The University of Mary Washington (also known as UMW, Mary Washington, or Mary Wash) is a public, coeducational liberal arts college located in the city of Fredericksburg, Virginia, USA. Founded in 1908, it is one of the oldest universities in Virginia. On March 14, 1908, Virginia Governor Claude A. Swanson signed into law legislation for the establishment of the new State Normal and Industrial School for Women. The institution was renamed Mary Washington College in 1938 after Mary Ball Washington, mother of the first president of the United States, George Washington and long time resident of Fredericksburg. In 1944 the college became associated with the University of Virginia as its women's college. Until that time, the University of Virginia had not admitted women as undergraduates, except in professional schools. Following the university's transition to coeducational status in 1970, the Virginia General Assembly reorganized Mary Washington College in 1972 as a separate, coeducational institution. Today the university is the only public, coeducational college in the United States named after a secular woman.