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Mabel Smith Douglass
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Mabel Smith Douglass (February 11, 1874 – September 21, 1933) was the
first dean, in 1918, of the New Jersey College for Women in New
Brunswick, New Jersey. In 1955, the college was renamed Douglass College
in her honour.
Early in the 20th century, the State of New Jersey offered limited
higher education for women. Then the New Jersey State Federation of
Women’s Clubs, active in the women’s rights movement at that time,
convinced Mabel Smith Douglass to lead the effort to establish a women’s
college as part of Rutgers University.
With dedication and persistence, Mrs. Douglass convinced the Rutgers
trustees to support the venture. The Federated Women’s Clubs raised
funds to support the project. The venture also received revenue from the
Smith-Hughes Act, which supported home economics education.
Douglass was appointed the first dean of the New Jersey College for
Women when it opened in September 1918 with 54 students and some 16 faculty
members. With her commitment to providing women a four-year college
education and outstanding leadership, Douglass spent the next 14 years
shaping the college and was instrumental in helping students rise to
success.
Douglass attended public school in Jersey City. In 1899 she graduated
from Barnard College in New York City. In 1903, she married William
Shipman Douglass, owner of a shipping business. They had two children, a
son, William Shipman Douglass Jr. and daughter, Edith Douglass, both of
whom were to die in tragic circumstances, the son in his teens, the
daughter in her thirties. After her husband's death in 1917, Mabel
operated the W. S. Douglass & Co., a butter, egg, and cheese business.
In September 1932 Douglass retired due to ill health. On September 21,
1933, she went rowing on Lake Placid and never returned. She was last
seen rowing alone across the lake by servants at a camp she owned. Her
boat was found capsized near the shore of the deepest part of the lake,
three miles opposite her starting point. Police dragged the lake and
searched the surrounding mountain trails, to no avail. Thirty years
later, her remarkably preserved remains were found by scuba divers on a
shelf about 95 feet below the water's surface.
 Clipping
found in The Central New Jersey Home News in New Brunswick, New Jersey
on Sep 4, 1923
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Source
Sources for this article include:
Douglass Residential College, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
The New York Times. September 27, 1963Biographical Dictionary of
American Educators
Any contributions will be
gratefully accepted
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