Kate Lupton
Portrait Details
Artist: John Woodrow Kelley
Year: 2019
Biography
Founded with the purpose of educating young men, Vanderbilt University allowed women to attend Vanderbilt classes only as “listeners.” Kate Lupton, the daughter of Professor of Chemistry Nathaniel T. Lupton, was not able to enroll formally, although professors permitted her to attend classes and take exams. A few years later, Lupton presented herself as a candidate for Vanderbilt’s master of arts. A committee charged with studying the issue of conferring degrees upon women found that Lupton had “completed with distinction” the requirements for graduation. However, Lupton was not allowed to participate in the 1879 Commencement exercises and instead received her diploma in private from her father, silently breaking the gender barrier and becoming the first woman to graduate from Vanderbilt.