Name/Title
Laura E. (Weethee) Jennings [1833-1904], Waynesburg College, Class of 1857Entry/Object ID
2008.2.80Description
Laura E. (Weethee) Jennings [1833-1904], Waynesburg College, Class of 1857 - wife of James S. Jennings, daughter of Daniel Wilkins Weethee and Evaline Fuller.
Margaret Leonice Needham, Laura Weethee and Lydia Weethee were the first three women to receive male-equivalent Bachelor's Degrees from Waynesburg College, graduating 23 September 1857, as identified in: Waynesburg College, Annual Catalogue of the Officers and Students of Waynesburg College for the Academic Year Ending September 1857, 6, 17. At least one school, the renowned Oberlin College in Ohio, is proven to have graduated women with male-equivalent Bachelor's Degrees prior to 1857, Oberlin having graduated its first degreed females in 1841. In Pennsylvania, Westminster College of New Wilmington, appears to be the only school prior to Waynesburg College to graduate women equally; their first class having graduated in July 1857 just a couple of months before Waynesburg did the same in September 1857. As an additional point, though Westminster held commencement ceremonies earlier, thus giving them the credit as the first to give the degrees, Waynesburg's program of equal coeducation predates Westminster and was the first in Pennsylvania to initiate the opportunity. Excepting Oberlin and Westminster, numerous schools in the nation graduated females prior to 1857, Waynesburg included, but diplomas or degrees of a lesser value were awarded; they were not male-equivalent Bachelor's Degrees. (Research by Candice Buchanan.)Collection
Waynesburg University Paul R. Stewart Museum CollectionMade/Created
Date made
circa 1855 - circa 1860Lexicon
Search Terms
Waynesburg (Pa.)--Schools--Waynesburg College--Alumni, Waynesburg (Pa.)--Schools--Waynesburg College--Class of 1857, Weethee familyOther Names and Numbers
Other Number
WAYN_AN001_1857_0006Relationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
Weethee, Laura E. [1833-1904]Provenance
Provenance Detail
Waynesburg College Alumni Series - Waynesburg University Paul R. Stewart Museum Collection, Class of 1857 - Waynesburg College Alumni - Waynesburg University Paul R. Stewart Museum CollectionNotes
Archived at the Waynesburg University Paul R. Stewart Museum (Miller Hall, 51 W. College St.; Waynesburg, Pennsylvania 15370). Shared with the Greene Connections: Greene County, Pennsylvania Archives Project in 2008.
Source Citation: Laura E. (Weethee) Jennings [1833-1904], Waynesburg College, Class of 1857; item no. WAYN_AN001_1857_0006, Waynesburg University Paul R. Stewart Museum Collection; Greene Connections Archives Project (GreeneConnections.com).