mistreatment by white male slaveholders" (pg