Ginling (Jinling) College outdoor biology class, c. 1919
Nanjing, Jiangsu Province
Courtesy of the Science Collection, Special Collections, Yale Divinity School Library, RG011-397-0000-0890, Box 397, 890
In 1915, Ginling College partnered with Smith College in Massachusetts to become the first Chinese institution to provide higher education for women. With the help of their professors, students from the class of 1919 – including Wu Yifang, who became president of the college in 1928 – were the first women to receive bachelor’s degrees in China.