Mighty Oaks from Little Acorns Grow: The Role of the Vanderbilt Aid Society in the Establishment and Development of Vanderbilt University, 1894-1930

Abstract

Although the United States today boasts a massive network of colleges and universities, these institutions owe much to the support provided by philanthropic organizations. The critical role in American higher education played by these educational philanthropists is exhibited on a micro level through an examination of the Vanderbilt Aid Society and its relationship to Vanderbilt University and Nashville society. Originally chartered in 1894 upon the appeal of a money-strapped collegian, the Vanderbilt Aid Society provided an early form of financial aid by funding small loans to Vanderbilt students. Previously, historians have restricted the significance of the Vanderbilt Aid Society to the institutional legacy of Vanderbilt University. This study, however, will examine the Vanderbilt Aid Society as an exemplar of major transitions in higher education, philanthropic ideals, and female social networks taking place during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century America. Analysis of the archival records of the Society and supporting outside sources will establish the Vanderbilt Aid Society as a reflection of the emergence of the American university, Progressive Era Philanthropic ideals, and female social networks. While the Vanderbilt Aid Society existed until 2009, this study will focus on the period from the Society’s founding until 1935, at which point New Deal beliefs about social welfare began to eclipse private philanthropic efforts. By situating the Vanderbilt Aid Society at the intersection of higher education and women’s voluntary associations, this study places the neglected history of the Vanderbilt Aid Society within broader thematic context. In this, the Vanderbilt Aid Society transcends its current relegation as little more than an isolated feature of local color, gaining historical significance as an embodiment of the very themes and beliefs that shaped the evolution of American colleges and universities and characterized women’s roles within educational philanthropy