Isabella Thoburn College

Coordinates: 26°52′18″N 80°56′32″E / 26.87167°N 80.94222°E / 26.87167; 80.94222
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Isabella Thoburn College
Motto in English
"We receive to give"
Established18 April 1870; 153 years ago (1870-04-18)
FounderIsabella Thoburn
AffiliationLucknow University
Location, ,
26°52′18″N 80°56′32″E / 26.87167°N 80.94222°E / 26.87167; 80.94222
CampusUrban
ColorsGold and White
Websiteitcollege.ac.in

The Isabella Thoburn College (formerly the Lucknow Women's College and often called informally IT College) is a college for women in Lucknow, India, named after its founder, Isabella Thoburn, the first woman American missionary of the Methodist Episcopal Church to sail in India 1869. The college was established in 1870 with just six girls on roll.

History[edit]

The origin of the college was in a school for girls opened by Isabella Thoburn on 18 April 1870 in one room in Aminabad bazaar of Lucknow. There were then just six girls. By 1871, the school had expanded and moved to occupy a house named Lal Bagh, which had been lived in by the treasurer of the last Nawab of Awadh.[1][2]

On 12 July 1886 Miss Thoburn's school was renamed as the Lucknow Women's College and began to teach Fine Arts classes under the supervision of the University of Calcutta. In 1894, this connection was abandoned in favour of a new one with Allahabad University. Following the death of Miss Thoburn in 1901, the college, still at Lal Bagh, was given its present name in her honour. In 1923, it moved to the Chand Bagh estate of almost 32 acres, where it has remained until the present day.[1] Chand Bagh means "moon garden". The property was once a royal garden.[3] After its affiliation to Lucknow University it found requisite support and guidance from Nirmal Chandra Chaturvedi, a renowned educationist and member of the university Executive Council.

The college's Principal Sarah Chakko (1905–1954) was the first woman president of the World Council of Churches.

Present day[edit]

Isabella Thoburn College on a 2012 stamp of India

The college is now affiliated to Lucknow University. The buildings it has developed on the Chand Bagh campus since the 1920s include student hostels, lecture rooms, laboratories, a library, a college chapel and an auditorium.[1] The college teaches five undergraduate courses, leading to the degrees of Bachelor of Arts (BA), Bachelor of Education (BEd), Bachelor of Science (BSc), Bachelor of Commerce (BCom), and Bachelor of Library and Information Science (BLISc). There are also postgraduate courses leading to the degrees of Master of Arts (MA), Master of Science(MSc), Master of Business Administration (MBA) and a Postgraduate Diploma in Healthcare and Hospital Management (PGDHHM).[4][5]

IT College, along with undergraduate and post graduate courses also offered intermediate classes. Eventually a separate college for intermediate level students was formed within the IT College campus. This building only houses classes 11th and 12th, while the college level students study in the old college building.[6]

IT College, as it is called has hostel facilities for students as well as has a large number of day scholars. There are three hostels for the resident students, Naunihal, Nishat Mahal and Maitreyi Bhawan.

On 12 April 2012 the Government of India issued a new five rupee postage stamp illustrating the college.[7]

Principals[edit]

  • Isabella Thoburn
  • Sarah Chakko
  • Dr. Eva Shipstone
  • Dr. Kamala D. Edwards
  • Ms. Mary Abraham
  • Dr. Adella Paul
  • Dr. E. S. Charles
  • Dr. Primrose H. Bodhan
  • Mrs. K. Sen
  • Dr. Vinita Prakash (Present)

Notable alumnae[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c College History at itcollege.ac.in, accessed 22 April 2012
  2. ^ Jaya Indiresan (2002) Education for women's empowerment: gender-positive initiatives in pace-setting women's colleges. Delhi: Konark Publishers. p. 270: "ISABELLA THOBURN COLLEGE, LUCKNOW History and Ethos This college was founded by Ms. Isabella Thoburn, in whose memory it has been named. It was started as a school in 1870 and has been functioning as a college for over a century now."
  3. ^ Qurratulain Ḥaidar (1994) The sound of falling leaves: award-winning Urdu short stories. Sahitya Akademi. p. 25. ISBN 9788172016623
  4. ^ Courses Offered at itcollege.ac.in, accessed 22 April 2012
  5. ^ About College at itcollege.ac.in, accessed 31 April 2020
  6. ^ "Isabella Thoburn Intermediate College". Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  7. ^ Stamps of India – Isabella Thoburn College, Lucknow – By India Post at indianstampghar.com, accessed 26 April 2012
  8. ^ Muhsin Mahdi. "Nabia Abbott – In Memoriam" (PDF). Chicago: Oriental Institute.
  9. ^ Kumar, Kuldeep (11 July 2014). "Rashid Jahan: Rebel With a Cause". The Hindu.
  10. ^ a b c Rajeev Mullick (January 28, 2011) 125 years of Isabella Thoburn College, Lucknow. Hindustan Times. Retrieved on 2018-12-03.
  11. ^ Anita Desai (2004) "Hosain, Attia Shahid (1913–1998)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press.
  12. ^ Growing Up in Gadia: Attia Hosain interviewed in London on 19 May 1991 Archived 30 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine at harappa.com, accessed 22 April 2012
  13. ^ Neeta Lal (25 July 2008) "Cashing in on Clairvoyance". Khaleej Times
  14. ^ @CNN (11 April 2021). "CNN's @FareedZakaria remembers his mother, Fatma Zakaria, who passed away from Covid-related complications in India…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  15. ^ JBEI (15 January 2016). "JBEI appoints new VP and Deputy VP of Fuels Synthesis Division". jbei.org. Retrieved 6 February 2023.

Further reading[edit]

  • Marjorie A. Dimmitt, Isabella Thoburn College: A Record from its Beginnings to its Diamond Jubilee (World Outlook Press, 1961)