Study Abroad Center (1947-1964)

In the aftermath of WWII, Virginia Gildersleeve and Miss Leet both made considerable efforts to regain Reid Hall from the Sévriènnes, who were supposed to leave the premises right after the Armistice, but who repeatedly requested to extend their stay. Even though the Reid Hall board wanted to resume activities in Fall 1946, it became clear that the French members would not leave and that American Universities and Colleges would not return till 1947. Smith College promised a cohort of twenty students in 1947 and The University of Delaware, which had office quarters on site from 1934-1936, asked to return in the late summer, early fall of 1947.

But even in 1947, Miss Leet had to use her political relations in France to ensure that the Ecole would not stay beyond the month of August. In September 1947, Reid Hall thus resumed operations as an American educational center in France, hosting students from a range of American higher education institutions (Smith College, Yale University, Vassar College, Columbia University, etc.) from the late 1940s through the early 1960s. Reid Hall's founding mission, to maintain Franco-American cultural relations and to bring together young Americans and their French counterparts, remained unchanged. A particularly celebrated annual event was the thé-dansant, a soiree held each November beginning in the 1950s, to introduce the women of Reid Hall to students from various Parisian schools, notably ESSEC, Sciences Po, HEC.

Perhaps the most significant Reid Hall program in this period was the Third Year Abroad in Paris, conceived by Miss Leet, Reid Hall's formidable former director, and brought to life with the help of Virginia Gildersleeve (former Dean of Barnard College and longtime affiliate/supporter of Reid Hall).

Minutes of meeting of “the advisory committee on The Third Year in Paris at Reid Hall”: dated, 25th November 1952 Meeting held in New York, at home of Mrs. Thomas S. Lamont. Leet absent, but Gildersleeve was present, and said it was originally Leet’s idea. The meeting was organized to present the idea of a Third Year Abroad program to administrators and directors of American junior colleges for women. 

The Third Year Abroad program began in 1953? and was designed for women of American junior colleges of good academic standing, aimed to enrich and culturally immerse these students in the rich French university tradition.

**Grace A. Hill bequest-- travel grants**

Clubs such as “Les 4 Vents”, organized by the  group “L’Accueil Familial des Jeunes Étrangers”, proposed programs of integration with French families for foreign students as well as courses at the Sorbonne in French civilization. The goal was to push Americans out of their international bubble by placing them in au pair situations that would allow them to engage on a deep level with the French way of life.

A small tea was given in honor of the wife of the President of Mauretania, who had been a student for three summers at Reid Hall. At Thanksgiving, Mrs. Douglas Horton, former President of Wellesley was a guest. She was in Paris as a member of the U.S. delegation to the UNESCO assembly.”

Minutes of the Annual meeting of Reid Hall, Inc. (held on January 15, 1963 at Mrs. Ogden Reid’s apartment, 834 Fifth Avenue)

P.2: VI: Report of the President: “Miss Leet presented her report. She spoke first of the Fortieth Anniversary which she felt had been a great success. Many French and Americans came to the various events which did a good deal for Franco-American cultural relations. She mentioned two gifts. One from Mrs. John F. Kennedy, an engraving of the White House, and another from the French Association of University Women. The Association had asked what Reid Hall would like in honor of the anniversary, and presented us with a projector and screen which have long been needed.

P.3: “A small tea was given in honor of the wife of the President of Mauretania, who had been a student for three summers at Reid Hall. At Thanksgiving, Mrs. Douglas Horton, former President of Wellesley was a guest. She was in Paris as a member of the U.S. delegation to the UNESCO assembly.”