Colorado Women’s College
Denver, Colorado
1888-1982
E-Travel
Colorado Women’s College: The First Seventy-five Years (1962) and its 1982 update The Story of a Dream 1888-1982, both by Professor Wallace B. Turner, comprise a complete history of the school.
History
In 1886 Rev. Robert Cameron, pastor of Denver First Baptist Church, seeing the need “to promote, under Christian influence, the education of young women in Literature, Science, and Arts,” began a movement to create such a school. By 1890 property had been obtained and sufficient funds pledged to begin building. But it was not until September 9,1909 that classes began for 59 students—17 Freshmen, 3 Sophomores, thirty-two preparatory students and seven special students. The first president—Jay Porter Treat saw the college as a means of directing students to family values, to create “good housekeepers, good wives, and capable mothers.” But the ten-member faculty offered a traditional liberal arts curriculum.
Enrollment, which reached 178 by 1913, fell to 80 in 1925. Turner notes that some conflict existed between the Baptist trustees and administration who insisted on strict rules of conduct and post-World War I students who wanted the freedom to dance and smoke. As rules were relaxed, enrollment increased to 245 in 1931 and to 360 in 1940. By 1948 enrollment had reached 525, and for a time it was frozen at 550. But by1967 enrollment had ballooned to 1117.
The first handwritten yearbook, the Odaroloc, appeared in 1910. The Western Graphic, was voted the best school newspaper in the United States in 1933.
In 1920 C.W.C. became a junior college; in 1932 it received North Central accreditation. In 1959, it once again became four-year liberal arts college.
In 1966 C.W.C underwent a name change to Temple Buell College as a result of a twenty-five- million-dollar endowment fund. However, the school’s financial difficulties continued, and in 1973 the trustees voted to restore the original name—this time in plural. The 1976 Skyline yearbook shows an enrollment of fewer than 400 students and a mounting debt. The school merged with the University of Denver in 1982, becoming Colorado Women's College at University of Denver..
The 1911-12 choir that toured for the school. Image from The First Seventy-five Years. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433045094715&seq=94
Bricks and Mortar
The cornerstone for what became Treat Hall was laid on March 25, 1890, and the superstructure of the building was completed on August 16. However, because of financial difficulties, the building was not ready for occupancy until September 4, 1909. The Richardsonian Romanesque building was three stories over a basement with a mansard roof. Made of lava stone, it had a distinctive red sandstone trim. The National Register diagram shows it to be 115 by 55 feet. As the only campus building it housed classrooms, dorm rooms, and faculty offices. The president occupied damp quarters in the basement.
By 1916 the north wing of Treat Hall, adding a gymnasium, auditorium and more dorm space, had been completed. Brick and Terra Cotta replaced lava and sandstone in its composition. Increased enrollment required more buildings so that the campus encompassed ten buildings. From 2000 to 2020 the C.W.C. campus was home to Johnson and Wales University. Today it is repurposed as Mosaic Community Campus. Treat Hall was placed on the National Register in 1978.
Photo of Treat Hall taken between 1916 and 1925 showing the original building to the right with the 1916 addition to the left. Photo by Louis Charles McClure. https://dp.la/item/ad081ff60fad64d3a2d14c6f1e65a1aa
The 1976 yearbook shows C.W.C. teams in seven sports: field hockey, volleyball, basketball, gymnastics, softball, and both alpine and Nordic skiing. In the 1970’s C.W.C. teams, now members of the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women, began participating in regional championship tournaments.
Sports
School Colors: Green and White
Despite the lack of a practice facility, C.W.C. had tennis and basketball teams in its first year of operation. That year the basketball team lost to Littleton High School 24-3.
In 1937 the Women’s Athletic Associations of seven Colorado colleges organized a basketball “playday” at Greeley, featuring a round-robin tournament, won by Northern Colorado. In addition to C.W.C. and Northern Colorado, the schools included Colorado, Colorado State, Colorado College, Denver and Loretto Heights. In 1942 The Greeley Tribune refers to this as an annual event. By 1948 annual field hockey, swimming, softball and tennis meets had also been organized.
1976 basketball team. Image from the 1976 Skyline. https://archive.org/details/skyline1976colo/page/104/mode/1up
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