The course of study for the first year included 51 courses in 13 subject areas, an "impressive curriculum with greater diversity than that of any other women's college at its inception. Courses were offered in Greek, Latin, English, German, French, Italian, and Spanish; philosophy, political economy, history, music, mathematics, physics, and natural history." The first graduation ceremonies took place in the library of Longfellow House on Brattle Street, just above where George Washington's generals had slept a century earlier. The committee members hoped that by raising an enticing endowment for The Annex they would be able to convince Harvard to admit women directly into Harvard College. However, the university resisted. In his inaugural address as president of Harvard in 1869, Charles Eliot summed up the official Harvard position toward female students when he said, "The world knows next to nothing about the capacities of the female sex. Only after generations of civil freedom and social equality will it be possible to obtain the data necessary for an adequate discussion of woman's natural tendencies, tastes, and capabilities...It is not the business of the University to decide this mooted point." In a similar vein, when confronted with the notion of females receiving Harvard degrees in 1883, the University's treasurer stated, "I have no prejudice in the matter of education of women and am quite willing to see Yale or Columbia take any risks they like, but I feel bound to protect Harvard College from what seems to me a risky experiment." Some of President Eliot's objections stemmed from 19th-century notions of propriety. He was strongly against co-education, commenting that "The difficulties involved in a common residence of hundreds of young men and women of immature character and marriageable age are very grave. The necessary police regulations are exceedingly burdensome." The committee persevered despite Eliot's skepticism. Indeed, the project proved to be a success, attracting a growing number of students. As a result, the Annex was incorporated in 1882 as the Society for the Collegiate Instruction of Women, with Elizabeth Cary Agassiz, widow of Harvard professor Louis Agassiz, as president. This Society awarded certificates to students but did not have the power to confer academic degrees. In subsequent years, on-going discussions with Harvard about admitting women directly into the university still came to a dead end, and instead Harvard and the Annex negotiated the creation of a degree-granting institution, with Harvard professors serving as its faculty and visiting body. This modification of the Annex was chartered by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as Radcliffe College in 1894, the eponym being early Harvard benefactor Lady Ann Mowlson (née Radcliffe).