In Narratives of Upheaval in Higher Education, eds. Denise Simard & Janet Acker
September 3, 1972: The New York Times headlined: “Merger planned by Mills College.” The Times went on: “Students … will take their liberal arts courses at The New School for Social Research and their teacher‐training courses at New York University.” The Mills College of Education, once a progressive exercise in higher education had become a fusty artifact. The presumption that women’s education should begin with teacher training was no longer current, and Mills exemplified a bygone era. Nevertheless, as an acquisition, the sixty-three year-old institution offered two appealing academic possibilities. Born out of suffragette ideas and activism, The New School had long shown an interest in women’s studies. And yet The New School (as well as New York University) would fail to realize the cultural capital of Mills. Why dissolve Mills? On the fiftieth anniversary of the demise of Mills College, this investigation seeks to tell the story.
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