Wellesley College, at Wellesley, Mass.; for women; chartered 1870, opened 1875. Long a leader in women's education, it was the first woman's college to have scientific laboratories. With Lake Waban and 500 acres (202 hectares) of wooded hills, the campus is noted for its beauty. The Jewett Arts Center and the Davis Museum have collections of classical, medieval, and contemporary art, and the library has a large Browning collection. There is a cross-registration program with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

See F. Converse, Wellesley College (1939); Wellesley Alumnae Magazine, special centennial issue, A Women's Place (1974).

Wellesley, town (1990 pop. 26,615), Norfolk co., E Mass., a residential suburb SW of Boston; settled 1660, inc. 1881. Its many educational institutions include several private preparatory schools, Babson College, and Wellesley College.