Figure 1.-- American schiils were coeducation from an early point. Schools in Europe were mostky single-gender schools. Here we see a junior highschool class in Washington, D.C. It looks to be an art class. We are not sure why it is an all girl's class, except for one boy. Notice the sailor dresses.

We have not yet developed much information on girls' school wear in America. Unlike Europe, American schools were coeducational at both the primary and secondary level. We have an extensive American school section, but it does not focus on the girls. American schools from an early point adopted a coeducational approach. This was revolutionary approach to education. European education including English education was almost entirely for boys only. The exception was in Prussia which adopted public schooling, at least in small village schools (18th century). American coeducation was not the result of any early progressive thought about the benefits of educating girls. It appears to have been a mixture of religion and practicality. First, the religious imperative was created by the Reformation. The Protestants believe that people to ensure their salvation need to read the Bible. The Catholic Church saw this as dangerous, The faithful should rely on the priests for salvation. Reading the Bible of course required learning to read. This included women, not only for their own salvation, but because played a major role in teaching children to read before public education became well established. Second, practicality related to the frontier. People living in sparsely populated frontier areas did not have access to well developed schools. Schools, if they existed at all, were small with only a handful of children. It simply was impractical to have separate schools for boys and girls. Early schools had a religious association. A major purpose was religious instruction. And women played a much more important role in American churches than was the case in Europe. This means that most Colonists grew up with coeducation. It was thus not a huge leap when the frontier areas became more settled and larger schools including secondary schools began to appear. Universities were, however, slow to admit women. As public education began to be adopted in Europe, it was almost entirely single gender education with the emphasis on the boys. Coeducation is something that did not become widespread in Europe until after World War II, although the Soviets did introduce after the Revolution. Because of this dynamic, America became a leader in girls' education. We begin to see girls outnumbering boys in secondary schools years while boys dominated secondary education in Europe. There were no quotas involved. The girls who showed up could attend. In modern America, girls significantly outnumber boys in college. If the reverse was true it would be the subject of intense media coverage and mashing of teeth, but since it is boys that ate disadvantaged, academia and the media just ignore the problem.

Created: 8:36 PM 9/22/2021
Last updated: 8:36 PM 9/22/2021