Radcliffe College

Radcliffe College, former private, coeducational institution in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1999 Radcliffe was fully absorbed into Harvard University and renamed the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. Radcliffe was founded in 1879 as the “Harvard Annex” intended “to furnish instruction and the opportunities of collegiate life to women and to promote their higher education,” because Harvard did not admit women at the time. The college performed its mission through scholarship, research, commentary, and as an advocate for women.

Although Radcliffe College was an independent institution, with its own administration, board of trustees, and mission, it always shared a strong educational partnership with Harvard. When Radcliffe was founded, its faculty consisted of Harvard professors who taught classes in their off hours. Beginning in the 1970s women students were admitted jointly to Radcliffe and Harvard, and they received diplomas signed by the presidents of both institutions. The two schools also held classes in common. Radcliffe lost some of its initial mission when Harvard turned fully coeducational in the 1970s, but Radcliffe remained a separate institution with a principle goal of advancing society by advancing women.

Under the terms of the 1999 merger, Harvard absorbed all of Radcliffe’s assests, including such notable campus buildings as the Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, the Henry A. Murray Research Center, and the Bunting Institute. The newly formed Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies focuses on women, gender, and society. Its dean is appointed by the president of Harvard and participates in major Harvard decisions together with the deans of Harvard’s medical school, law school, and other Harvard faculties.

Radcliffe College was long considered one of the world’s foremost educators of women. Notable alumnae of college include authors Margaret Atwood, Helen Keller, Ursula Le Guin, Gertrude Stein, and Barbara Tuchman, who won the 1963 and 1972 Pulitzer Prizes for general nonfiction.