Philanthropy, voluntarism, and women's education in colonial India: A study of the Bethune School, Calcutta

This study focuses on the Bethune School, Calcutta (founded 1849) to examin e the interplay between philanthropy, women's education, and nationalist po litics in colonial India. First, it analyzes the institution as a venture i n collaborative philanthropy in which the role of the local Indian communit y was crucial and continuous. Secondly, this essay argues how within the hi storical context of nineteenth-century colonial India, such an institution played a significant role in extending women's horizons beyond the domestic . The institutional culture encouraged student associations and alumni netw orking, generating new patterns for women's voluntarism and political activ ism. Finally, situating this within the conte,ut of Indian nationalism, thi s article comments on the life-choices of some Bethune alumnae who later be came social workers and activists. The work of these women facilitates a be tter understanding of the interplay between colonialism, women's voluntaris m, and nationalist politics in India. The question is no longer doubtful, it is not now that we are to say,'Shall we succeed?' We have succeeded: and the banner which we plant this day, wi th the blessing of God, shall never go backwards, until its supremacy is fe lt and thankfully acknowledged in every part of the land (John Drinkwater B ethune's speech, 7 May 1849, quoted in Nag, 1950: 109).