Irving College

The impending closure of Sweet Briar College is an example of the impermanence of human institutions and arrangements. Single-sex higher education in the United States appears to be on its last legs. The utility of an all-female college is open to debate; however, no doubt, many of these institutions left lasting effects on individuals and communities. They provided opportunities for women at a time when higher education was dominated by males.

Surviving building of Irving College

Irving College, in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, was one such institution. Opened in 1856, it was the first institution in the state to grant degrees in arts and sciences. With an average student population of about 100 students, the financial viability of the school must have always been tenuous. Irving finally closed in 1929 from the effects of the stock market crash and competition from co-ed institutions. Yet the impact on students and communities in Central Pennsylvania was tremendous. Its alumni gathered for reunions for the next sixty years; however, today there are very few who remain (if any). Only the trees and surviving buildings bear witness to the knowledge generated and passed on at this small college. Its records and photographs are stored at the Joseph T. Simpson Library in downtown Mechanicsburg.