A Long Way Forward: The First Hundred Years of The Packer Collegiate Institute

THE PACKER COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE

J 945

A

WayForw

Long TH E

F IR S T

PACKER

H UNDRED

YEARS

C O L L E G IA T E

OF

TH E

IN S T IT U T E

B Y M A R J O R IE L .N I C K E R S O N T each er of En glish, 1910-1941 Prefect o f Senior Class, 1918-1941

BR O O K LYN 1 N EW Y O R K * 1945

COPYRIGHT I 9 4 5 TH E PACKER COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE A ll Rights Reserved

Printed in the United States of America

It’s a long way out of the past and a long w ay forward.

ST E P H E N V IN C E N T B E N E T L iste n to t h e P e o p le

D E D IC A T E D TO

DR. P A U L D A V ID

SHAFER

in whose imagination the project of a H istory of Packer originated, and without whose help and understand­ ing this book could not have been written.

a n y book

i l

of an historical character has a m ultiple authorship, even

though there be only one name on the title page. T h ere are so

m any auxiliary authors of A L on g Way Forward that it is impossible to name them all. G ratitude is due to the faculty comm ittee w h o read m y book in the m aking, detected errors, and gave m e inform ation and fru itfu l suggestions, Jessie A ddom s, L id a Brandt, Ruth Bene­ dict, M arguerite Bourdon, K atharine Burr, E linor C lark, H elen G oodw in, M arion Morse, H azel C o o k Q uantin, and Paul D . Shafer.

Katharine Burr, Francenia C hild, Elisabeth Post M orrow , M arion Morse, M argaret Pratt Richardson, and particularly Elinor C lark and H azel C ook Q uantin have been o f great assistance in doing re­ search for me. M arguerite Bourdon is responsible for the best part of the book— the illustrations. T o A ilsa W . Fulton, w h o has supervised the publication o f the book, thanks are due for w hatever consistency there m ay be in technical matters, for her patient and thorough over­ sight of the w o rk of a w riter, inconsistent by nature, and for her enthusiasm and encouragement.

T h e most vivid and precious records of a school lie in the memories of its alumnae, and the Packer alum nae have been most generous w ith their treasures. T o Caroline Barnes, M ary Packer Brockw ay, A lice M uns Hotchkiss, Elisabeth W oodbridge M orris, M aud B. N e l­ son, Em ilie L . Platt, and M artha Prentice Strong I am especially indebted for valuable and picturesque material, and to H elen Ormsbee for most efficient help in the revision o f the first draft.

Mrs. W alter K . A dam s, the daughter of M ary Francis Brow n, has lent interesting documents relating to the B rooklyn Fem ale A cade­ m y. John M . A vent, Stanley R. Y arn all, and the late H elen D enbigh have contributed inform ation about D r. D enbigh, and E dw ard N .

G oodw in material about his father.

I ow e a very special debt of gratitude to Bertha Backus B row n for her very real help and for her constant encouragement, and to the board o f trustees, w ho have given me a free hand and have shown great patience and kindness.

M

Belfast, N ew Yor\ January, 1945

a r j o r ie

L.

N

ic k e r s o n

Contents I. O ut of the Past II. W h en Brooklyn H eights W as “ T h e Country,” the Eighteen-Forties and Fifties

4

III. T h e Brooklyn Female Academ y, 1845-1854 IV . P acker— T h e Phoenix, 1853—1861

41

V . T h e C ivil W ar and After, 1861-1883

73

V I. T h e O ld M erged into the N ew , 1883-1908

93

V II. A C hanging W orld, 1908-1918

133 169

V III. O xford Comes to Packer, 1918—1938

196

IX . Stormy Years, 1938-1945 X . A L on g W a y Forward

223

Supplement 227

A . Packer Personalities— T h e Trustees 1. T h e Boards o f 1845, 1853, and 1945 2. A List o f Presidents o f the Board 3. Sketches of Individual Trustees D avid G. C artw righ t John H . Prentice A biel A . L o w Joshua M . V a n C ott Bryan H . Sm ith

229 229 230 230 231

W illiam S. Packer, II Frederick P. B ellam y F ran k L . Babbott H arriet P. Packer L e w is W . Francis

227 228 229 232 232

233 234 234

B. Packer Personalities— T h e Staff 1. Julia B. A n th o n y 2. L u cy E . Chase (M rs. O sgood Putnam ) 3. Susan K . C o o k 4. C lara L . C ram pton 5. C elind a T . D avis 6. A m y D unlap 7. D a rw in G . Eaton 8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

T h e G a ra h a n s A n n ie G ordon A d elin e Jones Sigism und Lasar M ary C . H athaw ay Leffin gw ell 13. M aud B. N elson

236

236

14. E lizab eth J. Sm ith

237

15. E m ily James Sm ith 245 (M rs. G eorge H aven Putnam ) 16. W alter L eC o n te Stevens 245 17. Jessie V a n B runt 246 246 18. Berthe Vincens 19. K ate M . W ard 247 20. G eorge M . W hicher 248 21. Jonathan C all W oodm an 249 22. R. H u ntington W oodm an 249 23. Laura J. W ylie 250 Superintendents of the B uild ing: 24. A rth u r E. Barton 251 25. W illiam J. C alvin 252

237 238 238

239 240 241 241 241 242 242

243

245

C. Miscellaneous 1.

2.

3.

4.

Letter from Letter from Letter from T h e Packer

M attie B igelow , 1854 M ary Francis B row n, 1851 W illiam S. Packer, 1839 Seal

5. T h e Position of W om en in the Eighteen-Forties 6. Sketch o f M inard Lafever 7. T h e Packer B oarding H ouse 8.

9.

10.

11.

F am ily Regulations o f the B oarding H ouse Exam ination in English Literature, 1870 T h e Associate A lu m n ae T h e Bates L ibrary

253 253

255 257 258 258 260 261 262 265 266 268

Notes of Sources

269

Bibliography

274

Index

279

List of Illustrations T h e Packer Collegiate Institute, 1945, Frontispiece Packer Collegiate Institute, the Entrance H all, 1854 V iew of Brooklyn from the Foot of W all Street, N ew Y ork, 1857

1 4

From “ Ballou’s Pictorial Drawing Room Com panion,’’ June 16, 1857

Brooklyn Female Academy, Joralemon Street Front, 1846 D r. A lon zo P. Crittenden, President 1845-1883 Invitation to the Opening of the Brooklyn Female Academ y

34 35

Packer Collegiate Institute, Joralemon Street Front, 1854 Mrs. Packer’s Letter to the Board, January 25, 1853 W illiam S. Packer

4i

Mrs. Packer and her Son

42 43 43

From a daguerreotype ow ned by Mrs. Robert O. Brockway

Mrs. Harriet L . Packer T he Packer Mansion at 2 Grace Court

5° 51

From a photograph owned by Mrs. Robert O. Brockway

Mrs. Packer Playing Chess w ith a Friend

51

From a photograph owned by Mrs. Robert O. Brockway

D r. Crittenden, his Fam ily, and Friends in the Packer Garden

58

T he Class of 1853 Presidents of the Board of Trustees, 1845-1893

59

Presidents of the Board of Trustees, since 1893 Packer Collegiate Institute, Garden Front, Livingston Street, 1854 Mrs. Packer in later years

67

T h e Class o f 1875 A Corner of the Library, 1903 Dr. Trum an J. Backus, President 1883-1908 Cast of a Greek Play, Class D ay, 1885 Senior Play, “ Letters to Lucerne,” 1943 T h e Old Library in 1891 T h e President’s Office in 1891 T h e Joralemon Street Front, 1887-1907 Saluting the Flag in Chapel, 1893

66 73 74 75 93 98

99 99 106 106 107 114

From a drawing by F. H op\inson Sm ith. Courtesy of Harper’s Magazine

T h e Chapel in 1891 The Entrance Hall in 1896 The Class of 1896

115 115 122

The Garden in 1900 The Stairs leading to the Chapel, 1896

123 133

D r. Edward J. Goodwin, President 1908-1918 The Class of 1910 The Senior Room in 1911

142

The Senior Room in 1945 Exercises on the Roof in 1911

M3 158 158

I59

Gymnasium Class in 1945

I 59

The Entrance on Joralemon Street, 1901 D r. John H . Denbigh, President 1918-1938 The Joralemon Street Front since 1907 West W indows in the Chapel

169 178 179

The Alum nae Rooms Maud B. Nelson May D ay in 1936 Class D ay in 1940 Packer Collegiate Institute, Garden Front, Livingston Street, 1934

186 187 192

J 93 193 196

From a drawing by Vernon H ow e Bailey. Courtesy of T h e N ew York $un

Dr. Paul D . Shafer, President since 1938 The Chapel in 1941 The Packer Choir in 1945

204

Christmas Play at Packer, 1943

208

The First Grade in 1943: Girls and Boys The N ew Stairway in the Central Building, 1945 The Library Today

209 212

Packer Children in the Garden, 1945 In the Playground The Garden Today The Class of 1945

216 216 217

The Packer Collegiate Institute with the Proposed N ew Building The Packer Seal and the Associate Alum nae Seal Packer Collegiate Institute, T he Chapel, 1854 T h e originals o f all illustrations except those noted are in the possession of the Packer Collegiate Institute.

205 208

2 I3

220 221 223 227

A LO N G W AY FORW ARD

PACKER COLLEGIATE IN S T IT U T E , T H E ENTRANCE HALL

I Out of the Past n 1945 the Packer Collegiate Institute in B rooklyn is celebrating

I

its Centennial. In the century that the school has been serving the

needs of the com m unity, m any things have changed. In one hun­ dred years the position of w om en has greatly im proved. F rom being only the H and that Rocked the C radle and Scrubbed the K itchen Floor, supposedly of delicate virtue and lackin g in intellect, socially and econom ically subservient to men, w om an has become a w hole person, of dignity, o f intellect, o f social im portance, and has attained, theoretically at least, equality w ith man. In 1845 she was struggling for higher education against the opposition o f the m ajority. In 1945 w om en college students exceed m en in num ber (and this w as true

1

O u t of the Past even before the Second W o rld W a r took young m en out o f the uni­ versities) and are at least their equal in academic achievement.

In one hundred years B rooklyn has grow n from a tow n o f 40,000, politically independent, to the largest borough o f the largest city in the country. B rooklyn H eights, w here the school has stood for these hundred years, has changed from a pleasant residential section w ith vacant lots, shady roads, grassy paths and gardens, to a congested, paved district built o f steel and concrete, consisting largely of apart­ m ent houses, shops, and office buildings.

In one hundred years the U nited States has extended its frontiers to the Pacific, acquired an island em pire— has become the m elting pot of Europe and almost closed her doors to further im m igration— has become one of the greatest industrial countries and the greatest food-producing country— and has developed from a small nation, isolated by the vast A tlantic and still vaster Pacific from European and Asiatic tangles, to a great w orld pow er in the throes o f a global war.

In one hundred years Packer has lived through the M exican W ar, the C ivil W ar, the Spanish-Am erican W ar, and the First W orld W ar, and the conception of dem ocracy has changed w ith the forces that endanger it.

N o longer are Packer girls trained to be ladies and housewives in the Victorian m anner, for they go now into a w orld w here the position of w om en has changed radically, w here w om en are factory w orkers, drivers o f trucks and taxis, m otorm en on street cars, and members of the A rm y, N avy, M arines, and Coast G uard, as w ell as of most o f the professions w hich w ere closed to them w h en Packer w as founded.

It m igh t seem that in these soul-stirring, cataclysmic times, w hen the w hole structure o f civilization is shaken to its foundations, and w hen the only certainty in a universe of uncertainty is that the greatest changes the w orld has ever seen are taking place— it m ight

O u t of the Past seem in such a tim e that the history o f one girls’ school in one city in one country is too small and insignificant a th in g to be concerned w ith — that students and teachers are like ants busily building their dim inutive ant-hill in the m idst o f an earthquake. L et us consider briefly in the ligh t o f the past if this be so.

In 1918 Packer shared the universal optim ism about the future.

“A m erica and her allies,” said the president1 of the senior class in her T h an k sg ivin g address in chapel, “ have been fig h tin g a moral w ar, a w ar o f real d em o cra cy.. . . T h e U nited States was figh ting . . . for ideals. These ideals have conquered— the m oral victory has been w on.” But the m oral victory, if it w as w on, did not stay w on.

A m erica and her allies did not, in the current phrase, w in the peace.

T h ey w on only the w ar. Disappointm ent, disillusion, and a mate­ rialistic prosperity follow ed by a m aterialistic depression weakened alike our idealism, our hope, and our international spirit.

In 1945 w e are w ag in g another m oral w ar for D em ocracy and the Four Freedom s, and again the nation is swept by a great w ave of idealism. If this idealistic w ave is not to recede again, is not again to leave only the debris o f isolationism and materialism, it is to the schools w e must lo o k — the schools w h ich m ust train today the citi­ zens o f tom orrow to carry on the great w o rk of rehabilitating the w ar-w recked w orld in the lo fty spirit and w ith the international breadth of vision engendered by the dangers and hardships o f war.

Perhaps after all, the history o f one fine old school— the history w hich gives the clue to its fu tu re— is relevant and significant, even in the swirl o f epoch-m aking events.

So let us look through the telescope of tim e back to B rooklyn w hen the H eights was “ the country” and the Packer Collegiate In­ stitute was the B rooklyn Fem ale A cadem y.

3

VIE W OF BROOKLYN FROM T H E FOOT OF W ALL STREET, N E W YORK

II When Brooklyn Heights Was “ The Country” The Eighteen-Forties and Fifties

T

he

Brooklyn Fem ale A cadem y, as the early Packer w as called,

began in a century o f beginnings— the beginning o f national

expansion on a large scale, the beginning (or very near the begin­ n in g) o f the industrialization o f A m erica and o f the reign of the m achine, the early stages of the ever sw elling w ave of im m igration from Europe, the beginning o f great w ealth and m onopolies and of organized labor, the beginning of the struggle for the emancipation of A m erican w om en, the beginning of nationalism and of pride in our country, and the beginning of the great public school system.

These movem ents w ere natural developments, accom panied by some strife and discord like all grow th, but on the w hole peaceful.

T h e brief w ar w ith M exico did little to ruffle the peace of the coun­ try, and although there was intense emotion and discussion between

4

The Eighteen-Forties and Fifties the N orth and the South over the question o f slavery and states’ rights w hen the school w as founded, the storm clouds o f the C ivil W ar lay low on the horizon, invisible to the general view .

T h e early school was influenced by the national background, especially since it drew not only from Brooklyn, but from N e w E ngland, L o n g Island, Pennsylvania, the South, and the M iddle W est, but the im m ediate and most potent factor was, of course, Brooklyn. T h e B rooklyn of 1845, w hen the school was first incor­ porated, and o f 1846-1854 (the life span of the B rooklyn Fem ale A cadem y as such) was about as different from the B rooklyn o f to­ day as can be im agined. It is an evidence of the vitality and flexibility o f Packer that it has survived and ministered to the needs o f a com ­ m unity w hich has so changed its requirem ents and its character, both m ental and physical.

L et us look at the com m unity w hich gave it birth. U n like the m a­ jority o f the early seminaries and academies for girls, Packer was from the beginning a city school, for the B rooklyn o f 1845, although possessing only 40,000 inhabitants, was even then one of the largest cities in the U nited States, and in 1853 it w as the seventh largest, w ith a population o f 120,000. It was a prosperous city, a large seaport w ith docks and factories, w ith omnibuses and cabs, ferries to N e w Y o rk , and a railroad— the L o n g Island, run ning as far as Greenport, a distance of ninety-five m iles— w ith several newspapers, the most im portant o f w h ich w ere “ T h e L o n g Island Star” (1809-1863) and “ T h e B rooklyn D a ily E agle,” started in 1841. T h ere were churches, shops, banks, and business offices, several small private schools and public elem entary schools, but no h igh schools or col­ leges, no gas, and no system of w ater supply or sewage disposal. Its streets w ere lighted m ore or less, some o f them paved, though roughly w ith cobblestones. T h e most th ickly populated part in the Forties was the old B rooklyn V illage, beginning at the river and extending to C ourt Street, settled m ostly east o f Fulton Street.

5

W hen Brooklyn Heights Was “ The Country ” Th ere w ere some objections to the site proposed for the school on the south side of Joralemon Street between C linton and C ourt Streets, as being too far out in the country and too remote from the center o f population. Th ere were trees and open spaces around C ity H all, begun in 1835, and the center o f city life, until after the C ivil W ar, was in low er F ulton Street near the ferry. B rooklyn H eights was more aristocratic than the section east of Fulton Street and has continued to be— or if that statement be challengeable, it can safely be said that the section east of F ulton Street is less aristocratic than the H eights. In 1845 there w as no question.

T h e H eights is so called because it is a high, flat-topped bluff ex­ tending along the river for about five-eighths o f a m ile, about h alf a mile in depth, whose boundaries are roughly Furm an Street and the harbor on the south, A tlantic A venue (then rather a fine street lined w ith trees on both sides and in the m id dle), C ourt Street, Fulton Street, and M iddagh Street. In the late Forties and the Fifties it was a fine residential section w ith m any vacant lots. T h e houses, mostly of the square brick type, w ere a considerable distance apart, surrounded by law ns and gardens, and shaded by great trees, elm, m aple, oak, hickory, and the ailanthus recently introduced from China. T h e homes w ere seldom over three storeys in height, and m any o f them had a fine view of the harbor and the steeples of M an­ hattan beyond. Th ere was a turnstile leading through the fence at the foot o f Remsen Street, and a path w in d in g up the steep h ill from the water-front and extending along the edge of the bluff. T h is path, edged w ith w ild flowers, was a favorite promenade at sunset, for then, as now , the sunset view was one of the finest in the U nited States.

T h e girls w h o came to the B rooklyn Fem ale A cadem y for the first time in M ay, 1846 (fo r the school opened in M ay, because the building was finished then) took their w ay along shaded roads, past gardens and open fields to the sound of bird songs instead of to the

6

The Eighteen-Forties and Fifties roar of a great m odern city. T h e H eights w as a veritable garden spot, especially on the edge of the bluff. Mrs. T h eron G . Strong, the daughter o f M r. Prentice (one o f the m oving spirits in the establish­ ment of the B rooklyn Fem ale A cad em y and for thirty-five years treasurer of the board o f trustees o f the A cad em y and of the Packer C ollegiate Institute), has given a description of her father’s garden as it looked in the Fifties.

T h e Prentices occupied a fine old colonial house at the edge of the bluff on the one-block street nam ed G race Court, a garden street planted with elms, and enclosed by high gates of iron grill paling. A series of three terraces with sustaining walls twelve feet high, fourteen feet wide, with iron paling guard, were planted w ith fig trees en espalier. T h ey bore two crops annually, of luscious green figs__ O n the western exposure of the terraces, planted also en espalier, grew apricots, nectarines, and peaches. Pyram idal pear trees and roses grew in the center spaces of the terraces, while grapes hung from arched wire arbors above the flights of stone steps. . . . A m on g the beautiful trees were the feathery pink-flowered tamarisk, magnolia, macrophylla, and weeping beech. . . . . O ver the privet hedge . . . [could be seen] at the left the fort of Governor’s Island— to the right, Castle Garden on the point of M an­ hattan. . . . T rin ity steeple was visible. Opposite was the far-away Jersey shore, inseparably associated . . . w ith wonderful sunsets, and at times, magnificent storms. T h e constantly m oving river craft w ith its floating, streaming banners of steam by day and lights by night, made an everchanging and entrancing spectacle.1

T h is was a fam ous and unusually beautiful garden, but there were numerous other gardens in Pierrepont and M ontague Streets espe­ cially, and roses and fruit trees (apples, plums, and pears) grew abundantly all over the H eights, m akin g it a fairyland of fragrant blossom in the springtime. A letter from M artha O lcott2 describes her father’s garden on Colum bia H eights som ewhat later. T h is also

7

W hen Brooklyn Heights Was “ The Country ” had three terraces, w ith a flight of steps leading to a h igh w all at F urm an Street, arbors over the stairway covered w ith vines bearing grapes o f delicious flavor, peaches, apricots, fig trees, a vegetable garden— and chickens in coops on a side lot.

T o this beautiful residential district the W a ll Street ferry to M ontague Street, w hich began to operate in 1853, brought m any N e w Y o rk business m en to enjoy the rural quiet and “ salubrious” air. M any of them w ere engaged in the exporting or im porting trade, or in shipbuilding. Messrs. Packer and Prentice dealt in furs; M r. A . A . L o w , for m any years president o f the board of trustees of the early school, was a tea m erchant; and M r. D avid C artw right, w h o started the m ovem ent to found the B rooklyn Fem ale A cadem y, was engaged in the coastal trade between the U nited States and South Am erica. Seafaring m en also cam e to dw ell on the H eights, where they could see the harbor and the great ships they loved.

Th ere was then the beginning of the society o f the H eights w h ich flourished until the subway in 1908 struck its death knell. T h is so­ ciety o f the H eights was rather a close corporation, based on culture and refinem ent rather than on w ealth, although there was consider­ able w ealth. W ith in the charm ed circle the fam ilies of the H eights were kind and friendly w ith one another and public-spirited in the interest of the city. T h ey felt superior to the society o f N e w Y o rk , perhaps w ith justice. T h e y led simple lives, but their houses were comfortable, some of them even sumptuous. T h ey entertained gra­ ciously and sometimes splendidly. T h e y m aintained carriages w ith pairs of fast horses (too valuable to g o out in severe w eather), the harness w ith m ountings of silver and brass and the ow ner’s m ono­ gram on the buckles. A cco rd in g to “ T h e E agle” in 1853, “ There can be no more desirable place of residence in the w ide w orld than on B rooklyn H eights.” 3 It corresponded to the Back Bay region of Boston. Indeed, m any of its prom inent fam ilies, such as the Pren­ tices, Cartw rights, and Low s, hailed from N e w England.

8

The Eighteen-Forties and Fifties H ow ever, this idyllic residential district possessed m any discom­ forts com m on to all A m erican cities in the Forties and Fifties. T h e w inter was longer and more severe before the steel, concrete, stone, and asphalt, and universal central heating m ade a great w arm ingpan o f the m odern city. Carriages w ere put aw ay and sleighs taken out for tw o or three m onths o f the year. Ice floes in the harbor made travel on the ferries often uncom fortable and sometimes perilous.

T h e cobblestone pavements w ere rough and noisy, the unpaved streets ankle-deep, or even knee-deep in m ud after a rain. “ R agged, barefooted boys, w h o pushed the street m ud from side to side w ith a broken old broom and then held out their dirty hands for pennies” w ere com m on sights at the crossings.4 O pen gutters, in w h ich gar­ bage stood until collected in ox-carts, w ere favorite rooting spots for pigs in the early days, although by 1851 the city authorities w ere evidently tryin g to get rid o f the pigs. In “ T h e E agle” o f January 5, Francis M ulvehan, residing on F ran klin A ven ue near D e K alb , is reported as h aving been arrested on a charge of allow in g hogs at large on the street.

Th ere w as no w ater system until 1858. D rin k in g w ater was ob­ tained from driven w ells w ith pum ps on the street corners (great gossiping centers) or by the affluent from vendors o f spring water.

Every house w as equipped w ith brass-bound buckets, the duty of fillin g w hich fell upon the reluctant shoulders of the younger m em ­ bers o f the fam ily. Rain w ater for other purposes was collected in barrels in the garden or on the roof. T h e infant city w as unable to cope w ith fires of any importance for lack of a w ater system. T h e great and destructive fire of 1848, w h ich began at F ulton Street off Sands Street, and another on Furm an Street in 1850 w ere examples.

T h ere were no theatres or operas in B rooklyn in 1845. It was a Puritan city, devoted to F riday n igh t prayer m eetings and solemn and austere Sundays, and the dram a was considered an invention, and actors and actresses children o f the devil. Those w h o saw plays

9

W hen Brooklyn Heights Was “ The Country ” or heard operas then had to go to N e w Y o rk , a long hard journey by stage and ferry.

T h e traffic was dense on Fulton Street in B rooklyn and on the m ain streets of N e w Y o rk , especially Broadway. T h e drivers of the stages w ere as accom plished in vociferous profanity as in driv­ ing, and the jo ltin g and the din o f iron wheels on cobblestones and of loud curses and narrow ly averted collisions m ight jar the nerves even o f the present generation, brought up as they are to the im pa­ tient tooting of hundreds o f autom obile horns, the rum ble o f the elevated, and the incessant roar of the m odern city.

T h e discomforts of travel could not have been reduced m uch by the introduction of street cars in 1854, for they too jolted and rum bled over the rough streets, w h ich furnished a poor roadbed for the rails. In w inter they w ere heated only by stoves in the center.

T h e floors w ere strewn w ith straw to keep the feet w arm , offering a great tem ptation to mischievous children, for especially long straws could be draw n out and used to tickle the necks o f the other passengers. T h e early street cars w ere horse-drawn. O n steep grades, such as that on low er F ulton Street, extra horses w ere hitched on to pull the cars up the hill. T h e drivers of these extra horses w ere as vociferous as the drivers of the cars themselves and o f the early stages. T h e top of the h ill reached, the horses w ere trotted back to the ferry to be hitched on to the next car. Soft-hearted people pitied these poor horses w h o w ere always on the move and never got anywhere.

People w ho w ere w ell brought up, how ever, did not travel on the horse cars on Sunday. T h e Puritan Sabbath, com m on in A m erica, prevailing w ell into the N ineties in Brooklyn, w as particularly hard on children. In the strictest homes children w ere forbidden even to take a w a lk on Sunday or to play w ith their toys, and their reading w as restricted to the Bible and books from the Sunday School li­ brary, such as Cheap Repository Tracts by H annah More, A Shep­

10

The Eighteen-Forties and Fifties herd’s Call to the Lam bs of his F lo c \ , E lizabeth T h orn ton ’s T h e Flowers and Fruit of Fem ale Piety, W atch and Pray, and Stories in the Shorter Catechism.

T h e children literally had to toe the m ark m ade w ith chalk w hen they recited pieces from the platform in some schools, and they learned and recited verses from the N e w English Prim er that John Rogers left for his w ife and children w hen he w as burned at the stake in the sixteenth century, such as “ In A d a m ’s fall w e sinned all,” “ M y book and heart shall never part,” “ T h e cat doth play and after slay.” O ne selection w as: Zaccheus, he D id climb a tree H is Lord to see.

and a mischievous child added: T h e tree broke dow n and let him fall A n d he did not see his Lord at all.

w hich her grandm other said w as very w icked indeed.5 But Puritan principles in A m erica, although disapproving of the theatre, did not prohibit other entertainments w h ich seem to the m odern m ind m ore frivolous than the theatre and w ithout its pos­ sibilities o f intellectual and em otional stimulus. Blackface m in­ strel shows w ere fashionable, m any of them amateur performances.

Barnum ’s M useum exhibits, “ bottled m erm aids and motheaten specimens o f taxiderm y’” and other equally inform ative objects, supposed to be educational in m uch the same w ay as the so-called educational film s and radio program s of the twentieth century, were visited by large crowds. Some o f the early theatres g iv in g mostly variety shows of a h igh ly unedifying nature w ere nam ed M useum or Athenaeum , to escape the opprobrium o f the w ord theatre. A list o f entertainments given in Canandaigua in 1856, similar to those given in the larger places, and attended by the most pious, includes

W hen Brooklyn Heights Was “ The Country’’ ’ Ballad Singers, M instrel Troupes, A m ateur Dram atics (the drama was not sinful if perform ed by am ateurs), Susan B. A n th on y, the Siamese T w in s, T o m T h u m b , and Tem perance Lectures.7 Some o f the social customs, too, do not accord w ith m odern ideas of Puritan principles, particularly the old custom, derived from the D utch, of gentlem en m ak in g calls on their fem inine friends on N e w Y ear’s day, for w ine and cakes w ere served by the ladies, and a popular gentlem an, beginning his rounds after luncheon and con­ tinuing until dinner time, made m any calls and imbibed a consider­ able am ount of liquid refreshment. Some gentlem en dressed for dinner before starting out in the early afternoon, in case they should not be able to do so later, although these gay young blades were undoubtedly m ore numerous in N e w Y o rk than in the m ore sedate and sober Brooklyn.

D rin k in g and temperance lectures seemed equally popular as sources o f entertainment, although presum ably not w ith the same individuals.

But in spite of the Puritan Sabbath and w hat w ould seem to this generation a m eager choice of entertainm ent and the discom fort of no bathrooms, w h ich w ere almost u nkn ow n until after the C ivil W ar, lack o f run ning w ater and sewers— hardships w hich did not oppress those w h o w ere used to them — the H eights was a rem ark­ ably pleasant, comfortable, and healthy place in w hich to live. T h e location on the harbor— the closeness to N e w Y o r k — the big docks w ith such fam ous clipper ships as the “ D readnaught” (the fastest of the clipper ships nicknam ed the “ W ild Bird of the A tlan tic” and the “ F ly in g D utchm an” ) , the “ Red Jacket,” the “ C hallenge,” and others— the ferries p lyin g busily to and fro and m any smaller craft entering and leaving the harbor— the great flocks o f sea gulls w heeling overhead— on the streets the lam plighter, even after the introduction of gas in 1848, clim bing up his little ladder at d u sk — peddlers w heeling pushcarts h un g w ith strings of cowbells and cry­

72

The E ighteen-F orties and Fifties ing, “Radishes, n ew radishes,” “ O F clo’s and bottles, o l’ rags and bot’s,” “ Shad O , fresh shad, N orth River shad”— or not infrequently tow n officials crying, “ Lost child, lost ch ild ” (fo r in the Fifties so m any children w ere lost that a regular bureau w as established, oddly enough in an undertaker’s sh o p )— gangs of boys playing duck-on-the-rock in the vacant lots or figh tin g one another, A m eri­ cans against im m igrant Irish lads from Furm an Street— the fra­ grant blossoms in the spring and the lovely gardens— the little alleys w here the stables w ere— the pleasant paths along the top o f the b lu ff— the elegant houses, the fine carriages and shining horses— all these m ade the H eights in the Forties and early Fifties a pictur­ esque spot.

13

I l l The Brooklyn Female Academy 1845-1854

O

n th e

pleasant, “ salubrious,” picturesque H eights in the gro w ­

in g young city was established in 1845 a new school for girls.

T h e early school had some of the friendly, quiet, com fortable at­ tributes o f the com m unity w hich founded it. M r. D . G . C artw righ t, a citizen of Brooklyn, has left a detailed account o f the founding.

T h ere w ere already other schools for girls on the H eights but ap­ parently they did not give h igher education, that is, instruction of h igh school and collegiate grade. O n October 29, 1844, M r. C art­ w righ t started proceedings by w ritin g to Professor Charles E. W est, then principal o f the Rutgers Fem ale Institute in N e w Y o rk (later principal of the Brooklyn H eights Sem inary), asking about the cost o f establishing in B rooklyn a school similar to the Rutgers In­

•4

1845-1854 stitute and “ any inform ation relative thereto w hich it m ight be proper to impart, together w ith any suggestions w h ich . . . [he] m ight deem useful.” 1 A t D r. W est’s invitation, M r. C artw righ t and M r. Francis Spies, w ho ow ned real estate in Brooklyn, and w ho, like M r. C artw right, had daughters to educate, consulted w ith D r. W est. T h en , w ith a few other leading citizens, they posted notices at the ferries calling a m eeting at the B rooklyn Institute on W ashington Street “ o f all the citizens interested in the cause of Fem ale Education.” 2 Perhaps business men of that day rushed on to the ferries at the last minute, looking neither to righ t nor to left, as later they rushed into the sub­ ways. W hatever the cause, so fe w people attended the m eeting that another was called w hich had no greater success, w ith one excep­ tion. T h is second m eeting gained tw o im portant recruits, W illiam S. Packer and John H . Prentice, “ large holders of real estate.” M r.

Packer had recently m arried and M r. Prentice, besides being a man of w ealth and prominence, possessed the added charm o f having m any children, four of w hom w ere daughters, three destined to graduate from Packer.

Notices o f the third m eeting, to be held at the B rooklyn Institute on Decem ber 20,1844, and signed by eleven representative citizens,* were published in “ T h e E agle” and given out from various pulpits, and D r. Ferris, president o f the board o f trustees o f the Rutgers Fe­ male Institute, was invited to address the m eeting. T h is m eeting was attended by a large num ber o f people and a com m ittee o f fifteen was appointed to solicit subscriptions to the stock for a school for girls.

A t the fourth m eeting, at w hich ex-M ayor C yrus P. Sm ith pre­ sided, it was reported that thirty thousand dollars w ould be needed and that tw enty-four thousand had already been subscribed. A * D . G . C a rtw rig h t, Peter C la r k , A . C rist, W illia m S. P a ck er, John H . P ren tice, C h arles R o w la n d , H . D . Sh arp, C yru s P . S m ith , F ra n cis Spies, M . D . T h o m a s , an d J. M . V a n C o tt.

*5

The Brooklyn Female Academy board o f trustees was elected and started the project of building the n ew schoolhouse w ith enthusiasm.

T h e school was incorporated M ay 8,1845. A site on M yrtle A v e ­ nue, as w ell as the Joralemon Street lots, was discussed. D r. W est advised the Joralemon Street site. T w o names w ere suggested, the Nassau Fem ale A cadem y and the B rooklyn Fem ale A cadem y. T h e latter, w hich was chosen, was suggested by M r. Packer. So efficient were these first trustees that the building was opened for public in­ spection on M ay 4,1846.

A fte r the principalship had been refused by D r. W est, the instruc­ tion comm ittee of the trustees recom m ended D r. A lo n zo C ritten­ den* as president o f the new school. Th ere is no record as to w ho first suggested D r. C rittenden’s name. A s an outstanding school­ master and principal of the A lb an y Fem ale A cad em y since 1826, he m ight have been kn o w n to all the trustees. H e was also a friend of D r. W est. Both M r. Prentice and M r. Packer had lived in A lb an y until 1839 and there is some evidence that M r. Packer w orked w ith D r. Crittenden in A lb an y in securing legislation “ favorable to fe­ male education.” 3 M r. Prentice’s brother, Ezra, was a trustee o f the A lb an y Fem ale A cad em y from 1835 to 1845. Mrs. Packer had at­ tended the A lb an y Fem ale A cad em y for tw o years previous to com ­ in g to Brooklyn as the governess to some of M r. Prentice’s younger children.

W hoever first nom inated D r. Crittenden, he w as unanim ously chosen, and accepted the appointm ent on June 6, 1845. In A lb an y he had been largely responsible for a fine new school building in the G reek style, but it was D r. W est w ho planned the B rooklyn build* M r. C ritte n d e n h ad n o t th en been p resented w ith a n h o n o ra ry d egree b y th e R egen ts o f N e w Y o r k State, b u t as h e w a s alw a ys k n o w n later as D r . C ritte n d e n , this title w ill be used th ro u g h o u t th e bo o k.

B o th th e tid es, p resid en t an d p rin cip al, w e re used fo r D r. C ritte n d e n an d fo r D r . B ack u s, his successor. P rin cip al w a s used alm ost en tirely fo r D r . G o o d w in an d D r . D e n b ig h , th e th ird and fo u rth h ead s o f the school, an d p resid en t w a s m ad e th e official title in 19 3 9 . F o r th e sake o f u n ifo rm ity , p resid en t w ill be used fo r all the heads.

l6

1845-1854 ing. It was of red brick, plain and square, w ith some classic features.

O ne hundred feet w ide and seventy feet deep, it had four storeys and a basement, and it cost, w ith the heating and ventilating ap­ paratus, $34,490. T h e seven and one-half lots on Joralemon Street cost $10,150. Since the capital stock w as $35,000, a m ortgage was necessary. Messrs. Packer, Prentice, and Skillm an, deem ing it de­ sirable to have some accom modations for students from out of the city, erected a building adjacent to the A cad em y on the west as a residence for such students. T h e garden lots on Livin gston Street w ere presented in 1850 by various trustees w h o ow ned them. T h is completed the school property. T h e Boarding H ouse, although it was operated for m any years by the school, was privately ow ned un­ til 1903, w hen it was purchased by the Associate A lu m n ae o f Packer.

In the Boarding House D r. Crittenden took up his residence and the girls from out of tow n (from abroad, as the early catalogues phrased it) lived in his fam ily until 1854, w hen the supervision was taken over by Professor Eaton, and D r. Crittenden m oved into rooms at the Institute, later purchasing or building a house for him ­ self and his fam ily on the lot east of the school, w here the east w in g of the present building now stands.

T h e first staff consisted o f twenty-three teachers, including D r.

Crittenden and his assistant, A lo n z o G ray, tw o other men, and nineteen w om en. It w as rather a youn g staff. D r. Crittenden was forty-four, Professor G ray thirty-eight, and eleven others under twenty-eight. T e n of the staff had been connected w ith the A lbany school, D r. Crittenden and Miss A bbey W oodbridge as principal and teacher, and eight others as graduates. W ith ten out of a staff of twenty-three from the A lb an y Fem ale A cadem y, the influence of that school was very strong, and it w ill pay to investigate it under D r. Crittenden.

T h e A lb an y Fem ale A cad em y had been founded in 1814 and was the first girls’ school in the state to receive an appropriation from the n

The Brooklyn Female Academ y legislature and to be incorporated under the Regents in 1827, this privilege having been reserved up to that tim e for institutions edu­ cating boys. It was a very progressive school for its time. U nder the “brilliant if somewhat irascible adm inistration of D r. Crittenden,” 4 each department had a perm anent teacher, and textbooks were used only as the basis of instruction.

M uch of the teaching of this tim e throughout the country was m em ory drill, w ith no training o f the reasoning or creative powers and no collateral reading or supplem entary lectures from the teacher. D r. Crittenden disapproved of this dull and stultifying method. U nder him the A lb an y school em phasized original composition and instituted a school m agazine. H e was also re­ sponsible for the system of oral exam ination of the students by the trustees or by a committee of em inent citizens. These progressive methods and pedagogical views he brought to the B rooklyn Fem ale A cadem y.

T h e new building was dedicated on M ay 4,1846, w ith appropriate ceremonies, including a speech by D r. W illia m B. Sprague of A lbany. D r. Sprague stressed education as “ em ployed for the for­ mation of hum an character— for the developm ent and ultimate perfection of the hum an faculties.” T h e style of the address is char­ acteristic of the time, and the reverend gentlem an’s conception of the role of w om en in society is thoroughly Victorian. “ H o w w on ­ derful,” exclaimed D r. Sprague eloquently, “h ow even sublim ely interesting an object is an infant! . . . and the startling reflection is that no one can tell into w hat that helpless babe m ay g row — w hether the mother is bestowing her caresses upon an embryo seraph or an em bryo fiend. N o w it is the province of education to decide this momentous question.”

D r. Sprague, after this lofty introduction, came dow n from the heights and defined the education to be expected of the school as “ such a culture of the faculties as^shall constitute that appropriate

1845-1854 preparation for an honorable and useful life.” H e goes on to describe the place o f w o m a n : P rovid ence has designated to her, her appropriate sphere, and th ou gh it be a retired, quiet, and if you please in som e respects a hum ble sphere, it is a glorious sphere, n o tw ith stan d in g— glorious, because H e av en has crow n ed it w ith the m eans o f honorable usefulness

I do not disparage

but honor her, w h en I say that her throne is in the nursery, and beside the c ra d le .. . . T h in k it not hardship, ladies, that pu blic opinion excuses you from appearing in the arena of political conflict, or from sayin g at the ballot box w h o shall be our rulers, or fro m stan din g forth as G o d ’s com ­ m issioned ambassadors to treat w ith a d y in g w orld.

T h is particular commissioned ambassador of G od considered that w om an w ould not be a good sovereign of the nursery if “ she has an undisciplined and unfurnished m ind,” and he had hopes that the elevation of the fem ale character added to “ the spirit o f general in­ telligence” w ould help to im prove the w orld at large, w h ich he found to be in a deplorable state at hom e and abroad.6 A lth ou gh this speech m ay seem som ewhat am using to us now, it shows a point of view relatively liberal in an age w hen many people shared the emotion o f the farm er w ho, apropos o f the edu­ cation of wom en, rem arked disgustedly, “ W e ’ll be educatin’ the cows n ext!”

T h e position and condition of w om en in 1845 were very different from those of 1945. Both costumes and conventions w ere restricting physically and m entally. V ery little concern was shown by the school or the hom e for girls’ health, and the fem inine ideal was one of pallor and languor w ithout vigor o f body or vivacity of manner.

T h e lack of intellectual capacity in w om en was em phasized even more than the lack of physical vigor. Ladies were not supposed to earn their living, although necessity sometimes com pelled them to do so. “W o m a n ’s sphere is in the hom e” was a current m axim .

>9

The Brooklyn Female Academ y W om en did not vote, and they lacked m any of the other legal, so­ cial, and economic rights then possessed by m en, and since attained by wom en.

O n M ay 4,1846, the B rooklyn Fem ale A cad em y (the B .F .A ., as the old school is usually called) opened w ith about three hundred and fifty students. T h e circular published in 1846 com m enced: T h e T rustees o f the B ro o klyn F em ale A ca d em y , in presenting their first circular, deem it proper to state, that they have endeavored to fou n d a Sem inary, w h ich w ill afford to y o u n g ladies the sam e facilities for ac­ q u irin g a good E n g lish and C lassical education, that are provided for yo u n g m en at the best collegiate institutions in the country.

T h e circular stated that the school was to consist o f a prim ary department for pupils under eight years o f age, an academic depart­ m ent for pupils between eight and fourteen, and a collegiate de­ partm ent for those over fourteen, w ith three classes in each depart­ ment.

T h e studies in the prim ary departm ent consisted of spelling, arithmetic, geography, draw ing, gram m ar, the N e w Testam ent, the geography of the Bible, and U nited States history. T h e academic departm ent continued most of these subjects, and added uran­ ography (elem entary astronom y), Latin, science (probably a gen­ eral course), natural philosophy (physics), rhetoric, W atts’ On the M ind, algebra, and the E nglish classics.

T h e collegiate department w ent on w ith Latin, algebra, history, rhetoric, and physics, adding botany, classical antiquities, zoology, m ineralogy, natural theology, Evidences of Christianity, trigonom ­ etry and mensuration, technology, conchology, philosophy, chem ­ istry, bookkeeping, astronomy, Intellectual Powers, Butler’s A n a l­ ogy of Natural and Revealed Religion, moral science (ethics), geology, political economy, logic, and constitutional law. It is ap­ parent from this lon g list of courses, all o f w hich were required in a

20

department som ewhat corresponding to the junior college, that w hen the ladies w ent in for a college education, they w ent in heaviiy.

Elocution and vocal music w ere given throughout the school, and in the low er departments plain and ornam ental needlew ork.

A ll branches of draw in g and painting, instrum ental music, modern languages, French, Italian, Spanish, and G erm an, w ere extras for from tw enty to forty dollars per annum . These w ere taught as polite accomplishments, rather than as cultural or practical subjects. T h ey seem to have been the only concession m ade by Packer throughout her w hole history to the “ ornam ental” branches, w hich, in the early period of education for w om en, m ade up the entire curriculum in the less academic schools, and w ere included, along w ith more solid subjects, by m any o f the better seminaries.

T h e B .F .A . follow ed, in the m ain, the curriculum and methods of the better seminaries for girls. T h e seminaries, how ever, usually gave tw o courses, one severely classical w ith m athem atics and re­ ligious instruction em phasized, patterned after the m en’s colleges of the time, the other consisting o f m odern languages, literature, and art, called sometimes the E nglish classical course. T h e m en’s col­ leges w ere entirely vocational then, training boys for m edicine, law , and the ministry, chiefly the latter, all professions practically closed to w om en in the first h alf of the century. So the classical course in the girls’ schools w as likely to be elected only by those intending to teach or by those loving learning for its ow n sake. T h e B .F .A . seems not to have given the purely classical course, but only the English classical course w ith m ore emphasis on m athem atics than some schools, and less on m odern languages.

L ik e all A m erican institutions of h igher education for both men and w om en at this time, the B rooklyn A cad em y em phasized re­ ligious education. Butler’s Analogy, P aley’s Evidences of Christian­ ity, and natural theology, all had as their purpose the convincing of

21

The Brooklyn Female Academ y the student that Christianity rested on an historical and scientific basis. T h e definition o f natural theology learned by the girls was, “ N atural theology shows from animals and insects that it is h igh ly probable, though not conclusive, that there is a G od .”

T h o u gh patterned after the colleges for men, the girls’ seminaries differed somewhat. T h e y frequently used the same textbooks (as did the Fem ale A cadem y and Packer) and taught some of the same subjects in the collegiate department as w ere taught at H arvard, Y ale, and Princeton, but the entrance requirem ents were o f neces­ sity rather flexible in the seminaries, since there w ere fe w schools able to prepare girls for collegiate w ork. T h e am ount of ground covered in the courses was likely to be less and the preparation de­ manded not so severe. T h is was probably the case in the Fem ale A cadem y and the early Packer. Both D r. Crittenden and D r. Backus disclaimed attem pting to em ulate the colleges for men.

In the prospectus issued A u gu st i, 1845, the trustees stated the purposes of the new school. T h e statement was progressive, almost m odern in its realization that education should be m odified by so­ ciety and the environm ent of the pupils. A t the same tim e it was thoroughly Victorian in im plicitly confining the sphere of w om an’s influence to the home.

Its practice, as w ell as its theory, shows the B rooklyn Fem ale A cadem y to have been in line w ith the progressive educational doc­ trine o f the day. T h e B rooklyn girls w ere trained to be ladies, but they were also trained to be intelligent w om en. T h e educators of the first h alf of the nineteenth century were not advanced feminists.

F ew , if any, of them advocated the ballot or the opening to w om en of the professions and occupations preempted by men. T h ere is no sign that D r. Crittenden and the trustees differed from the princi­ pals and trustees o f other schools in this— or the students, although occasionally in the school m agazines these questions w ere debated w ith the best article usually on the conservative side.

22

1845-1854 Some idea of educational methods of the Eighteen-Forties m ay be gained from an exam ination of the textbooks used. In the Packer vaults is an old textbook used by C . Sophia Voorhees, at the A cad ­ em y in 1848, w ith her name w ritten on the flyleaf in a fine copper­ plate hand, D r. Blair’s Lectures on Rhetoric, A bridged with Ques­ tions, published in 1843. It was sold at “ Raynor’s Bookstore, 76 Bowery, N e w -Y o rk ” (an exam ple of the use o f the hyphen in N ew Y o r k ). It is not a composition text, but a com bination o f aesthetics and criticism, and in the first nineteen lectures the examples are entirely from poetry. Qualities of style particularly adm ired at the time, sublim ity, perspicuity, and precision (the graduation essays show a distinct striving for sublim ity) are taken up. Exam ples of tragedy and com edy are draw n from Shakespeare, Jonson, D ryden, and other E nglish writers not so w ell kn o w n today, as w ell as “ A ncient,” Spanish, and French writers. T h e questions are fram ed to bring out a sum m ary o f the text and to ensure careful reading, not in the least to train the student to th ink or criticize for herself.

T h e tuition, as given in the first catalogue, was tw enty dollars per annum in the prim ary department, forty dollars in the academic, and sixty dollars in the collegiate. T h e charge for board was tw o hun­ dred and twenty-five dollars, including tuition, for out of tow n girls.

T h e closing paragraph of the circular o f 1846 began: In the foregoin g system o f instruction and arrangem ent, it has been the object of the Trustees to com bine the advantages o f a private school w ith one o f a m ore public character.

T h is combination has always been characteristic of the school.

Packer has given attention “ to the peculiarities of disposition and attainments” 6of the individual and at the same time has preserved m uch of the im personality and dem ocracy of a good public school.

T h e school year consisted o f forty-four weeks, beginning the first W ednesday of September, and ending (except the very first year,

23

The Brooklyn Female Academ y w hen com m encem ent was on July 2 1 , 1847) early in July, w ith tw o weeks of vacation, one at Christm as, and the other in M ay.

T h e actual m achinery of the school is interesting. T h e shortness of the class periods (tw en ty to thirty m inutes) is shown in the lesson book of M ary Francis Brow n,7 w ho in 1851 was in the first academic (the highest academic grade, later called the third).

Y o u n g M ary Brow n w ent on Tuesdays from singing in the chapel at nine o’clock, to arithm etic at nine-thirty, geography at nine-fifty, French at ten-fifty, ancient history at eleven-thirty, algebra at twelvethirty, and reading at one o’clock. O ther days she studied Paradise Lost, draw ing, and composition.

M ary Brown, from N orw ich , N e w Y o rk , was one o f the students from abroad, and lived w ith D r. C rittenden’s fam ily at 182 Joralem on Street, “ a large and elegant d w ellin g ” of four storeys and a brownstone front, along w ith fifty other girls. A s there are listed in die catalogue of 1851 over one hundred students from out o f the city, as m any m ore must have boarded in other places in Brooklyn. In tw o letters, one to her father (given in full in the Supplem ent), the other to a friend, M ary gives a picture of life at school and in the Boarding House.

She w ent to the A cadem y “ w ith all the ease im aginable, just take our books and ascend [sic] four pairs of stairs, go out the back base­ m ent door into the building, w a lk in g a few steps in the open air, not but a few .” She w ent to school at eight-forty-five and returned at tw o o’clock, at the close o f the school day, for dinner. Th ere w ere fiftyfour at table, for D r. and Mrs. Crittenden, their daughter and son ate w ith the girls— poor son ! D inner was at three. A t six M ary had tea, and from that time until seven took lessons in dancing, and w alked around the A cadem y yard, “ very large and pleasant.” T h e yard was the present garden.

From seven to nine she was obliged to study in her room. She underlines obliged and rem arks that she has to study for her ow n

24

1845-1854 “ benefit” both afternoon and evening “ till the last m inute.” A t ninethirty a bell sent her to bed, and at ten the lights w ere “ taken a w a y ;” this indicates candles. She was aroused at six o’clock in the m orning by a bell, and had breakfast at seven w ith fam ily prayers before it, and w alked w ith the other girls under the care o f a teacher, Miss E lizabeth Sm ith, either before or after breakfast, as they preferred.

T h e girls w ere perm itted to go out on Tuesdays and Fridays, “ and no

other

tim e.” F riday evenings there w as a “ sociable” in the parlor

“ to practice

e t iq u e t t e ”

(M a ry ’s capitals). She considered the table

“ e x cellen t. . . tw o kinds of everything for dinner and breakfast, and sometimes for tea— peaches and m elons to excess.”

Sundays they attended the Presbyterian C hurch “ in a procession.

Y o u can im agine,” writes M ary, “ h o w so m any of us look, tw o by tw o in the street.” T h e y w en t to church tw ice on Sundays “ rain or sunshine under the care o f M r. Crittenden . . . [who] is kn ow n from the A tlan tic to the Pacific as an excellent m an. H is w ife is a very kin d w om an.” M ary goes on to say that D r. Crittenden is “ in te llig e n t. . . [always finding] a good anecdote to give at every m eal.” M ary w ent to N e w Y o r k “ to see the funeral obsequies of the late D aniel W ebster,” but was disappointed. “ Y o u k n o w w hen a

co u n try

person goes to N e w Y o rk to see anything he expects to

see something a great deal nicer than he really

d o e s .” 8

Fam ily Regulations, to w h ich the boarding pupils w ere expected to conform (given in fu ll in the Supplem ent), is w orth perusing for the insight it gives into the customs and ideas o f the time, as w ell as for the picture o f life am ong the A cad em y students from abroad.

G irls in the Fifties, notw ithstanding the rosy reports of the trustees, were evidently m uch as they are in the twentieth century, and F am ­ ily Regulations emphasizes the evils of “ noise and frolick in g.” T h e person w h o fram ed the Regulations (probably Miss Elizabeth Sm ith) had a g ift for trenchant and vigorous phrasing, as in the passage:

The Brooklyn Female Academy W h e n a person is ou t of her room and cannot be accounted for by M iss Sm ith or her room m ate, she m ust not th in k hard [fie] if w e d o not look from D a n to Beersheba to find her, for it is no slight labor to look over the w hole house, lettin g alone the a d join in g b u ild in g.

Y o u n g gentlem en w ere allow ed to call, if properly vouched for, but not encouraged. T h e Regulations, w ith m ore feelin g than gram m ar, considered “ a parent’s roof the only safe and proper place for young ladies to receive this kind of promiscuous society.”

A contem porary impression of the A cadem y, together w ith con­ tem porary views on the effect of intellectual occupation on young females, is given by the noted Swedish novelist, Frederika Bremer, in her book, Am erica in the Fifties: M arch 22, 1850. Y esterd ay I visited the F em ale A ca d em y at B roo klyn , an educational institution for five hun dred girls, w here they study and graduate, as yo u n g m en do. I adm ired the arrangem ent of the school, its m useum and library, and w as especially pleased w ith the deportm ent of the yo u n g girls; I heard their com positions both in prose and verse, and liked both them and the yo u n g ladies. T h ese fin ish in g schools fo r you n g girls g iv e unquestionably a deal o f train in g; various k ind s o f k n ow led ge, dem eanor in society, and self-possession. B ut, are they suitable for the de­ velopm ent o f w h at is best in w om en ? I doubt it; and yet I have heard th in k in g w om en here, even am on g the you n g, express doubt also or rather deny it outright. T h e y m ay be good as tem porary m eans of leading w om en into those spheres o f k n o w le d g e from w h ich they have hitherto been excluded. T h u s y o u n g ladies are universally com m ended for their ability and progress in m athem atical studies and physics.

It is clear, how ever, that the pursuit of scholastic w o rk m ust in volve the neglect o f m uch dom estic virtu e and pleasure. T h e y o u n g girl, in her zeal to prepare her lessons, snubs her m other and looks cross at her father, if either ventures to interrupt her. It arouses am bition at the expense of her heart. It lays too m uch stress upon scholastic learning. A t all events, the life o f a you n g g irl should be d ivid ed betw een the school and the hom e, so that the school m ay have but a sm all part of it. T h e go od hom e

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1845-1854 is the true school. B ut, I alm ost reproach m yself for sayin g so m uch against an institution w here I experienced so m u ch o f the y o u n g heart’s w arm th as I did there.”

A less im partial source, the Report o f the Trustees to the Stock­ holders in 1850, depicts the condition of the A cad em y and the be­ haviour of the young ladies in roseate h u e : N o m edals or prizes are offered to stim ulate am bition, bu t the pupil is taugh t that love of excellence for its ow n sake, w h ich brings its ow n recompense.

T h e happy exem ption from fatal sickness m ay, perhaps, be in some m easure attributed to this entire absence o f all u n healthy excitem ent.

In proof of the exem plary conduct of the pupils, the trustees have only to state that am o n g the 650 y o u n g ladies atten d ing the academ y d u rin g the past year, not one unpleasant case of discipline has occurred.

T h e love o f neatness and go od order, so constantly inculcated by the teachers, is m utely taugh t by the beau tifu l grou n d s attached to the institution.

A habit o f forbearance and respect for public property are fostered here, and as an evidence o f the m orality in little things, m anifested even by the youngest, it m ay be stated that n o one is ever fou n d tou ch in g a flow er or d efacin g a grass plot.

Thirteen girls graduated from the school at the first com m ence­ ment on July 21, 1847. Five w ere from Brooklyn, six from N e w Y o rk State, N e w Jersey, Pennsylvania, and one each from M ichigan and Alabam a. T h e m any students w h o came to the early school from other parts of the country, particularly from the South and M iddle W est, are indicative of the scarcity of good schools for girls, though there were a great m any of indifferent calibre at the time.

T h is class of 1847 certainly deserved to graduate, because o f their courage and endurance alone, for they w ere exam ined all day long for eight days before com m encem ent by sixteen em inent citizens, thirteen of w hom were Reverends, and three, Honorables. These

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The Brooklyn Female Academ y gentlem en reported at length in the circular, a supplem ent to the annual catalogue, on the course of study as “ wise and judicious,” on the textbooks as “judiciously selected and arranged w ith no dis­ position to favor the affectations and innovations, now so com m on, and o f such unhappy effect in m any of our seminaries o f learning,” on the house of the president as “ furnishing so pleasant a hom e for pupils from abroad,” and on the “ ability and faithfulness o f the teachers.”

T h e other reports w ere also com m endatory. N o w and then the w orthy gentlem en perm itted themselves a touch of gallantry, as w hen in the report on botany they rem ark that “ the delicate flowers appeared m ore at hom e” in the hands of the young ladies than in the hands o f the professor. N o slur was intended on the professor.

T h e compositions, as the examiners point out in the report of 1849, are correct and w ell constructed, pervaded by “ sound m oral and religious sentiment,” and m elodious in the flow o f the sentences.

But there is “ a degree of sameness in the style both of the sentiment and phraseology . . . [w h ich ] in some instances . . . appears to have proceeded, not so m uch from the hearts and minds of the authors, as from their fam iliar reading, and to have been m oulded and colored after a com m on and artificial m odel o f the beautiful and rom antic.” T h e report o f 1850 declares that “ a few of the p iece s. . . though delicate and pure, are sentimental,” rather than “ racy and natural.”

A s time w ent on, the examiners continued to be som ewhat dis­ satisfied w ith the effusions, “ each daintily tied w ith a snowy ribbon,” w hich they had to read. O ne exam iner regretted “ that modesty in the choice of the theme is not universal,” and added, “ Th ere are not w an ting am ong them [the students] D avids w h o m igh t have been potent w ith a shepherd’s sling and smooth pebbles from the brook, but w h o go staggering around encumbered and topheavy in the arm or o f Saul.” “

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1845-1854 Indeed, all the early compositions, both of the students o f the B .F .A . and of the early Packer, w ere w ell w ritten but considerably lacking in either originality or facts, and w ere devoid o f concrete details. T h e y w ere all fancy and raptness, w ith m uch use o f the exclam ation point. In themes supposed to be based on facts, as w ell as in im aginative sketches, the dialogue w as trite and impossible, as in an essay on the life of T horw aldsen, the D anish sculptor, read at com m encem ent in 1848: “ A n d thou w ilt be true to m e?” he asked, pressing her small white hand within his. “ Canst thou doubt it? ” replied the maiden, and with one long, sorrow­ ful embrace they parted.

T h e compositions printed in the circulars (and only the best were given) are the only examples w e have o f w h at the students in the early days actually did. W e have no record of their achievements in m athem atics or science, either in class or in examination. C om ­ positions, in every age, since they are m ore personal, give a better idea of the tastes and point o f view of students than their w o rk in other subjects. Therefore it is w orth w h ile to exam ine the essays and the reports of the examiners o f composition, if w e w ould under­ stand the girls, the teachers, and the education o f that day.

T h e essay on W ater, a com m encem ent essay o f 1847, is fu ll of wonder. “ W a te r— that pure and sparkling elem ent! w hat is a m ore w orthy subject o f contem plation, w hat m ore abundantly apportioned to us— more fu ll of w ondrous design and adaptation!”

Compositions seem to have taken the place o f m odern w ritten examinations (fo r the examinations conducted by the Honorables and Reverends w ere oral) and a composition was required o f each academic and collegiate student every fortnight, due on M onday m orning, and a girl w ho did not bring hers that day w as sent hom e for it. T h e best of the compositions w ere read aloud in the audi­

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The Brooklyn Female Academ y torium (and later in the Packer chapel) on Friday afternoons before the school, parents, and friends— but no young m en w ere allow ed in the audience.

T h is type of subject and treatment w as characteristic o f the schools of the time and considerably later. In 1865 typical titles of compositions, w ritten by students of schools for girls in other cities and towns, were “ Solitude,” “ Benevolence,” “ T h e Lost Sister,” “ M orning’s G em s are but M idn igh t’s Tears,” and “ W hen ce?

W h ere? W h ith e r?”

T h is fanciful, sentimental tone was not confined to school com ­ positions, but can be found in actual letters w ritten to schoolgirl friends, such as that written by M attie B igelow , at the B .F .A . from 1851 to 1852, to M ary Brow n of the class of 1853 (given in the Sup­ plem ent). T h e alternation of the artificial sentimental style w ith bursts of colloquial schoolgirl English makes this letter rare reading.

T h e undergraduate m agazine, “ School Room Echoes,” published fortnightly by the senior class from 1849 to ’53, although it printed some sentimental, flowery essays, evidently products of the E nglish composition class, showed that the girls could w rite naturally. It had considerable pungent, forthright, and intelligent com m ent on foreign, national, and school affairs, and reports on events in the city, told w ith some hum our, as “ T h e lecture season has commenced this year in good earnest. In Brooklyn the gentlem en are lecturing upon the wom en, and in N e w Y o rk w om en are lecturing upon themselves.”

T h e period of the Brooklyn Fem ale A cadem y was an age o f lit­ erary and also psuedo-literary activity in A m erica, sometimes called the Fem inine Fifties because of w hat H aw thorne described as “ the dam ned mob of scribbling w om en,” although Poe, livin g in N e w Y o rk in 1847, W hitm an, editing “ T h e E agle” from 1846 to ’48, and Irving, livin g in Tarrytow n, w ere virile enough. T h e taste o f the general public, however, as w ell as that of most o f the B .F .A . stu­

30

1845-1854 dents, was form ed on the sentimental literature o f the late eight­ eenth and early nineteenth centuries.

Presum ably the audiences w h o heard the com m encem ent essays thought that sentim entality, like flowers, w as appropriate to fem ale delicacy. So delicate w ere the young fem ales that until 1863 their masterpieces w ere not read by the fair authors, but by a m em ber of the exam ining comm ittee or by a trustee. T h e class o f 1863 asked to read their ow n essays and w ere perm itted to do so, since D r. C ritten­ den “ thought that to com m encem ent the all-pervasiveness o f the sweet girl graduate is as appropriate as roses to June.” 11 T h e B .F .A . was a financial success, paying dividends of six per cent to the stockholders until the burning of the building in 1853.

It drew from nineteen different states— M aine, V erm on t, Massa­ chusetts, Rhode Island, N e w Y o rk , N e w Jersey, Pennsylvania, W is­ consin, O hio, Illinois, Indiana, M ichigan, Mississippi, V irgin ia, N orth Carolina, South Carolina, A labam a, Louisiana, G eorgia— from the Canadas, St. Thom as, T rinidad, C uba, the Sandw ich Islands (later called the H aw aiian Islands), and from E ngland. In 1850 there w ere six hundred and sixty-two students, from 1851 to ’53 between seven hundred and seventeen and seven hundred and fifty. In 1854 the registration dropped to six hundred and tw o, doubt­ less because of the burning of the building in 1853 and the resulting inconvenience o f carrying on the school in tem porary quarters.

A lth ou gh the school was successful and the trustees from tim e to time reported on the exem plary conduct of the youn g ladies, there were some troubles and some com plaints from parents, such as are experienced by all schools. T h a t the fo llo w in g episode should have been discussed by the trustees and, w ith D r. C rittenden’s ex­ planation, spread upon their M inutes for N ovem ber, 1847, was probably due to the youth of the school and to the inexperience of the trustees. T h e incident, how ever, is interesting as illustrating a tendency of V ictorian times to regard as dangerous any association

3'

The Brooklyn Female Academ y between boys and girls unless most carefully surrounded w ith con­ vention. A com plaint was m ade by tw o somewhat choleric m ilitary gentlem en that their daughters had been expelled “ for allow in g a young gentlem an to w ait on them to the A cadem y.” D r. Crittenden explained that the girls w ere not expelled, but that they had been required not to come back unless they brought a promise from their parents that they w ould obey the rules, and that the girls had not returned. D r. Crittenden told the board that young m en h un g around the A cad em y and that he had taken steps, being “ aware of the dangerous tendency of this course.” T h e trustees agreed heartily w ith him , resolving that “ the practice of young m en hovering around the A cadem y w atch ing the young ladies and accom pany­ in g them to and from school and in their w alks during the short recess, ought to be broken up.”

D r. Crittenden was constantly on the warpath on this subject, and his difficulties increased after the establishment o f the Polytech­ nic, whose students (referred to by D r. Crittenden as alligators) liked to peer through the iron fence on Livingston Street and w atch the girls w alk in g in the garden at recess. A lth o u gh the girls w ere forbidden to w alk on the low er path next the fence and a teacher was on duty to enforce the regulation, it w as apparently impossible to prevent an occasional smile or w ave of the hand from the young ladies alligator-wards, and D r. Crittenden frequently w arned stu­ dents not “ to pitch their tent tow ard Sodom ,” Sodom being the low er garden path.

D r. Crittenden attended to his girls in a detailed, personal m anner w hich the modern president w ould take pains to avoid. It is hard to im agine D r. Shafer advising the girls in chapel on the choice of husbands. But the dauntless D r. Crittenden regularly gave advice on this subject— and very good advice— “ N ever m arry a m an w ho drinks!” D r. Crittenden considered the custom of the girls’ w arm ­ ing their feet by standing over the large register in the front hall

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1 8 4 5 - 1854. unhealthy. O ne day he approached tw o small damsels standing on this forbidden spot. O ne fled upstairs, but the other held her ground, and to her D r. Crittenden said, “ T h e w icked fleeth w hen no m an pursueth.” For once the w itty D r. Crittenden had m et his match, for she replied, “ But the righteous is as bold as a lion.” A nother illus­ tration of his w it is the anecdote about his discovering a girl clim b­ in g up the incomplete partition separating tw o wardrobes. “ N ever do badly,” he admonished, “ w hat a m onkey does w e ll.”

D r. Crittenden, president of the B rooklyn Fem ale A cad em y and of the Packer Collegiate Institute from 1845 to his death in 1883, was not only an able m an and a good one, but an individual, racy char­ acter. H e was born in 1801 in the Berkshires, son o f a Massachusetts farm er, and graduated from U nion C ollege in Schenectady. H e w ent directly from college to be associate principal o f the A lb an y Fem ale A cadem y in 1824, and became principal in 1826. H is ad­ m inistration there was “ m arked by a vigor and skill never excelled.

T h e extraordinary success o f the institution during his term o f serv­ ice . . . was undoubtedly due in large measure to his perfect control o f every detail o f m anagem ent.” 13 A lth ou gh he was a P h i Beta K ap pa at U nion C ollege, he was not prim arily an intellectual or scholarly m an, but a m an of action and practical abilities. H e was a pioneer, and, as his biographer Miss W in slow points out, pioneers are not usually idealistic, but must take life as they find it and m ake the best o f their material. H e had great tact, great quickness in reading character, the ability to size up the desires of a com m unity and give them w h at they wanted. H is great strength as an educator was “ in his discernment of the aver­ age demands of the com m unity and confining his efforts to supply­ in g them. In this w ay he m ade Packer a popular school.” 13 A s an educator he stressed the cultivation of character and taste rather than that o f intellect. H is aim was not to train youn g w om en as young men were trained in college, but to fit them to be w om anly

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The Brooklyn Female Academy w om en and to preside over homes, though the early school, like most other good seminaries of the time, made a point of training teachers, one pupil from each district o f the public schools receiving free tuition. These girls were selected by the public elementary school and w ere plann in g to teach. Th ere w ere no public high schools at the time, in Brooklyn. A fte r their establishment, these scholarships were abolished at Packer.

A pparently D r. Crittenden’s ideal of the w om anly w om an was som ething like that of the w riter o f Genesis, though considerably A m ericanized and m odernized. H e believed in w om en’s being ex­ cellent conversationalists and writers on serious subjects, w hich, so far as is kn ow n, was not characteristic of M other Eve. A s a president D r. Crittenden seems to have been a strict dis­ ciplinarian and to have administered reproof freely, though most am usingly. H e called the inane g ig g lin g to w h ich adolescent girls are given, “ the crackling of thorns under a pot,” and inattentiveness, the sending of “ a fool’s eyes to the ends of the earth.” H e often quoted, “A w ord to the wise is sufficient, but you m ay bray a fool in a mortar, yet w ill his foolishness not depart from h im .” H e did not sit in his office w aitin g for trouble. H e w ent out on the warpath looking for it. N o th in g in the building from garret to cellar escaped his supervision, and his pupils thought him ubiquitous.

H e was sometimes severe w ith his teachers, especially in teachers’ meetings, but very kind to them personally and solicitous for their welfare, using his influence w ith the trustees to raise salaries, espe­ cially during and im m ediately after the C ivil W ar w hen inflation brought hardship to salaried workers.

H e w as a hospitable, kindly, affectionate m an, of a simple nature, w ith a m ixture of childishness and shrewdness. H e was religious— a conservative Presbyterian. V ery expressive em otionally, he was equally ready to give and accept sym pathy, and he was easy of ap­ proach. H e was decidedly a m an of action rather than of reflection,

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DR. ALONZO P. CRITTENDEN P resid e n t o f th e B r o o k ly n F e m a le A c a d e m y , 18 4 5-18 53 P resid e n t o f th e P a c k e r C o lle g ia te In stitu te, 1853-18 83

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INVITATION TO THE OPENING OF THE BROOKLYN FEM ALE ACADEMY

1845-1854 spontaneous, intuitive, rather than judicial. H is everyday speech was terse, forthright, and pithy and he seems to have been extrem ely frank.

In figure he was small and slight, his footsteps quiet and elastic, his speech and m otions quick, and he gave the appearance of always being in a hurry. H e had silky, curly brow n hair in w h ich there was very little gray, even at the tim e of his death three m onths before his eighty-second birthday. H is portraits (alw ays in profile so as not to show his badly crossed eyes) bear out w hat one hears o f his char­ acter and personality. Th ere is nothing o f the dream er in the face, w hich gives the impression o f a strong, positive, and forceful person­ ality. H e w as quick in m akin g decisions, frequently on the basis of intuition and prejudice, rather than o f a calm w eigh in g of facts.

A s m ight be expected from his time, he was a classicist in his literary tastes. H e frequently proclaim ed to his students that the most beautiful sentence in E nglish literature w as the opening of Johnson’s Rasselas— “ T o ye w h o listen w ith credulity to the w his­ pers of fancy and pursue w ith eagerness the phantom o f hope, listen then to the tale o f Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia.” H is w it is like that of the classicists. Perhaps the tw o best examples are his answer to the lady w h o asked if the Institute had an elevator, “ Yes, M adam , each student is provided w ith tw o,” and his reply to a physician w ho inquired if reduction in tuition w ould be m ade to his profession as w ell as to clergym en, “ I regret to say that reduction is m ade only to those w h o preach, not to those w h o practice.”

Indomitable energy, untiring industry, and eternal vigilance (one of his pet phrases) characterized him , up to the last. H e always ap­ peared younger than he was. A t forty-five he looked thirty. Profes­ sor Stevens, w h o first m et him w hen he w as eighty-one, says that he w ould have thought him a m an of sixty. H is agility, his eyesight, and his hearing, as w ell as his zest and enthusiasm, seem not to have been impaired by age. H e was always entertaining, being full of

35

The Brooklyn Female Academ y stories w hich he told very w ell. H e w ould today be labelled an extro­ vert, and an unusually cheerful one.

It is difficult to appraise h im as a president. H e was progressive through the beginning and m iddle part o f his career, but the last ten or fifteen years he stood still, w hile education and the com ­ m unity progressed. A t his death in January, 1883, he was honored by the city w hich lowered the flags on public buildings to half-staff, an unusual honor for a private citizen.

But in 1853 he was in his prim e, and the rest of his career belongs to another chapter.

T h e eight years of the Brooklyn Fem ale A cadem y w ere not w ith ­ out events of interest in the nation and in the city. T h e M exican W ar was fough t from 1846 to 1848. Gas for illum inatin g purposes was introduced into Brooklyn in 1848 and im m ediately put into the school. In 1849 there was a cholera epidem ic w ith tw o or three hun­ dred deaths daily in the city during the sum m er; one of the students died. T h e East River froze in January, 1852, and m any people crossed to N e w Y o rk on foot on the ice, including some adventur­ ous ladies. A n event of great importance to the school, but not at the time recognized as such, occurred in 1850, the death of W illia m S. Packer, an em inent citizen and a trustee. In July, 1854, the last year of the A cadem y, the first street cars ran in Brooklyn. Between 1845 and 1854 a^so the population of the young city tripled.

T h e reports of the trustees to the stockholders show a great pride and satisfaction in the new school. T h e report of 1850 states trium phantly: T h e am ount o f property o f the B roo klyn F em ale A ca d em y exceeds that o f any other o f the k in d in the state [except the A lb a n y A c a d e m y w hich was endow ed by the legislature]. In its com m odious and extensive accom ­ m odations, the num ber and character of its professors and teachers, in its revenues, in the subjects of study pursued, it is unsurpassed by any insti­ tution in the state, or, as far as is k n o w n to the Trustees, in the country.

36

18 4 5 -18 5 4 But the pride and useful tranquillity of the school w ere inter­ rupted on January 1,1853, by a catastrophe. T h e school building and everything in it burned to the ground.

Because o f the lack of a w ater system, the conditions prevailing am ong the volunteer fire companies, and because the fire started in the very early m orning, it is not surprising that the flames w ere not extinguished before they had consum ed almost everything. T h e volunteer fire department w as h igh ly picturesque.

A ll that w as required o f a candidate w as w illin gn ess, coupled, of course, w ith the strength and agility o f y o u t h .. . . W h e n the alarm was sounded, the silver-m ounted fire en gin e cam e clatterin g th rou gh the streets, d raw n by a lo n g line o f red-shirted volunteers, each h o ld in g the stout ropes to w h ich the apparatus w as attached, ru n n in g at breakneck speed. A t their head, w ea rin g a shirt like the rest, and b ran d ish in g aloft a silver trum pet, raced their F orem an, w h o k ep t y e llin g constantly at his m en, u rg in g them to still m igh tier endeavors.14

T h is is a description of a N e w Y o r k com pany, but the B rooklyn companies w ere similar. Th ere was a great deal of rivalry between companies, w h o sometimes turned their attention (and their hose) toward one another instead of tow ard the fire.

T h e contem porary account of the fire in “ T h e E agle” is very detailed: THE BURNING OF TH E FE M A LE ACADEMY

T h e fire was discovered about six o’clock on Saturday m o rn in g and o w ­ in g to the dense fo g w h ich prevailed at the tim e, it w as not observed until it had m ade considerable progress. A fire . . . had been discovered a short tim e previously, and w h en the C ity H a ll bell w as ru n g to g iv e notice of the fire at the A ca d em y , the firem en retu rn in g fro m the first fire, believed the rin gin g to be a continuation o f the first alarm , and not b ein g able to see the fire, o w in g to the fo g , a great m an y w ere delayed in ren d erin g tim ely assistance. Several of the engines, h ow ever, w ere at the spot in a

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The Brooklyn Female Academ y very short tim e, bu t the fire h ad progressed too far to be suppressed. T h e firem en, fin d in g all efforts to save the A ca d em y useless, directed their force to confine it, and save the a d join in g houses— that of M r. C rittenden, the P rin cipal of the A ca d em y , had caught, bu t due to the united exertions o f the firem en and the police, escaped w ith slight dam age. T h e police w orked w ith buckets on the inside and rear o f the b u ild in g, w h ile the firem en played on the front and side from the street. . . . [T h e y tried to save som e o f the furnishin gs, etc., but could not, except the account books, w h ich are n o w in the P acker vaults, the edges o f the pages shrivelled and scorched.]

O n e o f the m ost splendid organs in the city, w h ich belonged to the in ­ stitution and w as placed in the lecture room , w as com pletely destroyed.

A large and valuable library, con tain in g upw ards o f 2,000 volu m es, the n ew laboratory and valuable cases consisting of specim ens of conchology, geology, m ineralogy, and several other ologies, w ere also destroyed. T h e residence o f the Prin cipal, M r. C ritten den, adjoins the A ca d em y and about one hun dred o f the yo u n g ladies of the A ca d em y board in his hom e. T h e ir consternation on seeing the A ca d em y in flames and the fire com m un icatin g w ith the house in w h ich they w ere, w as, as m ig h t be supposed, very great.

M r. W illia m M athew s, the janitor, occupied an apartm ent directly over the furnace, and he had h ard ly tim e to escape w ith his life.15

“ T h e E agle” goes on to say that the building was valued at twenty-six thousand dollars, the furnishings at five thousand, the library at fifteen hundred; that the insurance, placed w ith several companies, was for tw enty-four thousand, and that the loss sus­ tained by D r. Crittenden and W illia m M athews w as about one thousand. T h e origin of the fire was not positively kn ow n, but it was supposed to have arisen from some defect in the flues, connected w ith the heating apparatus.

W e can im agine the dismay and discouragem ent of the trustees over this dismal end to the project o f w hich they had been so proud.

There was some doubt at first as to the possibility of rebuilding, but

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1845-1854 the school rose from its ashes like the fabled phoenix, in a new build­ ing and w ith a new name.

O n the very day o f the fire the trustees met, tem porary quarters were secured in the B rooklyn Institute on W ashington Street, and the school assembled w ithout the loss of a single day, very likely to the disappointm ent o f some of the young ladies. In February tw o fine old houses on W ashington Street w ere rented and equipped. “ School Room Echoes,” w hile lam enting the loss of the school building and grieving over the dismal sight of the ruins, rejoiced at fin ding a m irror in the tem porary quarters, a concession to vanity w hich had been lackin g in the old A cadem y.

In these tw o buildings the school year was completed, and the next school year, 1853-54, spent. T h e seventh com m encem ent, of 1853, w as held at the B rooklyn Institute and the eighth and last com m encem ent o f the B .F .A ., of 1854, at the B rooklyn Athenaeum .

T h e catalogue o f 1854 bears the n ew name, the Packer Collegiate Institute, but the supplement, containing the reports o f the exam ­ in in g committees, the com m encem ent program , and the graduat­ in g essays, is labelled the B rooklyn Fem ale A cadem y.

T h e trustees must have been busy m en that last year and a h alf after the fire, for they w ere on tw o boards, that o f the A cadem y and that o f the Packer Collegiate Institute. In their capacity as trustees of the A cadem y they sold the land w hich it had occupied to the Packer Institute, and paid off the stock, every stockholder receiving $158.63 for each one hundred dollars he had invested. In their capacity as trustees of the Institute they bought the land from the A cadem y and attended to the erection and equipm ent o f the new building.

A bout two-thirds o f the total num ber of shares of stock in the A cadem y w ere used to found the B rooklyn Polytechnic Institute for boys on Livingston Street, on the site o f part of the old M ilitary Gardens, a pleasure resort. T h e prem ium , $58.63, was contributed

39

The Brooklyn Female Academ y by the m ajority of the stockholders to Packer, am ounting to be­ tween tw elve and fifteen thousand dollars.

So ended the career of the B rooklyn Fem ale A cadem y, but the school lived on. T h e Packer Collegiate Institute w as the same school, on the same site, w ith the same trustees, the same staff, the same students, the same curriculum , and the same educational ob­ jectives. O n ly the building, the nam e, and the financial structure w ere different, since the m oney for the building was donated and stockholders w ere unnecessary.

T h e device on the seal of the Institute, adopted in 1855, is a pelican, standing proudly on her nest nourishing her eager young w ith her ow n blood, the motto, “ M acte V irtute,” above on a scroll term inating in oak leaves, the sym bol of enduring strength and grow th. T h e phoenix rising from her ow n ashes w ould have been equally appropriate.

40

PACKER COLLEGIATE IN S T IT U T E , JORALEMON STREET FRONT

IV Packer â&#x20AC;&#x201D; The Phoenix 1 853 - 1 8 6 1

W

hen

on January 3, 1853, tw o days after the B rooklyn Fem ale

A cadem y w as destroyed by fire, the trustees met, they were

doubtful w hether the school could be continued. T h eir doubt, h o w ­ ever, w as short-lived, for at this very m eeting a letter was delivered to them from Mrs. Packer, the youn g w id o w o f W illia m S. Packer, a member of the first board of the A cadem y, and also the largest shareholder: G entlem en, T h e interest w h ich the late W . S. P ack er took in the establishm ent of your institution m ay not be u n k n o w n to som e of you and for that reason I trust the proposal I am about to lay before you r H o n orab le B oard w ill not seem bold or uncalled for.

B efore stating the proposition in fo rm you w ill pardon m e fo r saying that the idea of d evotin g a sum tow ard the establishm ent of an institution

41

Packer

—

The Phoenix

for the education o f you th w as one w h ich suggested itself to m y late h u s­ band several years since, and it has been m y desire and intention as his representative to carry ou t his w ishes, b u t as his plans w ere not at all per­ fected I had been unable to decide upon anyth in g.

T h e recent destruction o f you r b u ild in g by fire has afforded m e an opportunity I am glad to em brace.

W h a t I contem plate is th is : to apply sixty-five thousand dollars of his property to the erection o f an Institution for the education of m y ow n sex, in the h igh er branches o f L iteratu re in lieu of that n o w k n o w n as the B roo klyn F em ale A ca d em y. It w ill be unnecessary for m e to state condi­ tions or details as M r. Prentice understands m y view s entirely and w ill explain them .

M rs. W . S. P acker B roo klyn 3rd. Jan. 1853

T h is was the largest sum, so far as is kn ow n, to have been given up to that time for the higher education of w om en, and the largest given to any educational institution in the U nited States up to 1850 except to G irard College.1 T h e trustees prom ptly accepted the gift, and voted to dissolve the corporation of the A cad em y by paying off the stockholders in installments. T h ere are m any old stock certifi­ cates and records of paym ent in the Packer vaults.

Mrs. Packer proposed either to buy from the A cadem y corpora­ tion the Joralemon Street site for the new building, or to donate for that purpose part o f her property on G race Court, w here she ow ned the equivalent o f about sixteen city lots. In the latter case, the old site was to have been bought for the new boys’ school, the Polytechnic Institute. “ T h e E agle” for W ednesday, January 12, 1853, in an item headed, T h e Fem ale Academ y, says that at a meet­ in g o f stockholders the night before, a proposition w as presented from M rs. P acker, one o f our w ealth y citi­ zens, o w n in g a large property on the H eigh ts in the vicin ity of G race C h u rch , offerin g a donation o f property, am ou n tin g to som e $65,000, to

PARI

OF

MRS. PACKERS

LETTER

TO THE

TRUSTEES

OF

THE

BROOKLYN

/•<£-

FEMALE

ACADEMY, JANUARY

2 ^,

1853

WILLIAM

S. PACKER

MRS. PACKER

AND HER SON

1853 - 1 8 6 1 en d ow the A ca d em y , w ith certain conditions. T h e property consists of lots, supposed to be w orth $35,000, situated on G race C ou rt, and $30,000 in m oney. T h is proposition w ill probably lead to the rem oval o f the A c a d ­ em y from its present position.

In the same issue of “ T h e E agle” is a protest signed, “ A Stock­ holder” against “ abandoning the present site.” T h e next day, Janu­ ary 13, “T h e E agle” says that “ thetrustees had resolved toacceptM rs.

Packer’s g ift and to build on the site proposed by her.” “ T h e E agle” for Thursday, February 3, reports that “ it has been determ ined to abandon the site proposed by Mrs. Packer on G race Court and lo­ cate the new Institution on the grounds occupied by the old one.”

Just w h y the decision to build on the G race C ourt site was re­ versed is not know n. Mrs. Packer must have preferred G race Court or she w ould not have suggested it. T h e m agnanim ous and unegotistic attitude that she always displayed in regard to the school is shown in the fo llow in g letter w ritten to the trustees on January 25: U n d erstan d in g that there is som e hesitation in regard to the expediency o f ch an gin g the location o f the A ca d em y , & it b ein g suggested that the T rustees m igh t possibly be influenced by m y supposed partiality for G race C ou rt, I b eg leave to say that I have no preferences in regard to position, w h ich w ill not be fu lly answ ered, in h a vin g that site selected, w h ich in the opinion of you r Board, w ill best secure the perm anent good of the Institution. T h is is the on ly question to be th o u gh t of, & I should hope the T rustees w ill be as unbiassed in their decision, as th o ’ G race C o u rt had not been spoken o f in connection w ith m yself.

So the burned ruins of the A cadem y w ere rem oved and the trus­ tees, consulting of course w ith Mrs. Packer, began to consider plans for the new building on the old site.

T h e rejected location was probably next to G race Church and east o f Mrs. Packer’s ow n house on the edge of the bluff, across the street from the Prentice estate, o f w hich the Packer land had origin-

43

Packer — The Phoenix ally been a p a r t A t that tim e there was a glorious view from all the lots on the south side o f G race C ourt over the tops of the twostorey buildings on Joralemon Street, sloping dow n to the river, but later tall buildings obscured the view except from the big apartm ent houses at the very end of the street.

T h a t the school building was given by Mrs. Packer in m em ory of her husband has been stated in every catalogue beginning w ith that of 1892 (except 1893, w hen it was om itted). H ow ever, except for tw o portraits— one in the alumnae rooms acquired from the Prentice fam ily in 1928, and the other in the m ain entrance hall, about w hich nothing is kn o w n except that it h un g in the chapel in 1887, perhaps given by Mrs. P acker— and his nam e on the bronze tablet on the outside of the building at the front entrance (not placed there until 1939), there is nothing in the building to rem ind one o f M r. Packer.

T h e donor of the building in the catalogue of 1854 w as referred to sim ply as a lady of this city, w ith no m ention of her name. From then until 1892, w hen the catalogue announced her death, givin g her nam e and stating that the building was a m em orial to her hus­ band, there is no mention o f either M r. or Mrs. Packer. M r. Packer was referred to in the catalogues only as Mrs. Packer’s husband from 1894 to 1919, w hen his fu ll nam e, W illiam Satterlee Packer, was given, and it has been given ever since.

Mrs. Packer refused to take a conspicuous place in the school during her lifetim e, not even allow in g her portrait to hang on its walls. T h e year after her death, the portrait bust, made from a death mask by Charles Calverley, was presented to the school by Mrs. Packer’s children and placed in the chapel by the west exit, and in 1926 a copy of her portrait painted by H untington in 1875 was presented by her nephew, M r. F. P. Bellam y. T h a t the school should bear the name of Packer, and that its continuance should be made possible by her husband’s m oney in accordance w ith one of his

44

m ajor interests, was the purpose of this lady of modest and highm inded generosity. She sought no personal honor for either herself or her husband, and was m uch distressed by the prom inence given her in D r. V in to n ’s speech at the opening of the school building.

But since her death, she has been com m em orated by the school so that not a child, teacher, or any person at all connected w ith Packer can fail to be fam iliar w ith her nam e, her face, and her character.

N oth ing, how ever, has ever been done to celebrate the character, ideals, and personality of M r. Packer, w h ich are w ell w orth com ­ memoration.

T h e Packers w ere probably a very old E nglish fam ily, livin g in K ent. W illia m Satterlee Packer, nam ed after his father, was born in K n ox, A lb an y C ounty, N e w Y o rk , in 1801. M r. Packer was left at an early age entirely dependent on him self, and he w as noted, even in boyhood, for his energy, self-reliance, and perseverance.

W h en a very young man, he established him self in the fu r trade in A lb an y and founded the house o f Packer, Prentice and Com pany, afterwards rem oved to N e w Y o rk . “ H is rare sagacity, his strict integrity and his readiness to help younger men, w ho, like him self, had their ow n w ay to m ake, gave h im an enviable reputation am ong men.

J»2

O n retiring from business in 1840, he came to B rooklyn and from that time until his death, he thoroughly identified him self w ith the city. B elieving in the future o f Brooklyn, he devoted time, influence, and m oney to public w ork.

H e apparently left A lb an y in 1839 and lived in N e w Y o rk for a time. A s has been stated, he played an active part in founding the B rooklyn Fem ale A cadem y, and was the largest shareholder. H e was also one o f the founders o f the B rooklyn C ity H ospital, and contributed liberally to the building o f various churches. H e was “ modest and unobtrusive, had foresight, courage, and enterprise, afid influence w ith m en . . . [and] used his means w ith intelligent

45

Packer

—

The Phoenix

liberality.’” H e did m uch to develop the young city. H e was one o f four representative Brooklyn men w ho, at the time of the dispute between N e w Y o rk and Brooklyn over the ferries (or rather, at the time o f one o f the disputes between the tw o cities over this m atter) took them over and arranged for their operation.

N o more is kn ow n about his bachelor days, except that on A ugu st 7,1840, he was in D ublin, w here he heard D r. K irkp atrick preach.

Mrs. Packer noted this in the journal of her ow n trip abroad in 1854, and w ent to listen to the preacher heard by her “ dear husband.”

A daguerreotype o f Mr. Packer, evidently taken from a portrait of him , probably in his m iddle thirties, shows a handsom e face w ith a fine high forehead, kind and intelligent eyes, and a beauti­ fu lly m oulded m outh and ch in — a face strong and resolute look­ ing, w ith a hint o f liveliness about the eyes. T h is liveliness is borne out by a letter of his (given in the Supplem en t), an am using note to his sister-in-law, thanking her for a g ift of shirts, and com m enting gayly on his bachelorhood, “ situated as I am, w ithout the kind ly influence o f nature’s purest pleasure, the last best g ift o f G od to m an.” In the daguerreotype the face is fram ed in luxuriant locks, w orn a little carelessly, as was the fashion of the time. It is a face to flutter the susceptible fem inine heart, and one wonders how the original of the portrait m anaged to remain a bachelor for forty-two years. H e had certainly led a busy life to have been able to retire from business w ith a considerable fortune at the age o f forty. If the statement that he w orked w ith D r. Crittenden in A lb an y to secure legislation favorable to fem ale education be true, and if that legis­ lation was the incorporation of the A lb an y A cadem y in 1827 under the Regents, as seems probable, he must have been a man o f con­ siderable influence at the early age o f twenty-six. Perhaps he had been too busy to secure the last best gift of G od to man.

H ow ever, even at the date of this letter (1839), his days of lone­ liness w ere numbered, if lonely he was, for w hile, a young m an, he

46

1853 - 1 8 6 1 was m akin g his w ay in the w orld, an event of im portance to him occurred. A daughter H arriet was born in 1820 to Benjam in Put­ nam, a Baptist clergym an, in Bethel, V erm ont. Benjam in Putnam was also a handsom e m an, but w ith a touch of grim ness about the m outh, w hich one can im agine uttering sermons on the im m inence of everlasting punishm ent for the ungodly. T h e young H arriet, w h o resembled her father w ithout the touch o f grimness, studied w ith him , com pleting her education by spending tw o years at the A lb an y A cadem y under D r. Crittenden.

She came to B rooklyn at the age of nineteen, w here for three years she was the governess in the fam ily of John H . Prentice, w h o had m any children, some of them about the age o f the young, in­ telligent, handsom e governess. M r. Prentice had recently rem oved from A lb an y w ith his fam ily, and M r. Packer w as not only a busi­ ness partner, but an intim ate friend, after w h o m one o f the Prentice sons was nam ed. M r. F. P. Bellam y, H arriet Putnam ’s nephew , w ho, although the soul of integrity and veracity in practical affairs, was inclined to let his im agination run aw ay w ith h im in the realm of romance, is responsible for the story that w hen she first saw M r.

Packer’s portrait at the Prentice hom e (the original w as aw ay from the city on a business trip w hen she arrived), she said that she w ould like to m arry a m an w h o looked like that. T h e story has at­ tained considerable currency, and is som ewhat appealing, for being a person of discrim ination, she must have adm ired the portrait, and any young lady at all disposed to m atrim ony w ould have liked to m arry a m an w h o looked like that. T h e true version does more justice to the young governess’ sense of decorum . She did notice the portrait and did rem ark on the interesting character of the face, and was told that she w ould soon m eet the original, as he w as in the habit of dropping in at her em ployer’s hom e nearly every evening.

T h e rom antic details of the m eeting and courtship are lost in the mists of history, but the lively, hospitable, and friendly Prentice

41

Packer

—

The Phoenix

fam ily, their elegant, E nglish colonial mansion, and the lovely garden overlooking the harbor furnished an ideal setting for the romance between the w ealthy, public-spirited bachelor and the beautiful, intelligent young governess. H e w as “ attracted not only by her beauty and unusual presence, but by the quality of her m ind and character . . . [her] serious purpose and quiet dignity,” * and on July 26, 1842, three days after H arriet Putnam ’s twenty-second birthday, she m arried M r. Packer, then forty-two, and they w ent to live at 82 Rem sen Street nearby.

A ll descriptions of M rs. Packer refer to the striking nobility, dis­ tinction, and graciousness o f her bearing. T h e words im perial and queenly are frequently used. Judge G eorge C . H olt, a personal friend and a classmate of her son, says that she w as “ beautiful, erect, stately, graceful as a p alm tree,” and was “ in every point of view one o f the most attractive and distinguished w om en” he had ever kn ow n.5 T h e portrait and portrait bust in the possession of Packer show strong, classic features, a beautifully m odelled chin and m outh, an intellectual forehead, fine eyes w ith a direct gaze, and a great mass o f hair dressed very sim ply— in an age o f elab­ orate coiffures.

T h ree children w ere born to the Packers, a son, W illia m S. Packer, II, in 1845, a daughter Julia w h o died in infancy, and a daughter H arriet, born in 1848. Soon after their m arriage they began to m ake plans for a new house at 2 G race Court, opposite the Prentice home. T h e n ew house w as a splendid and beautiful m an­ sion o f three storeys, of brownstone and brick, designed by an em i­ nent architect, Richard U pjohn. It was, in general, classical in style, w ith an entrance under a porte-cochere on the north side, and a w in d in g drive, broad lawns, and a terraced garden. A lon g draw ­ ing room, opening on to a porch w h ich overlooked the harbor, was so arranged that d raw in g room and porch could be throw n together in w arm weather. T h ere was a central hall reaching to the roof,

1853 - 1 8 6 1 w ith tw o upper floors built in the form of circular galleries, and w ith a circular w in d o w o f stained glass flooding the w ell w ith colored ligh t by day. A t nigh t it was illum inated by a gas light shining through the dom e so as to give “ the h allw ays the appearance of fairyland.” ” L o n g hand-painted m irrors set into the w all, golden chandeliers, a ceiling hand-painted in the G recian style, and a great m antel o f Italian m arble after a design by Thorw aldsen, the D anish sculptor, m ade the d raw in g room a beautiful background for the m any entertainments Mrs. Packer w as to give. T h e young w ife ar­ ranged the general plan. She was alw ays particularly interested in architecture and construction.

But M r. Packer did not live to reside in the beautiful m ansion w hich he had helped his youn g w ife to plan, or to w atch the devel­ opm ent o f the city he loved, believed in, and w orked for so untir­ ingly. H e died on Sunday, D ecem ber 15,1850, and the fact that from 1845 through 1849 he hardly ever missed a m eeting of the A cad em y trustees, w hile he attended none in 1850, indicates a lon g illness.

T h u s after eight years o f happy m arried life, M rs. Packer w as left a young w id ow , w ith tw o little children and a large fortune, to m ove into her splendid new hom e alone. H er strength o f char­ acter and her intelligence enabled her to bear her grief and in time to rally from it, and to m ake the house w h ich she had planned w ith her husband a distinguished center o f social life in Brooklyn.

Officers o f foreign warships dockin g in B rooklyn, poets, musicians, literary lions, statesmen, celebrated lawyers, and foreign royalty were her guests. “ T h e E agle” said that her entertainments w ere some “ o f the most brilliant that B rooklyn has seen and the entire fashionable and artistic w orld o f the day attended there.” 7 She en­ tertained the students and faculty o f Packer and the distinction of both house and hostess w as a factor for m any years in the life of the school.

T h e house was a hospitable one in other w ays. It was alw ays open

49

Packer

—

The Phoenix

to the numerous members of her ow n fam ily, for she had one brother, three sisters, several nephews, and a niece. H er nephews E dw ard Bellam y, the author of L ookin g Backward, and Frederick P. Bellam y, the B rooklyn law yer, later a trustee of Packer for m any years, made their hom e w ith her for a tim e w hen they w ere young men, and her three grandchildren grew up there. H er husband’s cousin, Miss N annie T ru ax, also lived w ith her. Mrs. Packer had a strong tribal sense and liked to keep her fam ily together.

N o t only did she entertain, but, as m igh t be expected, she was a guest at distinguished entertainments, am ong them a ball given in honor of the Prince of W ales at the A cad em y of M usic in 1861, w here she danced opposite him in a quadrille. T h e charm ing gow n she wore on that occasion w ith volum inous rows of black lace net, w ith low w hite taffeta bodice and corsage and coronet of black velvet and w hite roses is in the possession o f Packer.

A s she grew older and was partly crippled by rheum atism , she had to give up her social life, but after her death in 1892 her daugh­ ter H arriet, and her daughter-in-law, Mrs. W . S. Packer, II, made the fine house again the scene of brilliant entertainments. T h e house was sold in 1906, vacated by the fam ily in 1907, and remained vacant until its dem olition in 1916, w hen, even though neglected, w ith broken w indow s, toppling chim neys, rusted roof, and the wood of the porch and all its rich fittings plundered, it still re­ tained enough of its form er splendor to inspire the “ E agle” reporter to lyric utterance.

T h e influence o f Mrs. Packer upon the school has been very great, not only during her lifetim e, but since her death. Founder’s D ay, instituted by the Associate A lu m n ae in N ovem ber, 1911, and cele­ brated annually ever since as near the date (N ovem ber 9) o f the opening of the building in 1854 as the school calendar permits, has continued to keep her m em ory alive and her ideals influential. O n these occasions m any speeches have been made and m any articles,

50

MRS. HARRIET L . PACKER F r o m a n o il p a in t in g

THE PACKER M ANSIO N AT 2 GRACE COURT F r o m th e F u r m a n S t r e e t s id e

MRS. PACKER PLAYING CHESS W IT H A FRIEND W i l l i a m S . P a c k e r , II, h is w i f e a n d c h il d , l o o k i n g o n

1853 - 1 8 6 1 w hich give us m uch inform ation, printed in “ T h e Packer A lu m n a ” by people w h o kn ew her.

Judge H o lt said that her “ nature w as noble, her conversation large and inspiring,” that she was interested in literature, art, poli­ tics, religion, and charity— a genuinely intellectual w om an but w ithout pedantry or haughtiness.8 H er interest in art found practi­ cal expression in assisting young artists to success. Mrs. Backus, w ife o f the second president, said in a speech at Packer, “ C harm and inspiration radiated from this cultured house into the great school whose instructors w ere so cordially made w elcom e w ithin its pre­ cincts.” 9 T o the girls w h o w ere in Packer w hen Mrs. Packer was alive she “ became the gracious em bodim ent o f their A lm a M ater.” 10 H er picture is on the Packer diplom a.

Everyone w h o kn ew her speaks o f her modesty and her freedom from self-consciousness. W h e n she visited Packer she invariably slipped in and took a seat at the back o f the chapel. D r. Backus, in a m em orandum in his ow n h an dw ritin g in the Packer archives, told o f his first interview w ith her w hen he visited Packer in June, 1883, just after his appointm ent as president, and said that Mrs. Packer stated that she had the greatest un w illingness to be considered as h a vin g, m uch less asserting, any claim for deference to her ju d g m en t in the conduct o f the Institute---H e r m anner, her spirit, w ere queen ly. H e r kindness to m e, a stranger, has never been forgotten. She at once relieved m e w h o lly o f any notion that I m ust pay tribute to her such as one less m agn an im ou s m ig h t have de­ m and ed ; and yet she left upon m e the conviction, never lost so lo n g as she lived, that all that m ig h t be honest and m an ly in m e w o u ld pay respect to her.

Packer has shown her influence in its graciousness, its dignity, its serious purpose, its liberalism, and its dem ocracy. O f direct or offi­ cial influence, how ever, she had none. It is indicative of the position

5*

Packer

—

The Phoenix

o f w om en at the time that it seems never to have occurred to anyone that Mrs. Packer should be a m em ber of the board of trustees. T h e board showed exceptional deference to a w om an by offering her the privilege of nom inating trustees w h en vacancies in the board oc­ curred, a privilege w hich she exercised until her death.

In accounts of persons so justly revered, it is the little hum an touches that m ake them seem alive and real. So it is pleasant to learn that Mrs. Packer was not interested in domestic affairs, that on the rare occasions w hen she attempted em broidery— that almost uni­ versal accom plishm ent o f V ictorian ladies— she plied her needle so laboriously and slow ly that the fam ily laughed at her and that she laughed w ith them. W h en she was entertaining the young officers of a British ship, they all tried her new sew ing m achine— so great a novelty that none of them had ever seen one— w ith gales of lau gh ­ ter from everyone, including the hostess.

It is interesting to kn o w that she did not w ear a cap in her later years, as did m any of her contemporaries, that she enjoyed back­ gam m on and whist, and that she used to give “ a little staccato ‘W h y !

W h y ! ’ almost like a whistle, inw ardly amused, but outw ardly shocked, w h ich w as very characteristic, and seemed always to term ­ inate an episode.” 11 She must have had numerous occasions to utter this exclamation, since she had considerable experience w ith the audacities of youth in her ow n son and her nephews. O ne story is illum inating of Mrs. Packer and entertaining in itself. H er son, W . S. Packer, II, and her nephew , F. P. Bellam y, w ere both livin g w ith her and both studying law , “ and they had som ehow sm uggled into a large closet off their study on the third and top floor of the house a hogshead o f fine w hiskey. . . . [Mrs. Packer], w h o adored them both, came up to chat w ith them and happening to inspect the closet, discovered the w hiskey, to their great dismay, and em erged so convulsed w ith laughter at the effrontery o f their ingenious de­ ception that she could not speak.” 13

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1833 - i 8 6 i A journal o f part o f her trip to Europe w ith some o f the Prentice fam ily in 1854 gives us some intim ate glim pses o f her interests and personality. She seems to have been very strong, for it w as an ex­ trem ely strenuous trip, beginning w ith a five w eeks’ voyage from N e w Y o rk to Liverpool on a packet w h ich was becalm ed part o f the tim e— through E ngland, Scotland, Ireland, France, and Sw itzer­ land in three months, w ith another m onth to go after the journal ends. W henever other members of the party gave out or omitted some excursion to rest, or clim bed only h a lf w ay up a m ountain, Mrs. Packer always clim bed to the very top, w en t everywhere, and saw everything. V e ry seldom does she m ention being w eary and only once being “ low-spirited,” though she does not give the reason.

N o t only did she go to see everything, but she observed everything and w rote up everything in the utm ost detail, g iv in g accounts of buildings and the nature and num ber o f columns, and the most ex­ act descriptions o f pictures and o f scenery, though her interest in buildings and pictures seems greater than her enjoym ent o f scenery.

She was deeply concerned w ith construction, m entioning “ the fine m asonry” o f the docks in Liverpool, and the details of shipbuilding w h ich the captain had given her. “ U ndoubtedly had she lived in later days, she w ould have pursued a scientific course in order to m ake architecture her profession.” 13 She tells about the boats, the railroads, the roads, the carriages, the hotels, her experiences at the Custom s— France w ould not let them bring in a copy o f “ T h e N e w Y o r k T im es” or tw o E nglish books. H er journal indicates that she w as m ore interested in the sights themselves than in literary or his­ torical associations. T h e picture one gets is that o f a h ig h ly intelli­ gent, receptive, observant, quite objective m ind, and an excellent m em ory. She never gives her ow n impressions, emotions, or associa­ tions. T h ere is a fem inine touch in a rather com plete list o f Paris shops for “ Dress Goods, M antillas, etc., Embroideries, Bonnets, and G loves,” and addresses of dressmakers.

S3

Packer — The Phoenix She w ent to church every Sunday on this trip, sometimes twice, and she frequently gives the text in her journal and a resume of the w hole sermon w ith all its headings up to F ifth ly. Probably her reverend father had trained her in this habit. O n board ship she read a tract, Earthly Care and Heavenly Discipline, and liked it very m uch.

T h e physical and m ental vigor and the great capacity for details that she displayed on her European travels also show in her interest in and attention to the plans for the new school building in 1853.

M inard Lafever, an em inent A m erican architect (treated in more detail in the Supplem ent), submitted plans w hich were eventually accepted. These, how ever, called for greater expenditure than the trustees thought it wise to m ake, and on M ay 13,1853, Mrs. Packer wrote the fo llo w in g letter to the b oard: I have already taken the liberty o f expressing to som e o f your B oard the necessity I feel o f h a vin g a suitable b u ild in g erected for the Institution over w h ich you preside, one w ith accom m odations sufficiently am ple for the realization of our m ost sanguine hopes, and w hose style and general appearance w o u ld correspond w ith the general character and grade of the school there established. I had th o u gh t it m ig h t tell probably upon the success of the Institute if the b u ild in g itself w as a k in d of token and pledge o f the refined and elevating influences to be fou n d w ith in its w alls. W h ile m y ow n hopes are m ost sanguine, it is doubtless w ise to be prepared for d isa p p o in tm g it and I assure the T rustees that I appreciate their hesitation as to the propriety o f ad optin g plans to carry out w hich m ig h t involve the Institute so as to m aterially im pair its usefulness and perhaps ultim ately jeop ard ize its ve ry existence. A n d I w o u ld not have been so decidedly in favor o f M r. L a fe v e r’s plans (in opposition I fear it m ay seem to those better qualified to ju d g e ) had I not fro m the first been determ ined to h old m yself ready to relieve the Institution should it be­ com e seriously em barrassed. I hope no such necessity m ay occur but if after a sufficient trial the incom e o f the Institution should be fou n d in ­ adequate to provide liberally for its ow n expenses and m ake such pro­

54

-1861 vision for a sin k in g fu n d as to afford reasonable prospects o f ultim ately can cellin g the debt, I w ill en gage m yself to add to m y donation such sum s as m ay be necessary for this object to the am ount of tw en ty thousand d ol­ lars. In order to render this m ore effective in case o f m y death it is su g­ gested that this en gagem en t shall be m ade in the fo llo w in g form .14

H ere follow s a bond for paym ent in five years if necessary. H o w ­ ever, the school was so prosperous that this further donation was not needed.

M r. F. P. Bellam y is responsible for the statement that Mrs. Packer had intended to leave “ a very substantial bequest” to Packer, but that she was forced to cancel it because o f the failure o f her brother Joseph Putnam , whose fu r business in the South she had financed.1" T h e “ edifice” w hich M r. Lafever planned was considered at the time rem arkably fine and im posing. It was one hundred and fifty feet in length, eighty-four feet in depth, w ith five storeys, a base­ ment, and a tower rising to one hundred feet, topped by a dom e con­ taining an astronomical observatory (w h ich was taken dow n in 1899 or 1900 w hen the subway w as being built under Joralemon Street). T h e m ain hall was sixteen feet in w id th w ith a ceiling of fourteen feet.

O n the first floor were the reception room, offices, and library.

There w ere three flights o f stairs, six feet in w idth, each step four inches in height, m akin g ascent easy. T h e second storey contained “ lecture rooms, apparatus rooms, a laboratory, and eigh t other apartments.” O n the third floor w ere eight rooms besides the chapel, w hich was eighty-four by forty-eight feet and thirty-five feet in height, seating one thousand, w ith a gallery around three sides, en­ tered from the fourth floor. “ Portions of the first floor and basement w ill be occupied by one of the Principals and the Janitor. . . . T h e cost w hen completed is estimated at $150,000. It is an ornam ent to the city.” T h u s “ T h e E agle” for N ovem ber 10, 1854. H ow ever, the

55

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cost of the completed building, w ithout equipm ent, is given in the M inutes o f the Trustees as $83,562.64.

T h e catalogues of 1858 to 1863 contain the floor plans. In these plans the rooms on the first floor opening on to the garden, used in 1945 for some of the elem entary grades and for the faculty and elementary wardrobes, and the rooms beneath them in the base­ m ent, nine rooms in all, are m arked “ for a professor.”

It seems probable that D r. Crittenden and his fam ily occupied these rooms from 1854 until some tim e subsequent to ’58, w hen he m oved into the house next door to the school (the site of the g ym ­ nasium w in g built in 1887) and there he lived until his death in 1883. T h e janitor lived in the northwest corner of the basement un­ til 1895, and Professor Eaton occupied the residence for a professor from ’69 till his resignation in ’83.

T h e fifth floor then, as later, was occupied by the art department.

T h e collegiate classes w ere all together in w hat is, in 1945, the junior grade room. D r. Crittenden’s office w as the present accountant’s office, and the library, the rooms later occupied by the secretary’s and president’s offices. T h e science rooms, three in num ber, a lecture room, a laboratory, and a small apparatus room, w ere on the second floor. T h e room on the ground floor, later a students’ toilet, was Miss Ingoldsby’s study, and the room above, later the teachers’ toilet, was Miss W y lie ’s study w hen she taught English. T h e w indow s and doors in the west end of the building gave on to a narrow yard between the Institute and the Boarding House. A covered pas­ sage connected the second floor o f the Boarding H ouse w ith the Institute.

T h is building is the central part o f the schoolhouse now , in 1945.

It is N eo-G othic, or Victorian G othic as it is more frequently called, built of brick and trim m ed w ith brownstone, w ith arched entrances and arched w indow s in the chapel. T h e catalogues have generally given the picture of the L ivingston Street front, since the

56

1853 - 1 8 6 1 garden, w ith its trees, w alks, and flowers, m akes that entrance more, gracious than the Joralemon Street entrance. T h e proportions of the building are good and it is a dignified, impressive structure even now in the m idst of im posing h igh buildings. Th ere is some­ thing solid and enduring and timeless about it. W ith the proposed addition, it w ill be even m ore impressive. “ T h e A lu m n a ” quotes a paragraph from “ Q ueen,” a L ondon paper for w om en. T h e date and author are not given, but it was evidently a very old issue.

T h e b u ild in g is very picturesque, and rem inded m e of one o f ou r old college b u ild in gs at O x fo rd or C am b rid ge, h a v in g a m u ch greater ap­ pearance o f an tiq u ity than is elsew here noticeable in A m e rica n school b uildin gs, w ith its G o th ic architecture and stained oak p an ellin g. T h e c h a p e l. . . is exceptionally beautiful.16

T h e lovely m em orial w indow s in the chapel and the m any other memorials throughout the building w ere not there in 1854. But even w ithout stained glass, the chapel was beautiful, w ith its pointed arches, its great height, its raised pulpit, its galleries, and its choir loft. In this chapel on every school day for ninety-one years stu­ dents and faculty have come together for a devotional service, con­ sisting of a reading from the Scriptures, a prayer, and the singing of hym ns and anthems by the school.

T h ere was a narrow stairway from the second floor hall w h ich came out in the rear o f the pulpit, opening into the chapel by a little G othic door in the fram ew ork. T h e entrance from the covered bridge to the second floor of the Boarding House, w h ich perm itted the boarders to go to class protected fro m the w eather (called by the irreverent the Bridge of S igh s), w as also at that end of the hall and the stairway m ay have been intended for the use o f the boarders, or it m ay have been designed for the convenience o f the occupant of the pulpit. H ow ever that m ay be, the little stairway (taken dow n w hen A lu m n ae H all w as added in 1907) is noted in legend. M r.

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Bellam y once w hen young, escorting his aunt, Mrs. Packer, to com ­ m encem ent and sitting on the platform w ith her, tiring of the exer­ cises, w ithdrew from the chapel unseen by this means. “ F inally,” says M r. Bellam y, “ D r. Crittenden locked the door in self defense.”

H ow ever, it must have been unlocked later, for students in the late Nineties sat on the stairs chattering m errily, w hen they should have been elsewhere, and feeling deliciously naughty.

T h e building w as sufficiently near com pletion and sufficiently equipped for school to begin on September n , 1854. By Thursday, N ovem ber 9th, it was com pleted and furnished throughout and w as dedicated w ith fitting ceremonies. “ T h e E agle” of N ovem ber 10th gives the program : A Prayer by M r. H olm es, Presentation of a Bible by M ayor E dw ard A . Lam bert and its acceptance by G . G .

V a n W agenen, president of the board of trustees, the Singing by the Pupils of an ode w ritten for the occasion, w ith Jonathan C .

W oodm an, father o f R. H untington W oodm an, at the organ, and an Address by the Reverend D r. Francis V inton , Rector o f St. A n n ’s. T h e first paragraph of the pam phlet containing the speeches, issued by the trustees, says, “ T h e spacious chapel was crow ded to its utmost capacity . . . and very m any were unable to obtain admis­ sion.” “ T h e E agle” of the next day (Septem ber 12) became lyric in its enthusiasm : T h e yo u n g ladies o f the Institute occupied the gallery and their attire and the look o f intelligence and intellectual refinem ent added to the na­ tural loveliness w h ich adorns the sex, rendered their appearance u n i­ form ly charm ing, d ifferin g only as one star differs from another in glory.

N o patriot could desire m ore perfect specim ens o f b u d d in g w om anhood to constitute the fu tu re m others o f the Republic.

A pparently “ T h e E agle” w as more impressed by the young ladies than by the building. N o one mentioned the faculty.

D r. V in to n ’s address was m uch adm ired. T h e printed copy is 5*

mim DR. CRITTENDEN, HIS F A M IL Y AND FRIENDS IN TH E PACKER GARDEN

THE CLASS OF 1 853

/<?53 - 1 8 6 1 dedicated to Mrs. H arriet L . Packer, “ as a tribute o f reverence for the Faithfulness of w id ow ed love and for the kindliness of a G entle N ature as manifested in Establishing a M em orial o f her husband’s nam e w hile founding a seminary of learning for her sex.”

D r. V in to n ’s idea of w om an’s place in life was sim ilar to that of D r. Sprague in 1846. T h e W o m an ’s Rights M ovem ent had m ade some progress in eight years and D r. V in to n denounced it thus: “ It is not the calling of w om an to go forth to her ow n generation. . . . She is to be a teacher o f a generation w hich is to fo llo w her.” In short, D r. V inton, like D r. Sprague, considered that girls should be educated prim arily to be mothers.

T h e qualities w hich D r. V in to n thought should be inculcated

by Fem ale Education w ere obedience, conscience, the affections, truth, and intellectual power. H e advocated the study of m athem a­ tics, all the exact sciences, “ m echanical philosophy,” and the classics, though not w ith the same thoroughness as for boys. “ These studies,” he said, “ are to be defended on the ground o f their agency in mental discipline. Besides, they m ay be found most useful by the m other in training her boys by the fireside.” H e disliked Blue Stockings, as intellectual w om en w ere called, but he preferred them to “ a pretty specimen of an Ignoram us.” H e did not share the com m on opinion of the inferiority o f the fem inine m ind, and cited Uncle T o m ’s Cabin as a romance “ m atched by no other production of the most accustomed pen.” H e added, “ O ther authoresses have illus­ trated A m erican literature, so as to vindicate the intellectual genius of the fem ale sex from all aspersion, either for inferiority o f talent or for poverty of resources.”

H e was ahead o f his time in advocating exercise, or at least, ahead of the vast m ajority of his contemporaries. H e considered that the girl needed good, honest ro m p in g: long, fa tig u in g w a lk s: violent rid in g on horse­ b ack : oxygen,

oxygen ,

O X Y G E N . S om eth in g to stir her blood and

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strengthen her m uscles, and harden her bones, sh am in g a w ay the pal­ lor of com plexion by the ru d d y ch eek : su p plan tin g the lan gu o r o f w e a k ­ ness by the sturdy erectness of the person; ex ch a n g in g the m in cin g gait for the elastic footstep.

W e h ave too m uch indifference to our dau ghters’ health by our over­ m uch anxiety for their exposure to the air. W e in d u lg e a foolish fashion in k eep in g them delicate, as if the delicacy o f a frail constitution w ere a fem in in e excellence.

These tw o speeches, D r. Sprague’s in 1846 and D r. V in to n ’s in 1854, are im portant and interesting as show ing the ideas current at the time am ong intelligent conservative people, w h o w ere yet far from being moss backs.

T h e new ly finished and dedicated b uilding was m uch praised.

T h e only adverse com m ent the historian has been able to find was in “ School Room Echoes” in 1853, w h ich lam ented that the new building, “ though elegant, w ill be a trifle gloom y,” un­ like the Fem ale A cadem y, w h ich w as fu ll o f w indow s and very

light

E vidently the trustees considered that the fine n ew building

justified an increase of tuition, w h ich w as raised from tw enty dollars per annum to thirty-two in the preparatory grades, from forty dollars to forty-eight in the academic, and from sixty dollars to seventy-two in the collegiate, w ith a corresponding increase in the extras and for the boarders. T h ere w ere no further increases in tuition during this period, but in 1857 the charge for board (w h ich included tuition) was raised from three hundred dollars to three hundred and twenty-five.

T h e im posing building, o f whose beauty and splendid equipm ent all B rooklyn w as so proud, w ould seem sadly lackin g to us in some of the m ore elem entary comforts. Th ere w ere only six toilets for a group of girls and w om en that never num bered less than five hundred, and was generally nearer eight hundred. T h ere w ere tw o

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1861

lon g troughs to w ash in and only tw o tin drin k in g cups on chains and tw o roller towels. M ost o f the girls brought their ow n towels, keeping them in their desks, but some im provident lassies w iped their hands on their lon g w hite petticoats. These inconveniences w ere not remedied until 1883. N o edibles o f any kin d w ere served at the school until in the Seventies. T h e n they w ere o f a nature to m ake the m odern specialist in children’s diet hold up his hands in h orror— candied apples and pop corn, sold by a boy in the m ain h all under the stairs.

N o t only w ere the toilets insufficient and facilities for a hot lunch­ eon non-existent, but the school, like most others of its time, paid but casual attention to exercise. D r. V in to n ’s appeal for “oxygen, oxygen

,

O X Y G E N ” had fallen upon deaf ears. A lth o u gh there

was a cam paign in the daily press, ladies’ m agazines, and medical journals in the Fifties for exercise for girls, and by leading educa­ tors, like M ary L yon and Catherine Beecher (w hose Physiology and Calisthenics w as published in 1856), it seems to have m ade little impression upon parents or schools. T h is disregard for exercise was true o f Packer. In every catalogue from 1854 to ’79, under the heading Recreation, occurs the statement, “ T h e b uilding contains a large room w ith appropriate apparatus for calisthenic exercise.”

T h e girls danced there during recess and m ay have used dum b­ bells or some other such simple apparatus a little, but the fact seems to be that there w as no training in calisthenics in Packer during this period. A s M ary B row n observed in her letter to her father, “ E verything just as it says in the Catalogue, it is not exaggerated like m any others.” T h e catalogues w ere m eticulously honest. A room was provided, but no calisthenics, except fo r the four years from 1864 to ’68, w h en it was listed in the catalogues am ong the extras.

A s tim e w ent on, attention w as paid to the health o f the girls, as w ell as to their intellects and morals, in precautions against fire

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hazard, better toilet accommodations, hygienic drinkin g cups, a hot luncheon, and physical training. Packer was not behind the times in the late Fifties in this respect, but it was not in the vanguard o f the health m ovem ent, as it was in other educational policies.

T h e catalogues of the Fifties, as before, continued to advocate the advantages of the location: It is easy o f access from all parts o f the U n io n ; it participates in all the educational resources of the A m erican m etropolis; w hile, at the same tim e, it is distinguished fo r its quietness, and it is unsurpassed in the beauty and healthfulness o f its situation. Pleasant w alk s and drives are foun d in every direction, w h ile in v igo ra tin g air comes in from the sea to refresh the w eary student.

T h e organization of the school rem ained like that of the B. F. A ., collegiate, academic, and preparatory, and the curriculum changed very little. T h e collegiate students still w ere required to take over tw enty courses, w ith the critical analysis of Paradise Lost* (partly a gram m atical exercise), Paley’s Natural Theology, Butler’s A n a l­ ogy, and H op kins’ Evidences of Christianity emphasized.

Compositions were still required every fortn ight and the best were still read in chapel F riday afternoons. M usic, draw in g and painting, and m odern languages w ere still extras. Em inent citizens still exam ined the young ladies in June and the com m encem ent programs and essays and the examiners’ reports w ere still bound w ith the annual catalogues.

T h e early Packer advertised. In the tenth edition of the Gazeteer of the State of N ew Y or\, published in 1861, w ith fourteen other schools, including the T ro y Fem ale Sem inary, Packer ran an ad­ vertisement. O ne page is taken up w ith a picture of the Joralemon Street front of the b uilding; the other gives the garden front, and in * Paradise Lost w a s a fa v o rite w ith the early schools, p re su m a b ly because o f the religio u s n atu re o f its m aterial. E a rly V assar studen ts w e re req u ired to o w n , w h e n th ey entered co l­ le g e , a co p y o f Paradise Lost an d a w a terp ro o f, as raincoats w e re called in those d ays.

62

1853 - 1 8 6 1 fine print the curriculum and other pertinent inform ation are given, but in capitals

t h e l a b o r a to r y, t h e o b se rvato ry,

and

(containing shells, minerals, etc.). Ross’ c o m p o u n d

t h e c a b in e t s

m ic r o s c o p e ,

and

the telescope are especially m entioned. E vidently they were unusual pieces o f equipm ent.

T h e trustees, presidents, and alum nae of the early Packer, and the B rooklyn newspapers thought Packer one of the best schools in the country. T h e educational ideals as stated in the catalogues w ere certainly fine ones: T h e go vern m en t o f the Institution is stricd y o f a m ild and parental character, entrusted m ain ly to the discretion of the P rin cipal, Professors and T eachers, w h o adm inister it w ith m ildness and efficiency, eq u ally re­ m oved fro m w eakness on the one hand, and austerity and rashness on the other.

T h e great aim w ill be to develop the m en tal and m oral pow ers o f the pupil, to educate the m in d to habits o f th in k in g w ith clearness and force; and to discipline the heart to yield to the dictates o f reason and conscience . . . and to com bine the advantages o f a private school w ith one of a m ore public character.

These w ere also Mrs. Packer’s educational ideals, as w e learn from a speech o f Mrs. H elen H iscock Backus, the w ife o f D r. C rit­ tenden’s successor: M rs. P ack er’s ideals for the Institute w ere m anifestly shaped b y those o f the N e w E n g la n d public school in its best e sta te .. . . She had the true A m erican faith in eq uality o f m en tal opportun ity, in the w holesom e fric ­ tion betw een rich and poor, am o n g diverse types o f cu ltu re and character.

A ll the circum stances o f her o w n life had tended to entrench her am on g aristocratic connections and in conven tion al prejudices. T h e y broadened her m ental outlook instead o f restrictin g it. She never relinqu ished her first, best idea o f an intellectual dem ocracy, w h ere the petted children of w ealth m ig h t learn the virtues o f self-control and reasonable discipline, w h ile the talents o f the less favored b y fortun e m ig h t w in them advance­

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The Phoenix

[She never lost] her o w n faith in the superiority

of the large, w ell-equipped, w ell-graded school, w ith its stable and com ­ prehensive cu rricu lu m .17

Ideals and statements in the catalogues and in speeches, how ever, are often sadly remote from actual achievement. T h e conviction as to the excellence of Packer on the part of the B rooklyn news­ papers, of the trustees, and of others closely connected w ith the school m igh t be considered partial, w ere it not for confirm ation in the reports o f the examiners. N one of them w as connected w ith Packer, and some of them, com ing from other cities, could not have been influenced by local pride.

L et us look at these reports. T h e y rem ark on “ the pleasant and friendly relations w hich exist between the pupils and their teacher” (i8 6 0 ); and on the fact that the algebra teacher “ made them love, if possible, a study w hich neither invokes observation, experim ent, or analogy, and the m erit o f w h ich consists exclusively in the dis­ cipline w hich it preem inently affords,” on “ the respect and affection existing between students and teachers, an affection and respect w hich pervades the Institute w ith the happiness o f hom e” (18 57); and on the fact that “ the teachers have m anifestly made the business of teaching a pleasure, and they have been rewarded by an answer­ in g enthusiasm on the part of the scholars” (1858).

T h e reports also testify that the ideals o f Mrs. Packer and the aims o f the Institute, as announced in the catalogues— to teach the girls to think for themselves— had been achieved. T h e y speak o f the composure of both girls and teachers under exam ination ( ’5 7), and o f the students’ independence in th in k in g : T h e C om m ittee take pleasure in testifyin g that independence of th o u gh t had been encouraged in the class, that the subjects treated o f had been them es o f personal thou gh t, q u icken ed b y the contact o f m in d w ith m in d in the class, and o f the class w ith the teacher. W e can h ard ly ex­

64

i8$z - 1 8 6 1 press in too strong term s our sense o f the valu e o f this system o f teaching; it is som ething m ore than instruction; it is education ( ’58).

Several of the reports compare the Packer girls w ith students in schools for boys. T h e committee on compositions w rite that the girls “ w ould brilliantly dispute the palm w ith any school for young m en of the same age w ithin their kn o w led ge” ( ’58), and “ T h e w riter o f this must acknow ledge that these girls excelled any class of college boys he ever k n e w ” ( ’6 1).

O ne is inclined to trust these reports the m ore in that they did not consist entirely of praise. T h e examiners of the preparatory depart­ m ent in ’57 approved o f only the lowest class, composed of girls aged seven, stating that “ the four other divisions o f the preparatory de­ partm ent and the three divisions into w h ich the second academic department is divided, exem plify to a certain extent, the fashion of k n o w in g a little of everything w ithout being w ell acquainted w ith anything”— and in ’61: “ Th ere is a tendency to give too m any branches of study at once” — a com m on fault in the girls’ schools of this time. In general, how ever, the reports com m end the thor­ oughness o f the training.

T h e examiners were still dissatisfied w ith composition. T h ey rem arked on “ an excess of ornam ent” (1854) and an “unnecessary diffuseness of style” (18 6 1). “ T h e leading fault of the pieces, from w hich but few of them are exem pt,” reads the report o f 1858, “ is the verbiage. T o o m any words are em ployed in the expression o f a thought; and the words are often too ambitious and glittering.”

T h e examiners frequently w rote lon g disquisitions on education, culture, sentiment, and m orality, sometimes in the same soaring style w hich they criticized in the essays of the students. N o w and then a report was w ritten obviously by a m an or a group whose ideas of education w ere anything but liberal, but on the w hole they give evidence o f forceful, vigorous, sensible, and liberal minds.

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T h e examiners wrote as if they had thoroughly enjoyed the experi­ ence, and the report o f 1861 soared to great heights of enthusiasm: “ I regard the Packer Institute as one o f the chief ornaments of our city, and the source of untold blessings to the rising generation.”

O f sixty-nine signatures to the reports o f the examiners from 1854 to ’61, only three are repeated. T h u s w e have the opinion of over sixty-six em inent m en, for usually not all o f the comm ittee signed the reports.

T h ere can be no doubt that the Packer o f 1854 to ’6 i w as very m uch alive, and that it had an excellent staff. M any o f the teachers stayed on for years, but there w ere enough changes to necessitate a careful supervision and a strong u n ifyin g element, w h ich D r.

Crittenden and the trustees supplied. Packer, like most institutions o f its kind, had able and em inent m en on its board o f trustees. D u r­ in g most of this period, the president o f the board was M r. A . A .

L o w , to whose interest and intelligence was due m uch o f the pros­ perity and excellence o f Packer.

T h e success o f an institution like Packer is due not only to the board o f trustees and to the president o f the school, but to the m any teachers w h o helped to m ake the school policy and w ere the instru­ ments of the actual achievement. But it is the fe w w ho come dow n in history, and it is always the fate o f the m any to die unsung. It w ould be interesting to kn o w about all o f those teachers of Packer in the Fifties, w h o w on the affection and respect o f their students, w h o trained their classes so thoroughly and so intelligently, but of most o f them nothing is now kn o w n except their names in the catalogues. In a brief history, space can be spared to notice only those o f the six hundred and thirty-one teachers em ployed by the school in a century w ho are generally considered outstanding either personally or professionally, and about w hom some inform ation can be gathered. Since the Institute has alw ays been noted fo r the ability of the faculty, some teachers w h o m ight have been outstand-

66

A. A. LOW

1858-1893

PRESIDENTS OK THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES, 1 8 45â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 1 893

JO SH U A M . VAN COTT

1 8 9 3 -1 8 9 6

B R Y A N H . S M IT H

I 8 9 6 -19 11

FR A N K L. BABBOTT

L E W IS W . F R A N C IS

19 1 1 -1 9 3 3

Sin ce 1933

PRESIDENTS OF TH E BOARD OF TRUSTEES SINCE 1893

1853 - 1 8 6 1 in g in a school w here the average teacher was less able, do not stand out in Packer.

W ith out question, the outstanding teacher on the staff w as D r.

Crittenden’s assistant and close friend, the professor o f mathem atics and natural science, D arw in G . Eaton, “ a sm iling, handsom e deity w ith a heavy b e a r d ,P r o fe s s o r Sunshine, as he w as affectionately nicknam ed by the girls. Probably no teacher in the w hole history of the school w as more beloved. Possessed of a sweet and kin d ly nature, strong and m anly, he had great influence w ith the girls. “ O ne w ord from Professor Sunshine had m ore w eig h t w ith the girls than one hundred from D r. Crittenden.” 1* H e w as o f an even, sunny tem peram ent, as his nicknam e shows, an interesting teacher, quick and w itty of speech. H e hailed a broken test tube in the labora­ tory w ith, “ Blessed be the piece m akers!” D r. H en ry V a n D yk e gives an instance o f his ready w it in an encounter one evening in the observatory w ith a crazy m an w h o had w andered in unnoticed and w h o had a theory that by w ill pow er the principles of nature could be defeated. H e w as about to jum p from the tow er to prove it and insisted that Professor Eaton jum p w ith him . W h en Professor Eaton had vainly tried to shake off his grasp (fo r the m an was strong w ith the strength maniacs sometimes h ave), he coolly sug­ gested that control over the principle of gravity w ould be better show n if they w alked dow n and jum ped up. T h is idea caught the m an’s fancy, and he m eekly w alked dow n to the street.* Professor Eaton took his astronomy class to look through the * T h is an ecd ote w a s th e basis fo r a sh ort story b y D r . V a n D y k e , e n title d T h e Sweet Influence o f the Pleiades. T h e h ero, P ro fessor W h e a to n , is a co m b in a tio n o f D r . C ritte n d e n an d P ro fessor E a to n , lo o k in g lik e L in c o ln (D r . C ritten d en in p rofile fa in tly resem bled L in ­ co ln , w h ile P rofessor E a to n 's ro u n d ch e erfu l face, h ig h b ald fo re h ead , an d stra g g lin g beard w e re e n tire ly u n lik e th e grea t p resid en t) b u t lik e P ro fessor E a to n in his calm n ess an d his reveren ce fo r th e stars, and lik e th em b o th in his q u ic k -w itted n ess. D r . V a n D y k e in trod u ces a s h a d o w y lo v e sto ry in th e fo rm o f a n a d o rin g m a id e n w h o se o vertu res are refu sed by Professor W h e ato n a lth o u g h w ith sen tim en tal relu cta n ce, a to u ch o f fa n c y w h ic h w o u ld p ro b ab ly m a k e both D r. C ritte n d en an d P ro fessor E a to n tu rn o ver in th eir g ra v e s, i f th e y co u ld k n o w it.

67

Packer

—

The Phoenix

great telescope at Colum bia, whose observatory was then on Second A venue, and also conducted a class of forty to see the equestrian statue o f G eorge W ashington, now in U nion Square, ferried across the river from the studio of the sculptor, H . K . Brow n, in Brooklyn, and on m any other expeditions w hich combined science w ith pleas­ ure.

O d d ly enough, navigation was included in courses for girls by the early seminaries, and so thorough was Professor Eaton’s training that one o f his students later navigated for her husband w hen he was ill.

Professor Eaton had a beautiful speaking voice, and the girls enjoyed his conducting of chapel m ore than D r. Crittenden’s. In­ deed, there is no question that he was m uch m ore popular w ith the students than D r. Crittenden, partly, perhaps, because of his tender­ heartedness, w hich w ould not perm it him to be severe, w hile D r.

Crittenden, in spite of the statement in the catalogues about the mildness o f governm ent, was decidedly severe in his discipline. In view of this fact, their close friendship is a testimony to D r. C ritten­ den’s m agnanim ity. A lesser m an w ould have been jealous. T h eir qualities supplemented each other, and together they m ade the school w hat it was.

So h igh ly was Professor Eaton considered by the trustees that after D r. Crittenden’s death, they offered him the presidency, w hich he accepted, although he was ill and absent at the time. H ow ever, he never acted as president, for shortly, becom ing convinced that he w ould not regain his health, he resigned not only as president but as teacher of science and mathematics.

Professor Eaton and his w ife presided over the Boarding House from 1854 to 1869 w ith the assistance o f Miss Elizabeth Smith.

T h is house, saved from the flames w hich consumed the B .F .A ., con­ tinued to be operated by the school until 1894. T h ere are no statistics as to h ow m any girls lived there, but the catalogues give the ad­

68

1853 - 1 8 6 1 dresses o f girls w h o came from a distance and had to board some­ where. Besides these girls, m any o f the students fro m L o n g Island had to board in Brooklyn, because o f lack o f com m uting facilities in the Fifties. T h e num ber of girls from places other than B rooklyn and L o n g Island varied during this period from eighty-tw o to sixtynine, the m ajority com ing from N e w Y o rk State, N e w E ngland, Pennsylvania, and N e w Jersey, w ith from fifteen to twenty-five divided about equally between the M iddle W est and the South, and from one to five from foreign countries, usually the daughters of missionaries. These girls w ere m ostly in the collegiate school and the upper grades o f the academic. T h e students from abroad w ere never more than ten or tw elve per cent o f the total registration, w hich averaged six hundred and seventy durin g this period, vary­ in g from six hundred and tw o to seven hundred and twenty-four.

T h e trustees w ere proud of the building, the staff, and the stu­ dents, although the students w ere sometimes a cause for sorrow as w ell as pride to the board. In N ovem ber, 1859, the board entered in the Minutes a resolution that it had “ learned w ith regret that m any scholars are tardy in their attendance at the m orning exer­ cises in the chapel,” and they requested D r. Crittenden “ to read this resolution before the assembled school.” Perhaps m ore effect was produced by D r. C rittenden’s m ak in g the tardy ones stand out­ side the chapel door until the exercises w ere over, there to be view ed by the em erging procession of the righteously punctual.

H ow ever, in spite of such m inor worries, school life w ent on serenely these seven years. T h ere w ere m uch study and some parties in the library, such as that given by the class o f ’58, called Brief Visits w ith Authors, each m em ber in a black dom ino representing an author and quoting from his w orks, w hile her classmates gave a preview o f “ Inform ation Please” by tryin g to identify the quota­ tions. Some pageants and plays were perform ed by the girls du rin g the school year and at class day.

69

Packer — The Phoenix Packer comm encem ents w ere always gala occasions, attended by the “ elite of B rooklyn,” according to “ T h e E agle.” T h e class o f ’54 was the last to graduate from the B. F. A ., and the class of ’55 the first to receive their diplom as from Packer. T h e y w ore “ w hite muslin frocks, w ith high necks and large round collars, lon g sleeves closed at the wrist, and trim m ed w ith dainty sm ockings,” 20and short twobutton gloves. T h is com m encem ent w as a h igh ly rom antic occa­ sion, for one of the graduates was m arried im m ediately after the exercises, the class goin g across the grounds to the Boarding House, w h ich Professor Eaton had offered for the w edding. T h e cerem ony w as perform ed by the fam ous B rooklyn clergym an, H enry W ard Beecher, and the tw enty classmates of the bride stood up w ith her as bridesmaids.

F or h alf a year, Decem ber, ’60, to M ay, ’61, the Packer col­ legians got out a m agazine, called “ T h e N eophyte.” “ School Room Echoes” ( ’49-53) did not outlive the B .F .A . and “ T h e M es­ senger Bird” ( ’49-50) lived but one short year.* “ T h e N eop h yte” gives even less idea o f school life than did “ School Room Echoes.”

T h e first num ber announced that the “ m agazine w ill be conducted by a comm ittee o f young ladies chosen every three m onths from the Collegiate D epartm ent under the advice and supervision of the Teacher of Com position,” and that it “ does not promise to present the ripened fruits o f mature and disciplined intellects. It is am ong the earliest efforts o f m inds just entered upon a course o f develop­ ment and culture, w hich m ay render them capable of better things hereafter.” O ne suspects that the teacher of composition had got in her deadly w o rk even before the take-off.

Some o f the articles show considerable erudition, and the w ritin g is more m odern than that o f “ T h e Messenger Bird,” but it has all the faults noted by the examiners in the class room compositions. * “ T h e P a ck er G a z e tte ” fo llo w e d “ T h e M essen ger B ird ” a cco rd in g to an article in “ T h e E a g le

,”21b u t n o co p y and

no in fo rm atio n ab ou t it h av e been d iscovered .

70

1853 - 1 8 6 1 A n excellent school for girls was still a sufficient rarity to be an object o f great interest to visitors, and m any celebrities visited Packer to see the “ earliest efforts of m inds just entered upon a course of developm ent and culture.” School began at a quarter to nine and m any distinguished m en arrived in tim e to address the girls in chapel, or to be addressed by them, such as D r. T alm age, D r. }ohn C hadw ick, D r. Storrs, E dw ard Everett H ale, D r. S. Ireriaeus Prim e, Thackeray, Paul du C haillu, the F rench explorer, w h o com pli­ m ented the girls on the purity o f their French accent, and W illia m C ullen Bryant, w h o talked, not on poetry, but on the N e w Y o rk Fire D epartm ent. T h e school m ade addresses o f w elcom e and sang to entertain their distinguished guests and to receive back wanderers from their ow n fold. T o celebrate the return o f D r. Crittenden and Professor Eaton from trips abroad they sang, “ H om e again from a foreign shore,” and “ H om e, Sw eet H om e.” F or the distinguished foreigners they sang, or tried to sing, the national anthem of the guests. N o t kn o w in g the w ords of “ G o d Save the K in g ,” they w el­ comed the D ean of Chester w ith the A m erican version, w h ich they told h im they thought just as good. T h e y did not attem pt the Japanese national anthem for the Japanese embassy, substituting an A m erican patriotic song. Perhaps it w ould have been just as w ell had they follow ed this procedure w hen the officers in the suite o f the G rand D u k e A lexis came, for w ith the best intentions they sang as the Russian national anthem w h at turned out to be a Russian funeral hym n.

Indeed, the school flourished as if the conflagration had never occurred. A n x iety about a repetition o f the disaster was considerably lessened by the introduction o f city w ater into B rooklyn in 1858.

T h e trustees prom ptly connected the Institute w ith the w ater sys­ tem and in 1859 installed a fountain in the garden w h ich rem ained there for over fifty years, though in its later years it played only on gala occasions because o f the cost of water.

71

Packer

—

The Phoenix

Early B rooklyn seems to have been gayer than the m odern city, and city events, such as the opening of the city w ater works, were celebrated w ith gusto by the w hole population.

By 1861 the Phoenix had fu lly developed in its new nest. T h e school w as prosperous and respected. B rooklyn was prosperous and self-respecting, and rapidly developing— an individual city, though in the eyes of the nation at large, and particularly in the eyes of N e w Y o rk , it was regarded as a suburb o f the larger, m ore assertive city. T h e Packer Collegiate Institute was typical of B rooklyn in m any ways. B rooklyn was a serious city, though w ith a considerable capacity for gaiety on grand occasions. In the Packer of the Fifties there w ere laughter and comradeship and parties, but it was a more serious school than any school o f its type in 1945. Mrs. Zabriskie stressed this quality: Stud y and education w ere very serious m atters to the girls o f the sixties, and there w as very little m ix in g of the frivolities even as far as the late seventies, and . . . there w as then apparently m ore reverence for people and subjects o f an intellectual superiority.22

But the sunny skies o f Packer and B rooklyn w ere rapidly becom ­ in g overcast by ominous clouds in 1861. For the next four years there w ere m any parades and ceremonies at C ity H all, far different from the celebration over the city w ater w orks. T h e C ivil W a r ushered in a new period for Packer, as w ell as for the U nited States, and the Institute of the later Sixties, Seventies, and Eighties, though out­ w ard ly m uch the same as that of the Forties and Fifties, was yet a subtly different school.

I2

V The Civil War and After 1861-1883 u r in g

D

the C ivil W ar, Packer reproduced in its ow n small com ­

m unity the conditions in the city. L ik e the city, it suffered

financially, and like the city, it later recuperated. L ik e the w om en

of the city, the girls scraped lint, prepared com fort bags for the soldiers, knitted (they w ere even allow ed to kn it in class), and gave entertainments to raise m oney for the benefit o f sufferers on both sides. A s in homes and other institutions, red, w hite, and blue dec­ 75

The Civil War and A fte r orations w ere displayed at the Institute, and the w indow s w ere il­ lum inated at n igh t on occasions of celebration. L ik e the city, the school m ourned L in coln ’s death, being dismissed, w hen the news o f the assassination came, until after the public funeral.

T h a t the w ar was reflected in the class room as w ell as in extra­ curricular activities is evident from some of the titles of composi­ tions— “ A V isit to C o lt’s A rm o ry,” “ M y Brother’s Departure for the W ar,” “ T h e Soldier’s D ream ,” “ Tri-colors,” “Patriotism ,” “ Free­ dom and its D uties.” N athaniel W est, in his report on compositions in the circular of 1861, testifies in perfervid prose to the interest o f the girls in the C ivil W ar.

E ven the troubles between N orthern and Southern sympathizers, characteristic o f the city, found their counterpart in Packer. There had been considerable sym pathy w ith the South both in B rooklyn and N e w Y o r k before w ar broke out, probably m ore for the South than for the N orth. In Packer the ten or tw elve Southern girls and other students favorably disposed tow ard the South donned palm ­ etto badges, w hile adherents o f the N orth w ore badges of red, w hite, and blue. F eelin g rose to such heights that D r. Crittenden forbade the w earing o f all badges. T h is edict, getting abroad, aroused the w rath of. a jingoistic m ob o f youn g m en w h o w ere m ak in g the rounds of the city on the nigh t o f A p ril 15,18 61, w hen the news of the surrender o f Fort Sumter was received, insisting that the flag be displayed. T h e y proceeded to Packer, w here the flag w as not fly­ ing, and made an u gly demonstration.1 A ccord in g to M r. B ellam y’s account, D r. Crittenden w as aw ay and the janitor could not find the school flag. M r. Bellam y and young M r. Packer, at M rs. Packer’s suggestion, got her flag, clim bed over the fence into the garden, and ran the flag out the second-storey w in dow , probably to the great excitem ent o f the girls in the Boarding House next door. T h e mob dispersed peaceably.

D r. Crittenden w as accused of being a Copperhead, as Southern

74

M RS. PACKER IN

LATER YEARS

TH E CLASS OF 1 8 75

1861 - 1 8 8 3 sym pathizers w ere called. A cco rd in g to his biographer, Miss W in s­ low , he w as a dem ocrat and believed in states’ rights and, although he considered slavery w rong, he thought it a m atter to be settled by each state for itself. But once w ar had been declared, he was loyal to the U nion and encouraged the school in all its manifesta­ tions o f loyalty. H is son w as in the N orthern A rm y , apparently w ith the approval o f his father. H ow ever, the undeserved aspersion upon his loyalty did some harm tem porarily to the reputation o f the school.

Sym pathy w ith the South practically disappeared— or at any rate the expression of such sym pathy— in both B rooklyn and Packer after the country w as actually at w ar. N ear C ity H all and only a short distance from the docks, Packer w as in the center o f the excite­ m ent o f the city. G irls strolling on the H eights could see the w ounded carried on stretchers along F urm an Street to the hospitals.

From the class rooms and the Boarding H ouse could be heard the roll of drum s beating all day lon g before the recruiting tents in C ity H all Park, the m usic o f bands escorting volunteer regim ents to the docks, the sound o f parades along F ulton Street w elcom in g returning regim ents, and the cheering at receptions to popular heroes.

T h e great event in B rooklyn du rin g the C ivil W a r seems to have been the Sanitary Fair, given by the W a r F un d Com m ittee of Brooklyn and K in g s C ounty and the B rooklyn A u xiliary o f the U nited States Sanitary Com m ission, w ith the cooperation o f all the churches.

T h e fair w as held from February 28 to M arch 8, 1864, in the A cad em y of M usic, then on M ontague Street, in the T a y lo r M an­ sion, and in tw o tem porary structures erected for the purpose, one on a lot lent by M r. L o w , and the other on a lot lent by M rs. Packer. $402,943.74 w as raised, $300,000 of w h ich w as given to the U nited States Sanitary Comm ission. T h e balance was expended for supplies 75

The Civil War and A fte r for the service through the agency o f the W o m en ’s R elief Associa­ tion of Brooklyn. Besides the m oney made at the fair itself, there w ere m any donations, and an interesting old volum e called T h e Tribute Bo o f , A Record o f the M unificence, Self-Sacrifice, and Patriotism of the Am erican People during the War for th e Union, published in 1865, lists all these gifts in the order of their size. T h e fifth in the list was that of A . A . L o w ($2,500) and the thirty-sixth that of the senior class at Packer ($941.88, raised by givin g enter­ tainm ents). T h e Packer seniors did better by the U nion, according to T h e Tribute B oo\, than P. T . Barnum , g iv in g $200, and the B rooklyn H eights Sem inary, g iv in g $140, together.

A pparently the w hole city cooperated heartily in preparing for, attending, and being proud of the great fair. T h e Packer table w as a prom inent feature and added several thousand dollars to the gener­ al fund, teachers and older students being spared from their daily duties to take charge o f the sales.

N ot only w as the Sanitary Fair im portant as a financial success, as a manifestation of patriotism, and as a generally joyous occasion, but “ it was the first great act of self-assertion ever made by the city o f B rooklyn,” according to the B rooklyn historian, H enry Reed Stiles.2 T h e original plan had been for N e w Y o rk and B rooklyn to give a fair together, beginning February 22nd. N e w Y o rk postponed the date to M arch, after preparations had begun, and Brooklyn decided to go ahead and give a fair all by itself. D r. Bellows, presi­ dent of the U nited States Sanitary Com m ission, in accepting the m oney raised at the B rooklyn fair said: B roo klyn , by the on ly th o rou gh ly approvable k in d of secession, has henceforth declared her independence o f N e w Y o rk . She has indicated her righ t and pow er to lead, and w e shall n o longer hear her spoken o f as an appendix to the m etropolis. She is at least entitled to be the second vol­ um e of that great w o rk, the C om m ercial C ap ital, o f w h ich N e w Y o r k is the first.8

76

/ 5*6 1 - i 8 83 Stiles goes on to list the merits o f B rooklyn— its population of 300,000 m akin g it the third largest city in the country, the beauty o f its location, its churches and “ an unusually gifted body of clergy­ m en,” its m any citizens of intelligence, w ealth, and consequence, its public school system “ then one o f the best in the country,” its great charitable institutions, excellent lecture courses, a good or­ chestra, the A cad em y of M usic “ a center of culture,” the M ercantile L ibrary (n o w the M ontague Branch o f the Public L ib rary), the L o n g Island H istorical Society (organized in February, 1863), and the beginning of its career as a consolidated city. H ow ever, w ith all these advantages, Stiles laments, B rooklyn had hitherto been “ but a suburb, over-shadowed by her m igh ty neighbor.” H e con­ tinues, “ But in, and by the Fair, B rooklyn stood forever apart from N e w Y o rk .” 4H e evidently considered this the beginning o f B rook­ lyn ’s em ergence from the shadow o f M anhattan and believed that she w ould become more and m ore independent and pow erful in her ow n righ t as time w ent on.

But alas for the schemes of m ice and m en, particularly of m e n !

Stiles, w ritin g in 1869, could not foresee that B rooklyn, instead of g ro w in g m ore independent of N e w Y o rk , in less than three decades w ould become a borough of the great city— could not im agine that, w ith the building of bridges and subways, B rooklyn w ould be m erged w ith N e w Y o rk culturally, as w ell as politically and eco­ nom ically.

Since it has become a borough o f N e w Y o rk , and since four sub­ w ays and three bridges have connected it w ith M anhattan, the city has lost in large measure its individuality. But the B rooklyn w hich is not N e w Y o rk still exists and is m anifest especially in some o f the older institutions. O ne o f the most charm ing things about Packer is the fact that, w hile it has kept abreast o f the times, it still has at its very core m any o f the delightful characteristics of old Brooklyn.

T h e eighteen years (1865-1883) after the C iv il W ar, the last 77

The Civil War and A fte r h alf of D r. Crittenden’s administration, w ere years of great changes in B rooklyn and in the country at large. T h e U nited States, after its recovery from the w ar, w as becom ing every day m ore prosperous, except for the very brief business panic of 1873, and m ore and m ore materialistic.

By 1883 B rooklyn had a population of over h alf a m illion, and the agitation for consolidation w ith N e w Y o r k had begun. L ife no longer centered near the ferry terminals. T h e shops, all below Borough H all in the Seventies, began to m ove east along Fulton Street. In 1877 w o rk w as begun on the B rooklyn elevated (m ark in g the beginning o f the end of a quiet location for P ack er), and the first telephone line in the city (and one o f the first in the state) was strung along the unfinished bridge.

O ther schools w ere being established in B rooklyn and the city had a rather rich cultural life of its ow n. T h e A cadem y o f M usic on M ontague Street, opened in 1861, provided an auditorium for m any concerts and lectures, and some perform ances of opera and plays. In this building from 1861 to 1895 “ all the greatest actors and singers o f the w orld . . . have a p p eared .. . . T h is is som ething that cannot be said of any other theatre in A m erica.” 5 B rooklyn w as noted for its m any fine musical organizations and amateur dramatic socie­ ties, although its puritanism in the early days prevented the devel­ opm ent o f the professional theatre to any extent until the Nineties.

A t the Institute o f A rts and Sciences m any em inent m en appeared, am ong them A gassiz, Charles Richard D ana, Charles Sum ner, W il­ liam L loyd Garrison, Ralph W ald o Emerson, E dw ard Everett, G eorge W illia m Curtis, Freem an, the historian, T yn d all, the E nglish physicist, Thom as H ughes, author o f T om Brown at Rugby, H am ­ lin, president o f Roberts C ollege in Constantinople, and President Hayes. Packer girls did not need to go to the Institute o f A rts and Sciences to hear all o f them, for m any cam e to the school to speak.

T h ere w ere other pleasures less intellectual than lectures and 7*

i 8 6 i - 1883 music. Barnum ’s circus, the first o f the great dem ocratic entertain­ ments w hich A m erica has produced, gave perform ances in B rook­ lyn, and by 1872 the circus parade, preceding the afternoon perform ­ ance, m ade life bright for the children and m any adults. W hether Packer, like the public schools, opened late on the day o f the circus parade has not come dow n in history. It w ould be unlike D r. C rit­ tenden to give a part holiday for so frivolous a reason.

In 1875 Packer girls must have been am ong the imm ense audi­ ences o f the M oody and Sankey services, held in an enormous skating rin k on Clerm ont A venue. Th ere w ere also em otional ex­ periences open to the girls of this period besides the M oody and Sankey services, for B rooklyn had, am ong m any fine and restrained preachers like D r. Storrs and D r. L ym an , tw o w ho w ere noted for their h igh ly emotional sermons and crow d-gathering abilities, H enry W ard Beecher and T . D e W itt T alm age.

In spite of its size and m any urban characteristics, B rooklyn was still in the Eighties a simple city. M any people ow ned their ow n homes, surrounded by lawns and gardens on shady streets, and as the m en started to w o rk in the m orning, the salutation, “ Good m orning, neighbor,” w as frequently heard. Y o u n g people sat on the front stoops on sum m er evenings and sang, and groups on other stoops w ould join in. In the Eastern D istrict (a region of real dis­ tinction then) Packer girls joined w ith others in the Sunday after­ noon parades along Bedford A ven ue after the Sunday Schools w ere out at four o’clock, w hile most of the people w h o did not parade looked out of their front w indow s.

For about ten years after the C iv il W ar, the school continued to flourish w ith a registration varying from seven hundred and fifty to eight hundred and thirteen, the largest registration being be­ tw een 1869 and 1872. Th ere w ere not so m any girls from other states— an average of fifty— but that was the natural result of the establishment of other good schools and of w om en’s colleges. Vas-

19

The Civil War and A fte r sar, Smith, and W ellesley all opened in the Sixties and Seventies.

T h e w o rk at Packer continued to be unusually good.

Th ere w ere some changes in the curriculum . In 1867 calisthenics o f a very rudim entary sort was required in the preparatory depart­ ment, although not in the academic or collegiate schools; a third class, called sub-senior, purely optional, was put into the collegiate school, and L atin w as required in all collegiate classes. T h ere were some changes in textbooks, m ore m odern ones probably being sub­ stituted for old ones. In 1871 several new classes in science w ere added and a course parallel to that hitherto required was provided “for the sake of those students w h o desire to study the languages, ancient and m odern.” 8French and G erm an could be substituted for mathematics at the close of the second term of the junior year.

French was taught by a regular instructor em ployed by the school, and the oral m ethod of teaching used, though D r. Crittenden en­ countered opposition to this innovation on the part of some o f the trustees. These changes w ere a slight concession to the tendency of the times to teach m ore language and history and less mathematics and religion.

T h ere are some hints of enlarged interests in the class room in some o f the compositions, w hich w ere less vague and effusive than in the Forties and Fifties. “ A Plea for Sh ylock” ( ’67) showed a realization of the effects of racial prejudice, and there w ere some essays on contem porary subjects such as “ Carlotta,” w ife o f the A rch d u ke M axim ilian ( ’68), “ Q ueen V ictoria” ( ’68), “ O n Fem ale Education” ( ’69), and “ T h e N ew spaper” ( ’7 1 ) ; there w ere also some on contem porary writers, on places in A m erica, and on per­ sonal experiences, and a few on econom ic subjects such as “ Capital and Interest” ( ’76) and “ Resum ption of Specie Paym ent” ( ’70).

T h e school, like the w hole country, began to be conscious of sani­ tation, particularly of fire hazard. In December, 1876, the trustees directed that all doors open outward. T h is was the first o f a long

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i S 6 i - 1883 series o f such steps— the insulation of heating apparatus from the w oodw ork, the rem oval of inflam m able trash from basement and attic, fire drills, the installation of fire escapes (this in the summer o f 1898), fire doors, panic bolts and a sprinkler system, and last, en­ closed elevator and center stairs in the sum mer of 1940.

Some food was procurable at the school in the Seventies, at first only “ pop corn, salted or otherwise. . . . Later apples, w ell shined, appeared. T h e last innovation w as large ham sandw iches— very tough, m ade by the w ife of Frank, the janitor. It took nearly the w hole hour of recess to masticate these delicacies w ith plenty of w ater from the only w ashroom in the building.” 7 T w o o f the ablest m agazines ever issued by Packer were published durin g this period. “ T h e Phoenix,” an undergraduate m agazine, ran from 1867 to ’68, so called, not because Packer rose literally from the ashes o f the B .F . A ., but because “ T h e P hoenix” rose figuratively from the ashes of “ T h e N eophyte” (1860 -61). T h e second o f these Packer periodicals, “ T h e Packer Q uarterly,” was published also by undergraduates from 1868 to 1890. “ T h e Phoenix” did not give m uch inform ation about school life, but it did com m ent rather interestingly on current events. O ne of the contributors w ent to hear D ickens read in the spring o f 1867 and was m uch disappointed in his appearance. H e was, she w rote, not the fine-lookin g elderly gentlem an , b u t the k in d o f person that is com m on ly called a — no, w e cannot b rin g ourselves to w rite the w o rd — a m an bedecked in diam ond rings, g o ld chains and flow ers, lo w w aist­ coat, dress coat, and a m ost expansive sh ow o f w h ite em broidered linen.

O h ! h o w m y idol has fallen.

She was not, how ever, disappointed in his reading. H e read A Christmas Carol and the trial scene from P ic\w ic\. H e could perfectly personate the varied characters. I k n o w that our finest elocu­ tionists, or rather . . . those w h o k n o w very little about the art, say that he

81

The Civil War and A f t e r pays not the slightest attention to the rules for go od readin g, b u t I say, teach m e to read as he does, or not at all.

She adds that “ a neighboring city” w as disappointed in D ickens, but that B rooklyn was delighted. A nother contributor, how ever, did not like the reading o f the “foppish m an,” and thought he w ould have read better had he follow ed the A m erican elocutionary rules.8 T h a t “ T h e Q uarterly,” m uch m ore inform ative than “ T h e Phoe­ nix,” inspired respect can be seen from the impressive list of its exchanges— “ T h e A tlan tic M onthly,” “ T h e A m erican Journal of Education,” “ T h e L iv in g A g e ,” “ Lippincott’s M agazine,” “ H ar­ per’s M agazine,” and “ Scribner’s,” and m any college m agazines, am ong them those o f C ornell, D artm outh, H arvard, Oberlin, the U niversity o f K entu cky, Vassar, W illiam s, and Yale.

T h e m agazine gave considerable inform ation on both events in the city and in the school, such as obituaries of people connected w ith the Institute, the grand illum ination o f A . T . Stew art’s store (n o w W an am aker’s) w ith gaslight, and the display of goods by m annequins, at w hich there was a crow d of ten thousand people.0It described the annual reception of the art departm ent o f Packer in the library, show ing copies of paintings, draw ings of casts, and studies from nature done by the students, to w h ich “ crowds came,” and a concert by Christine Nilsson, the Swedish singer, on N ovem ­ ber 4,1870, at the A cad em y o f M usic. “ T h e first point of interest to the reader,” the article said, “ is, o f course, her dress,” and w ent on, after describing it, to criticize the singer for “ so leisurely surveying the house.” 10 T h e m agazine noted that the class o f ’71 celebrated Founder’s D ay for the first time on A p ril 26, 1871, although F oun­ der’s D ay as an annual event dates from N ovem ber, 1911, and it is hard to see w h y the m onth of A p ril was chosen. T h e unveiling, in 1871, o f the enormous statue of D r. Bethune, w h ich dom inated the m ain hall until 1894 (replaced later by an aquarium ) was reported.”

A detailed account in “ T h e Q uarterly” o f the trial by the Presby­

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i86i -1883 tery o f one o f its ministers, because he invited Sarah Sm iley to ad­ dress his congregation on Sunday evening, is illum inatin g as to the popular opposition to w om en’s entering the pulpit. O ne w riter said, “ A w om an should attend to her household affairs first, and m ake hom e pleasant and attractive; if this is done as it should be, there w ill be no time left for w ritin g a sermon.” O ther w riters disagreed, accusing m en of fearing competition.12 T h e expressions of opinion are very lively and exceedingly w e ll w ritten, w ith no trace o f the com m encem ent essay style.

There is an am using account o f a false alarm o f fire at the Packer Boarding House, w ith an inform al picture o f D r. Crittenden and Professor Eaton: T h e n th rough the dim lig h t m ig h t be seen Professor E aton flyin g u p­ stairs, seven steps at a tim e, w ith a b u ck et o f w ater in one hand and brand ishin g a tin dipper fran tically in the other; close on his heels cam e D r. C ritten den, w ild ly clu tch in g at the pail, and sayin g, “ G o to your rooms, y o u n g ladies, g o to you r room s; there is not the slightest dan ger.” 13

A star-gazing trip to the Institute observatory is graphically described: O n ly those w h o have participated in it can appreciate the gh ostly ram ­ b lin g from the first floor to the sixth, the w eird statues stan din g ou t h a lf­ revealed in the d im ly lighted halls. O n ly those w h o h ave experienced it k n o w the fu n o f tw en ty girls packed tig h tly together in an observatory eight feet in diam eter, and the d iz z y fee lin g w h en the blu e and gilt heavens m ove round and round above them .11

G eorge W errenrath (father of the fam ous baritone, Reinald W errenrath), recently come from his native D en m ark and then tenor soloist at P lym outh C hurch, sang at Packer one F rid ay afternoon in 1876, but getting lost on his w ay over, arrived in tim e to sing only three songs. H ow ever, he came again later and arrived on time.1" T h e “ m ental dinners,” given annually by the senior class upon

S3

The Civil War and Af t e r finishing the course in mental philosophy, w ere evidently festive occasions, and are frequently mentioned. T h e courses, solid edibles, not im aginary, w ere nam ed after the divisions of the subject. D r.

Crittenden and some of the teachers were invited and m irth and jollity prevailed.

From “ T h e Q uarterly” and from reminiscent articles published later in “ T h e Packer A lu m n a,” w e get descriptions of the fashions o f the time. “ T h e Q uarterly” of December, 1869, tells us that the “ chignon w ith its numerous frizettes” and the “ w aterfall w ith curls attached” w ere fashionable and that the material, m uslin, w as n o t* Th ere is an interesting variety of coiffure in a picture of eight girls o f the class of 1871. O ne has a friz z y pom padour and a braided knot at the back of the head. Several have pom padours w ith braids w ound about the head in coronet style. O ne has her hair parted severely in front, w ith a roll from the nape of the neck to the top of her head, and others have flow ing ringlets bound by ribbons.

In the late Sixties and early Seventies the Parisian pannier, a sort o f external bustle, and the G recian bend, a forw ard carriage of the body very un-Grecian, w ere fashionable. T h e G recian bend is al­ most the opposite o f the debutante slouch, fashionable in the N in e­ teen-Twenties. Both postures are frequently m entioned satirically in the school m agazines of their respective periods.

T h e class o f ’79, eighteen girls, “ trailed up the steps to the plat­ form o f the Packer chapel

[Their] progress was slow because of

the splendid satin and dam ask trains that stretched far behind . . . [them], although there were already a few advanced spirits w h o an­ ticipated to some extent m odernity and dared to appear in short and simple dresses a fu ll inch from the floor.” Miss Runyan, teacher of elocution, had taught the girls “ not only h ow to read . . . [their] * T h e w a terfa ll w a s a co iffu re in w h ic h th e h a ir cascaded d o w n th e b a ck o f the neck over a h orsehair fra m e w o rk o r o ver an artificial ro ll o f h a ir — the c h ig n o n — and w as ca u g h t up in a net, g iv in g so m ew h at th e sam e effect as the co iffu re o f th e N in eteen -F o rties w o rn w ith a snood.

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1861-1883 essays, but h ow not to give an unladylike k ick to . . . [their] trains as . . . [they] turned or retreated.” 1* A t that tim e the beginning and end o f recitations w ere signalized by the rin gin g o f an enormous bell, w h ich was kept on a bench in the low er hall. “ A t the proper time, m ore or less punctually, the janitor seized it and rang it violently, so that every girl in the neigh­ borhood fled quickly. It was considered quite a revolution w hen D r.

Crittenden abolished the bell and substituted clocks.” 17 T w o articles by Miss Julia B. A n th o n y on Packer give a vivid picture o f the school and B rooklyn in the Seventies. T h e C ity of Churches, she wrote, in the Seventies was an independent city w ith ministers kn ow n not only nationally but internationally. Flatbush was a kind of farm in g garden suburb and there w ere no apartments until the Eighties. T h e girls cam e from all sections and from N e w Y o rk by ferries, and the Boarding H ouse brought girls from other cities and states. “ O pulence sent its children in carriages,” but for the most part the girls from B rooklyn w alked. Cars, still heated by stoves, w ith straw-covered floors, ran at infrequent intervals, one line being dubbed “ T h e A tlantic M onthly.” T h e Lafayette line one winter ran sleighs. School began at quarter to nine, and “ punc­ tuality was not only a requirem ent— it was a fetish.”

Th ere w ere no large shops above C ity H all until the Eighties, and “ one could study her lessons as she w alked along.”

T h e discipline was strict. In the highest academic grade at one time, confessions of derelictions had to be m ade at the end of the day. N o talk in g was allowed in the halls or class rooms during study periods.

T h e natural sciences w ere taught by lectures, textbooks, and ex­ periments by Professor Eaton, watched by the class, but there was no laboratory w o rk by the students. A n experim ent, not perform ed at Colum bia till m any years later, was done w ith a gigantic pendulum hun g from the cupola dow n w hat was the w ell of the first elevator. *5

The Civil War and A f t e r “ Set in motion, the pendulum began tam ely enough to move straight across a large circle m arked on the floor. T h e n — O h Joy, oh Fear: it began to move around the circum ference of the circle follow ed by our d izzy and convinced gaze. W e w ere contemporaries of G alileo! W e w ere one w ith the rotating earth!”

Miss A n th on y concluded w ith a rem ark m ade by a professor of Cam bridge U niversity, E ngland, to a Packer graduate of ’72, “ It is an education to be proud of.” 18 T h e school was at the height o f its prosperity and excellence un­ der D r. Crittenden and he w as at the pinnacle o f his career at the time o f the Silver Jubilee, the celebration of the tw enty-fifth anni­ versary of the school, held in June, 1871.* T h e celebration lasted six days, beginning w ith the baccalaureate sermon at St. A n n ’s on Sunday evening, June n t h , follow ed by a reception in the Packer chapel by the G erm an and French classes on M onday evening, after w hich the faculty and the graduating class w ere entertained by Mrs. Packer at her home. A B rooklyn newspaper (unnam ed) com m ented archly on Mrs. Packer’s recep­ tion: “ Its delights are a forbidden theme, the sweet precincts of so­ cial privacy are not to be invaded, but even gaiety shone brighter for being polished.” A t the senior class day on Tuesday, the class planted a silver m aple in the garden, “ each girl flinging a spadeful of earth.” O n W ednesday m orning there were general exercises in chapel, consisting of the reading of compositions, and in the evening the com m encem ent exercises w ere held at the C hurch of the P il­ grim s on the H eights. * F o r th e S ilver Jubilee, the d ate o f the o p e n in g o f the B .F .A ., 1846, w a s ta k e n ; fo r the fiftieth an n iv ersa ry, celebrated in 190 3, an d th e se ve n ty-fifth , celebrated in 192 8, th e date o f the in corp o ratio n o f the P a cker C o lle g ia te In stitute, 18 5 3 . A t th e tim e o f th e G o ld e n Jubilee, the fiftieth , there w a s m u ch discussion w h e th e r to con sid er 184 5 o r 18 53 th e date o f the fo u n d in g o f the sch ool. T h e trustees d ecid ed o n 18 4 5, b u t there w as so m u ch pressure fro m a g ro u p o f alu m n a e , w ith th e su p p o rt o f M iss H a rrie t P a ck e r, w h o h eld th at the B .F .A . and the P .C .I. w ere tw o d iffe re n t schools, th a t th e board rescin ded its action . T h e trustees have n o w d ecided to call 18 4 5, w h e n th e B .F .A . w as in corp o rated , the d ate o f fo u n d in g , and are ce leb ra tin g the C en ten n ia l in 194 5 .

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1861-1883 T h e clim ax of the celebration, held at the A cad em y of Music, was thus described by a B rooklyn new spaper: A fte r m usic by the orchestra the curtain rose, d iscoverin g to the de­ lighted audience some five hu n d red b eau tifu l girls, w h o w ere applauded to the echo. T h e beautiful girls sang a b eau tifu l chorus, com posed b y M rs.

C hristopher o f N e w Y o r k [teacher o f vocal m usic at P acker, 1869-75], and then M r. A . A . L o w , w ith a fe w pertinent rem arks, introduced our gifted fello w citizen , G eo rg e W illia m C u rtis.

M r. Curtis spoke brilliantly on the advance and advantage of higher education for wom en. T h e editorial com m ent on the speech by a “ w ell-kn ow n B rooklyn paper,” quoted by an alum na, is en­ lightening as to popular opinion at the time. Mrs. Carpenter, Packer ’71, says: F ro m the superior attitude o f the editorial chair “ the fair g irl grad u ate” w as adm onished that the m ission before her w as so unostentatious and obvious that she w o u ld be easily m isled in seekin g an education for any special sphere as outlined by M r. C urtis. “ T h e chances are,” said the editor, “ that not one m em ber of the class of ’71, n or any other class to be grad u ated in the tw enty-five years to com e, w o u ld be expected to take part in any system atic m ovem en t for the bene­ fit o f the race, or to aid in open in g up any n ew sphere for w om en. “ I t . . . [is] by n o m eans certain that a sin gle m em ber of the class . . . [w ill] be called upon to prepare a fa m ily o f boys for college . . . not one w om an in a m illion . . . [has] such a d u ty to p erform .” 19

It is evident from the editorial com m ent o f the B rooklyn paper that the speech on education showed a great advance in outlook over that of D r. Sprague and D r. V in to n on the part o f M r. Curtis and on the part o f the Institute for selecting him . T h e B rooklyn paper, still th in kin g along the lines of 1846 and 1854, probably represented the m ajority opinion o f the Seventies.

T h a t the school was still a matter of civic pride in 1874 can be

*7

The Civil War and A f t e r gathered from an editorial on the Packer com m encem ent in “ T h e E agle” : It is apparent that never before had B ro o klyn m ore reason to be satis­ fied w ith the h ig h repute and prosperity of the lead in g academ ies at w h ich B ro o k ly n ’s daughters are ed u ca ted : and it is also apparent that, in a very legitim ate sense, never before have the P acker, and its students, and its graduates, and its thousands o f form er pupils th rou gh ou t the U n ited States had m ore reason to be satisfied w ith P acker itself.20

But already, although “ T h e E agle” did not seem to be aware of it, Packer had begun to go dow n both in registration and efficiency, and the registration continued to decrease, although it did not fall below five hundred and fifty. T h is decrease was due in part to the business panic o f 1873, but m ore to the fact that D r. Crittenden was getting old and rigid. T h e school continued m uch as it had been, but the times had changed and left the school behind. T h e Institute was the apple of D r. C rittenden’s eye and he did not th ink that it could possibly be im proved. Th ere w ere attacks on the school in the N e w Y o r k newspapers w hich caused D r. Crittenden to tender his resignation to the trustees in 1882, although it was not accepted.21 T h e nature of these attacks and the names of the newspapers are not know n, but it is probable that they w ere accusations that the school was behind the times.

T h e standard of teaching in a school like Packer is very depend­ ent upon the president, and the teaching was undoubtedly less good during these last years of D r. Crittenden’s regim e, w ith certain bril­ liant exceptions. Th ere w ere at least five members of the faculty (given in the Supplem ent), besides Professor Eaton, at one tim e or another during these eight years (1875-1883) w ho are kn ow n to have been noteworthy in their cultural attainments or for their teaching ability, or for both, and the probability is that the faculty as a w hole was still far above the average. Therefore Packer must still have been a good school, though no longer of such outstanding

1861 - 1 8 8 3 excellence as it had been in the Forties, Fifties, and early Sixties, and was to be later. T h e exam ination in m ental philosophy printed in the circular of 1869 as an exam ple of the school’s finest w ork, is pure sum mary of the textbook. Th ere is no sign in it o f the independent th inking so praised by the examiners in the Fifties, although the clearness and conciseness o f the sum m ary show a vigorous, intelli­ gent m ind capable o f independent thought if the exam ination had called for it.

Probably the oral exam ination by em inent citizens was given up in the early Sixties, and replaced by w ritten examinations set by the teachers. In 1862 the reports of the examiners ceased to be published in the circular appended to the annual catalogue. T h e last report on composition w as printed in 1863, and probably the staff took over the reading of the compositions at that time. T h e circular of ’69, p rinting the answer paper in the m ental philosophy examination, stated: T h e m ore im portant exam inations are all conducted in this m anner: the papers are prepared d u rin g a single school session, the y o u n g ladies w ritin g in the presence o f a teacher w ith o u t intercourse w ith each other, and w ith no facility except such as is afforded b y their pen, in k , and paper— the design b ein g to test the ability o f the student to com prehend and express the m ean in g o f the author.

In contrast to the exam ination in m ental philosophy, the ques­ tions in E nglish literature, printed in “ T h e Q uarterly” for June, 1870 (and given in the Supplem ent), set probably by Miss Susan K .

C ook, although a purely factual exam ination, show that the de­ velopm ent of literary movem ents and the influence of the age upon literature had been taken up in the course. But Miss C ook w as one of the brilliant teachers.

A lth o u gh the registration in the collegiate school held up fairly w e ll— better than that in the other departm ents— only eleven girls

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The Civil War and A f t e r cam e from out of tow n to live in the Boarding House, a sufficiently in­ teresting institution to m erit an article of its ow n in the Supplement.

W h en the registration is low in a school w ithout endowm ent and consequently dependent upon its tuition, there is always financial trouble, and Packer is no exception to the rule. A n unsuccessful drive for an endowm ent had been started in 1869 by the trustees’ issuing a circular to the “ friends of the Packer C ollegiate Institute and all w h o are interested in Fem ale Education,” asking for con­ tributions to an endowm ent fund, and stating that although Packer had been “ unique” for a w hile and was still in good financial shape, great endowm ents had been m ade elsewhere, “ and other places seem destined to surpass us in this, our form er pride.” 22 Doubtless part of the trouble experienced by the school during this period was due to competition from schools w ith better accom ­ modations. Since the central building of the 1945 schoolhouse then constituted the w hole building and there w ere always at least six hundred people in it, including students and faculty, D r. C ritten­ den’s report to the trustees in January, 1871, on the crowded condi­ tion of the building is convincing. N early six years later, Novem ber, 1878, he again called the attention o f the board to his report of 1871, adding: O th er institutions, m u ch you n ger and w ith far less facilities for in ­ struction, have better accom m odations and are m a k in g progress that it seems to m e w e should em ulate. N o one has a rig h t to anticipate the de­ cline or failure of this Institution, and its progress should be on w ard and u pw ard.

T h e trustees, how ever, did not think it expedient at the time to en­ large the grounds or building.

A n incident of no great intrinsic importance, but significant in its implications, was D r. Crittenden’s trouble w ith the class of ’74, since it shows that D r. Crittenden was getting old and rigid, and losing

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i86i -18 8 3 his hold upon the students. T h e treatm ent o f the incident by the B rooklyn papers shows definite hostility tow ard him .

A lw a ys averse to dismissing school on any pretext, D r. Crittenden refused to give a holiday on W ash ington’s birthday, 1874. T h e ver­ sion of one o f the class is that, w hen asked for a holiday, D r. C ritten­ den answered jo kin gly that they should celebrate the birthday of W ashington’s m other instead, and that w hen a petition in rhym e was read to him in chapel on February 19th, he left chapel w ithout m akin g any reply. T h e senior class decided to take a holiday any­ w ay, and persuaded most of the school to fo llo w suit, only twentysix girls out o f seven hundred and fifty-tw o appearing in chapel23 (the B rooklyn newspapers said three h u n d re d ); in either case, it m eant a rebellion by a large part of the school. “ T h e B rooklyn D aily U nion ,” in an interview headed T h e Troubles of the Graduating Class of ’ 74, represented D r. Crittenden as “ peevish and vindic­ tive.” Both “ T h e D aily U n ion ” and the members of the class agree that he refused the class the use of the room in the school w here the seniors were accustomed to hold their annual dinner, after the class had ordered their refreshments and flowers to the am ount o f tw o hundred dollars, and that one o f the faculty invited them to her house instead.

T h is publicity was, of course, unfavorable to the Institute and was one o f several signs that D r. Crittenden w as losing his hold on the public, as w ell as on the school.

In spite o f the fact that he retained the presidency o f Packer too long and that the school ran dow n during the last part of his regim e, D r. Crittenden stands out as a rem arkably able, upright, and suc­ cessful man. H e had given thirty-eight years of his life to Packer’s service. H is able m anagem ent had secured the school on a sound financial basis, and given it a reputation for academic excellence throughout the East. H e was a good president for the pioneer period of the Institute.

9i

The Civil War and A f t e r W ith the death of D r. Crittenden in 1883, the first form ative period of the school came to an end. T h e higher education o f w o ­ m en was an established factâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; not the adventure it had been in 1846.

Brooklyn had grow n from a quiet country tow n to a large city, and w ith the opening of B rooklyn Bridge in 1883, its existence as an island city came to an end. T h e M id-Victorian period of both Packer and B rooklyn was over and the Late Victorian period was beginning.

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A C O R N E R OF T H E L IB R A R Y

VI The Old Merged into the New 1883-1908

T

he

period 1883-1908 was vivid and interesting in Packer and

in the country as a w hole. E xcept for the panic of 1893 and the

brief depression fo llo w in g, it was one of prosperity and expansion.

T h e U nited States expanded into an em pire, acquiring the H a 足 w aiian and Philippine Islands, G uam , W ak e, Puerto Rico, and a protectorate, or the equivalent o f a protectorate, over Cuba. F or ex足 pansion peace is necessary, and this w as a period of peace except for the sixteen w eeks o f the Spanish-Am erican W a r in 1898. T h e coun足 try expanded in industry, business, and transportation. T h e rail足 roads, the electric m unicipal and interurban trolley lines, the telephone, and rural free delivery, all developed at this time. It was 93

The O ld Merged into the N e w the period of the form ation of great trusts. T h e m achine had revo­ lutionized life, g iv in g us factories w ith the resulting concentra­ tion of population at railroad terminals and ports, and the dusty, crowded, sm oky city w ith its frigh tfu l slums, its great fortunes, and its appalling poverty. Invented or perfected during this period w ere the bicycle, the typewriter, the linotype m achine, and the refrigera­ tor car for the railroad, w hich in itself made great changes in the eating habits o f A m erica. Photography, too, developed and the fam ily album lay on every parlor table.

D u rin g this period the fem inist m ovem ent grew in strength, but the V ictorian conception of w om en still prevailed. V ictorian men did not like w om en to kn ow too m uch. H ow ells apologises for one of his heroines for being so m uch at hom e w ith books that she talked naturally about them and was considered “ quaint,” but he holds up for adm iration her complete unreasonableness, capriciousness, clingingness, and lack of com m on sense.1 A nother one o f his w om en — not a heroine— was indiscreet: she sat on a bench w ith a gentlem an on a crowded thoroughfare in the m iddle of the afternoon.2 Th ere w as considerable prudery in V ictorian times. Packer was relatively free from it, but if she had been entirely free from it, no parents w ould have sent their daughters there. T h ere w as m uch anxiety about “ fem ale virtue,” although little about masculine vir­ tue. A delicate appetite, pallor, m uscular weakness, the wasp waist, and a drooping carriage w ere celebrated sentim entally as fem inine charms in late V ictorian prose and verse, as in the earlier time.

Y o u n g girls did not read the novels o f H ardy, the early novels of M eredith or the poetry o f W a lt W h itm an and the w icked L ord Byron, although Packer was liberal enough to include Byron in collegiate courses in the Nineties.

T h e nude in art, then referred to as “ the altogether,” was m uch discussed and m uch denounced in the Nineties. Ballet dancing was considered by m any to be immodest. T h a t the school did not share

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1883 - 1 9 0 8 this point o f view and allow ed the boarding students to attend the theatre under the care of the head of the Boarding H ouse is shown by the rather quaint letter of protest received in 1887 by D r. Backus, D r. Crittenden’s successor, from the father of a boarder, w ho was surprised that attendance upon the theatre w ith its accom pan im ent of the im m odest ballet, should have not on ly the perm ission, b u t the actual aid and countenance o f the person w h o has so large a share in fo rm in g the ideas o f the im m ature w ards w h o h ave been confided to her charge.

O ne sees the V ictorian idea o f m odesty and delicate fem ininity as w ell as the V ictorian love o f ornateness in the w om en’s dress of the period. In articles in “ T h e Packer A lu m n a ” are m any descriptions of the elaborate V ictorian costumes. Com m encem ent dresses still had trains. Miss Ingoldsby, w ho taught E nglish at Packer from 1875 to 1900, wore to school in the N ineties a red velvet dress and a green velvet dress, each w ith a train. T h e plum p g irl was lucky in those days, for curves w ere fashionable, but nature could be assisted then, as now , and there w ere bust plum pers for the less luxuriant figure, as w ell as rats (tigh t rolls of curled hair on a w ire fram e, that looked like a rat’s nest) to hold up the h igh pompadours. T h e present day gym nasium and sports costume, to say nothing of the m odern swim suit, w ould have convinced any proper-minded V ictorian that fe­ m ale virtue had vanished forever from the face of the earth. Girls taking m ale parts in the Packer plays w ore m en’s coats and vests w ith lon g black skirts concealing the “ lim bs.” A t a class party in 1903 or ’04, a girl, im personating a policem an, w h o had sewed the ends o f the trouser legs to the coat she wore, was severely repri­ m anded and the w hole class w as in disgrace because of the inde­ cency o f such a costume in the garden.3 It is interesting to kn ow , in considering the characteristics of a period, w hat people w ere reading. U nder D r. Backus, w ith Miss W y lie in the E nglish department, and later Miss W ard , the course

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The O ld Merged into the N e w in universal literature was dropped, and more lim ited, and there­ fore more thorough courses w ere given in the upper grades, in­ cluding C arlyle, Ruskin, W ordsw orth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley, Keats, Tennyson, Brow ning, A ddison, G oldsm ith, Burns, G ray, and Collins.

M any of the authors read now by school girls because they are taught or because they have become classics, like Poe, H aw thorne, Cooper, M ark T w a in , the A m erican poets— W hittier, L on gfellow , Bryant, etc.— the early novels of H ow ells and H enry James, w ere read voluntarily then, because they w ere contem porary or recent enough to be modern.

M any Packer girls must have read the three “ heretical” novels, published in the Eighties and still m uch discussed in the Nineties, O live Schreiner’s T h e Story of an A frican Farm, Mrs. H u m ­ phrey W a rd ’s Robert Elsm ere, and M argaret D elan d ’s f ohn Ward, Treacher, all o f w hich dealt w ith the doubt of some orthodox re­ ligious doctrine by the central character. M argaret D eland tells of the stir made by her book because it questioned the existence of H ell.4 Fifteen or tw enty years earlier such a novel w ould have oc­ casioned horror in the general reading public, and it caused m uch head shaking even at this tim e on the part o f Fundamentalists.

Probably m any of the Packer girls w ere not horrified since there is no evidence of the school’s ever having been narrow religiously even in D r. Crittenden’s time, although he him self was a Fundam en­ talist, or O ld School in the term inology of those days. D r. Backus was a liberal Congregationalist and m any, perhaps most, o f the fac­ ulty w ere liberal in religion.

V ictorian customs and ideas w ere undergoing a gradual m odi­ fication by three m echanical inventions perfected in this period.

T h e telephone, the typewriter, and especially the bicycle did m uch to free w om en from the burdensome, elaborate, restricting V ic ­ torian costumes and the still m ore restricting conventions, and to

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1883-1908 take w om en out o f the house and hom e and into other activities.

G radually, w ith the increased use of the typewriter, w om en began to w o rk in business offices. A t first only m iddle-aged w om en were em ployed, but either the wives and the general public became more trusting, or business m en less susceptible, for youth and good looks later became an asset to a typist.

But the bicycle did even m ore for w om en than the telephone and the typewriter. From 1890 to 1900 was the heyday o f the bicycle. In 1900 there were ten m illion bicycles on the road. M any o f the cities, including N e w Y o rk , had strips o f asphalt three feet w ide next to the curb for the use o f bicyclists. In B rooklyn there w as a broad crushed stone path built especially for bicycles on O cean P arkw ay to Coney Island, called the C yclist’s H eaven, and Packer girls w ere am ong those w h o w heeled m errily along it. T h e bicycle got w om en out into the fresh air, and aw ay from the chaperons, w h o w ere too sedate or too old to wobble along the streets, and it also affected the costumes o f w om en. Bicycles could not be ridden by w om en attired in m any petticoats, lon g fu ll skirts w ith flounces held out behind by bustles, b ig sleeves puffed at the shoulder and tight on the fore­ arm, enormous hats w ith w avin g ostrich plumes, and lon g pointed shoes. So the w om en took to m ore sensible costumes and more sensible customs. A bicycle dress w ith a m uch shorter, plainer skirt than had been w orn, and leggings to the knees w as adopted. A few daring souls in the Nineties w ore bloomers for cycling, an u gly and unbecom ing costume w hich was soon abandoned.

T h e autom obile, w hich began to replace the bicycle in the early Nineteen-H undreds, changed even m ore the w ays o f life in A m er­ ica. Th ere w ere over four thousand automobiles m anufactured in 1900, most of them driven by electricity or steam, and the first auto­ m obile show was held in that year at M adison Square Garden.

W ith these changes in customs, ideas o f education changed, espe­ cially between 1900 and 1910. D u rin g D r. Backus’ term of office

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The O ld Merged into the N e w there was probably m ore alteration in the life o f w om en and in the attitude o f the public tow ard them than in that o f any other presi­ dent, even o f D r. Crittenden. T h e A m erica of 1908 w as very differ­ ent, especially for girls, from the A m erica of 1883 w hen D r. Backus came to Packer. A lth o u gh there was, durin g the last part of the nineteenth century, little dem and for vocational or professional training for w om en except for teaching, and w om an — or rather the lady— was still considered by the m ajority to exist for the pleasure and com fort o f m en and children, and although “ w om an’s sphere” was still the hom e, there was a slow but steady change in the con­ ception o f the kind of w om an w h o w ou ld be a pleasure and com fort to m en and a good m other to her children. She was still considered by the unenlightened m ajority to be a vine, graceful and pleasing, but not so clinging as form erly, and she was supposed to have some capacity to grow by herself and to support some of her ow n w eight.

H er m ind w as still considered popularly to be inferior to that of m en, but she w as m ore and m ore required to be able to use w hat m ind she had. Unreasonableness and caprice w ere not so m uch ad­ m ired in the early N ineteen-H undreds, and the m odern concept of comradeship between m en and w om en was rapidly taking the place of the vapid and unreal sentim entality w h ich had so charm ed the M id-Victorians. W om en w ere expected to take some interest in na­ tional and international affairs and in the w elfare o f the com m unity.

Some w om en had always done so, including the Packer girls, as w e have seen from the files of “ School Room Echoes” in the early Fifties, but the disapproving epithet o f Blue Stocking, the equiva­ lent of the m odern expression, h igh brow, was no longer applied to w om en w ith such interests.

T h e twenty-five years of D r. Backus’ presidency (1883-1908) w ere years o f prosperity and expansion for B rooklyn as w ell as for the rest o f the U nited States. T h e beginning, the m iddle, and the end o f D r. Backus’ adm inistration coincided w ith three of the most

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DR. TR U M AN J . BACKUS

President of the Packer C ollegiate Institute, 1883-1908

SENIOR PLAY “ LETTERS TO LUCERNE,” I 9 4 3

1 8 8 3 - . 19 0 8 significant events in B rooklyn’s history. In 1883 B rooklyn Bridge was opened w ith speeches, firew orks, and great doings generally.

In 1898 B rooklyn became a part o f N e w Y o r k w ith m ore speeches, fireworks, and great doings, but w ith a touch o f m elancholy in all the ceremonies at the passing of the city o f Brooklyn. In 1908 the first subway between B rooklyn and N e w Y o rk was opened, an event w hich really m arked the beginning o f the m odern city and in particular changed the character o f the H eights.

Just over the h alf m illion m ark in 1880, B rooklyn had a popula­ tion of nearly a m illion in 1892 and in 1908 of nearly a m illion and a half. These twenty-five years compassed the developm ent o f Brooklyn from a separate, individual, som ewhat isolated city, to a borough m ore closely connected w ith M anhattan than m any other parts of N e w Y o rk were. B rooklyn gained in some w ays and lost in others. In the Nineties her stores w ere m any and large; there were thirty lines o f steamships, most o f them transatlantic, and six­ teen ferry lines to M anhattan, N e w Jersey, and Staten Island. T h e electrification of the street cars, hitherto draw n by horses, the reor­ ganization of the B rooklyn Library and the Institute of A rts and Sciences, the developm ent o f w om en’s clubs, of sanitation, and other civic improvem ents, the grow th o f the city in area as w ell as in population, and the rapid developm ent o f the public h igh schools, all took place in this period. Packer began in the early Nineties for the first tim e to experience com petition from both public and private schools.

In the late Eighties and N ineties Packer girls did not have to go to M anhattan for the theatre, as they do in 1945, for there w ere several theatres in Brooklyn, and m any entertainments at the A cadem y of M usic on M ontague Street. A t the B rooklyn Theatre the great actors and actresses o f the day could be seen, E dw in Booth, Joseph Jefferson, C lara M orris, H enry Irving and Ellen T erry, Barret, M odjeska, W allack, and the Irish actor, Em m ett.

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The O ld Merged into the N e w L illian Russell displayed her abundant charms, O lg a Nethersole played Sappho in a w ay to scandalize the Victorians, and Sarah Bernhardt played the som ewhat similar role of C am ille in an unrealistically decorous fashion. B rooklyn was one of the best show towns in the country, and was considered the most musical city. Excellent orchestras could be heard. Jenny L in d and Patti both sang in Brook­ lyn and the great G erm an and Italian operas w ere perform ed. In the Nineties Theodore Thom as conducted the Philharm onic con­ certs at C oney Island in w arm weather, and m any people rode dow n to them on bicycles.

From becom ing a part o f the greater city of N e w Y o rk , and from being connected w ith M anhattan by bridges and subways, Brook­ lyn not only lost her cultural and political independence, but m uch of her individuality. In 1893 Julian Ralph wrote that B rooklyn had not its counterpart on earth. It was, he said, the hom e o f the married m iddle class, M anhattan being the seat of the very rich, the very poor, and the unmarried. Most of the B rooklyn m en w ent to w o rk in N e w Y o rk , according to the article, leaving the w om en in posses­ sion of the city in the daytime. W h en the m en came hom e at night, they stayed there. T h e y did not return to the taw dry, shoddy city across the river (for that w as the opinion of N e w Y o rk held by m any Brooklynites), but stayed in their pleasant homes, or w ent to their comfortable clubs, or to the concerts and lectures at the A cadem y of Music. Brooklyn was fam ous then for fine amateur dramatic societies and for sports, especially horse racing and yacht­ ing. It was kn ow n as the city of homes, churches, baby carriages, and rubber plants. “ There is the promise,” w rote M r. Ralph, “ of a noble residence district in Flatbush.” H e concludes: B roo klyn is the only fem ale am o n g cities. . . . L ik e a good w om an she offers little to the chance visitor, im pelled to com e b y idle curiosity, nothin g to the roue. B u t if you live in her hom e, as one o f her fam ily, you are w ell off indeed."

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1883-1908 H e was right in the last statement, although some of his remarks are characteristic o f current misconceptions o f non-Brooklynites, especially N e w Yorkers. In those days B rooklyn was indeed a pleasant city to live in. It was a neighborly city, especially in its dif­ ferent sections. Th ere w ere children’s parties, Sunday School groups, skating clubs and social m eetings afterwards w ith singing around the piano, and euchre clubs m eeting in the afternoon. In­ deed, there w ere m ore simple, friend ly diversions for B rooklyn young people then than there are in the Nineteen-Forties.

T h e H eights som ewhat resembled at this tim e the Boston Back Bay region. H . C . Brow n, editor of Valentine’s Manuals, w rote, “ U ndoubtedly the H eights in these days [the Seventies and Eighties] correspond to the best kn ow ledge w e n o w have of H eaven.” 6 T h a t it kept its heavenly quality as late as 1893 is evident from H ow ard ’s statement that it still retained “ that cultivated quiet and the elegant repose w hich belong to regions in w h ich the w ealth of a city first establishes itself.” 7 L et us look inside some o f the homes that Packer girls came from in those days— some of them on the H eights, some of them else­ w here in the city, and not a few in towns and cities far away. A ll of these homes had certain characteristics in com m on, for they were all, of course, furnished and decorated in V ictorian style. M uch has been said in derision o f V ictorian interiors. But at its best the V ic ­ torian interior had grace, elegance, and charm . T h e rooms had noble proportions; the furniture was massive but dignified, the pic­ tures large and plentiful but good and w ell fram ed, the ornaments greater in num ber than in a m odern room of equally good taste, but beautiful and w ell arranged, the pianos inlaid w ith mother-ofpearl, the tables large and polished, the chairs com fortable, the library lined w ith finely chosen and finely bound b ooks; the w hole effect was one of leisure, culture, charm , and gracious living.

From such homes came Packer girls, and also from m ore modest

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The O ld Merged into the N e w but livable houses, and some, presumably, since Packer has always had m any kinds of girls from m any kinds of homes, from preten­ tious, cluttered houses. But it is safe to say that in the Eighties and Nineties few cam e from apartments.

Packer shared the characteristics of B rooklyn and the times in m any ways and had some of the V ictorian qualities. It was, like the city and the country, prosperous for the most part, expanding edu­ cationally and enriching its social and ceremonial life, but the school did not reflect the extremes o f w ealth and poverty or the materialism and worship of m oney that characterized the country as a w hole. It did, how ever, like the city and the country, go through m arked changes, especially in equipm ent and curriculum .

A s w e have already seen, academ ically Packer needed new blood and new ideas in 1883. T h a t m any changes w ere essential is evident from a letter sent by an alum nae comm ittee to the trustees, dated A p ril 28, 1883, signed by A lice C hadw ick, chairm an, w hich pre­ sented the fo llo w in g com m ents: T h e r e is a great and g r o w in g dem and th rou gh ou t our cou ntry for larger and m ore liberal educational facilities, and for m ethods w h ich shall develop character rather than m erely convey instruction.

M a n y of our cities are responding to this dem and far m ore earnestly and practically than B rooklyn.

C h ild ren o f the poorer classes receive th rou gh Industrial schools bene­ fits w h ich are denied in h igh er schools to our children.

O th er schools around us are aw ak e to a sense o f their need and are m a k in g rapid strides of im provem ent.

O n account o f the h ig h standards w h ich the P ack er has alw ays pre­ served, and w h ich has g iv en her a national reputation, she is n o w looked to by the public to respond fu lly to the intellectual dem ands of the age.

T h e letter goes on to say that the comm ittee has investigated the Institute, and to present m any suggestions, the most im portant being m ore and better calisthenics for the w hole school, supervision

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1889-1908 of lunch, exercises “for training the eye and the ear, hand and thought, aside from books” for the little ones, m ore m odern m eth­ ods of teaching, visual and experim ental, m ore use o f microscopes, laboratory practice in science by the students themselves, reading at sight in language classes, directing the attention of the pupil to the thought rather than the w ord s— to “ the things and realities for w hich the w ords stand”— m ore use o f the library, m ore use of the specimens in natural science, and m ore developm ent of creative power.

D r. Backus, ten years later, review in g the situation in w h ich he found the school, confirm s the impression created by the letter of the alumnae comm ittee. In his annual report to the trustees (the first of the annual reports of the presidents to be typed) he said that, beginning w ith D r. Crittenden’s adm inistration, the school had tw enty-five years of prosperity, and then cam e the depression and the found ing of other institutions richly endowed. H e con­ tinued: T h e Institute, w h ich had ou tranked other schools for w om en, w as it­ self o u tra n k e d .. . . In 1883 the C om m ittee on Instruction w ere u rg in g a prom pt and radical chan ge in the orga n iza tio n o f the school— it needed increase in revenue and in the n um ber o f teachers. Its clientele w as de­ m a n d in g m ore liberal courses in lan gu age, additional courses in natural science and the abolishm ent o f extra charges for special tuition. T h e In ­ stitute w as h a v in g financial trouble; it is significant that in the school year 1882 to ’83, not a dollar w as appropriated fo r the library and the ag­ gregate appropriation for apparatus w as $i.oo.8

D r. Backus began im m ediately to m ake the necessary changes.

T h e M inutes o f the Trustees show that there w as activity from the very beginning of the n ew regim e, increasing in im portance during the first ten years. A fte r D r. Backus’ arrival the school was like a salt w ater pool at the turn o f the tid e ; first there w ere little stirring m ovements, then a steady slow flow of water, turning into a

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The O ld Merged into the N e w great surge as the tide gathered m om entum . T h a t very summer, before D r. Backus form ally took com m and, the form of the cata­ logue was changed. T h e catalogue from 1883 on was less attractive than the preceding catalogues but m ore business-like and more inform ative. It had a table of contents, a calendar of events, and m uch o f the text was rewritten, “ young ladies” replaced by “ young w om en,” for instance; it contained a paragraph on the value of prom pt and regular attendance, and a notice that excuses from hom e w ere required for absence and tardiness. It om itted the long list of meritorious compositions w h ich had been given from 1847 on, and a detailed list of donations, run in the catalogues from 1876 to ’82, w hich m entioned such items as E ggs of a Sea G u ll from M t.

Desert from Miss V . Granberry, W ater from the D ead Sea from A .

M erw in, Esq., and D aily W eather M aps from the W ar Departm ent.

M any purchases w ere made that first summer, blackboards, new desks and chairs and towels, books for part singing in ch ap el; the physical laboratory was rem odelled; the collections of minerals, fossils, shells, birds, and other specimens brought out, classified, and made available. T h e gradual rem oval of the diam ond lights from the w indow s was begun and the w alls tinted in oils, to m ake the ligh t better for young eyes. F ifty dumbbells w ere bought and a pianoist [fie] hired for the calisthenics classes. Professor Eaton’s quarters in the school, in the south corner of the building (w here the tw o prim ary rooms, washroom , and teachers’ coat room are n ow ) w ere m ade into class rooms.* D r. Backus’ report of 1893 gives the best sum m ary of changes in the curriculum m ade during the first ten years. U nder his direc­ tion the w o rk was systematized, the report says, and different depart­ ments coordinated, several specialists engaged, the additional year in the collegiate school m ade com pulsory and salaries increased. * T h e g a rd e n d o o rw a y , w ith steps an d iro n ra ilin g , to th e w e s t o f th e m ain en tran ce, is still as it w a s d esign ed fo r the fro n t d o o r o f the ap artm en t fo r a p rofessor.

lO^

1883 - 1 9 0 8 D raw in g and gym nastics w ere also m ade com pulsory; the tw o courses o f study w ere defined (classical and m athem atical). A sixyear course in L atin (fou r years required) replaced the form er required course of one year; G erm an was m ade regular, no longer special w ith extra tu ition ; a two-year course in G reek w as offered, and electives in the academic and collegiate departments, a radical change since all courses had been required under D r. C ritten den; that is, a girl could choose between the w hole m athem atical or the w hole language course, but w ithin these tw o general courses all individual courses had been required. M ore courses w ere given in natural and physical science and in E nglish and history. “ T h e Insti­ tute had been a literary h igh school; it is a collegiate institution,” reported D r. Backus.

T h e religious studies w ere om itted from the curriculum . Butler’s Analogy and H opkins’ Evidences of Christianity disappeared from the collegiate course in the catalogue o f 1884, and the somewhat technical religious instruction, characteristic of the seminaries and colleges for both sexes in the earlier part o f the century, w as there­ after confined to one term o f natural theology, w h ich w as also dropped in 1890 w hen the teacher w h o taught it, Miss Susan K .

Cook, resigned. Languages, particularly the classics, literature, and history were em phasized, as is evident from D r. Backus’ report.

Courses in the history o f art and in m usic w ere also introduced.

Practical religion, and particularly ethical standards, w ere not neglected. M atthew A rn o ld influenced the th in kin g of the late nineteenth century in his emphasis on conduct, rather than on re­ ligious em otion and orthodox Christian faith, as the most im portant factor in the good life. D r. Crittenden and D r. Backus represented the different attitudes o f their times. D r. Backus’ talks in chapel im ­ pressed high ideals of behaviour on the students.

Th ere was considerable change in the composition w ork. Packer under D r. Backus began to lose the ladylike flavor w h ich character­

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The O ld Merged into the N e w ized even the best of the early seminaries. T h e personal interview of students w ith their E nglish teachers over their themes, intro­ duced by D r. Backus, was not only a new m ethod o f teaching com ­ position, but a factor in the ethical life of the school. L ik e D r. C rit­ tenden, D r. Backus believed in the great educational value of expression in words, although die w o rk was m uch m ore modern.

There w ere m any short themes in place of the old lon g essays on set, abstract subjects. T h ere was m ore emphasis on the pup il’s ow n th inking and the expression o f her ow n personality, and less on the sum m ary and epitome, and m uch less im itation of contem porary literary style.* Postgraduates w ere encouraged and from 1887 to 1899 they av­ eraged eight in number, and there was some talk about m akin g Packer a four-year college but D r. Backus was against this.

In 1884 Vassar agreed to accept Packer girls for the junior class on certificate, although she dem anded higher grades than those required for admission to the freshm an class. T h is w as a step for­ ward, but the agreem ent w as not all that it seems to be at first blush, for Vassar required that the Packer candidates for the junior class com ply w ith her requirem ents from her ow n freshm en and sopho­ mores, and Packer girls, whatever their grades, did not have suffi­ cient credits, since they took in the collegiate school only three subjects a year and Vassar girls took five. Therefore the Packer graduates w ere obliged to do considerable extra w ork to qualify as juniors at Vassar. Mrs. Elisabeth W oodbridge Morris, Packer 1890, writes: I did grad u ate . . . and then enter V assar the fo llo w in g year as a junior w ith out conditions

B u t in order to do this, I had done a lot o f extra

* C o m m e n ce m en t essays in th e E igh ties, an d p ro b ab ly earlier, w ere m u ch m ore eru d ite than th ey h av e been since th a t tim e. T h e salu ta to ry w a s g iv e n in L a tin , an d th ere w a s a G erm an essay an d a F ren ch essay. T h e v a led ic to ry w a s, as later, in E n g lish . T h e fo reign la n g u a g e essays w ere last g iv e n in 1890. In 18 9 1 th ere w ere n in e essays, all in E n g lish . A ll girls w h o se co llegia te record h ad reach ed a certain stan d ard w ere asked to be on the p ro g ram .9

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THE PRESIDENTâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S OFFICE, 1 8 9 1 , N O W THE OUTER OFFICE

THE JORALEM ON STREET FRONT, 1 8 8 7 - I 9 O 7

To the left, the n ew w in g. T o the right, the B oarding H ouse

1883 - 1 9 0 8 w ork, outside o f school and in the sum m ers. I took exam inations at V assar in alm ost every course b elo n gin g in the freshm an and sophom ore years, and, to fill out m y necessary credits, in som e courses b elo n gin g in the jun ior and senior years (L a tin and lo g ic ). I cou ld n ’t have done this if I had stuck to the class w o rk provided b y P acker.10

H ow ever, the Packer training was sound and the girls did w ell at college, particularly at Vassar and Bryn M aw r. T h e y sometimes had a little difficulty in getting used to form al examinations, w hich w ere not given at Packer, but once fam iliar w ith the n ew methods, they acquitted themselves w ell.

M any m ore girls w ere g o in g to college in this period than before, not only from Packer but from other schools. B y 1902 there w ere ninety girls in Packer preparing for Vassar, Sm ith, W ellesley, Bryn M aw r, C ornell, Barnard, M t. H olyoke, and A delph i, in that order, the greatest num ber preparing for Vassar, the smallest num ber for A delphi.

A lth ou gh D r. Backus’ interests w ere prim arily in the hum anities, he also developed the science departm ent, adding geology, zoology, and physiology. Professor W alter L e Conte Stevens, the successor o f Professor Eaton, superintended the rem odelling and equipm ent o f the science rooms, and brought the course up to date. Professor Stevens, the nephew of tw o em inent scientists, John L e Conte the physicist and Joseph L e Conte the geologist, and him self later to achieve some distinction in physics, though erratic, w as brilliant and made the science department noted. “ T h e A lu m n a ” in 1889 published an enthusiastic article on the science departm ent: P ack er lo n g has been fam ous for her th orou gh course in E n g lish com ­ position, w h erein she is equal if not superior to the colleges fo r m en. N o w her course in science has so far prospered u nder the enthusiastic scholar­ ship of Professor Stevens that w o rk is done such as V assar, Sm ith, and W ellesley have not accom plished. T h e n ew b u ild in g has g iv en capacity

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The O ld Merged into the N e w for m an y im provem ents, and the beneficence o f M r. A . A . L o w , w h o has g iv en betw een $1500 and $1600 d u rin g the past eighteen m onths for sci­ entific equipm ent, has added valuable apparatus to the laboratory.11

In 1884 the art departm ent was reorganized and placed under the direction of M r. Percival D e Luce. Th ere was an extra fee o f twentyfive dollars for a term of ten weeks, and “ ladies not belonging to the regular classes of the Institute . . . [were allow ed to] secure instruc­ tion in the studio.” A n announcem ent by D r. Backus in 1885 read: “ T h e system of instruction introduced by him [Mr. D e Luce] fol­ lows the exacting methods of the best European schools.” 12 Th ere were no classes: the instruction was individual. T h e art department maintained a fine reputation for seven years but was discontinued in 1891, because there w ere so few students that it did not pay. M r.

D e Luce was apparently interested only in the very gifted girl. H e was distinguished in his field and m odern in his methods, and the exhibits of the w o rk o f the art students held at Packer gained serious and favorable consideration from the newspapers.

Th ere w as also great im provem ent under D r. Backus in calis­ thenics. A regular teacher, Miss A d a Thurston, was engaged in the fall of 1883. T h e catalogue o f 1884 said: U n d er the direction o f an experienced instructor, regular train in g in calisthenics is given to every class. T h e exercises are sim ple, constantly varied, and directed to the correction of bad habits in posture, and in m ovem ent. T h e ir influence upon the health o f the school has called forth a d m irin g com m ent d u rin g the past year. T h e y are practiced daily in the G ym n asiu m [then still the basem ent room later used for the elem entary lunch room ] and are in great favor w ith the students.

“ T h e E agle” in 1887 described the girls goin g through exercises w ith wands (short poles) and dumbbells, doing fancy and m ilitary m arching, and quoted Miss Thurston as saying that every student was obliged to devote fifteen minutes daily to “ ligh t gym nastic

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1 882 - i()o8 exercises” w ith some apparatus w ork. “T h is fifteen m inutes’ exer­ cise alone,” she said, “ w ill hardly counteract the unw holesom e ef­ fect o f dress and the ordinary hom e habits of the pupils, but it gives free impetus to the circulation.” T h e article in “ T h e E agle” w ent on to say that twice a w eek classes o f from seventy-five to one hun­ dred had an hour in the gym nasium (then the regular gym nasium in the east w in g used ever since 1887) w ith apparatus and regular gym nasium costume, consisting of a blouse w aist and large b a g trousers confined at the knee b y an elastic, d ark b row n stockings and the regu lation canvas slippers. In som e cases the y o u n g ladies w ear a short skirt. T h es e suits are not u n lik e surf dresses one sees at the fashionable w aterin g places. [T h e m aterial w as flannel and blue the favorite color, a lth ou gh there w ere som e b righ t red ones.] In these suits a y o u n g lad y has the free use o f all her lim bs.13

T h is class was an extra, purely optional, w ith a fee not included in the tuition, and its members were not all Packer girls.

H ow ever, although there was considerable im provem ent in cal­ isthenics between 1883 and 1887, after that tim e the w o rk in the gym nasium rem ained rather static, and in the N ineties Packer’s gym nasium departm ent was not so good as those o f m any other schools and colleges, the Massachusetts h igh schools and W ellesley College, for instance. T h e report o f the visiting comm ittee o f the alumnae in 1909 said: T h e present system o f ten m inutes a day b ein g considered insufficient by com parison w ith physical train in g in other schools, the com m ittee recom m ends tw o periods a w eek in proper dress.

T h e recom m endation made by a com m ittee o f faculty expressed the same idea m ore at length, saying that the situation o f Packer made for no opportunity for out-of-door exercise for older girls or unrestricted play for children. “ T h e present schem e”— only fif­

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The O ld Merged into the N e w teen minutes daily in the gym nasium in street dress— read the report of the faculty committee, m akes a pleasant and health fu l break in the routine o f the day, gives opportun ity fo r relaxation, chan ge o f circulation and affords m ild exer­ cise— b ut cannot be stron gly body b u ild in g and does not in any large degree overcom e the bad effects of city life.14

T h e acquisition in 1887 of a real gym nasium properly equipped made the exercises m ore beneficial from ’87 on than had been pos­ sible in the rather small airless basement room. T h e gym nasium w in g w as erected on the lot adjoining the Institute on the east, w here D r. Crittenden’s house had stood, and w as opened in the fall o f ’87. T h e w hole cost o f the land and the building was $67,688.63.

T h e gym nasium on the ground floor is one hundred feet long, twenty-six feet w ide, and sixteen feet high. It w as “furnished w ith all desirable appliances for the physical training o f youn g w om en,” “ and w as not “ surpassed by any kindred institution in the city.” 10 It w as equipped by the Associate A lum nae.

Besides the gym nasium , the new w in g contained several grade and recitation rooms, a chem ical laboratory, and a physics lecture room. Since that time another chem ical laboratory for the course in chemistry o f food and nutrition has been fitted up in the east w in g, and, in the basement o f the central building, shower baths and dressing rooms for the gym nasium classes and members of basket ball teams, added in 1910.

But in spite of the new w in g and the space afforded by taking over Professor Eaton’s quarters, the trustees noted in 1889 that in­ creased accommodations w ere needed. In 1895 other livin g arrange­ ments w ere m ade for the janitor and his fam ily, and the apartment in the basement was taken over for school use.

By 1893, w hen D r. Backus had been there ten years, the school was again w ell equipped and m odern in curriculum and method,

1883 - 1 9 0 8 the equal o f any school of its type in the country, and the superior of most.

A lu m n ae agree that Packer was a distinctive school, and that the student body was rather homogeneous, and that there was a happy atmosphere and an absence of strain and of restraint. T h e building, then regarded as a particularly beautiful exam ple of school architecture, the chapel w ith its m em orial w indow s, the entrance and m ain halls, decorated, in the late Nineties, w ith palms, ferns and other plants, the arched G othic entrances— all had dignity and distinction.

T h e garden, an unusual feature for a city school, had m any rare trees. O n each side, one near St. A n n ’s, the other near the president’s hom e at 57 Livingston Street, w ere tw o large, h igh , and spreading paulownias, also called the Empress of India, w ith large leaves and great purple blossoms. T h ere w ere one or tw o catalpas, w h ich had w hite bunchy blossoms in the spring and great brow n pods in the autumn, and a large flow ering cherry, an exquisite w hite birch, and a Lom bardy poplar. A t the south end o f the garden w ere three Osage orange trees, whose large coarse oranges fell to the ground in the fa ll— a rare tree in the northern U nited States. D r. Backus had planted near the prim ary rooms a w illo w from the Evangeline country. Most of these trees have perished and have been replaced by others.* There was a fine spirit o f devotion on the part of the faculty, m any of w hom stayed on for years and became im bued w ith the Packer traditions, and the bond o f sym pathy between students and teachers w hich had always m arked the school became even stronger.

T h e alumnae w ere particularly devoted and paid frequent visits to the school. Packer inspired “her girls w ith a sense o f proportion, a sense of the stability o f the hum an spirit.” ” # In the g a rd e n o f 19 4 5 are tw o m ap les, th ree o aks, tw o sycam ores, one e lm , tw o horse chestn uts, tw o flo w e rin g crabs, one ailan th u s, ten g in k g o e s , o n e h ed g e m ap le , o n e ap p le, on e lin d e n , an d tw o o f the o rigin a l O sa ge o ra n g e trees.

Il l

The O ld Merged into the N e w A cadem ically the w o rk was stim ulating and thorough and the students gained “pow er and a certain kind of discrim ination and independence.” 18 Packer in the Eighties and Nineties was not a better school than it had been in the Fifties and Sixties, because it could not be, but it was a gayer, m ore vivid school because of the personality of the new president. A n y school of the type of Packer is strongly affected by the m an at the head, and D r. Backus’ personality was unusually w arm , rich, and colorful. Brilliant, charm ing, good, w ith the gaiety and zest o f a fine and intelligent m an, his presence shone through the w hole school like sunlight, illum inating all it touched. L ife was interesting to him , and education exciting, and he im bued faculty and students alike w ith his ow n enthusiasm.

G e ttin g an education becam e w h at it o u g h t to be, a healthy, excitin g adventure. G erm an w as exciting. . . . N a tu ra l science and m oral p h i­ losophy . . . w ere deeply interesting. L a tin w as excitin g because M iss W y lie m ade it so, and D r . B acku s h im self w as e x c itin g .. . . H is v iv id — alm ost ram p ageou sly v iv id — personality pervaded the school. It w as fu n just to pass h im in the halls or on the stairs. H is eyes seem ed to be alw ays tw in k lin g

H is logic course w as a r o m p . . . . H e strode into the room

like a sm all boy w ith a n ew bag o f tricks, and from that m om en t till the bell ran g he w as like a ringm aster in a circus cra ck in g his w h ip over his perfo rm in g anim als. H e reduced every proposition to absurdity, he m ade us prove that w h ite w as black, he convinced us that w e w ere com plete and utter fools, and then, w ith hu m orous gentleness he rescued the pieces and pu t us together again. It w as b ew ilderin g, fascinating, stim u­ lating. . . . T h e w h ole school w as fu ll o f interest, alive in every n ook and corner, chapel, library, office, class room s; and the girls w ere a go o d crow d , intelligent, responsible, and ga y— even th o u gh w e did call each other “ M iss” and put our hair “ u p ” ; and w ore longish skirts.18

T h e best portrait of D r. Backus, painted by Eleanor Bannister in 1895 or ’96, now in the possession of his daughter, Mrs. R. C. E. Brow n, represents him sitting in the chair he used in his office at

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1883-1908 Packer, w earing a beard and moustache, dressed in a frock coat, holding his glasses in his hand. T h e portrait shows a m obile, re­ sponsive face, keen blue-gray eyes w ith hum orous crinkles at the corners, a h igh forehead, and hands strong and w ell shaped. T h e face is unusually happy and expressive, even in repose, and the w hole figure is dynam ic and virile: one alm ost expects h im to smile and speak.

T ru m an J. Backus w as born in L ocke, N e w Y o rk , in 1842, the son o f a Baptist clergym an, and he graduated in 1864 from the U n i­ versity o f Rochester, w h ich in 1883 gave him the honorary degree of L L .D . A fte r his graduation from college he w ent to a theological seminary for a few months, but, deciding that he needed to kn ow som ething o f life at first hand, he left the seminary and got a job at the Baptist H om e Mission in N e w Y o r k C ity, from w hich he was sent South for an extended speaking tour for the Freedm en’s Bureau. In 1868 or ’69 he was called to the departm ent o f English at Vassar, the recently founded college for w om en at Poughkeepsie, w here he soon became the head o f the department.

H e w as appointed president o f Packer in 1883 at the age o f fortyone. H e had m arried twice, first Sarah G . Glass o f Poughkeepsie, w ho died in 1880. Shortly before com ing to B rooklyn he m arried H elen H iscock, a teacher in his departm ent at Vassar, a w om an interested in educational, philanthropic, and club activities, of great dignity and striking presence, “ whose personality contributed such distinction to the social side o f her husband’s w o rk in Brook­ lyn.” 20By his first w ife he had four children, three sons and a daugh­ ter, Mrs. Roscoe C . E. B row n o f B rooklyn, an alum na and a trustee of Packer. H is hom e w as a hospitable one and he and his w ife had m any friends.

W h ile at Vassar he had done some w ritin g on educational subjects and editing of textbooks in his specialty, E nglish literature, and had w on considerable reputation as a lecturer on literary and historical

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The O ld Merged into the N e w subjects. H e was a m an of broad and diversified interests and a m em ber o f boards of m any and varied institutions. H e w as inter­ ested in education aside from his ow n school, both public and pri­ vate, and in 1903 w as president of the Headmasters Association and in 1904 president of the Association o f Secondary Schools and C o l­ leges o f the M iddle States. H e was appointed by the M ayor in 1884 to the A dvisory Educational Com m ittee of Brooklyn, w hose duty it was to recom m end m odifications in the public school system.

Later he was a m em ber of the M unicipal C ivil Service Com m ission.

H e w as also interested in negro education: his father had been an abolitionist and active in the underground railroad. H e was some­ thing of a club m an, belonging to the C entury Association o f N e w Y o rk and to the Rem brandt and H am ilton Clubs of Brooklyn.

T h ro u g h his m any contacts, social, professional, and avocational, D r. Backus got the Brooklyn public interested in Packer. T h is in­ terest, very keen in the earlier part o f the school’s career, had lapsed somewhat during the late Seventies and early Eighties.

U n like D r. Crittenden, simple, almost child-like, D r. Backus was sophisticated, a m an o f the w orld, w ith m any friends am ong the eminent, a m an of culture w ith a taste for belles-lettres, as it was called in those days. D r. Backus, like D r. Crittenden, had been trained in the classical tradition and w as fond of eighteenth century literature, although his taste was varied. H e adm ired H orace and despised Bernard Shaw.

D r. Backus liked to talk and talked w ell, and he read beautifully and dram atically. H e w rote w ell, too, possessing the qualities that are called literary— w him sy, charm , and grace. H is letters are de­ ligh tful, w itty, as fresh, spontaneous, and bubbling now as the day they w ere written.

T w o o f his dom inant traits w ere kindness and sym pathy, espe­ cially w ith people w h o were ill or in trouble. H e visited and cheered his sick teachers. H e sat by the bedside of the janitor’s sick mother,

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SALUTING THE FLAG IN CHAPEL

F rom the d raw in g by F. H opkinson Sm ith, 1893 Courtesy of H arp erâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s M agazin e

THE ENTRANCE H ALL IN

1896

1883-1908 Mrs. C alvin, a buxom old North-of-Ireland w om an, and was inter­ ested by her talkin g in Gaelic. H e had a fatherly attitude tow ard both his teachers and students, g iv in g his teachers good advice about their profession, their finances, and their health, though he seems never to have been officious, for he had great tact. H e entered heartily and zestfully into all things. A n n ie Jones M cC oll, a m em ­ ber of his faculty, recalled him thus: coat o ff and shirt sleeves prom inent, p itch in g h ay into im provised stalls and ro llin g barrels o f apples into place as he helped the Juniors g e t the g y m ready for a barn party. A g a in I see h im loosin g the thu n d er bolts of Jove over the head of a y o u n g w om an tem erarious en ou gh to go out at the lunch h ou r to m eet a frien d fro m P oly. V e r y elegant she was, tall and sparklin g, dressed in clothes o f Paris o rig in — a stu n n in g g irl and proud o f it. “ T a k e your bonnet and sh aw l,” w as w h at he said to this creature of lovely toque and fu r coat, “ T a k e you r bonnet and sh aw l and g o .” 21

In education D r. Backus, though m ore o f an idealist than D r.

Crittenden, was, like him , a pioneer, as must have been the w hole staff o f the young Vassar, founded in 1865. In Packer he was, of course, prim arily the adm inistrator and did little teaching, although he did have a class in logic, w hich was, in the phrase of one o f his students, “ the most globe-trotting course w ith logic incidental.”

A t Vassar he was prim arily teacher, although his influence in shaping the policies of the young institution seems to have been considerable. Cornelia Raym ond writes in M em ories of a C h ild at Vassar: If I w ere asked w h ich of m y teachers w as m y greatest intellectual in ­ spiration, I should say unhesitatingly— T ru m a n B ackus. N o t that he w as the m ost intellectual; indeed w e girls m ore than once felt that his learn in g did not reach to any great depth. O n ce w h en w e used a n ew text book in logic w e suspected that he had never read the book throu gh , but that he learned each lesson w ith us. B u t one th in g he d id — he w a k e d us up and

The O ld Merged into the N e w kept us aw ake, and w e never w anted to m iss a cl ass . . . . H e said and did outrageous th in gs— he m ade us m ad, bu t w h en w e th o u gh t w e had caught him in a m istake, w e rushed to the library to prove his m istake.

H e m ade us d o our ow n th in k in g. . . . H e alw ays enjoyed im pudence fro m a student if it w as clever.

H e was an experim ental teacher not only from principle but also from temperament. Frequently his love of teasing and his dram atic quality w ere instruments of a sound pedagogy. A n incident related

by Heloise Hersey, Vassar ’76, proves this. She took her com m ence­ m ent essay to D r. Backus after w o rk in g on it for six weeks, feeling rather w ell satisfied w ith it. U sually he exam ined such a manuscript prom ptly and sent for the student im m ediately, but he kept her w aiting for several days before sum m oning her. H e dragged out her essay from his desk “ w hich was as usual piled w ith disordered papers,” turned a fe w leaves w ithout a w ord or smile and tossed it across to her, saying, “ W rite it again and w rite it better.” She was thoroughly angry, th in kin g him unjust and cruel. She took the paper hom e, tore it to shreds, and, cutting classes for three days, w rote fast and furiously w ith little pains and w ith no regard for style or clim ax, and sent it back to him by messenger, resolving never to cross his threshold again if she could help it. In h alf an hour he sent for her. W h en she entered, glu m and sulky, D r. Backus was “ all smiles and sweetness. ‘Y o u queer bunch of impulses,’ he said, ‘h ow m uch better you w rite w hen you are m ad’.” “ A n d so,” she concludes, “ the essay on journalism , instead o f be­ in g a stiff and studied school girl essay” had excellence o f its ow n and was “hot off the griddle.” 22 H e had natural gifts as a president as w ell as a teacher. H is com ­ ing into the class room to visit gave a “ sense of pleasurable excite­ m ent” at Packer.22 “ H is acquaintance w ith the names and faces of students and their individual character was remarkable. H is read­ in g of character was almost intuitive and his m em ory rem arkably

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1883 - ip o 8 retentive, not only for good students, but for the beginner and for the dull, stupid, careless and w ayw ard. H e had extraordinary forebearance w ith refractory students.” 2* H is judgm ent o f people was quick and sound w hen his emotions w ere not involved. W h en they were involved, it became apparent that he was not o f a judicial tem­ perament.

N o t only was he skillfu l in dealing w ith students, w ith w hom he was extrem ely popular, but he had a special technique in dealing w ith unreasonable parents, a m ixture of audacity, tact, understand­ ing, and firmness w hich was very effective. H e w as equally clever in his relations w ith outsiders.

T h e president of a large school has to deal w ith alum nae, trustees, parents, the public, students, and faculty. D r. Backus seems to have been rem arkably felicitous in his relations w ith the faculty, and m uch beloved by them. A ll accounts agree that he let his teachers develop by givin g them freedom in their methods. W h en they w ent w rong, he corrected them w ith criticism that was terse, to the point, and always constructive. H e stated the policy and aims of the school, and let them w o rk out individually their ow n methods. H e selected his teachers m ore for teaching personality than for degrees and intellectual attainment, although he him self w as an intellectual man. H e was typical o f his tim e in this, for in the late EighteenH undreds and early N ineteen-H undreds pedagogy stressed the teacher’s personality, particularly friendliness and cheerfulness, traits w hich D r. Backus em phasized, rather than the severely dis­ ciplinary traits, of w hich he did not approve.

T h e happy attitude of both students and faculty was due in part to the lack of restraint. D r. Backus believed in no rules, and acted on his theory. G irls did not feel that anyone w as w atch in g them to see that they behaved or got their lessons. T h e older girls could study w here they w ished, in their grade rooms, on a bench in the hall, or in the garden. Th ere w ere no examinations in the school (except for

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The O ld Merged into the N e w the left-backs, w h o had the privilege of taking examinations if they desired), though careful records of the w o rk w ere kept. A news­ paper com m ent expresses w ell the atmosphere o f the school: O n e is im pressed by the perfection o f organ ization com bined w ith the utm ost in d ivid u al freedom . T h e students are allow ed the greatest liberty o f action and no student feels herself ham pered by rules. B ut there is a very strong pu blic sentim ent w h ich takes the place o f rules.®

T h e result o f this sort o f adm inistration is w ell expressed by the trustees: “ H e infused an atmosphere o f joy into the Packer that is seldom found in so large a school.” 26 D r. Backus certainly perform ed the varied duties of his office ad­ m irably, keeping in close touch w ith alum nae and parents, w ith other institutions, and being a part o f the w ider life o f the great city in w hich he lived, devoted to the school, both staff and students, and w o rk in g closely and sm oothly w ith the trustees. “ T h e N e w Y o rk Tribune,” at the tim e of his death in 1908, called him B rooklyn’s “forem ost figure in the w orld of education.”

T h is vivid, vital m an w ith his enthusiastic interest in education, and his keen insight into people, gathered an unusually fine group of teachers around him , m any o f them very good to look at, all wellbred and w ith pleasant voices— som ething not so com m on in the teaching profession as could be desired. H e inherited from D r. C rit­ tenden at least five outstanding people, W alter LeConte Stevens, Susan K . C ook, A nnie G ordon, Berthe Vincens, and Sigism und Lasar, and in the twenty-five years o f his presidency he discovered at least ten others w ho were rem arkable in one w ay or another, Julia B. A nthony, L ucy Chase, C lara Cram pton, A m y D unlap, M aud B. N elson, E m ily James Sm ith, K ate M . W ard , G eorge M . W hicher, R. H untington W oodm an, and Laura J. W ylie. ( A ll fifteen of these teachers are w ritten up in the Supplem ent.)

O f this group appointed by D r. Backus, some are as m uch a part

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1883 - 1 9 0 8 of the tw o follo w in g administrations as o f D r. Backus’. O f those w ho w ere in their prim e under D r. Backus and w ho, leaving the school before his death, w ere a part of the school at this tim e and no other, the most brilliant probably w ere Professor Stevens, Professor W hicher, E m ily James Smith, L u cy Chase, and Laura W ylie. Miss Chase and Miss W ylie glow ed w ith the same radiant vitality w hich characterized D r. Backus him self, and gave their students the same sense of stim ulating adventure in education.

Besides these stars, so to speak, there w ere m any popular and able teachers too numerous to mention.

Th ere was m ore social life connected w ith the school in this period than in the previous period, and a tendency to dress elabo­ rately. Senior caps and gow ns adopted in 1895 (although not w orn at com m encem ent) w ere suggested by D r. Backus for this reason.

Th ere w ere parties held outside o f the school and at the school, such as sleigh rides, trolley parties w ith refreshments served in the car, and the G lee C lu b dance w ith young m en invited. T h e G lee C lub was founded in 1891 by L u cy Chase, w h o possessed a beautiful voice. H er sister, A lice, played the accom panim ents and the G lee C lu b sang in the gym nasium , finishing one concert “ in a grand clim ax w ith the ‘Snow drop’ o f Reinecke w h ic h . . . [was given] w ith the tableaux, the songs, and reading of the poem. A very beautiful g i r l . . . was Snow drop

Some o f the club were disturbed because

she had to lie in the glass coffin as if she w ere dead.” 27 T h e G lee C lu b was taken over in 1893 by M r. W oodm an, organist and director o f music. In 1896 there was a Banjo and M andolin C lub from the collegiate department, w hich , w ith the Packer and Poly G lee Clubs, gave a concert for the benefit of the East E nd K in d er­ garten at the A cadem y of M usic.

T h e D ram atic Association, founded in the N ineties, the members of w hich w ore pins like those o f fraternities, gave plays, m ostly Shakespearean, both at school and at the A cad em y o f M usic. A de­

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The O ld Merged into the N e w bating society called the C olloquium (1892), and the A thletic Asso­ ciation (1905) taking cross-country w alks and playing basket ball, w ere also founded during D r. Backus’ regim e.

Th ere were entertainments and lectures in the chapel by people from outside the school, such as the Ben Greet Players in Everyman, a reading by F. H opkinson Sm ith, and a lecture by John Burroughs, whose reference to the affair in his journal is am u sin g: T h is day I speak to the girls at P acker In stitu te— a large hall, a large audience. I speak on the A r t o f Seeing T h in g s w ith m arked success. M y first real success on the platform . I am tickled w ith m yself. I find the large audience, the large hall, like sw im m in g in deep w ater; ’tis very easy.28

A pparently Packer audiences have always been good ones.

Probably the lecture by a fam ous m an w h ich m ade the greatest impression on those present and those w h o heard about it, even long years after, w as that by H enry James on Balzac, on the evening of M ay 10, 1905, for the benefit o f the Jubilee F un d (w h ich w as not completed until after the Jubilee in 1903). M uch space was given to this affair in the B rooklyn newspapers. Th ere w as assembled a representative B rooklyn audience, “ leading writers and thinkers . . . w hile society was there, as was shown by members of prom inent fam ilies on the H eights, the H ill, and the Slope.” M r. James looked about the chapel and rem arked, “ I see that this Institution belongs to the black w alnut age.” 29 Students w ere not invited except the seniors w ho ushered. Perhaps it was just as w ell, if the purpose of a lecture is to clarify rather than befog the m inds o f the audience. M r.

James’ delivery— “ H e occasionally m um bled in w o rk in g his w ay up to a new illustration, in an extem pore aside . . . he draw led or droned w hen rising to a clim ax” 30— added to his h igh ly involved, parenthetical style, w ith phrases qualifyin g already qualifying phrases so that by the end of a succession of these the audience had forgotten the original statement being qualified, and his subtle split­ ting into m any parts of the already m uch split hair, resulted in the

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1883 - 1 9 0 8 h igh ly fashionable audience’s not understanding m uch of the lec­ ture. But it was a great occasion anyw ay and was considered to re­ flect m uch glory on B rooklyn and the Packer alum nae association.

There were m ore solemn occasions w h ich brought the school to­ gether for other than academic purposes, such as the dedication of the beautiful w in d o w in the chapel in m em ory o f A n n ie Gordon, in June 1901. T h is lancet w in d o w on the west w all to the left of the or­ gan, given by students, faculty, and friends, shows a fem ale figure representing H ope, beneath w hich is the inscription chosen by M ile.

Vincens and beautifully appropriate for Miss G ordon: W hatsoever th in gs are true, W h atsoever thin gs are honest, W hatsoever thin gs are just, W hatsoever th in gs are pure, W h atsoever th in gs are lovely, T h in k on these things. P h il. IV , 8.

But the gay occasions were m uch m ore numerous than the solemn ones, as is fittin g in an institution for youn g people, and one of the gayest was the alum nae carnival held on February 22 and 23, 1889, for the benefit o f the Jubilee Fun d, w ith colorful decorations and booths nam ed for authors, attended by girls in appropriate costumes, and netting twenty-three hundred dollars.

T h e w elcom e to D r. Backus on M ay 1,1905, w hen he returned to school after his first serious illness, was a charm ing occasion. T h e school serenaded him and escorted him from his hom e at 57 L iv in g ­ ston Street across the garden up to chapel, w here the prim ary chil­ dren presented him w ith flowers and sang some verses they had written, such a s: W e ’re very g la d y o u ’re b ack again.

W e w aited lo n g th ro’ sn ow and rain, B u t n o w the w in ter blast is past; T h e sp rin g and you are here at last.31

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The O ld Merged into the N e w D r. Backus, w ho was particularly fond of little children, was m uch m oved, and kissed the little curlyhead w h o had presented the flowers, telling her to kiss the others for him . Packer has alw ays been noted for doing kindly, gracious, affectionate things for those w ho have w on her heart.

T h e great innovation of a school luncheon in 1888, consisting of beef tea, m utton broth, sandwiches, m ilk, chocolate, cake, and fruit, contributed m ore to sociability and friendliness than the individual lunches brought from hom e and consum ed on the chapel stairs.

Th ree simple but impressive ceremonies, still observed, originated in D r. Backus’ regim e— A ll Saints’ D ay, w ith the pulpit decorated w ith flowers, and simple obituaries given for the Packer people w ho have died during the year, the Passing of the Shield from the gradu­ ating class to the incom ing seniors on the last day of school in June, and the Salute to the F lag, given ever since on F riday m ornings as a part of the chapel exercises. T h is last cerem ony began in 1889 after the presentation to the school of a silk flag by Lafayette Post 140 of the G . A . R. at the A cadem y of M usic in an impressive cerem ony at w hich General Sherman w as present.

T h e seniors in those days, as now , w ere a privileged group and lived in a room not so form al as the other grade rooms, w ith a carpet on the floor, and the senior seals painted on the w alls— a custom be­ gun in 1897 and lasting until 1915 w hen the w all space gave out, and the room was refurnished and redecorated as a g ift from Mrs. Zabriskie and her daughter, Mrs. Bailey. A new hard w ood floor was laid and fine facsimiles of draw ings by H olbein, given by the classes whose insignia had been removed, w ere h un g on the walls, w hich were undoubtedly m ore artistic but m uch less gay than the senior seals. M any o f the H olbeins still hang in the senior room, although a few have been retired as too dam pening even to senior spirits, notably the D eath M ask of Jacob M eyer’s First W ife and the por­ trait o f W illiam W arham , A rchbishop o f Canterbury, a gentlem an

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THE

CLASS

OF

1896

THE

GARDEN

IN

I9OO, WITH

THE

OLD

CAST-IRON

FO U N TAIN

1883-1908 of distinction and doubtless o f an austerely holy life, but possessed of a countenance w hich, D r. D enbigh said w hen asked by the class for permission to remove him , “ no one ought to be required to live in the same room w ith .”

Packer was a joyous place both in its w o rk and in its play, but true to the tendency of the times, the girls began to have broader hori­ zons. T h e y became interested in organized philanthropy and in 1900 joined the C ollege Settlement. T h e issue of “ T h e A lu m n a ” for Decem ber 1896 is devoted w h o lly to the subject o f philanthropy.

A s the years w ent on, im provem ents w ere made in the plant. T h e first elevator was installed by the O tis C om pany in the summer of 1891, an elegant car it was considered. T h e same sum m er the chapel organ was rebuilt by Jardine, tw o m anual and pedal, pum ped by hand by an old half-blind colored m an w ell over seventy, kn ow n as Joshua. Th ere w ere tales of mischievous lassies h iding in the organ loft— Joshua’s defective eyesight came in handy— and being haled before D r. Backus therefor. A grand piano w as presented in ’91 by the ever-generous M r. L o w , president of the board. Electricity re­ placed gas in the chapel in ’97, and outside fire escapes w ere built in ’98. T h e library was recatalogued according to the D ew ey system.

Packer has always been w ell in the vanguard o f educational in ­ stitutions in regard to the library. W h e n it is considered that the great developm ent of school libraries in the U nited States has oc­ curred since 1900, and that public libraries have been general only tw enty or thirty years longer, it w ill be seen that Packer w as ex­ trem ely progressive in that she began the form ation of a library in 1846, and w hen the books w ere all burned in 1853, started over again. A special room was set aside for the library in Packer w hen the building w as erected (the room used later by the trustees and still later by the president of the school for his office), and the library in A lu m n ae H all is, as it should be, the most inviting room in the building. Miss A nth ony, w ho became librarian in 1897, was a grad­ 123

The O ld Merged into the N e w uate of the Pratt Institute School of Library Science, and Miss Morse, w ho came in 1918, is a trained librarian, also a graduate of Pratt and w ith experience in other libraries.

T h u s Packer had a good library and a trained librarian at a time w hen most secondary schools had neither. T h e collegiate depart­ ment m ay be partly responsible for this, since colleges had libraries as far back as the seventeenth century. T h e Packer library, how ever, has not catered exclusively to the collegiate school, but has served the needs of academic and elem entary students as w ell. Even in 1945 libraries for elementary students in most A m erican schools are far behind h igh school and public libraries. T h is is not true at Packer.

N o t only has Packer had a library from the very first and trained librarians since 1897, but the school for the last forty years— per­ haps longer— has given its students good training in the use of reference books and catalogues, and for the last fifteen or tw enty years, training in the use of the large city public libraries, and has received complim ents from several degree-granting colleges on this w ork.

O ne of the events during D r. Backus’ adm inistration w hich seemed fu ll of promise at the time, but w h ich so far has not fulfilled its promise, was the first g ift tow ard an endow m ent for the school

by M r. Frederic Pratt, son of the founder of Pratt Institute and a trustee of that institution. M r. Pratt believed an endow m ent to be the only w ay to m ake an institution stable. T h e trustees had great hopes that his g ift was the beginning o f an adequate endowm ent for Packer. But although there have been other gifts for this purpose from time to time, especially from the alumnae, and the endowm ent is now an anchor to w in dw ard, it is yet but a very small anchor, in­ sufficient to hold the ship if too severe and prolonged storms should beset her.

T h e board o f trustees continued to be a good one. T h ere were three presidents of the board du rin g D r. Backus’ administration.

1883 - 1 9 0 8 A . A . L o w , already spoken of, w as succeeded in 1893 by Judge Joshua M . V a n Cott, one o f the most em inent m embers o f both the B rooklyn and N e w Y o rk bar, w ho w as in turn succeeded by Bryan H . Sm ith, president from 1896 to 19x1, also one o f B rooklyn’s prom inent citizens. (Sketches of some of the trustees m ay be found in the Supplem ent.)

Perhaps the most significant event for the school durin g these twenty-five years w as the incorporation of the Associate A lu m n ae in 1900, for one of the essential assets o f any school is a strong, active, and devoted body o f alumnae, and w h ile organization is not neces­ sary for devotion, it is necessary for effective activity. M any o f the alumnae have testified that the Packer alum nae are m ore loyal than the alumnae of most kindred institutions. T h e interest of the Asso­ ciation w as apparent from the very beginning o f its organization, and after its incorporation it became even m ore im portant in the de­ velopm ent o f the school, and merits an article in the Supplement.

T h e h igh point in this adm inistration, as in the preceding one, was the celebration of an anniversary, the G olden Jubilee, in 1903, fifty years after the incorporation of the Packer C ollegiate Institute.

T h e changes in the ideas of the date o f Packer’s real birthday m ake the Jubilee dates som ewhat confusing. T h e G olden Jubilee was strictly an alum nae celebration— that is, it w as initiated and carried out by the alumnae. T h e Jubilee g ift w as devoted to the th ing the school most needed, an addition to the building. T h e Association bought the property adjoining the Institute on the w est at 160 Joralemon Street, w here stood the building w h ich had been used for forty-two years as the Packer Boarding H ouse, a lot one hundred and fifteen by forty feet, and raised m oney enough to erect the w in g called A lu m n ae H all. O n M ay 15,1903, at the Jubilee service in the chapel, the president o f the alum nae handed to the president o f the board of trustees the largest g ift ever received by Packer up to that date— the deed to the lot, a check for sixty-three thousand dol­

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The O ld Merged into the N e w lars, and a pledge of sufficient additional funds to cover the cost of the new structure. T h is building was opened in September, 1907, and contains a lunch room in the basement large enough to seat four hundred, an assembly room and library on the first floor, and on the second and third floors additional recitation rooms, tw o rooms for the use of the alumnae, and an out-of-door gym nasium on the roof.

A lu m n ae H all is w ell arranged, spacious, and sunny, especially the assembly room opening on to the garden, the library in the northwest corner, and the broad stairway at the extreme west end of the hall, but on M ay 15,1903, it had the ethereal charm of a build­ ing not yet built, existing only in the proud im agination of the alumnae and in the grateful im agination of the school and the trustees.

T h e G olden Jubilee, unlike the Silver Jubilee, was celebrated at Packer, not at the A cadem y of M usic. T h e service was held in the chapel, decorated w ith palms and dogw ood. A fte r the invocation by the Rev. D r. Theodore C uyler, D r. Backus m ade a brief speech of w elcom e, D r. A lb ert J. L ym an spoke on the historical developm ent o f the school, and D r. L ym an A bbott spoke on the influence of edu­ cation on the lives of w om en. T h e presentation and acceptance of the Jubilee g ift follow ed, and after the singing of the Jubilee M ay Song by the W oodm an Choral C lub, the benediction, pronounced by the Rev. W illiam S. Packer, a grandson of the Founder and trus­ tee from 1902 to 1907, brought the service to a close. A t the organ was R. H untington W oodm an, the son of Jonathan W oodm an, w ho had been the organist at the opening cerem ony of Packer in 1854.

Since there was not room in the chapel for the girls on M ay 15th, the school held its ow n Jubilee celebration the afternoon before, durin g w hich the various classes presented to the president of the alumnae, Mrs. Ziegler, their contributions to the fund for the new building, a representative from each class m akin g the presentation

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i 88$ - 1 9 0 8 speech, the tiniest girls speaking in rhym e. D r. Backus presented the g ift of the staff, and Mrs. Ziegler m ade the speech of acceptance.

T h e school as a w hole, students and teachers, contributed $4,859 to the Jubilee Fund.

In the Jubilee num ber of “ T h e A lu m n a,” issued in June, 1903, an article entitled “ Queries of the Past and Present,” g iv in g subjects of compositions in the past, such as Beauties o f N ature, the Shortness and V alu e o f T im e, the W onders o f the R ollin g Seasons, and the Precious Q uality of Y o u th , spoke of the “ vastness and com plexity” o f possible composition subjects in 1903— the A tlan tic Cable, W ire­ less Telegraphy, the Intricacies of the F ly in g M achine, the P hilan­ thropies o f M illionaires, the Telephone, the Em pire State Express, the Subway, the Progress of W om en , Trusts, Stocks, and the Serv­ ant Problem . T h e w riter closed thus: N o t w ith com m iseration, then, d o the A lu m n a e o f the Jubilee year book look fo rw ard to the generations that shall be, b u t rea lizin g the w o n ­ ders w ro u gh t d u rin g h a lf a century, w e confess to a w istfu l glan ce d ow n the years, and a m ute question that, [tic] in that age o f the perfected air­ ship and horseless carriage, w h a t w ill our Sisters at the C en ten n ial of P acker be w ritin g about?

W h a t indeed ? T h e total reconstruction of that w onderful w orld of 1903, w h ich seemed to its denizens to be w ell on the road to doing away w ith w ar forever and to achieving a perfect— or nearly perfect — state o f civilization! O ne casts a still m ore w istful glance dow n the years and wonders w hat subjects w ill be w ritten about by Packer students at the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary.

In most w ays the school was at its peak at the tim e of the G olden Jubilee, but in one very im portant respect it w as not. In January, 1897, the trustees began to note a decrease in registration, and tire M inutes o f February, 1898, show the increasing anxiety o f the trus­ tees. D r. Backus attributed the decrease in registration, and con­ sequently in income, to the fact that in the preceding five years

i *7

The O ld Merged into the N e w competition had been strong from the G irls’ H ig h School, the M an­ ual T ra in in g H ig h School, Erasmus H all, and the State N orm al School at Jamaica, w hich had draw n a great num ber of girls who, had these schools not been established, w ou ld have come to Packer to be trained for teaching.

But even though the Institute was having financial difficulties, the salaries o f the staff w ere m ore satisfactory than they had been earlier, and in 1902 the trustees adopted a pension scheme o f a lim ited na­ ture. By this plan, such teachers as had not been able to provide for their old age, w h o had served thirty-five years at Packer and had not received over one thousand dollars per annum , w ere to be eligible for an annual pension o f not over forty per cent of the last annual salary or not over four hundred dollars. T h e pension was to be granted each year by the board and it was stipulated that such action should not establish any right on the part of the pensioner to a con­ tinuance of the pension, or create a precedent.

T h is was far from an ideal pension plan according to m odern standards, but it was better than it seems to contem porary eyes. T h e am ount of the pension was not so small in 1902, w hen four hundred dollars w ould purchase m uch more than in 1945, and a salary of one thousand dollars, w hich w ould be starvation wages for a teacher livin g in B rooklyn today, was considered then a rather good salary in a profession that has never been h igh ly paid. T h e tw o worst features of the plan, by any m odern actuarial standards, w ere that the recipient o f the pension was not required to contribute anything to the fund during her years o f teaching, and that there was no security in it, for the trustees did not feel able to com m it themselves to paying a pension for the rest of the pensioner’s life, as do all good contem porary annuity systems. H ow ever, it was a step in the right direction at a time w hen fe w private institutions had any system at all, and it led eventually to the adoption o f a m uch m ore adequate annuity plan in 1919.

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1883-1908 In spite o f their anxiety over the financial situation, the trustees were reluctant to raise the tuition, as they have been throughout the school’s w hole history— fortunately for Packer, because a low tuition is one of the chief factors contributing to the dem ocracy o f a school and to the excellence of the student body. H ig h fees exclude m any o f the more desirable students, and the m inute an institution becomes a school exclusively for the sons or daughters of the rich, its w hole nature is changed. So the trustees raised the tuition slowly.

A lth o u gh the Minutes of the Trustees and the reports o f D r. B ack­ us do not m ention it as a cause for fallin g registration, the panic of 1893 must have been partly responsible for the decrease in numbers.

H ow ever, it takes m ore than business panics to depress perm anently a school w ith the good business m anagem ent, vitality, and enduring qualities o f Packer. O ther factors contributed to the decreasing efficiency of the school. From the w inter o f 1904-05 until his death on M arch 25,1908, D r. Backus was in poor health. H e was gravely ill w ith pneum onia and absent from school from January to M ay, 1905, and a comm ittee of faculty was appointed to assist in the ad­ ministration o f the school. D r. Backus was given leave to go South during the early m onths of 1906, and from the opening o f school in 1907 till his death the next spring he adm inistered the school most of the time from his sick room. A lth o u gh the w hole staff did its very best, they sorely missed the inspiration o f D r. Backus, his vigor, vitality, and stim ulating qualities. T h e heart o f the school was sick and the w hole school declined in health. Certain changes w h ich D r.

Backus had been considering he was too ill to m ake, and the school again became som ewhat static.

D r. Backus had sent to the trustees his resignation, to take effect at the end of the year in w h ich he died. H e had discussed the choice of his successor w ith the board, and had suggested D r. E dw ard J. G oodw in, then Assistant State Com m issioner for Secondary E du­ cation, w ho was appointed president o f Packer in the spring of

12 ()

The O ld Merged into the N e w 1908, M r. E dm und K . A ld en , head of the history department, serv­ in g as acting president from A p ril through June. St. C lair M cK elw ay, in his speech at the unveiling of the m em orial to D r. Backus in the library of the Institute in N ovem ber, 1909, compared the tw o men in the fo llo w in g w o rd s: T h e re w as a likeness o f v ie w and an unlikeness o f tem peram ent be­ tw een them , m uch as the case is betw een T h eo d o re R oosevelt and W il­ liam H. T a ft. T h e re w as a oneness o f purpose and a difference of pace.

T h ere w as a un ity o f m ean in g and a contrariety o f m ethod. C oncurrence of purpose coincided w ith distinctly dissim ilar velocity of m ind .82

T h is golden, g lo w in g period of Packer w as punctuated at the be­ ginning, the m iddle, and the end by death. D r. Crittenden died in office in 1883 and the diplom as w ere tied w ith black ribbon that June. D r. Backus died in office in 1908 and the w hole school and m uch o f the city grieved. But D r. Crittenden w as replaced by Dr. Backus, and D r. Backus by D r. G oodw in , although of course no man w h o is thoroughly fine, able, and successful in his w o rk is ever com pletely replaced by another. But the loss w h ich the school suf­ fered in the m iddle of the period, on January 26, 1892, has never been m ade good, for Mrs. H arriet L . Packer, the Founder, has never been and can never be replaced. F or nearly forty years Packer had had the privilege of the influence and unflagging interest of Mrs. Packer. D r. Crittenden, D r. Backus, and the trustees valued her ideas and her advice, w hich she gave freely w hen it was sought, but w h ich she never obtruded. W h en her gracious, useful, dis­ tinguished life came suddenly to an end, the gaiety of Packer was dim m ed. T h e girls pinned little black bows on their dresses and the w hole school m ourned. O ne o f the most precious things in the build­ ing is the portrait bust o f Mrs. Packer.

By the m iddle of D r. Backus’ adm inistration, Packer had de­ veloped its perm anent policy and personality. A n article by M r.

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1 8 8 3 - ip o 8 A lden, Brooklyn Since th e War, w ritten in 1897, review ing the m any changes in the previous tw enty years, said : “ Brooklyn has its occasional phases of radicalism , but it is on the w hole a conservative p la ce; and our school in its w isely progressive conservatism is perhaps typical o f the forces of this city.” 33 O ne o f the traits w hich has helped Packer to survive for one h un ­ dred years, w here so m any excellent schools have perished, is its particular type of conservatism. Packer likes to call it progressive conservatism or sometimes conservative progressiveness. Some say that it is neither conservatism nor progressiveness, but liberalism. It is necessary to exam ine these terms w h ich m ean such different things on different lips.

W h a t do conservative and progressive m ean? Perhaps there is less tendency now to feel conservatism a term o f reproach than form erly. W asteful A m erica came, some tim e since, to see the value o f conserving its top soil, its forests, and its other natural resources.

T h e Second W o rld W ar aroused it to the necessity o f conserving its dem ocracy and its traditions. It is a truism to say that the value of conservatism depends upon w h at is being conserved and the value o f progressiveness on the goal tow ard w h ich one is progressing, but like m any truisms, it stands an infinite deal o f repeating. A pro­ gressive school, in the non-technical sense of the w ord, is one that keeps abreast of w hat is best in the times and environm ent. T h e aim of Packer has always been to develop fine character and efficient in­ telligence in its students. By developing efficient intelligence is m eant that Packer has not been only a school for the intellectual aristocracy, although it has done w ell by some members of it, but that it has always tried to meet the requirem ents o f the m ajority of those w h o wished to come to a school o f its kind. T h e trained w om an, w hether intellectual or not, wishes and needs to be intelli­ gent, and efficiently so.

In the hundred years w h ich have elapsed since the found ing of

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The O ld Merged into the N e w Packer, the ideals o f fem inine character and intelligence have changed. A s w om en have advanced towards equality w ith m en, the emphasis o f the school has changed from ladylike-ness, in the fine sense o f lady, to the more modern conception of w om anliness— from the effort to m ake its students fill w orthily the narrow sphere allotted to w om en in the Eighteen-Forties and Fifties and Sixties, to an effort to fit them to enter the larger sphere of citizens of the U nited States, and now that of citizens of the w orld, w ith all the w ider social, national, and international interests im plied in that term.

D r. Backus was responsible for the beginning o f this change of emphasis, away from ladylike-ness tow ard womanliness.

Packer had been a friendly and dem ocratic school from the very beginning of the B .F . A . U nder the impulse of Mrs. Packer’s ideal­ ism, dem ocratic standards became a part of the very foundation of the Institute. U nder D r. Crittenden its dem ocracy was o f a practical, efficient kind. T h e w arm , rich hum anity of D r. Backus colored the dem ocratic character of the school in his time.

A lth o u gh Packer did take on its perm anent character under D r.

Backus, and become a school that seems m odern compared w ith D r. Crittenden’s school, and although the old was m erged into the new , the period from 1883 to 1908 was very different from the m id­ dle Nineteen-H undreds. A n extrem ely individual epoch in the w orld, as w ell as in Packer, ended soon after the turn of the century.

T h e nineteenth century and Victorianism are no more.

Packer w ent on to prosperity, usefulness, and distinction equal to that of her first sixty-three years, but from 1908 on, the school and the city became m ore like the school and city of the present. A certain picturesqueness derived from the lapse of time, like the blue haze on the hills that comes from distance, vanished, and w ith D r.

G oodw in and 1908 came m odern times.

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THE

S T A IR S L E A D IN G TO T H E C H A P E L

VII A Changing World 1908-1918

T

he early

decades of the twentieth century w ere years of great

changes throughout the civilized w orld, but there were m ore

changes in A m erica than in any other country. T h e frontier was no more, and A m erica was no longer a nation of pioneers. In this

period the transform ation of the U nited States from a m ainly agri­ cultural country to one m ainly industrial w as completed. T h e Spanish-Am erican W a r had had one good result: it had m ade A m erica more conscious of the rest of the w orld, and the First W o rld W ar, occurring during the last four years o f D r. G o od w in â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s term, carried still further this education in internationalism.

>33

A Changing World T h e railroads were being extended and im proved, and the A m eri­ can public was extrem ely mobile. In 1910 over one-fifth of the people w ere not livin g in the states in w h ich they had been born.

C ity dwellers, even if they rem ained in the city of their birth, w ere constandy m oving from house to house. It was unusual to find in a Packer class of tw enty girls m ore than three or four w ho w ere liv­ in g in the house in w h ich they w ere born, and even m ore unusual to find one w h o was livin g in the house in w hich her father w as born. A lw a ys resdess, the A m erican public took to the road in droves as the autom obile cam e into general use, especially after 1908, w hen the first Ford appeared. T h en began the summer m igra­ tions to the country and the w eek end trips in the odd, h igh, uncom ­ fortable, w agon-like cars, bum ping along and frequently breaking springs, open to the w in d and dust w hich swirled up from roads not yet adapted to the new vehicles. Motorists w ere swathed in dusters (linen or crash coats) to protect their clothes from dust and w om en wore lon g autom obile veils to keep on their broad-brimmed hats. T h e cars w ere not equal yet to transcontinental trips, and the East, up to the tim e of the G reat W ar, was unaware o f the rest of the country, especially of the W est. M any m ore Packer faculty and students had been to Europe than to the Rockies or to California.

It was a period o f reform . In 1917 cam e w artim e prohibition and in 1918 was passed the eighteenth am endm ent, com m itting the nation to “ perm anent” prohibition, although it proved to be less permanent than peace. Prohibition m ade at least a surface im prove­ m ent in Brooklyn, w hich had had four thousand saloons, one for every sixty men between the ages o f sixteen and sixty-five.

Science and popular interest in science w ere advancing rapidly, affecting daily life through inventions, and liberalizing intellectual life, especially religion. A m erica w as still a religious nation, having almost h alf of the Sunday School students in the w hole w orld. Most

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1908-1918 o f the Packer girls attended church and Sunday School and took part in church activities.

Both m en and w om en became m ore aware o f injustices and in­ equalities in the social and econom ic order, and the term, social conscience, first came into general use between 1900 and 1910. T h e sociological novel by both E nglish and A m erican w riters began to be popular (and courses in sociology and economics to be given in colleges). Indeed, the changes goin g on in ideas w ere now here more evident than in literature, w h ich showed the effects both of an in­ creasing internationalism and an increasing nationalism . A m ericans w ere reading European writers and seeing European plays in some of the experim ental theatres in N e w Y o rk . A m erican writers ceased to im itate the E nglish and the French and began to produce studies of A m erican life. M any o f these contem porary writers, both A m eri­ can and foreign, w ere introduced into the class room by w ay o f the supplem entary reading list.

A lth o u gh the poetical renascence developed more rapidly after the First W o rld W ar, it w as begin ning in the second decade o f the century. It was a momentous occasion in a Packer E nglish class, w hen in the m idst o f a recitation w here all w ere agreed that the m achine had killed poetry forever, one youn g intellectual explorer arose and proclaim ed that w e w ere on the threshold of a new poeti­ cal era— to the astonishment and delight of her teacher. Free verse and other unconventional rhythm s w ere denounced by the young conservatives in Packer, as by the older conservatives elsewhere.

Perhaps the m achine— at any rate the autom obile and the m otion picture— had a greater effect on A m erica than literature, for they changed the nature o f A m erican amusements. T h e nickelodeon rapidly developed into the silent m ovie o f several reels, in 1928 to give w ay to the talk in g m oving picture. In 1915 there w ere tw o hundred m otion picture theatres in Brooklyn, and Packer girls helped fill them , although the faculty, for the most part, scorned

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A Changing World them. W h en D r. G oodw in , late in his term, because o f the subway crush between eight-forty-five and nine-fifteen, suggested that school begin at nine-thirty instead o f at nine and close at two-thirty instead o f at two, the greatest objection on the part o f the students was that the two-thirty closing w ould m ake them late to the movies.

T h e suggestion was turned dow n by the trustees, not for that reason, however.

Packer girls did not g o m uch to the theatre then, although there were five theatres in B rooklyn presenting legitim ate drama, m ostly by road companies g iv in g N e w Y o r k successes, and the trip to Tim es Square after the opening of the Seventh A ven ue subway was an easy one. T h a t they did not attend the legitim ate theatre was not so m uch to be regretted, for the N e w Y o rk stage w as very d if­ ferent from w hat it was later or had been earlier. T h e “ tired business m an” point of view prevailed. T h e serious dram a was seldom a success and the N e w Y o rk and B rooklyn theatres w ere occupied mostly by musical comedies, none too good, or by m eaningless sentimental dramas.

T h a t the girls attended the movies so frequently was a cause for regret, and the faculty struggled against the habit, albeit rather un­ successfully. If the faculty had inform ed themselves on the subject and discussed the good movies in class, as they did later, they m ight at least have helped the girls to select, but m erely the pedagogical frow n was a very slight deterrent from the easy, inexpensive, novel, and glam orous entertainment. Th ere w ere some pictures of fine aesthetic value, and a fe w great actors to be seen, but m ovie acting in general was crude and over-emphasized and the m ajority of the performers were handsome automatons controlled entirely by the directors. Social conscience was u nkn ow n in H ollyw ood. Senti­ mental, brom idic, em pty romances w ere the pictures most fre­ quented by schoolgirls, especially the younger girls, and gave them the same false ideas of life as the trashy stories in the cheap m aga­

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1908-1918 zines. T h e im provem ent in quality both of script and acting in m oving pictures o f later years has been of great im portance to youth, especially in the large cities w here selection is possible.

Th ere w ere m any opportunities to hear good m usic both in Brooklyn and M anhattan, and to a young teacher, delighted to have a position in a large city w here such things w ere inexpensive and accessible, the infrequency o f attendance o f the Packer students at concerts and opera was surprising. Indeed, w hen D r. G ood w in came to Packer, the average student m ade very little cultural use o f the great city in w hich she lived. T h e vast im provem ent in this respect in D r. G o o d w in â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and later administrations was due partly to a change in the times, and partly to the grow th o f three departments in the school, tw o o f w hich began to develop between 1908 and 1918, the history o f art and the m usic departments. Miss M arguerite Bourdon, teacher of the history of art, began the custom o f posting art exhibits and other interesting events on the bulletin board in the m ain hall. C olorful posters m ade in the studio attracted atten­ tion, and gradually the school became aware o f the opportunities of Manhattan.

T h e M anhattan Bridge opened to traffic on D ecem ber 31, 1909, and tw o m ore subway lines, the Seventh A ven ue and the B rooklyn M anhattan Transfer Com pany, better kn o w n as the B .M .T ., opened in 1919 and 1920 respectively, m ade M anhattan easily accessible. T h e H eights continued to lose its residential character, and m any fine old homes w ere made into apartm ent or lo d gin g houses. There w ere still little streets, like G race C ourt and M iddagh Street on the H eights, that w ere quaint and charm ing reminiscences of the past, but most of old B rooklyn had disappeared by 1908 and still more of it by 1918. B rooklyn was no longer a city o f homes w here one kn ew oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s neighbors on the block. T h ere w ere no longer open fields and grassy paths, and Packer girls w ere leading the lives of the young in a congested m odern city, w ith little chance for exercise

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A Changing World or play except on the streets or in tiny back yards. A m erican girls and w om en w ere still lacking in vigor and robust health. H ow ells wrote of his heroine in A Sleep and a Forgetting, a short story pub­ lished in 1907, “ If she did not look very w ell, she did not differ from most other A m erican w om en in that.”

By 1908 B rooklyn had taken on its m odern appearance, w ith all the principal streets paved, and apartments goin g up rapidly. It had always been an irregular city w ith streets running every w hich w ay, and in its grow th it did not become more regular except in sections like Flatbush. L ife in a m odern city made the developm ent of the gym nasium and athletic activities imperative for both boys and girls.

In this chan ging w orld educational theories w ere also changing rapidly. Schools for teachers w ere being established in greater nu m ­ bers than heretofore and educational courses w ere appearing, though slow ly, in colleges and graduate schools. G erm an pedagogy for tw enty years had been influencing A m erican education. D r.

G oodw in had gone abroad in 1895 to study the Prussian and Italian school systems, and showed evidences of the influence of Johann Friedrich H erbart (177 6 -18 4 1), whose theories affected A m erican schools from 1889 to 1901 and w ere almost universally adopted in G erm any before that. H erbart em phasized intellectual develop­ m ent as the surest w ay o f form in g character, and the appeal to the interests and aptitudes o f pupils as a basis for arranging the cur­ riculum , rather than the disciplinary value of subjects. D r. G ood­ w in showed this tendency aw ay from disciplinary subjects in his report to the trustees in 1909 that he approved o f rem oving Latin from the requirements for a diplom a; he refrained from recom ­ m ending its omission on account o f the opposition of m any of his faculty. H ow ever, he did reduce the requirem ent for graduation from four years of L atin to two.

D r. G . Stanley H all (1844-1934) had made considerable impres­ 138

1908-1918 sion on A m erican educational thought w ith his studies of child and adolescent psychology, the latter especially brin ging about the organization o f the junior h igh school. D r. G o o d w in showed D r.

H a ll’s influence in his reorganization of the elem entary school at Packer. John D ew ey too (born in 1859) was beginning to excite com m ent by his theories. D r. G oodw in , w hile perhaps not directly influenced by D ew ey and certainly disagreeing w ith m any o f the D ew ey doctrines, obviously believed in some o f D ew ey’s funda­ mental theories, particularly that education w as an end in itself and a process o f actual livin g here and now , and that the m odvation of study or o f any kind of child activity must not be only interest, but the particular kin d o f interest that rises from the connection o f the study or activity w ith the ch ild’s daily life. T h e project method is rooted in this last theory, and although of course it has been used by teachers for generations, it was m uch m ore em phasized in the twentieth century. W h ile Packer did not, under D r. G oodw in or any other president, teach entirely by the project m ethod, as do some o f the Progressive Schools (progressive in the technical sense), the project has been m ore em phasized during the last forty years in Packer as in all good schools.

A few examples w ill serve for illustration of the m ethod under D r. G oodw in. W h en the senior lunch room w as redecorated in 1911, D r. G oodw in had the seniors w o rk out the scheme for decora­ tion. In 1915 the prim ary grades w ere furnishing a house from ground to attic, one grade taking the kitchen, another the bed rooms, etc. T h e school carpenter had m ade a small m odel o f a house and the children made the furniture, utensils, and decorations from w ood, cardboard, paper, and m etal, w ith some help from the art department w ith the m ore difficult objects. T h e chem istry classes w orked on projects such as testing the purity o f the air in different places in Packer, in the streets and subways, and w hen liquid soap was put into the washrooms, the chem istry classes tested m any

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A Changing World kinds in the laboratory. T h e E nglish classes got out little new s­ papers and edited some of their texts.

A ll these changes in thought, education, and customs w ere re­ flected during D r. G o o d w in ’s adm inistration by parents and alum ­ nae as w ell as by students, in the dem and for m ore science, for greater conform ity o f Packer’s collegiate departm ent w ith colleges for w om en, and in the prevalence in “ T h e Packer A lu m n a ” of articles on social m ovements. In Packer itself these tendencies w ere reflected in the form ation o f a social study club, in m ore volunteer social w o rk by the older students, in lectures by outside speakers and debates and papers by the students on social and economic subjects.

T h e faculty showed the influence of the times in m akin g a closer connection between the students’ environm ent and their w o rk in the class room, in p utting contem porary literature, inclu ding news­ papers and periodicals, on the supplem entary reading list in the higher grades, in assigning topics on different B rooklyn and N ew Y o rk neighborhoods and activities, and particularly in tryin g to get the older girls acquainted w ith the opportunities o f N e w Y o rk.

There was an attempt at greater realism in the stories in the school m agazine (w h ich reflected the composition w o rk ) and the girls were taken on after-school trips in connection w ith their w ork.

T h e chemistry classes visited sugar refineries, factories, bakeries, S w ift and C om p any; the sociology classes visited the Juvenile and N aturalization courts, and the history o f art classes visited museums and art exhibits.

O ne of the most noticeable changes in these ten years was that in the faculty. D r. G o o d w in ’s admirers w ere accustomed to say that he blew through Packer like a fresh breeze, w hile his critics compared him to a hurricane. W hether breeze or hurricane, he certainly blew m any teachers out and m any in. Between 1908 and 1918 over forty teachers left, although the staff rem ained almost the same in num-

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i p o 8 - 1918 ber, fifty-six in 1908 and fifty-seven in 1918. Some of these depar­ tures were due to voluntary retirem ent o f teachers w h o had taught lon g years, and m any w ere due to the opportunity to obtain better salaries elsewhere, but an unusually large num ber was due to teachers’ not being able to adjust themselves to D r. G ood w in ’s ideas or to his considering them inadequate, including some o f his ow n appointees, although in general D r. G oodw in , like D r. Backus, had a flair for sizing up a candidate correctly, and most of his ap­ pointments w ere good. But nearly h a lf o f the faculty w hom he inherited remained and enjoyed D r. G o o d w in ’s esteem and appro­ bation. H is term was short and m any of the staff w h o w ere there w hen he came rem ained to teach under D r. D enbigh, his successor.

O ne of the outstanding members o f the staff, Miss M aud N elson, was appointed by D r. Backus and rem ained to serve under D r.

D enbigh. She rose to her fu ll stature under D r. G oodw in , partly because she w as g ro w in g in m aturity and experience, and partly because D r. G oodw in gave her m ore pow er, prestige, and responsi­ bility. H e m ade her supervisor of the elem entary school, and as tim e w ent on he came to consult her in all matters of im portance in the w hole school. U nder D r. Backus she w as listed in the catalogue as Principal’s Assistant and Secretary o f the Institute. U nder D r.

G oodw in she w as listed from 1910 to 1917 as Secretary o f the Insti­ tute, but in the catalogue of 1918 she was listed as Assistant to the Principal, as a w ay of doing her honor. T h is history o f her title makes one w onder afresh w h a t’s in a nam e. Miss N elson was also consulted and h igh ly valued by D r. D enbigh.

A nother o f the outstanding people in Packer’s history retired in 1917 after a service o f thirty-one years, Miss Julia B. A n th on y (w rit­ ten up in the Supplem ent), m uch beloved by students, alumnae, and staff, including D r. G oodw in.

T h e times (1908-1918) w ere th rillin g and D r. G oodw in , in spite of his age— for he w as sixty w hen he cam e to P acker— was as

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A Changing World thrilling as the times. Born in Sanford, M aine, M ay 6,1848, the son o f a country clergym an, he graduated from Bates C ollege in M aine and did graduate w o rk in science at H arvard. H e w as principal of tw o schools in N e w H am pshire, at Portsm outh and N ashua, and of the N ew ton H ig h School in Massachusetts, w here he stayed ten years. From there he was called to N e w Y o r k to organize the new M orris H ig h School in the Bronx, one of three m en outside o f the city from all the schoolmen of the country to start the new high school system, and he q uickly became the acknow ledged leader in all matters of h igh school adm inistration. H is A lm a M ater, Bates, had recognized his conspicuous w o rk in the field of secondary edu­ cation by m ak in g him a doctor of letters in 1895: A m herst follow ed in 1905. In 1904 he left the M orris H ig h School to become Assistant Com m issioner for Secondary Education for the State of N e w Y o rk.

H e effected a far-reaching reorganization o f the public school system o f the state, revised the h igh school syllabus, and was responsible for a m uch im proved system of state examinations. D r. D enbigh wrote, “ Probably no m an w ith the exception of D r. N icholas M urray Butler had more to do than D r. G oodw in w ith the inception of the m uch needed C ollege Entrance Board.” 1 H e m arried Miss Ida N ute o f Farm ington, N e w Ham pshire, w hen he was very young and had slight prospects o f supporting a w ife, and her fam ily doubted if he w ould ever am ount to anything.

H e had tw o sons, D r. N orm an G oodw in , w h o died in 1935, and E dw ard N . G oodw in , still living. H e had a happy fam ily life, like all the other presidents o f Packer, and was devoted to his tw o sons, and to his grandchildren. H e resigned his position at Packer in 1918 at the age o f seventy, w hile, as he put it, he “ still k n ew enough to resign,” and died on A p ril 19, 1931.

T h e portrait at Packer, painted by Eleanor Bannister, does not give the dynam ic force and virile vigor o f the m an — probably no portrait could. H e was tall and large of fram e, not thin but w ith no

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DR. EDWARD J . GOODWIN P resid e n t o f th e P a ck e r C o lle g ia te In stitu te, 190 8 -19 18

THE

CLASS

OF

I9 IO

1908-1918 excess of flesh, erect, w ith a high forehead made noticeable by partial baldness, clean shaven, w ith an unusually strong and determ ined m outh and chin. H is eyes w ere of a keen and piercing blue, very direct and set w ell back under rather bushy eyebrows. H is m ove­ ments w ere quick and vigorous and his w hole m anner decisive and emphatic. H is voice, like the rest o f him , w as strong and free.

Earlier in life his enunciation had been im peded by a stiff upper lip, w hich is as great a hindrance in speech as it is a help in be­ haviour, and he had taken lessons in the use of his voice. H e had overcome his difficulty com pletely and his utterance was free and resonant.

W h en he laughed, he threw back his head, or, if standing, he often doubled over, expressing amusement w ith his w hole body, as if it came from the innermost core o f his being. H e never spoke standing still, but m oved about on the platform . H is gestures w ere a part of h im : a frequent and effective one was an em phatic shaking of the forefinger. D r. G oodw in, lik e W alter Scott’s classmate w h o could not recite w ithout fingering his coat button, perhaps w ould have been silenced if his hands and feet had been tied.

H e was not an urbane m an, like D r. Backus and D r. D enbigh, but his lack of urbanity did not come from crudeness or lack of kindness and breeding. H e was too m uch in earnest, too intent on the question in hand to waste time on w hat seemed to him unes­ sential conventionalities. H e was, in the finest sense of the w ord, a courteous man. A lth o u gh he liked people and sociability, he dis­ liked society. H e was not a club man. H e had the kind of confidence and lack of self-consciousness, the sort o f reserve pow er in his m an­ ner that characterize the head o f a great business, and he w ould have been successful in any field that he entered, particularly law .

Indeed, he had very distinctly some of the qualities that distinguish the legal m ind. H e did not care greatly for m oney, prestige, or pow er as such. W ith all his self-confidence, he was modest, so

>43

A Changing World modest that he was rather ungracious in his embarrassment over a com plim ent. “ T h e B rooklyn E agle” in an obituary notice said that his only enthusiasm was his life w ork. It w ould be m ore accurate to say that he was enthusiastic about everything that he was inter­ ested in at all.

H e was a rem arkably w ell, strong, active man, and was seldom, if ever, absent from school because of illness. W h en he lived w ith his son N orm an in Jamaica, he used to w alk to school every m orn­ in g from the A tlantic A venue station. T h e last spring he w as at Packer, w hen he was seventy, he w ould come springing up the front steps as vigorously as a man of thirty, his cheeks pink w ith exercise, his eyes clear and shining. T h e first few years of his term, w hen he lived on Livingston Street in the building later taken over for the nursery school and kindergarten, he used to w alk to Brook­ lyn Bridge every afternoon and run across the bridge itself as far as the M anhattan towers. H e seldom seemed tired, and was able to put into practice his theory that at the end o f a class the students should be tired and the teacher fresh.

D r. G oodw in was a creative thinker and organizer, a builder, and he w ould not let sentiment or tradition or pity for an individual stand in the w ay o f his building, but he could be very kind. H e had the look of a m an ready to fight if necessary. H e did not seek a fig h t— he was not truculent or quarrelsome, but once in a battle for a good cause, he enjoyed it. A sentence in a newspaper article in M arch, 1908, said that the w o rk o f organizing the new M orris H igh School in N e w Y o rk C ity was interesting to him “ partly be­ cause there w ere no embarrassing traditions to cope w ith and partly because the hostility of the school people in the city was very pro­ nounced.” 2 H e had m any characteristics of the natives of the state o f M aine, a Y ankee force, shrewdness, and determ ination, although he had none of the Y an kee perversity and cynicism.

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/9 o 8 - 19 1 8 H e w as all of a piece, a perfectly developed m an w ith all his powers in play and he had the courage of a figh tin g reform er. H is interest was all in his job at Packer. H e w ould not accept invitations to dinner: some o f the parents w ere annoyed at him for refusing.

H e w ould not join the H am ilton C lub. H e w ould not be a director on boards of institutions in w hich he was not interested. M r. E d­ w ard G oodw in writes that his father did not sit on boards of direc­ tors, partly because he did not like to, and partly because he thought them in general rather ineffective.3 H e w ould not m ake speeches here, there, and everywhere. H e was president o f P acker— his job was education. T h e organizations he belonged to w ere educational organizations, such as the C ollege Entrance Board, the N e w Y o rk State Exam ination Board, the Association o f Colleges and Second­ ary Schools o f the M iddle States, and the Headmasters Association o f w hich he was vice-president in 1898 and 1901, and president in 1917.

T h e speeches he m ade w ere before groups w h o w ere interested in the things in w h ich he w as interested. T h e rest of his time he spent in reading and w alk in g or w ith his friends and fam ily. H e was not a church m ember, although in B rooklyn he took sittings in the First Presbyterian C hurch. H is father was a clergym an o f the “ Christian” denom ination, uneducated except in the Bible, and he reared his children very strictly.

M any people think it essential for the good of the school that the head of Packer be active in other aspects o f B rooklyn life. D r. G ood­ w in was criticized for his aloofness. But he stuck to his convictions, and devoted all his tim e and energy to being the president of Packer.

H e did not even regard it as necessary that he attend all the social events at school, and he seldom cam e to evening functions.

Dr. G o o d w in ’s complete candor and force o f expression and the original and speculative character o f his m ind m ade him very stimulating, both socially and professionally. H e frequently was

H5

A Changing World surprising and always unschoolmasterish. H e w as often to be found in the m ain hall or strolling in other parts o f the building: he was unusually accessible for the president of a large school.

In bad weather w hen attendance was small, he w ould congratu­ late the students w h o had braved the storm, calling them V ik in g s and enlarging on their heroic qualities to his ow n amusement and theirs. Chapel services w ere never perfunctory or stereotyped w hen D r. G oodw in had charge. H e always selected a short passage from the Scriptures and read it so beautifully and dram atically that every­ one listened. A favorite passage w ith him w as from Proverbs 4: 5 -7 : “ G et wisdom , get understanding, forget it n o t . . . W isdom is the principal thing: therefore get w isdom : and w ith all thy getting, get understanding.”

O ne remembers him on his feet on the chapel platform , looking over the audience alertly and brightly as if it w ere his very first day there. M ost o f his talks to the school w ere, or seemed to be, extem pore and were not very long, and few m ornings passed w ith ­ out some am using or invigorating com m ent from D r. G oodw in.

H e convinced the girls that it w ould be fu n to take the State Exam inations, w hich had been given up some tim e in the past, to test themselves by an outside standard. H e did not “ reverence” the Regents, as D r. Crittenden is said to have done, but he heartily believed in them. “ Y o u m ay fail,” he w ould say, “ I hope you w ill fail som ething sometime. Everybody ought to fail som ething once. But it is great fun to test yourselves, to see w h at you can do in a given time. It is an adventure.” H e w ould come into the exam ination room before the exam ination began, looking so joyous that even the most tim id girl was cheered. H e w ould perm it no cram m ing and no review : there w ere no after-school classes or trial Regents in his time. T h e girls had everything to gain and nothing to lose by taking the examinations. Promotions w ere m ade and m arks recorded before the official results o f the examinations w ere returned from 146

1908-1918 A lbany, and if a girl had passed her class w ork, but failed in the Regents, it m ade no difference in her school record. But if she had failed in her class w o rk and m anaged to pass the State E xam ina­ tions, as sometimes happened, her school m ark w as revised upw ard, and she was credited w ith the Packer course in w hich she had failed.

T h e examinations w ere optional and confined to the tw o highest academic grades in most subjects. But from fifty to seventy per cent of the students eligible took the exam inations and the school’s record was good, considerably higher than the average for the state as a whole.

D r. G oodw in did not allow class quizzes to be announced before­ hand. H is theory of examinations was that they w ere a test o f pow er and resourcefulness, and that most of the benefit was lost if they were prepared for. But o w in g to the tendency of teachers to give reviews and quizzes at the end o f the semi-quarter, the girls gener­ ally had a shrewd notion w hen the tests w ere com ing. T h e collegiate teachers felt strongly that the Packer collegiate school should fo l­ low the procedure of the colleges and give semestrals, suspending classes, as was done later. But Dr. G oodw in was unalterably opposed.

“Form al semestral examinations w ill be given in this school over m y dead body,” he said, and the fact that the collegiate faculty dis­ agreed unanim ously w ith him on this subject affected him not at all. N either did the custom o f the colleges. H e thought the colleges poor pedagogically in m any respects and had no intention o f fo l­ low in g w hat he considered their m istaken practices. M r. Edw ard G oodw in writes that his father’s opinion of the com m on sense of the average college professor was very low , and that he once was able to alter considerably a set of exam ination questions, w hen he was serving on the C ollege Entrance Board, by insisting that the pro­ fessor w ho had submitted the questions should answer them h im ­ self in the time allowed. T h e professor could not do it.* D r. G oodw in was skillful in han dlin g certain cases of discipline

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A Changing World am ong the girls. O ne som ewhat arrogant, supercilious miss, w ith an excellent opinion o f her ow n brains and motives, had been sent to him for some offense. She had out-argued her prefect, but D r.

G oodw in im m ediately cornered her. “ There are only tw o possible explanations,” he said em phatically; “ you did this either because you did not kn ow any better or you did it to be mean. W h ich was it ?”

A nother rather difficult case— a bright, rebellious, defiant, hottempered girl, lawless in big and little things— was the despair of everyone. D r. G oodw in sent w ord for her to see him before she at­ tended classes. O n her arrival she was told to sit on the settee in the m ain office until D r. G oodw in saw her. T h e president’s office was then the small room opening out o f the m ain office, now used by the secretary, and she and D r. G oodw in w ere not m any feet apart, but he paid no attention to her; neither did anyone else except to see that she had some lunch. A t three o’clock she w as told to go hom e and to return the next m orning to the office. T h e second day w ent by like the first, and w hen D r. G oodw in finally saw her on the m orning of the third day, all the figh t had gone out of her.

D r. G oodw in used frequently to drop in on classes, not as if he were visiting, but as if he w ere passing and could not resist com ing in, as probably was often the case. H e always resolved to sit quietly in the back of the room and be an observer, and hardly ever m anaged to keep to his resolve— never if the teacher kn ew anything about him , for it was very easy to give a little twist to the recitation w hich he w as unable to resist. It w ould have been a pity if he had, for he was extraordinarily skillful in questioning a student, and his m eth­ ods were illum inating to a young teacher. H is object was always the sam e— to see if the girls had really thought about the subject in hand. H e was very provocative and challenging for both girls and teachers w h o accepted ideas too readily. T h e teacher did not always succeed in covering the ground she had planned to in the

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1908-1918 classes visited by D r. G oodw in , but both she and her class were likely to be refreshed and stim ulated— the class always, although teachers of a certain tem peram ent w ere upset by him .

W hatever he did, he did w ith zest. Miss D un lap told of encoun­ tering him at a news stand, absorbed in reading a speech of Presi­ dent W ilso n ’s. H e looked up, his face aglow , and pointed to w hat he was reading. “ W in ged words,” he said, “ W in ged w ord s!” H e was enthusiastic over everything he liked, books, political moves that he approved, people, his garden and his farm in M aine and everything about nature and country life. For m any years T h oreau ’s Walden was his bedside book. H e thoroughly enjoyed the custom of afternoon tea for the faculty at Packer, and never missed goin g dow n if he could possibly help it. A s D r. D enbigh w rote, “ C on ­ versation was on a higher plane w hen he took part in it.” 5 A great m any o f the faculty w ent to tea just to hear the conversation stim u­ lated by him . H e was som ething of a heckler and one often had to defend one’s convictions stoutly. Sometimes a vigorous “ dam n” or “ devil” w ould pollute the faculty lunch room w hen he became especially emphatic.

D r. G oodw in, during the first fe w years of his term w hen he was m ak in g m any changes, was not extrem ely popular w ith his teachers, although the students liked him . But the last five years he w as m uch beloved. H e did not realize this until just before he left. D eep dow n w ithin him he was sensitive and shy and lon ely— so deep dow n that most people never realized that he possessed any o f these quali­ ties. H e used to say— and believe— that teachers never liked their principals, that it could not be helped, and that one just had to m ake up one’s m ind to it. President Eliot of H arvard, w hom D r.

G oodw in greatly adm ired and w ith w hom he had m uch in com ­ mon, once said w hen asked to nam e the quality most essential to a college president, “ T h e capacity to give pain.” 6 D r. G oodw in w ould have agreed w ith that.

H9

A Changing World D r. G oodw in had some m inor foibles, am using, lovable, some­ times exasperating. In the spring he w ou ld hanker for his place in M aine and it w as his custom to take a w eek in M ay, go to Maine, plant his garden, and w rite his com m encem ent speech— one o f the speeches he dreaded but had to m ake. W hether it w as due to w eari­ ness— although he never seemed w eary— or to his eagerness or to both, for the tw o w eeks preceding his departure, D r. G ood w in w ould go on the ram page. T h en it was that the faculty was prodded if it needed prodding, and sometimes w h en it did not need it. D r.

G oodw in w ith fire in his eye roam ed the building, discovering omis­ sions and commissions, generally w ith an explosion. O ne year the trouble was w ith the temperature of the class rooms. A room had been found w ay above or w ay below 68°. O ne could accomplish very little during this period except to w atch the thermom eter — generally in a dark and inaccessible corner— m om entarily ex­ pecting D r. G o o d w in ’s grey head to pop in at the door. O n such occasions the harassed faculty w ould breathe a sigh of relief w hen the time cam e for his departure. T h e w eek over, back he w ould come in the balmiest o f moods, the garden planted, the dreaded com m encem ent speech written. H e was glad to see the school: the school was glad to see him , and all was harm ony again, and every­ one, including D r. G oodw in , relapsed into a happy forgetfulness o f the thermometer.

D r. G oodw in distrusted emotion, although his w hole character and career w ere based on deep, abiding emotions. H is convictions were form ed and held w ith his reason and intelligence, but their fervor attested their emotional coloring. H e was continually cau­ tioning his faculty not to let feeling play too large a part in teaching and he never let an emotional appeal be m ade to the girls if he could help it, no matter h ow w orthy the cause. H e was alw ays fear­ ful of the girls being exploited and he allow ed very few appeals o f any kind to be m ade for money, service, or interest, believing that

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i p o 8 - ipi8 that sort of thing should be done through the hom e and church, rather than through the school.

It is impossible to separate his professional personality and ideas from his private personality and ideas, because all of him functioned in everything he did, said, thought, and felt.

W h en he cam e to Packer, he had certain trends o f thought in educational matters w h ich developed, especially through the w ar years, into a definite conviction that m ore useful subjects should be taught in all schools, including Packer. H e said once that the college entrance requirem ents and the college curriculum favored the linguistic-m inded boy and girl, and ignored both the scientific and practical-minded. H ow ever, he was never an advocate of strictly vocational training. T h e useful courses should always, in his opinion, be broader than the usual vocational courses. A n article of his, printed in “ T h e A lu m n a,” show ing the h igh ly philosophical char­ acter o f his thinking, dealt w ith culture w hich , he said, was the ultimate aim of Packer.

In this article he charged that the methods of the schools w ere too frequently “ antagonistic to the spirit o f independent inquiry,” citing especially the teaching of foreign languages, and he advo­ cated encouraging students, especially in such subjects as literature and history, “ to exercise the critical spirit and to accept conclusions only w hen they are consciously based upon adequate kn ow ledge.”

H e w ent on to say that reasoning has its limitations and that im ag­ ination “ transcends in value all the form al reasoning of the logicians and scientists.” T h e m en and w om en w h o have it are “ the largehearted, whole-souled people w h o refuse to fuss and fum e over petty things. . . . [The school] must establish in the g irl’s m ind a real and perm anent interest in literature or in the great events o f history or in the social problems o f her generation. Large-m indedness can come only from the contem plation of large subjects,” and he hoped that “ if our girls once acquire a perm anent and critical interest in

A Changing World these great questions. . . they m ay be rescued from the prison house of petty things.’”

T h e war, w ith its revelation o f both individuals and society, af­ fected him profoundly. G irls had come to him , he said, and asked w hat they could do to help in the w ar situation: he asked, “ C an you do secretarial w o rk ? drive a car ? or do you understand wireless telegraphy?” T h e y said, “ N o .” H e thought that courses in some of these things should be added to curricula, and gave a reason for rew riting his educational philosophy in his farew ell address to the alumnae in 1918: W e w ere a political dem ocracy, b u t in our m ilitan t m ind w e are fast b ecom in g an econom ic dem ocracy. If w e d o becom e an econom ic dem oc­ racy and get to o rg a n izin g for the com m on good, w e shall never g o back to the ind ivid u alistic conditions that prevailed before the w ar.

D r. G o o d w in ’s efforts, backed by some o f the alumnae, faculty and students, to have put into the curriculum courses in nutrition and in secretarial w o rk are interesting. F or six years he tried to con­ vince the trustees of the advantages of the latter, until in M ay, 1918, the board finally settled the matter by refusing a petition from the visiting comm ittee of the alumnae. T h e trustees and some of the alumnae felt that a secretarial course did not belong in Packer, w hich they preferred to keep a purely cultural school.

T h e question of a secretarial course was not raised again for m any years. D r. D enbigh shared the views of the board on this subject.

D r. G oodw in was disappointed that his efforts in this direction did not succeed. H e had a practical as w ell as an educational reason for his belief in the advisability of the course, for each year Packer lost a considerable num ber of students to secretarial schools. H is sug­ gestion o f a course in nutrition fared better, for in January, 1916, Mrs. M ay Schieren M athews, Packer ’96, offered to equip room 401 as a chemistry laboratory for the course. A lth ou gh rather lukew arm

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1 9 0 8 - 1918 about the project, the board accepted her offer, and the course in nutrition has been popular ever since.

D r. G oo d w in has been compared to President E liot o f H arvard.

It is said that D r. G oodw in did som ewhat the same thing for Packer that E liot did for H arvard. T h e y w ere alike in their belief in the value o f science, in a larger num ber of electives, in tryin g to discover the aptitudes o f students and to encourage them to follow these aptitudes. D r. G oodw in w as fond o f quoting the dictum of D r.

A rn old of R ugby, also a favorite quotation of E liot’s, that “ a m an was no longer fitted to be headmaster . . . w hen he could not come up the steps tw o at a tim e,” but D r. G o od w in extended the saying to apply to all of the staff. D r. G o o d w in could do this at the age of seventy, and D r. Eliot could do it at the age o f seventy-four. T re ­ mendous physical vigor as w ell as intellectual vigor characterized both men.

T h ey w ere alike too in a com bination of shyness and self-con­ fidence, in a certain realization of the tragic im plications o f the things they w ere com pelled to do, both in the effect on themselves and on others. T h e y were both fighters and yet each yearned at times for the relation to others that is secured only by m en o f peace.

D r. D enbigh w rote o f D r. G o od w in that “he w as a great m aker and m oulder of teachers.” 8W h en D r. G oodw in cam e to the M orris H igh , he believed in “ seasoned” teachers, as D r. D enbigh delicately put it, and his staff was a m iddle-aged one. But by the tim e he came to Packer, he believed in young ones, and he took great pains w ith them. W h en a pension system was being considered by the faculty just before he retired, he insisted that the average w om an teacher “ crystallized” at fifty-five, and that accordingly fifty-five should be the retiring age. So m uch did he impress his staff, that all had their annuity policies m ature at fifty-five, although a pension system was not established until after D r. D enbigh came, and he said nothing about crystallization.

153

A Changing World Miss N elson’s letter, read at the m em orial service in M ay, 1932, testified to D r. G o o d w in ’s ability in developing latent powers in individuals: E xtraordin ary w as his facu lty fo r reco gn izin g latent abilities in both teachers and students, and his sim ple b u t m ost effective w a y o f starting these people tow ard the developm ent and use of pow ers o f w h ich they had before been un aw are. O fte n he refrained from d oin g the th in gs w h ich he could m uch m ore easily have done him self in order that som eone on his staff m igh t profit by the larger experience offered.

A n unsigned article in “ T h e A lu m n a ” for June, 1918, sums up the change in the attitude and spirit o f the faculty under D r. G ood­ w in : A t D r. G o o d w in ’s com in g to P acker, the teachers, lik e the courses, pre­ sented . . . a solar system o f brillian t personalities, stars d ifferin g in glo ry, stars influential in the lives of the students and o f each other, but in d iv id ­ ualistic stars. T o d a y the teachers . . . are m ore conspicuously cooperative in all m atters, w hether academ ic, disciplinary, or social. T h e in d iv id u a l­ istic find double opportunities for service under the com m an d o f a captain brillian tly ind ivid u alistic him self, but trained b y experience for social action.

Miss D unlap at the m em orial service gave a most revealing characterization of D r. G oodw in. She, perhaps, of all the faculty, kn ew him best. Intellectually and professionally he had made her w hat she was. H e found her doing clerical w o rk and taking charge o f the bookstore, conscientiously and ably, but not quite happily.

H e recognized her calibre and potentialities; he helped her to get her B.S. degree and gave her a position to teach sociology, eco­ nomics, and European history. She used to say that he was the most interesting m an she had ever met. She visited him as lon g as he lived, and always came away from a visit refreshed and invigorated, even w hen he was nearing the end o f his lon g life, ill, nearly blind,

'54

1908-1918 and saddened by fam ily troubles. In her speech she said that he was characterized by “frankness, sim plicity, dynam ic force; freshness and vitality and w arm th ; keen intellectual pow er; the generous g ift of him self in social contacts; unsparing criticism and praise; . . . confidence in the in d iv id u a l. . . and its untried powers.” “ Sometimes,” she said, “ this confidence expressed itself in a crystal clear candor w hich was disconcerting.” She spoke of his “ m agnanim ous spirit, his independent m in d; his q u ick sense of hum an w orth, his delight in talk and argum ent, his desire to shield the girls from exploitation and his delight in their increasing p ow ­ e r s ; . . . his joy too in earth and rain, in run ning and w alk in g , in the sea and salt w i n d ; . . . his delight in fine prose and the Bible’s meas­ ured poetry; his pride in hum an courage, his scorn of the smug, his intellectual zest and eagerness; . . . his vivid curiosity in w orld affairs and his w isdom in social matters.”

A n im patient m an by tem peram ent, realizin g that he had only ten years to achieve his aims (for w hen he came, he stipulated that he should stay for only ten years), he m ade changes rather abruptly, probably upsetting the faculty tem porarily more than any other president.

T h e question of failin g students was a sore point, but he succeeded in educating his teachers to the point of view that failures could in most cases be avoided. W h en he had come to Packer, he had found a bad situation. Som e of the faculty considered a long failure list a m ark o f good teaching; one departm ent had an average of fifty per cent o f failures in its first year classes, and D r. G ood w in found it necessary to take a firm stand. H e felt that the han dlin g of failures at Packer was to some extent responsible for the high degree of academic m ortality. In 1910 and 1911 sixty per cent o f the students left w ithout finishing the academic school,8 and D r. G oodw in was determ ined to rem edy this situation.

H e made m any changes in the curriculum , adding history and

*55

A Changing World mathematics courses, and in 1912 economics and sociology in the collegiate school. H e was particularly interested in science, and under him the department o f chem istry and physics was enlarged and several courses added, notably bacteriology, the chemistry of nutrition, and qualitative analysis. W ith the cooperation of Miss H elen G oodw in, director, this department became one of the strong­ est in Packer, achieving m arked success in fitting students for la­ boratory positions.

H e also reorganized the art department, rem odelled the studios on the fifth floor, and engaged as the head of the department M r.

G eorge Sperry, w h o made it one o f the best in the school. “ T h e Packer C urrent Items” described the art department in 1918 in these words: F ro m b eing a study set aside for a fe w girls w ith a sm all talent for d raw in g, it has becom e a course in w hich each g irl can find som e field for en joym ent and endeavor. Pottery, w eavin g, basketry, carpentry, jew elry m a k in g, com m ercial advertising, costum e designin g, and life w o rk , all have a sh o w in g w ith an opportunity for every g irl in the school to find w hat she is best fitted for.

In 1915 the annual spring exhibit w as instituted at the suggestion of the visiting comm ittee of the alumnae, featuring especially the w ork of the art department, although gradually all the departments came to be represented, and a play and gym nasium exhibit became annual events.

D r. G oodw in also increased the num ber o f majors, the subjects in w hich each girl had to do a certain am ount o f specialization, adding Germ an, French, science, and art to the list.

W ith an ever increasing num ber o f girls transferring from the Packer collegiate school to degree-granting colleges, D r. G oodw in started w hat D r. D enbigh completed, the m akin g of the methods and curriculum o f the collegiate school conform to those of the first

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1908-1918 tw o years of the leading w om en’s colleges. T h u s Packer graduates were accepted on certificate as juniors w ith no extra w ork, although they still had to have grades h igher than the Packer passing m ark.

T o accomplish this, it was necessary that a collegiate student should take five subjects a semester instead o f the three previously taken.

H e began to w o rk on the Junior C ollege (alth ough that nam e was not used till later) soon after he arrived, and in M arch, 1910, made some recomm endations w hich w ere printed in “ T h e A lu m n a ” for A p ril. H e w rote at that tim e: O u r collegiate departm ent is m erely an extended academ ic school. Its o rganization is fu n d am en tally the same. It aim s at the sam e k in d o f train­ in g and the sam e q u ality o f scholarship. It induces essentially the same m ethods o f study and teaching.

H e then w ent on to give the differences w hich should exist between academic and collegiate w o r k : T h e secondary school student organ izes the k n o w le d g e acquired in the elem entary school, obtains such a body o f k n o w le d g e . . . as is necessary to equip her w ith the tools of scholarship, and acquires the pow er and habit o f fixed attention

W o r k m ust be intensive rather than extensive,

and the student m ust have constant help and gu id an ce from her teachers.

In the collegiate school a g irl should begin to assum e the responsibilities o f a w om an and should take u p such subjects o f study as shall establish centers o f interest in the several fields o f vital k n o w le d g e and illu m in ate her intellectual, m oral, aesthetic, and social life. . . . C ollegiate train in g should m ake for self-reliance, for independent th in k in g, and for the real culture that com es fro m the pursuit o f k n o w le d g e that arouses the inter­ ests and enlists the sym pathies because it is clearly related to hu m an life.

H e divided the academic and collegiate schools differently, m ak­ ing four academic classes and tw o collegiate, to conform to the pub­ lic high schools and the colleges, and changed the nom enclature, callin g the highest academic grade the fourth instead o f the first,

>87

A Changing World doing aw ay w ith the sub-senior collegiate grade, and callin g the re­ m aining tw o classes junior and senior. H e also reorganized the w hole system of ratings, substituting a m odification o f the H arvard letter system for percentages, and h aving the grades sent home every quarter to the parents— another innovation.

H e also m ade considerable change in the elem entary school, having the teachers specialize instead of one teacher’s teaching several sub­ jects to one grade. A n article in “ T h e A lu m n a ” for June, 1918, said: In the elem entary school the cu rricu lu m has been r e w ritte n .. . . there has been opened up before the g r o w in g im agination o f the child a n ew w orld o f science and art, together w ith an unparalleled opportunity for en tering the realm s o f literature and h is to ry .. . . D r. G o o d w in turned his attention to the place of history in the schem e o f studies and w orked out a plan coordin ating history in the elem entary, the academ ic, and the col­ legiate schools.

In 1910 he reorganized the physical training department, engag­ in g tw o teachers, and requiring for all academic and collegiate stu­ dents (except seniors) tw o periods a w eek in the gym nasium in gym nasium dress. C hildren in the elem entary school had ten m in­ utes’ daily drill in the gym nasium , and those w ho desired could join in organized gam es and sports in the gym nasium or on the roof o f A lu m n ae H all in the afternoon.

A s another health measure, a regular luncheon was instituted in 1911, consisting of soup, meat, salad, dessert, and beverages, under the supervision at first of Miss W ilh elm in a M cG rath, an elem entary teacher, and later under a full-tim e dietician. O pen-w indow classes were held for the tw o youngest elem entary grades and for a time it was a novelty to see the rosy-cheeked children w ith hats and coats, bundled into a sort of “ w ak in g bag” to keep their feet and legs w arm . T h e garden was also kept open after school for the younger children to play in under the supervision of a teacher.

15*

THE SENIOR ROOM IN 19 4 5

G YM N A SIU M CLASS IN 19 4 5

1908-1918 T h e garden was made over during D r. G o o d w in ’s term, brick w alks taking the place o f gravelled paths. T h e fountain w as re­ m oved, and the central portion o f the garden m ade into a grass plot, w hich has been ever since one o f the trials in the life of M r. A rthu r E. Barton, w h o succeeded M r. W illia m C alvin as superintendent of the building, because young feet w ill persist in tram pling the grass w hen games o f tag get too absorbing, and the seniors are allow ed to dance or promenade there on class day in high-heeled slippers, w hich cut the sod.

Certain additions and improvem ents w ere m ade in the plant and equipm ent, the most notew orthy of w hich w as the three-manual, forty-stop A ustin organ, given by Mrs. Cornelius Zabriskie and her tw o daughters as a m em orial to M r. Cornelius Zabriskie and the oldest daughter M adeline, Packer 1902. O n the new organ, as on the old, the notes of the bugle callin g to the salute to the flag were played every F riday m orning. O ne F riday in 1912 a visiting arm y officer gently broke the news to the Office that the bugle call being played on the organ at Packer had not been used since the C ivil W ar. M r. W oodm an hastily learned the contem porary call, the school m irth fully rehearsed w ith it, and all w as w ell.

T h e hall messenger service w as installed by D r. G o o d w in — seem­ in gly a small matter, but one of great convenience to hurried teachers and to the Office, for there have alw ays been m any errands at Packer. Some parent, in person or over the telephone, is always w an ting a daughter, or a salesman from a publishing house a teacher. Forgotten lunches, carfare, books, themes, and rubbers are forever being left for delivery, and the building, w ith its four stair­ cases, elevator, and m any rooms, seems at times expressly designed for involuntary games of hide and seek.* In discipline the school still rem ained free, but not so free as un* T h e hall service was later extended to include a telephone girl at the switchboard (fou r­ teen extensions and three trunk lines replacing the original two telephones) and a regular elevator operator; and in 1941 a hall master was added to the staff.

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A Changing World der D r. Backus. N o longer m ight a g irl study anywhere she chose.

She was expected to study in her grade room or in the library. A l ­ though there w as student governm ent o f a lim ited type, the faculty really did the governing. T h e great m ajority o f Packer girls, h ow ­ ever, have always been able to govern themselves in most essentials, since, com ing from good homes, they naturally behave w ell. A teacher was in charge of all study rooms except that of the seniors.

D r. G oodw in made considerable effort to im prove punctuality and chapel attendance. T h e girls practically never dodged chapel if they arrived at school in time, but if they w ere late, they w ere not allowed to interrupt the service by com ing into chapel. T h e crowds in the subway, street cars, and elevated between eight-thirty and nine o’clock w ere very hard on young children and delicate g irls: indeed they were hard on strong adults. G irls com m uting on the L on g Island Railroad were frequently unavoidably late. D r. G oodw in met the difficulty of unpunctuality in tw o ways. H e issued “ late excuses” to those the location of whose homes made lateness un­ avoidable or whose health made travel in rush hours injurious, and if they arrived by a given time, by nine-fifteen or nine-thirty, they were not considered late. T h is scheme was almost impossible to ad­ minister equitably and was abandoned later by D r. D enbigh. D r.

G oodw in also em phasized the m onthly reports o f attendance and punctuality given in chapel w hich had been started by D r. Backus.

T h is ceremony, still continued, is picturesque and amusing. O ne by one, girls pop up from various places on the floor and in the galleries of the chapel to read the reports, class by class, w hile the president acknow ledges each by turning to her. A new president generally has trouble for a time in fin ding the speakers, especially the little ones. T h e lon g hard w ord, punctuality, sometimes proves an am using obstacle to the very tiny tots, but the school is naturally polite, and w ith a little training has learned not to embarrass the small stutterers by sm iling. T h e great num ber of tardinesses did not

1 60

1908-1918 greatly affect academic w ork, for girls w ere seldom late to their first class, w hich began at nine-thirty.

T h e total registration of the school increased slightly between 1908 and 1918. T h e collegiate school increased over fifty per cent, but the elem entary department decreased about fifteen per cent.

T h is decrease in the elem entary school w as due largely to the in­ creasing difficulty in transportation from sections distant from the school, to the change in the character o f the H eights, and to the in ­ crease in small private elem entary schools in Brooklyn.

T h e emphasis on school activities other than academic has been strongly m arked in all A m erican schools in the twentieth century, and under D r. G oodw in they began to increase in Packer to the ex­ tent that in 1915 a schedule had to be m ade of the m ajor and m inor offices and activities to prevent any one student’s being overbur­ dened, and also a social calendar scheduling after-school events— a calendar that has increased in com plexity steadily as tim e has gone on. Th ere w ere more plays, especially after the found ing o f the P ack­ er W orkshop, an organization of students from the three upper classes w ith faculty advisers, originated by Miss M arguerite Bour­ don, for the production of plays, the m ak in g of settings and cos­ tumes, and to some extent the w ritin g of plays and pageants by the students themselves. Th ere were m ore clubs and m any more athletic events.

T h e old custom o f brin ging em inent m en to Packer to entertain students or alumnae w as continued. T h e H am pton Singers came every year. C ollege presidents and deans cam e to speak about their colleges. A lfre d N oyes, Law rence H ousm an, and V ach el Lindsay came to talk about or read poetry. A lfre d N oyes and Law rence H ousm an w ere conventional in appearance and behaviour, but V ach el Lindsay in appearance bore out D r. G o o d w in ’s suspicion that poets w ere vagabondish persons better kept at a distance. L on g, lank, slouching, and rum pled, “ w ith a w him sical face and an odd

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A Changing World w ay o f keeping his eyes h alf shut and g azin g along his nose at the w orld at large,” 10absolutely w ithout inhibitions, M r. Lindsay rolled forth his poetry according to his theory of h ow poetry should be read, w ith accelerandos and retardandos, sometimes chanting, some­ times almost w hispering, sometimes singing the lines to a fam iliar hym n tune, rising at times to an eerie shriek. T h e girls enjoyed poetry, poet, and perform ance, but D r. G ood w in was disturbed: besides “ the fe llo w ’s shirt was w rin kled and his shoes unshined.”

D r. G oodw in him self was always extrem ely well-tailored and well-groom ed.

A nother extra-curricular activity for the faculty was the Shop C lub, started in 1915 at the suggestion o f Miss K ate M . W ard , di­ rector of the English department, an organization w ith m onthly meetings, as its name indicates, for the prom otion of professional interest. O riginally intended to inform the faculty on activities in the school outside their individual class rooms and on educational movements, it gradually enlarged its scope, discussing all sorts of topics of current interest, hearing outside speakers, entertaining new members and collegiate students. T h e Shop C lu b has been one of the most influential factors in brin ging the faculty together and m ak in g them a cooperative body instead of a collection o f individuals.

A nother professional association started in D r. G ood w in ’s time, also by Miss W ard , was that o f the Collegiate Teachers, w h o meet six or eight times a year to discuss matters pertaining to the collegi­ ate school. Sim ilar organizations of the academic and elementary teachers were started later under D r. D enbigh.

In 1909 was started the first school m agazine to represent the w hole school, the previous m agazines having represented only the collegiate department or the alumnae. “ T h e Packer Current Items” has an editorial staff draw n from both the academic and col­ legiate schools, and publishes items o f interest about the elementary

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i y o 8 - 1918 school and some contributions from it. “ T h e P .C .I.” , as it is always referred to at Packer, w as suggested by the class o f 1912, then the fourth academic.

F or most of its career the m agazine has appeared three or four times durin g the school year. T h e first editorial stated the aims of the paper: T o stand for the school; its go od tim es, its hard w o rk ; its ideals o f broad education, and the developm ent o f the in d ivid u a l to her highest capacity.

W e w ant all classes represented, and all types o f g irls — the serious g irl and the fu n n y g irl the studious g irl and the athletic g irl the artistic g irl and the practical g irl — in fact any k in d o f g irl w h o is a P ack er girl. W e believe that one o f the best things about “ T h e P acker C u rren t Item s” w ill be its pow er to gro w .

T h e m agazine still continues, containing, as at first, stories, verse, jokes, exchanges, school news, book and play reviews, illustrations, and advertisements. “ T h e P .C .I.” has always been of good quality. In the competition held by the C olum bia Scholastic Press, w h ich includes academic and elementary schools, junior colleges and teachers colleges, it has, since 1931, w o n second place five times and first place six times. First place does not mean that it is the best paper in the country, but that it has over eight hundred and fifty points out of a possible thousand, and therefore is considered a first class school m agazine. Since it is placed in the class of the junior college m agazines, although m any of its editors and contributors are from the academic department, these awards constitute a proud feather in its editorial cap.

A nother im portant and interesting publication appeared late in 1915, T h e Packer Song B oo\, published by the Associate A lum nae, com piled and edited by M arion Loder, Packer ’87, w h o taught in Packer from 1887 to 1914, and R. H un tin gton W oodm an, organist

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A Changing World and musical director o f the Institute from 1895 to 1940. It is a musi­ cal history of Packer, dating back to the oldest com m encem ent song, w ith words by Elizabeth Brewer, B .F .A . 1849, and the first Packer song, w ith w ords by A b b y W oodbridge o f the faculty, w ritten for the dedication of the building in 1854. A second edition in 1925, published under the title Packer Songs by the class o f ’85, in w hich L u lu H eitkam p M iller, Packer ’85, w as added to the editorial staff, ends w ith the garden song o f 1924. Either words or music or both of every song w ith three exceptions w ere w ritten by Packer people— students, alumnae, or faculty— and the three exceptions w ere con­ nected w ith Packer in some w ay. T h e review o f T h e Song B ook *n “ T h e E agle” in 1915 observed that it was “ interesting m usically, but far m ore interesting personally. O n its pages appear the names o f scores of the forem ost w om en of Brooklyn, very w id ely kn ow n in ‘the society worl d’. . . . A ltogether it w ould be difficult to find a volum e of m ore real B rooklyn historical interest from the fem inine point o f view .” 11 T h u s the period from 1908 to 1918 was one of m any additions and changes. But m ore im portant than these specific and definite changes, was a change in methods of teaching and in the w hole at­ mosphere o f the school to correspond w ith the ch an ging w orld.

D r. G oodw in kept the school on its toes, as did D r. Backus, but by different means. H e drove w ith a tighter rein than D r. Backus, but the result w as equally stim ulating. H is critics said that he regi­ mented the school, and in truth the old easy atmosphere did vanish.

But that was due as m uch to the times as to D r. G oodw in , to the tightening up o f state and college entrance requirem ents, to the g ro w in g com plexity and m ore rapid pace o f city life. W ith the coordination of elementary and secondary schools and colleges, a greater am ount of standardization w as inevitable. L ife w as not so easy-going, so leisurely, or so gay-hearted at Packer as it had been, but neither was it anywhere else in the land.

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1908-1918 A great part of the change in Packer and Brooklyn, as w ell as in the rest of the U nited States, w as brought about by the W o rld W ar from 1914 to 1918, w hich A m erica entered in A p ril, 1917. These four years were years of rapidly rising prices and w ages, but not salaries. G reat fortunes w ere m ade by A m erican m anufacturers and business concerns supplying the belligerents before A m erica entered the war. Shortage of m an pow er opened up all sorts of positions to w om en w hich had been closed to them before. T h e w ar affected even w om enâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s clothing, m ak in g it m ore practical. T h e long full skirts of 1916 gave w ay to scanty, knee-length skirts, partly to save material and labor, and partly to give w om en greater freedom of m ovem ent. O ne no longer heard that hom e was the w om anâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sphere. W om en presided at Liberty Bond booths in the streets and public buildings. W om en drove ambulances and w ere chauffeurs for arm y officers. W om en w orked in factories and on the docks, in w ar relief organizations both at hom e and abroad, in the Red Cross, in the arm y canteens in France run by the Y .M .C .A . Th ere was some reaction after the w ar, but m uch of the ground gained by w om en during the w ar has never been lost. T h e chaperon died and was buried too deep ever to be disinterred in this civilization. T h e w ar destroyed the last vestige of Victorianism , or at any rate the next to the last vestige.

O nce more there w ere parades of soldiers and sailors, mostly on F ifth A ven ue in M anhattan, and the city w as bright w ith the manycolored flags of the Allies. O nce m ore troop ships sailed out of N ew Y o rk harbor, this time crossing the A tlan tic and in danger from submarine attack.

Packer seethed w ith w ar activities. Everyone knitted. T h rift and W a r Savings stamps and L iberty Bonds w ere sold at school, the profits from school plays, w h ich began regularly to charge admis­ sion for the first time, w ere given to w ar relief agencies and to the Red Cross. M oney was collected for the tobacco fun d for soldiers

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A Changing World and for other w ar funds. T o inform the school, a series of addresses by members of the faculty was given in chapel on the background of the Russian revolution, the part of Italy and of E ngland in the war, President W ilson ’s Fourteen Points, H oover’s plan for food con­ servation, the League of N ations, and other topics o f the times. T h e speeches at Founder’s D ay in N ovem ber, 1917, w ere on nursing, national defense, and the Red Cross.

W ar comes very close to girls in their teens, for their brothers, friends, and fiances are in the services. O ne of the Packer seniors m arried and was permitted to rem ain at school— som ething that w ould have been impossible before the war.

Packer parents, students, teachers, and the Packer lunch room H ooverized (the term for conserving fo o d ). A m ericans learned to like bread of other hues than w hite, observed meatless and wheatless days, w ent w ithout sugar, and in the summer of 1918 gave up pleasure driving on Sundays at the request o f the governm ent, al­ though on other days all could drive w hither and as far as they chose, and there was no rationing of gasoline or of anything else.

Conservation was voluntary, or, if not, the com pulsion w as supplied by high prices, not by the governm ent.

T h e fear of physical danger on the part of the A m erican public, a feature of the first part of the Second W o rld W a r twenty-four years later, was not present in 1917-18. T h e airplane did not play a very large part in the First W o rld W ar. T h ere w ere not so m any planes and w hat planes there were, w ere not so destructive and could not fly so far as in later years. Th ere w ere no fears of A m eri­ ca’s large cities being bombed, no air raid signals, no evacuation drills, no black-outs, no dim-outs. People did not follow the w ar so closely as they have been able to fo llo w the Second W o rld W ar, for the radio had not been developed and all countries w ere dependent on the newspapers for the latest news. People grew accustomed to clim bing out of bed late at night and running to the front door w ith

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1908-1918 nickels in their hands w hen “ E xtrrrurr” sounded hoarsely through the streets.

A great w ave of idealism and patriotism swept over the nation, and Packer w as on the crest, w ith D r. G oodw in sw im m ing on ahead. T h e deadly undertow o f the w ave o f patriotism, hatred of enem y nationals and enem y culture, was felt in Packer, too. In the G erm an department in 1914 there w ere four teachers: in 1918 there were tw o: in 1919 only F raulein H arm s was left, and life w as not happy for her. T h ro u g h Packer halls resounded the w ar slogans, “ T o o proud to figh t,” “ W atch fu l W aitin g ,” (D r. G o od w in despised both the phrase and the policy it denoted), “ T h e w ar to end all wars,” and “ T h e w orld must be made safe for dem ocracy.” Pro­ hibition, W ilso n ’s Fourteen Points, and the plan for a League o f Nations w ere hotly debated. T h e faculty tea table from four o’clock to five-thirty was an exciting place in those days.

N ovem ber n , 1918, the day the A rm istice w as declared, the Am erican, British, and French flags w ere carried into chapel and held on the platform during the service, w h ich consisted o f the read­ in g of the tw enty-fifth psalm, the singing o f national anthems, and a flag salute. T h en school w as dismissed and teachers and the older girls w ent to M anhattan to get lost in the shouting, horn-tooting, crazy crowds, so dense that it took h alf an hour to w alk one block.

T h e edge was taken off of this celebration som ewhat by the fact that the false armistice, due to a m istaken press report, had been cele­ brated in similar fashion a few days before.

But the Arm istice and peace came in another administration. D r.

G oodw in resigned in the spring o f 1918, his resignation taking effect in June. D r. D enbigh was appointed and cam e to chapel to m ake a speech to the school, attending some of the parties and com ­ mencement. T h ere w ere doleful farew ell festivities for D r. G ood­ w in, for the staff and the students had come to love h im dearly and found it hard to reconcile themselves to his departure. “ T h e 161

A Changing World A lu m n a” said, “ H e has w ritten his nam e across the history of our school and graven it in the m inds and hearts of alum nae and stu­ dents and teachers.”

A rem ark of President E liot’s applies to D r. G o o d w in — “ T w o kinds o f m en m ake good teachers, young m en and m en w h o never g ro w old.” D r. G oodw in never grew old.

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T H E E N T R A N C E O N JO R A L E M O N ST R E E T

VIII Oxford Comes to Packer 1918-1938

D

r. jo h n h

. De n b i g h ,

English by birth and a graduate o f O xford

University, came to Packer tw o m onths before the end of the

w ar, and during the first ten years of his adm inistration was con­ fronted w ith post-war problems. T h e great w ave o f idealism, in­ spired by the w ar, broke against the realities of an unidealistic peace and the sharp reaction in the U nited States against President W ilson and a great deal that he had stood for. R eturning soldiers, after the 169

O x f o r d Comes to Packer trium phal parades w ere over, had to readjust to civilian life. This readjustment was made m ore difficult for those— and there were m any— w ho could not find jobs. Juvenile delinquency rose sharply.

M any crimes w ere com m itted by boys under twenty-one. Most of A m erica was disappointed and disillusioned. Y ou th is ever more whole-hearted than m aturity, and it was m ore whole-hearted in its disillusionment.

M oral standards declined. Prohibition further com plicated the situation. T h e saloon disappeared and the speak-easy took its place, but whereas the saloon had catered almost exclusively to m en, and to laboring m en chiefly, the speak-easy catered to w om en and to business and professional m en. Breaking one law led to breaking m any. D rin kin g and profanity became more com m on, even am ong gently bred wom en. Styles in w om en’s clothes ch an ged ; the “ fem i­ nine note” again prevailed. Bobbed hair, a fashion set by the dancer, Irene Castle, came in about 1920. Respectable w om en began to use cosmetics and to smoke cigarettes.

V ictorian prudery had vanished and frankness in regard to sex matters took its place, a change w ith both advantages and disad­ vantages. W ith greater freedom and an approach to social equality for w om en came a tendency tow ard lowered m oral standards for wom en. N ovels like M ichael A d e n ’s T h e Green H at and H em in g­ w ay ’s T h e Sun A lso Rises, w id ely read and discussed by both adults and young people, pictured the cynicism and despair o f youth in England and Am erica. Th ere arose the so-called Futilitarian School o f writers, w ho held that life was w h o lly materialistic and futile.

Indeed the scepticism about and the denial of most o f the artistic and moral standards of the preceding generation, w hich the writers of the N ineteen-Tw enties seemed to think had brought the w orld to the pass it was in, w ere the principal influences in the theatre and literature of the time.

T h e period is frequently called “ T h e W aste L an d ” from T . S.

/70

i <)i8 - 1 9 3 8 E liot’s poem of that nam e, published in 1923 and attracting w ide attention. T h e title of the poem signified the desert of contem porary culture and was the apotheosis of negation and despair. O ther new poets, like E. E. C um m ings, E zra Pound, and Robinson Jeffers, celebrated the sterility of their ow n times and the hopelessness and helplessness of men.

T h e domestic scene did not m ake for optimism. H ardin g and the Teapot D om e scandals succeeded the repudiated and dying W ilson.

T h e election o f Coolidge, another Republican president, after the scandals of the previous adm inistration, of w h ich he had been a m ember— albeit an honest one— w as called by D r. D enbigh an in­ stance o f complete political cynicism.

Even the comparative disinterestedness of A m erica’s part in the w ar w as challenged by some A m erican thinkers, and books and articles abounded, claim ing that this country entered the w ar only to protect her foreign investments, her loans to belligerents, and to pile up fortunes for the arm am ent manufacturers. Merchants of Death, by H . C . Engelbrecht and F. C . H anighen, was w id ely read.

Th ere were, of course, in politics, in literature, and in daily life currents o f idealism still run ning strong. But for a few years the reaction against w artim e idealism seemed to bring all the m uddy w ater to the surface.

In such a time did D r. D enbigh take over the adm inistration of Packer. H is problems w ere not so great as they w ou ld have been in m any schools, for the girls, though children o f their age, came from the part of the population that was most stable. T h a t the Packer girls were so little affected and the faculty not at all by the moral disintegration after the w ar bears witness to an integrity and sturdi­ ness of character, emotion, and judgm ent in the Institute, its ideals, and its achievements, that Packer people m ay w ell be proud of. A t worst the Packer students reflected some o f the rebelliousness, irre­ sponsibility, and lo n gin g for adventure of the period.

n 1

O x f o r d Comes to Packer H e did very litde teaching at Packer, occasionally taking a m athe­ matics or astronomy class, but his colleagues and students at the M orris H ig h testify to his inspiring teaching.

It is interesting that he should have tw ice follow ed D r. G oodw in.

T h e tw o m en had in com m on certain foundation stones of charac­ ter and some ethical, intellectual and educational convictions. But, in background, tastes, methods of w ork, and tem peram ent, they were very different.

D r. D enbigh was an A m erican citizen and had been in the U nited States twenty-three years w hen he came to Packer. H e preferred on the w hole A m erica and Am ericans to E ngland and the E nglish (though he never lost his devotion to his native country) and had been m uch influenced by A m erican life and customs. H e was, h o w ­ ever, as thoroughly E nglish as the other three presidents w ere (and D r. Shafer is) Am erican. H e w ent back to E ngland almost every other summer, spending the alternate summers at his place on the M aine coast, and w ould come back full o f anecdotes about the E n g ­ lish. O ne time at Bath, w here he had been staying for several days, he sat all the evening in the hotel lounge, w aitin g to see if any­ one w ould speak to him . “ D id you speak to anyone, D r. D enbigh ?” he w as asked. “ N o , indeed,” he answered w ith spirit.

A ll o f the Packer presidents w ere h igh ly individual w hen they came to Packer, and they became m ore so. Th ere is som ething in the atmosphere of the school that develops individuality to the point of raciness, especially in the faculty. But England has always tended to develop individuality m ore than A m erica and D r. D enbigh, true to his nationality, was, if possible, m ore racily individual than the A m erican presidents. A friend and associate said: D r. D en b ig h w as alw ays an E n glish m an , reserved and a bit shy. H e w as o f a philosophical tem peram ent and w ise in his ju d gm en ts of m en and of m ethods. I never k n e w h im to lose control o f h im self or o f the m atters he had in hand. H e never allow ed ind ignation or over-enthusiasm

n4

i p i 8 - 1938 to carry h im aw ay. Solon ’s m otto, “ N o th in g in excess,” m ig h t w ell have been his.3

H is unaggressive, unobtrusive, but dogged persistence, patience, toleration, and his perversity, m ild, charm ing but all-pervading, were also English. Mrs. H arold Q uantin, Registrar at Packer, gave this interpretation o f h im : T h e re w as also a reserve about D r. D en b ig h , w h ich m ade h im seem to a fe w som ew hat aloof; but that reserve seems to m e lik e an E n g lish g a r­ den w all, not b uilt to keep you out, bu t g r o w in g alm ost out o f the soil to preserve a precious privacy of personality w ith in : and on the other side o f the w a ll w as w arm th and friendliness, the refreshm ent of a subtle hu m or, calmness o f spirit."

H e was a thoroughly fine m an, generous to a fault, and modest about his giving, devoted to his duty, w ith a strong sense of re­ sponsibility, sometimes overburdening him self w ith details of w hich others could efficiently have relieved him . H e w as strong, fundam entally reasonable and open-minded, rem arkably sweet-natured, unselfish, kind, sym pathetic; it w as a privilege to k n o w him and w ork under him . H e w as tactful in m anaging people, a cul­ tured, easy m an of the w orld. Polished, valuing tradition for its ow n sake— like m any Englishm en, keenly alive to the picturesqueness of the historic and strongly entrenched— m ore conservative than D r. G oodw in, he fitted perfectly into the Packer background. H e was at ease in all sorts of society and pleased w ith all sorts. H e was interested in the country and country life. H e was greatly amused by the independent M aine Yankees in the little village w here he ow ned a sum mer hom e, and got on particularly w ell w ith them.

H e was a great reader and a very intelligent one, w ith an excellent m em ory for w hat he read and the ability to quote rather lon g pas­ sages fairly accurately from one reading. H e was extrem ely fond of

H5

O x f o r d Comes to Packer travel and gardening. H e was pruning his roses w hen he died in July, 1943.

Certain of his more delicate and precise qualities were perfectly expressed in his handw riting, w hich was exquisitely clear and fine, each letter perfectly form ed, the w hole script sym m etrically placed on the page, delicate, yet strong and individual. A t his best his speeches w ere like that. Certain things he did w ith great charm , such as the old days at Packer and the m em orial w indow s in chapel.

M any o f his inform al talks in chapel— on a new comet, L in db ergh ’s solo flight to Paris, and other odd and interesting current events— were deligh tfully done.

D r. D en b igh ’s few inconsistencies and failings were to his faculty and older students a source generally o f delight, sometimes o f an­ noyance, but always of amusement. H e believed fervently in punc­ tuality, and labored long and hard to im prove punctuality in the school, w ith some success, but he him self had little sense of time, and his appointments w ere likely to fall far behind schedule. H is secretary had to exercise patience and tact to smooth dow n the people w aitin g at tw o o’clock to keep a one o’clock appointment.

H is unpunctuality, how ever, w as confined to the less im portant things, for he was never late to school, and he did not miss trains or disturb concert audiences by late arrival. H e had a habit of conduct­ ing interviews w ithout haste— som ething very satisfactory to the persons being interview ed. Miss N elson said, “ W hen tim e pressed, he had an English w ay of not seeming to be in a hurry.” * T h e faculty were cautioned against sending students to the office to be disciplined for slight offenses. O n an historic occasion D r.

D enbigh was taking a class for a sick teacher (his E nglish education enabled him to substitute rather w ell in almost any subject) and he lost patience w ith one bright but loquacious senior and sent her to the office, to the intense delight o f the faculty. H e was, like the other teachers, taking the easiest w ay to get rid of a student w ho was inter­

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1918-1938 fering w ith the class, and in this case it was effective, for the girl herself was so m uch amused that she behaved after that.

H e used sometimes to go to sleep at meetings o f the faculty Shop C lub. But w hen the m eeting w as over, he seemed to k n o w more about the matter discussed than the w ide aw ake ones.

D r. D enbigh w as a bachelor o f fifty w hen he cam e to preside over some seven hundred girls and sixty-five or m ore w om en teachers.

H e was a tall, distinguished-looking m an w ith plentiful dark hair, sprinkled w ith gray w hen he first came, later silvery w hite, and w ith very fine hazel eyes set under dark eyebrows. T h e upper part of the face was finely m odelled and sensitive, the low er part some­ w hat contradictory, w ith a fu ll low er lip and a strong, almost ob­ stinate chin. It w as altogether a very responsive face. It seemed w hen he first came as if he were alw ays being surprised and his staff was always surprised at w hat he was surprised at. T h e best photograph o f him taken w hile he was at Packer, for “ T h e Packer Pelican” (the senior yearbook) in the early N ineteen-Tw enties, shows him standing in an easy attitude w ith his hands in his pockets, a smile around the eyes, and characteristic lines of shrewdness and hum our at the corners. H e seems about to m ove. H is w alk was characteristic, a long, loose-limbed stride. H e could go effortlessly up the stairs, tw o steps at a time. O ne of his students w rites: T h e re w as som ething intensely satisfying in the sight and sound of D r. D e n b ig h ’s readin g o f the B ib le in the chapel. W ith the overhead crow n lig h t sh in in g d ow n on his w h ite hair, he w as an im pressively beau­ tifu l sight, and his readin g o f the verses w as very fine.5

D r. D en b igh ’s natural fastidiousness, his V ictorian upbringing, and his m asculine positiveness as to w hat it was becom ing for w o ­ m en to do, accounted for a conservatism of taste to w h ich some of the alum nae and parents objected. It took years to reconcile him to w om en’s sm oking and to persuade him to allow the furnishing of 777

O x f o r d Comes to Packer a social room for the older girls. H e especially disliked earrings, but he did not forbid them either to students or to faculty.

H e was on the w hole very understanding and hum an in his point of view tow ard the girls. H e used to tell an anecdote about a student at the M orris H ig h w h o had been troublesome and over w hom a solemn conclave of teachers had been held. T h e next day w hile w alk in g in the park, D r. D enbigh m et the youn g problem , w ho was, he said, “ just a child, rolling a hoop.” H e frequently rem inded his faculty w hen they w ere w rou ght up over some academic sin that loomed large on their pedagogical horizon, that their students were very young hum an beings and that academic life was only one phase of their activities. H e was especially understanding of the slow student, and used to say that A m ericans w ere too likely to confuse quickness w ith brightness. “ I have a slow m ind m yself,” he w ould say, “ and I can understand the slow student.”

A lth o u gh a little slow to take fire, D r. D enbigh was appreciative of new ideas suggested by his faculty, sometimes to the extent of com ing to think that the idea was originally his. N o th in g could be more indicative of open-mindedness, although sometimes the real originator, w h o m ay have had to overcome m ild opposition on the part o f D r. D enbigh, was annoyed by his too complete conversion.

A num ber o f the innovations in his administration w ere suggested by an individual or a group from the faculty. A m o n g these w ere the experim ent in the D alton system in some o f the L atin classes by Miss M innie W aite, the developm ent of the music department in the elementary school by Miss W righ t, the extensive use o f theatre parties by Miss Elsa Chapin, director o f the E nglish department, the intelligence and scholastic aptitude test, introduced in 1924 by Miss W oodw ard, teacher of psychology, and developed by Miss Frances Farnham , Miss N elson’s successor.

D r. D enbigh made decisions slo w ly ; he was im personal; no petty personal m otive ever seemed to influence him . H e had a temper, i 78

DR. JO H N H . DENBIGH P resid e n t o f the P a c k e r C o lle g ia te In stitu te, 19 18 -19 3 8

THE

From

STREET

FRONT

SINCE the a rc h ite c tâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s d r a w in g

JORALEMON

I9 O 7

1918-1938 although not a very hot one, and he was sometimes irritated by teachers or pupils. But w hen his annoyance ceased, it seemed to leave no trace behind it. H e was one o f the fe w people w ho could w o rk all day w ith no lunch w ithout getting cross.

H e liked A m erica for its dem ocracy and particularly adm ired the W est because it was more dem ocratic than the East and freer in m anner. H im self rather conventional and form al in m anner, he responded to the W estern inform ality and breeziness. A fte r his retirem ent from Packer in 1938, the last five years o f his life, spent in Berkeley, California, w ere very happy ones.

H e was not opinionated or obstinate, and his m ind could be some­ times changed by the faculty if they kept at it, although it generally took tim e— especially if the m ajority o f the teachers differed from him . H e really respected the opinion o f the faculty. T h u s he gave w ay in regard to form al semestral examinations in the collegiate school, to w hich he w as at first opposed. H e was a courageous man.

A certain cautiousness in regard to public opinion about the school was due to his intense feeling o f responsibility.

D r. D enbigh was popular w ith the girls w h o k n ew him , par­ ticularly w ith the oldest and the youngest. Some o f them did not kn ow him . H e did not stand in the m ain hall or ram ble through the building or visit classes often, as did D r. G oodw in. H e w as an office w orker, not from preference, but by the com pulsion of his ow n system and by his m any outside activities. H e used to love to escape from the office w hen he was needed to teach some class.

W h ile D r. D enbigh lacked the fire o f D r. G oodw in , his patience and persistence usually got results. T h o u g h capable of deep emo­ tion, D r. D enbigh was not w hat is called an em otional man. H e was not excitable, not given to great enthusiasm or great despond­ ency. H e sailed along on an even keel, taking people as they were, th in kin g rather w ell of them on the w hole, but not expecting too m uch of them. Mrs. Q uantin said of him , “ H is was a happily in-

>19

O x f o r d Comes to Packer tegrated life. H e had no psychological strains and stresses, no tor­ turings of the soul, because he did not think o f him self at all.” 6 O ne got the full force of D r. G o o d w in ’s personality in one meet­ ing, but D r. D enbigh grew upon one m ore gradually, and day by day one realized more and m ore h ow steady was his strength, how constant his sym pathy, h ow perfect his integrity.

A s an educator D r. D enbigh was in general sympathetic w ith the ideas o f D r. G oodw in, w ho had helped to form him as a teacher. In his talks to the faculty and in chapel, he em phasized character traits, particularly courtesy, perseverance, responsibility, and regard for duty. “ A lw ays do your best,” w as a favorite m axim w ith him . D r.

G oodw in said that it was impossible for any hum an being always to do his best, but D r. D enbigh did not agree w ith him . H e did not em phasize independence and originality of th in kin g (although he believed in them ) as m uch as thoroughness and patience in intel­ lectual matters. H is educational beliefs w ere intim ately related to his ow n character— a fact brought out in the m em orial service at Packer on October 31,1943, by D r. Joseph D ana A llen , w h o said: H e had im agination, great sincerity and a ready sense of h u m our, w ith ­ out w h ich no m an should be a schoolm aster. H e hated sham , coarseness, and ostentation; n o one ever saw h im pretend, or dared to entertain him w ith vu lgarity. D r. D en b ig h was a student; his E n g lish education m ade h im at hom e w ith G reek and R om an w riters and w ith the lo n g line of philosophers from Socrates d ow n , and he had a fittin g abhorrence for the cou n tin g of courses as sim ply so m any points tow ard a coveted degree.

F urther, he w as religious in the best sense; he k n e w his B ible and he took tim e to thin k out his relation to G o d and the hereafter. H e recogn ized his d uty tow ard G o d and tow ard his neighbor and lived nearer to that duty than most.

Mrs. M arguerite O gilvie Erskine, Packer 1921, president o f the Associate A lum nae, analyzed beautifully and accurately D r. D en­ b igh’s relation to the school: 1 S0

1918-1938 H e w as a gen tle presence. U n ostentatiously he served as a pattern of gracious liv in g and yet he challen ged the best that w as in us. H e m ade scholarship attractive. In recalling the days o f D r. D e n b ig h ’s adm inistra­ tion, it w o u ld seem that the character and life of the school reflected the qualities of its leader.

A nother close associate o f D r. D en b igh ’s in educational activities outside of Packer, M r. Stanley Y arn all, w rote: I valued his w isd om based on broad scholarship and forw ard -lo ok in g appreciation o f the best in the n ew , w ith o u t fo r a m om en t u n d ervalu in g the rich experience and practice of the past, and to this w isd om and strength w ere added gentleness and a culture that had its roots in the eternal verities.7

D r. D en b igh ’s conception of education w as a well-rounded one, not confined to academic training. H is idea of training Packer girls for leadership in civic life was to interest them in social m ovements, rather than by the contents of courses— at least that appeared to be his emphasis. T h ere w ere m any speeches in chapel about fresh air funds, vacation camps, settlement w ork, the B rooklyn Bureau of Charities, and about the Peace M ovem ent and the League of N a ­ tions, in both o f w h ich D r. D enbigh believed strongly. H e approved of the girls’ givin g service as w ell as m oney w hen they had tim e and strength.

In regard to teaching technique, D r. D enbigh cautioned his fac­ ulty against impatience and arrogance tow ard the slow, the frivo­ lous, and w eak-w illed students, and urged them to rem em ber their ow n reactions as young people. L ik e D r. Backus, D r. G oodw in , D r.

Shafer, and other fine headmasters, he did not talk m uch about methods. H e greatly adm ired the original, creative persons w h o made of teaching an art, like Miss D un lap and Miss E dna Perry, and the h igh ly analytical teachers like Miss W ard and Miss Cram pton, to m ention only a fe w o f the m any fine teachers w h o have been at

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O x f o r d Comes to Packer Packer. H e em phasized also the necessity o f analyzin g the causes of failure in a student. A n unfinished letter to the w riter, sent by his sister shortly after his death shows his attitude tow ard vocational versus cultural training in such a school as Packer: W h e n I w en t to the P acker in 1918 ,1left a school of over six thousand students and a very large staff o f teachers, housed in w h at w as then counted a m agn ificen t school b u ild in g. M y colleagues in the M orris H ig h School, a distinguished and able grou p , had placed it in the first ran k of public secondary institutions, b u t I felt that I had becom e a m ere adm in is­ trator, so occupied in m ultitu d inou s detail that I could have b u t little con­ tact w ith students. In the invitation to becom e principal of the P ack er I thought I saw an opportun ity for leadership in a com paratively sm all school w here I m igh t, as I had in the early days at M orris, com e into m uch closer personal contact w ith both teachers and students. I saw in the P ack er’s sm all student b od y a h ig h ly selected and in som e w ays a h igh ly p rivileged gro u p : I k n e w the P ack er staff to be able and devoted. It seem ed to m e that w ith such m aterial to w o rk w ith a m an m igh t com e near rea lizin g his ideals o f w h at education should m ean fo r girls and y o u n g w om en in a w orld that even tw enty-five years ago w as rapidly ch an gin g. It w as clear that m u ch w id er fields of usefulness and responsi­ b ility for w om en w o u ld develop in the next tw o decades and that only by the rig h t k in d o f education could they be fitted for the fu tu re that w as to be theirs.

A s I saw it, if the P acker w as g o in g to turn ou t better hom e m akers or w om en better fitted to exert a beneficent influence in w o rk outside the hom e, the only type o f education that held prom ise of accom plishin g those ends w as that w h ich D r. N ich o la s M u rra y B utler has an alyzed as neces­ sary to open the doors to our five-fold racial inh eritan ce— our literary, scientific, artistic, social and religious inheritance. M ere aptitude in special skills, adm irable as it m igh t be, seem ed to m e to have n o spiritual values •fiat enabled a m an to find h im self go od com pany.

I believed w ith unalterable conviction that education should be a happy process and w ith conviction no less unalterable I believed that true educa­ tion should prove disciplinary in fo rm in g habits o f concentration and

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1918-1938 perseverance that w o u ld find no satisfaction in slip-shod and partial effort.

G reat differences in attainm ent m ust o f course be inevitable, b u t from each the best o f w h ich the in d ivid u al is capable, be he teacher or student, should be dem anded, if either o f them is to realize the th rill o f accom plish­ m ent. H e teaches best w h o is able to g e t his pupils to th in k and to express their thought in w ords. “ L e t no m an despise th y y o u th ” is a m a xim that has alw ays seem ed to m e to have deep m ean in g, both for the teacher and the taught. Independent th in kin g, frankness, fearlessness, tolerance, pa­ tience, d ign ity o f behaviour, even ord inary politeness, all these thin gs and m ore are im plied in those six w ord s o f counsel to y o u n g T im o th y .

In A Schoolmaster L oo \s at H is School, a speech given before the Parent-Teacher Association, is a further developm ent o f his educa­ tional theory: O u r ideals for her [the P acker g ir l’s] education in a broad sense are that it should fit her to fin d a happy and useful place in her environm ent, that she should see life relationships in their tru e perspective, be trained to th in k clearly and look b elow the surface o f thin gs in order to fin d their true value. In com m on w ith all w h o m ay tru ly be said to be b ein g ed u ­ cated, she m ust learn that it is only th rou gh the discipline o f restraint foun d ed upon race experience that she can attain to any real freed om ___ T h e discipline of r e str a in t. . . if it is to be successful, m ust be gen tle and continuous

It m ust be tem pered w ith w isd om and u n derstan d ing; it

m ust set up con trollin g standards fro m w ith in rather than fro m w ith ou t.8

In accordance w ith his belief in restraint and self-control, he de­ veloped student governm ent, not only by including all academic students, but by givin g the organization m ore pow er. T h e senior office o f president o f Student G overnm ent was developed into the most im portant in the school, and the Student C ouncil, composed o f officers elected by the school from all classes concerned, gradually took on m ore responsibility. T h e Student C ouncil naturally varied according to its m ake-up, but at its best it was a potent influence. It

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O x f o r d Conies to Packer dealt w ith all m inor offenses, such as tardiness, disorderliness in halls and study rooms, frequenting an undesirable lunch counter, behaviour in the streets and in public vehicles. W h en the Council desired and showed itself capable, it handled graver matters, such as cheating and presenting false excuses to teachers. O ne of the most difficult problems in regard to student governm ent was to educate the teachers to report to the C ouncil offenses w ithin its jurisdiction, instead of dealing w ith those offenses themselves.

Scholarship rose steadily durin g D r. D en b igh ’s administration.

T h e chief instruments were D r. D en b igh ’s frequent talks in chapel, the institution of the honor roll read aloud in chapel at the end of each m arking period, the efforts of the faculty comm ittee to im ­ prove study habits, and the careful handling of students doing poor w ork. T h e honor roll had its disadvantages, inasmuch as it em pha­ sized the symbol rather than achievement. T h is is a disadvantage inherent in all systematic recording o f school w ork, and the neces­ sity of obtaining a B average for admission to college (a necessity not controlled by Packer) increased the emphasis on m arks. T h e question o f grades is one of the most debatable in school affairs. D r.

D enbigh ’s O xford education inclined him to take the efficacy of marks for granted.

T rial Regents, examinations made up by the faculty from past Regents papers, and after-school classes to review for these exam i­ nations and for the C ollege Board began under D r. D enbigh. C ram ­ m ing m ay not be truly educational; undoubtedly it is not, but it cer­ tainly gets results if intelligently directed. T h e girls w anted to pass their exam inations; their parents and teachers w anted them to, and there is surely som ething to be said for the psychological effect on students of success in an undertaking.

A nother aid to scholarship was a faculty comm ittee to help the girls to form efficient study habits. A little booklet o f suggestions was distributed to the students in the fall of each year and taken up

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1918-19^8 in class— an innovation w ith no disadvantages. So good was the little pam phlet on study habits that a w ell-kn ow n preparatory school for boys and a junior college in M ichigan asked to be allowed to buy copies for their ow n use.

In m any details, responsibility and awareness o f environm ent were im proved. T h e adoption of a requirem ent by the gym nasium department in 1919 that gym nasium periods missed by brief, m inor ailments be made up, im proved the quality of the w ork, and, as “T h e Packer C urrent Item s” dryly com m ented, “ G irls became less subject to headaches, colds, and stiff necks.” 9 A dditions to the library in the Tw enties, possible because of the financial prosperity o f the school, also m ade the w o rk m ore effec­ tive, and helped to bring the library up to date. T h ere w as m uch more instruction in the use of the library and reference books in the public libraries as w ell as in Packer, and m ore outside reading in all classes. T h e substitution of outlines and library w o rk for textbooks in m any o f the collegiate courses im proved the quality o f the w ork.

T h e technical part of the dram atic w o rk was im proved by a g ift

by Mrs. Ralph Jonas o f a very fine set o f theatrical lights designed by Lee Simonson. Appreciation of dram atic production technique was stimulated by the W orkshop, w hich, w ith the help o f art students, m ade some very beautiful sets and costumes. N o longer w as it pos­ sible to find a student in one’s classes w h o had seen no good plays, or perhaps no plays at all o f any quality. T h e play reviews w ritten for the English classes and for “ T h e Packer C urrent Item s” w ere o f ex­ cellent quality, as w ere the reviews of the books. Some o f them w ould have done credit to professional reviewers. T h e play and book reviews showed a g ro w in g appreciation of w hat w as good on the stage and in literature.

U nder D r. D enbigh the name Junior C ollege was substituted for collegiate department hitherto used, and Packer w as the first junior college to be officially recognized by the State Education D epart­

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O x fo r d Comes to Packer ment in 1932, and one of the first to be recognized by the Association o f the M iddle States in the same year. Before the end of D r. D en­ b igh ’s term practically all o f the w om en’s colleges and co-educational universities of the East, M iddle W est, and the South w ere accepting transfer students from Packer on certificate. T h e number of transfers, as w ell as of students entering the freshm an class from the academic school, steadily increased. For the fifteen years from 1918 to 1933 there w ere three hundred and thirteen girls g oin g to college from Packer, whereas for the thirty years from 1888 to 1918 there w ere only seventy-eight.10From 1925 to 1930 (and later) Packer and the Masters School led all the girls’ schools in the state in the num ber o f candidates for the C ollege Board, and both stood fourth in the state in this respect.11 D r. D enbigh also differentiated the collegiate w ork from the aca­ dem ic m ore than had been done previously. H e believed that ulti­ m ately the Junior C ollege and the other departments w ould have to be com pletely separated, both as to staff and as to building, because o f the insistence of the State D epartm ent, although he him self doubted the advantages. H e did believe, how ever, that an entirely new building and a change o f location w ould be beneficial to the school. T h e trustees and most of the older alumnae, how ever, were opposed to a change o f location.

In the elem entary school D r. D enbigh added an eighth year for the benefit of children w h o found themselves crowded in trying to complete the w o rk in seven years. M usic, French, G erm an, and L atin w ere all begun in the elem entary school. H e also em ployed a rem edial teacher, chiefly for the elementary school although she did some w o rk w ith academic students. T h e rem edial teacher did not have classes but was engaged all day w ith individuals, diagnosing difficulties, training in better w o rk habits, and brin ging up to grade children whose w o rk in class or whose adaptation to their surround­ ings was not successful.

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W EST W INDOW S IN TH E CHAPEL

THE

ALUMNAE

ROOMS

i p i 8 - 1938 One other real innovation, im m easurably enriching the academic w ork and contributing to the cultural life of the students, was the appointment in 1926 of a docent, Miss R uth Benedict, Packer 1902, to take students on trips to various places in the city in connection w ith their w ork, on school day afternoons and occasionally on a Saturday m orning or afternoon.

B eginning in a small w ay, this department was developed by Miss Benedict, until in 1936 an assistant was necessary. T rip s w ere so m any and various and so w ell attended that often teachers had to help out, and a schedule o f all regular trips had to be w orked out each fall. W ith the docent the girls visited places of interest, such as museums, historic landm arks, libraries, churches, factories, and the Planetarium . Th ere was a fam ous all-night trip for sociology in three busses to the city markets, after w h ich D r. D enbigh congratu­ lated the sleepy-eyed but valiant sight-seers in chapel. In 1938-39 the docent conducted or arranged a total of one hundred and thirtyfive trips, w ith an aggregate participation o f fifteen hundred stu­ dents. Educational m otion pictures w ere also brought to the school.

Together w ith the English and music departments, the docent got up parties to the theatre, ballet, movies, and opera, the latter made possible by membership o f the Parent-Teacher Association in the Opera G uild.

T h is program of after-school trips was unique in Packer in its extensiveness and in the em ploym ent of a docent. It was suspended for the most part from 1941 to 1944, w hen w ar conditions made m any of the trips impossible or inadvisable.

Closely related to the after-school trips as an educational factor were the school bulletin boards. A considerable am ount o f material already collected was filed, catalogued, and greatly augm ented by Miss Bourdon. T h e g ift in 1936 from the C arnegie Corporation helped the cause of visual education: a fine collection of over fifty volum es of art books, original prints, large-sized facsim iles in color

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O x fo r d Comes to Packer of m odern paintings, and m any other things useful for the teach­ ing of the history o f art, and also o f literature and history.

Th ere was a great expansion of the athletic program under D r.

D enbigh and Miss Henrietta Strangfeld, the director of the depart­ ment. G irls played hockey, tennis, bat ball and deck tennis. T h ey also swam , skated, rode horseback, and fenced, besides playing basket and captain ball as hitherto. In the spring of 1919 D r. D en­ bigh reported to the alumnae that one hundred and eighty girls swam , that one hundred and seventy played tennis, and that forty rode. There w ere tournaments of various kinds, w ith teachers, stu­ dents, and parents all taking part. In the spring was a gym nasium meet, w ith classes com peting, and the award, in chapel, of cups, medals and honorable m ention to the victors and runners-up. T h e A thletic Association increased its m embership and activities and in­ stituted an annual dinner— a most zestful, vigorous, noisy, and friendly affair. T h is athletic program , w hich still continues w ith additions, is surprising for a city school. D r. D enbigh said, “ C on ­ cerning athletics w e venture to say that no day school in this section of the state has approached any such program of athletics as is regu­ larly follow ed at the Packer.” 12 T h e acquisition in 1918 of the Haslett property adjoining A lu m ­ nae H all on the corner o f C linton and Joralemon Streets provided a playground for the younger children and for the gym nasium classes in m ild weather. T h e house was torn dow n, after plans for adapting it to school use were found to be im practicable.* * T h e H aslett h ouse w as b u ilt in 18 6 7 an d o ccupied b y D r. John H aslett an d later by his son, D r. A u d le y H aslett, b u t w a s closed after his d eath in 190 1 an d h ad stayed closed fo r seventeen years, w ith th e spacious room s an d fin e o ld p ictu res an d fu rn itu re g a th e rin g du st.

F o r m ost o f those seven teen years it h ad been a h o u se o f m y ste ry to P a ck e r g irls an d m an y w ild stories as to th e cause o f its b e in g closed w ere to ld , stories ro m an tic, b u t, alas! u n tru e.

T h irty -fiv e thousan d bricks fro m th e h o use w ere used to b u ild an e ig h t-fo o t w a ll a lo n g C lin to n and Joralem on Streets, to p ro tect th e p la y g ro u n d fro m th e stares o f interested passersby. W h e re the old h ouse w ith its sh ro uded fu rn itu re an d d im , sh u ttered room s h ad stood, are n o w s w in g s an d slides, and y o u n g voices sh o u t an d la u g h an d little fe e t fly m errily , the v iv id p resent an d p rom ise o f the fu tu re su p ersed in g the sh a d o w y past.

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1918-1938 In 1926, in response to a dem and from parents, a nursery school and kindergarten w ere started in a bright little penthouse w ith four sunny rooms and a playground adjacent, built on the roof o f A lu m ­ nae H all. Boys were adm itted to the nursery school, and it took the Packer faculty some time to become accustomed to seeing in the files such names as A rth u r and G eorge. W hen , on the first day at the close of the session of the nursery school, loud bellows w ere heard on the stairs w here a little m an of three was vigorously pro­ testing to his nurse, “ I don’t w anna go hom e! I don’t w anna go home! I w anna stay here!” it w as decided that the Packer atmos­ phere was favorable to masculine, as w ell as to fem inine education.

T h e preschool departm ent— now one o f the best equipped in greater N e w Y o r k — was soon rem oved to 57 Livingston Street, w hich had been purchased originally as a residence for the presi­ dents, and had been occupied by D r. Backus and for a few years by D r. G oodw in. T h e first tw o elem entary grades occupied the pent­ house, since preschool legs w ere too short to negotiate the four flights of stairs from the penthouse q u ickly enough for the fire drill.* T h e m usic department developed under Miss Elizabeth W rig h t and M r. W oodm an. A course in the theory of music was given for the older girls, and tw ice a w eek M r. W oodm an gave a short organ recital during the chapel service. T h is custom still continues. For the most part the program is a quiet ten or fifteen minutes of fine music finely played. Sometimes the organist or Miss W rig h t ex­ plains different musical form s, such as the toccata, sonata, or fugue, and shows the school h ow to detect the theme of a musical composi­ tion and its variations. T h e organ recitals are varied by special little concerts by various groups in the school, or by a m usician from outside.

In the elem entary school the children learned to compose and ar* F ro m 1 9 3 0 - 1 9 3 1 the sixth elem en ta ry g ra d e occu p ied the p enth ou se. Sin ce D ecem b er 19 4 1 it has been used b y the secretarial classes.

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O x fo r d Comes to Packer range si m p l e melodies under the instruction of Miss W righ t. A jun­ ior glee club of the younger girls was form ed and the singing o f the w hole school im proved. Groups of girls subscribed to the Boston Sym phony and the N e w Y o rk Philharm onic concerts. A ppreciation o f good music and the ability to listen intelligently grew in the school.

T h e Bates Library, left to the school in 1901 and received in 1926 after the death of M r. Bates’ w id o w , was a bequest of great value, and w as used— and still is used— by teachers and librarian to arouse interest in rare and fine books.

T h e Bessie G raham Bates Library, to give it its fu ll name, is a very valuable collection of m ore than three thousand volumes, consisting of rare old books, first editions, and finely bound copies o f the best authors. It was left to the school by James H ale Bates in m em ory of his daughter, a student at Packer, w h o died in 1890 at the age of sixteen. T h ro u gh the Bates Library Packer is listed in the book, Resources o f N e w Yor\ City Libraries— A Survey of Facilities for Advanced Study and Research, by Robert B. D ow ns, at that time director of libraries at N e w Y o rk University, published in 1942. T h e valuable, rare, and interesting books in this library are too numerous to list, but a fe w notew orthy ones are described in the Supplement.

A show case in the library displays books from the Bates Library and interesting volum es from the m ain library. Some of the displays are by request from teachers w h o connect them w ith their courses: others of general interest are got up by the librarian, Miss Morse, herself w ell-inform ed and enthusiastic about rare books and first editions.

T h e foundation o f the Parent-Teacher Association, started by the parents, but greatly influenced by D r. D enbigh, made for closer re­ lations between the hom e and the school. Th ere have been annual evening meetings w ith speakers, and teas for the mothers, daughters, and teachers of the various grades.

ipo

ip 1 8 — 1938 D u rin g most o f his term, D r. D enbigh did not have to w orry over finances, although he, like all the presidents, beginning w ith D r.

Crittenden, was troubled over the lack of any real financial security for the school in the shape o f a sizeable endowm ent. T h e trustees and alumnae had m ade preparations for an endow m ent drive in 1917, but the entrance o f A m erica into the w ar put an end to that drive, and it has not been resumed since then.

F rom the close of the w ar until 1931 Packer was h igh ly prosper­ ous, but in 1932 it began to feel the effect of the depression of ’29 and the registration fell in all departments. T h ere had to be salary cuts, and the reduction o f the staff w as begun by layin g off teachers, always a tragic event for everyone concerned.

A s the students increased in num ber during the first of D r. D en­ b igh ’s tw enty years at Packer, so did the faculty, there being seventythree, all told, just before the depression. D r. D enbigh inherited forty-seven o f his teachers, and in 1938, w hen he left, tw enty-tw o of them w ere still there. O f those members of the staff w h o finished their terms at Packer before 1938, Miss M aud N elson, secretary and assistant to the president, was most outstanding. Miss N elson was and is unique. T o m any people she stood for Packer itself. W h en in 1930 her resignation was made kn ow n , m any alum nae felt as if Packer itself were rem oving to California. M r. Babbott spoke of her at the seventy-fifth anniversary as “ one w h o has done m ore than any other single person to m ake the administrations of D r. Backus, D r.

G oodw in, and D r. D enbigh successful.” D r. D enbigh wrote in “ T h e A lu m n a ” : “ Miss N elson was the personification o f those ideals of wom anhood that Mrs. Packer w ould have w ished carried on, and if ever there w ere w ritten in some celestial scroll the names o f those w h o loved and served the Packer w ell, the nam e of Miss M aud N e l­ son should lead all the rest.” 13 Perhaps next to Miss N elson in outstanding force o f character, in­ tellectual and pedagogical ability, and influence in the school, was

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O x fo r d Comes to Packer Miss K ate M . W ard , director of the E nglish department from 1915 to 1929. She organized not only the E nglish department, but m any useful associations. A s m uch interested in sociology and politics as in literature, she made a deep impression on her students, m any of w ho m trace their life interests to her influence.

A third outstanding teacher was Miss Clara L . Cram pton, director o f the mathematics department from 1916 to her death in 1928. B ril­ liant intellectually, o f an exquisite fineness o f character and person­ ality, artistic, w ith a passion for mathematics and an unusual ability in analyzing students, she m ade her department an excellent one.

These three members of the faculty ran k w ith the best at Packer or anywhere else in Am erica. T h e y are w ritten up in the Supplement.

Miss N elson, in a speech on Founder’s D ay in N ovem ber, 1920, said that the faculty had their degrees from tw enty colleges and uni­ versities in this country from M aine to California, and that most of the teachers of foreign languages had been educated in schools and universities abroad, and she rem arked on the “ value to the Institute in the w ay of a broader interest and sym pathy and a w ider range of inform ation and scholarship resulting from such w ide intellectual contacts.” U p to the time of D r. G oodw in the policy of the trustees had been to appoint m any Packer alum nae to the staff. D r. G oodw in thought this inbreeding harm ful and appointed non-Packerites for the most part and D r. D enbigh continued this policy. T h e propor­ tion o f Packer graduates under both D r. G ood w in and D r. D enbigh was about tw enty per cent o f the w om en of the faculty. In earlier days the Packer alumnae constituted nearly h alf of the faculty.

It is a tribute to the school and to its interesting character that through all its lon g existence, w hen salaries were uncom fortably low , as w ell as w hen they w ere more adequate, teachers have tended to stay at Packer for lon g years, sometimes refusing positions else­ w here w hich w ere better from a financial point of view . T h e ques­ tion o f salaries is always a som ewhat difficult one for a school like

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"->% ( C V*>â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;r" M AUD B. NELSON

CLASS DAY IN I94O

1 9 1 8 - 1938 Packer, largely dependent for its incom e upon tuition, especially in a city w here livin g expenses are h igh, and w here the large salaries paid by the public schools provide an inevitable, although unjust, standard of comparison. D u rin g and shortly after the C ivil W ar and after the First W o rld W ar, the cost of livin g rose rapidly and teachers at Packer suffered, like most salaried workers. D r. G oodw in was especially interested in raising salaries, and under D r. D enbigh the salary situation im proved greatly.

A m uch needed feelin g of security was given also to the faculty by the introduction o f an annuity system under the aegis o f the C ar­ negie Foundation in 1919. Packer was the first school o f low er than collegiate rank to be allow ed to enter the Teachers Insurance and A n n u ity Association, established by the Foundation. T h e trustees also put into effect a system of group insurance.

B rooklyn lost, during D r. D en b igh ’s administration, an influen­ tial citizen and Packer a faithful trustee by the death in 1933 of M r.

F ran k L . Babbott, w h o had been a m em ber since 1889 and president of the board since 1911. His was a fam iliar figure in Packer halls, and in B rooklyn at concerts, art exhibits, m eetings o f library boards and committees of educational and civic organizations. H e was a collector of art, and after his death his fam ily gave to the school the L a Farge stained glass w in dow , “ D a w n ,” taken from M r. Babbott’s house and now set at the end o f the second floor hall in the A lu m n ae Building.

L ik e the rest o f the city, Packer was busy durin g these twenty-five years, but w ith all its busy-ness, it m anaged to do a great deal of social w ork, g iv in g plays and collecting gifts o f m oney for kinder­ gartens and settlements, m ak in g drives for the Red Cross and the m ilk fund, fillin g Red Stockings and T h a n k sg ivin g baskets, and doing volunteer w o rk for the B rooklyn Bureau o f Charities, the Y .W .C .A ., and other benevolent associations.

T h e social life o f the school was fuller than ever before. Th ere

193

O x fo r d Comes to Packer were, as always, speakers from the outside w orld, D r. Caroline E. Spurgeon from the University of London, D r. H enry N oble MacCracken of Vassar, D e la M are, the poet, and W alter H am pden, the actor, am ong them. Several receptions and m any teas, meetings of the various student and faculty organizations, plays by the collegiate classes, by the W orkshop and the L ittle Theatre (an organization similar to the W orkshop for the younger g irls), and concerts and lectures by professionals kept the school w ell amused.

A particularly gay occasion was the alumnae B lock Party on M arch 30 and 31, 1931. Th ere w ere shops and booths, an organ grinder, a tow n crier, boot blacks, and policemen, street dancing (on the “ streets” by the elevator and office) and a professional reader of handw riting. T h e event w ound up w ith a G rand Ball in the eve­ ning, and netted thirty-seven hundred dollars. O ne of the most interesting features was an exhibit of gow ns w orn from 1853to I93I> including that w orn by Mrs. Packer at the ball for the Prince of W ales in 1861. M any beautiful old gow ns had to be m odelled by elementary children, for no girls in their teens could w ear them , and even the children got into them only w ith m uch w rig g lin g and hold­ in g o f breath, as the wasp-waisted gow ns w ere fastened. “ H o w the Packer girl has expanded!” exclaim ed one compressed young model.

Another interesting event was the fashion show o f 1934, held in the gym nasium , show ing the changes of fashion in sport clothes in fifty years. Bathing suits o f 1880 w ith lon g skirts, sleeves, h igh necks, and bloomers, the bicycle costume w ith divided skirts, the long sweeping skirts of the old riding-habit, g o lf and tennis costumes, the linen duster and long fluttering veil of the first autom obilists— all made a strange contrast to the sport clothes of 1934. T h e old w an d drill and figure m arching in the cumbersome gym nasium costume o f the N ineties w ere given.

T w o anniversaries fell in these twenty-five years, the fiftieth anni­ versary o f the Associate A lum nae, celebrated in the spring o f 1932

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i y i 8 - 1938 at the annual luncheon, and the seventy-fifth anniversary of the school, celebrated on N ovem ber 9,1928, w ith a dinner attended by eight hundred. A brief history o f the school, w ritten by D r. D en­ bigh, was given as a souvenir to each guest. A check for sixty-five thousand dollars, the exact sum given by Mrs. Packer in 1853, was presented by the alumnae, and M r. Babbott added five thousand dollars from his granddaughter.

Thus w ith study, social w ork, and festivities, the years from 1918 to 1938 passed tranquilly on the w hole for Packer. D r. D enbigh in his w hole character, in his talks to students and teachers, and in all the accomplishments o f his long, wise, serene adm inistration exem ­ plified duty to the com m unity, duty to oneself, and intellectual achievem ent combined w ith m oral force. W ith these guidin g prin­ ciples and his faith in the potentialities of the individual, he success­ fu lly combatted the post-war disillusionm ent, restlessness, rebel­ liousness, and relaxation o f m oral standards.

T o his students and teachers, D r. D enbigh was an exam ple o f a fine man, doing a fine job skillfu lly, m odestly, kindly. H e left the school busier, m ore crowded, but m uch richer than it w ould have been, had not O xford come to Packer.

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Itljs PACKER COLLEGIATE IN S T IT U T E , GARDEN FRONT, LIVIN G STO N STREET

I X Stormy Years n

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M onday,

D ecem ber 8, 1941, an aroused and angry A m erica

listened over the radio to President Rooseveltâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s address to the

Congress, asking for a declaration that a state o f w ar existed w ith Japan, and Packer girls listened w ith the rest of the country. O n the next m orning faculty and students gathered in chapel w ith fear in their hearts.

D r. Shafer calm ly and w isely addressed the school, saying that he should recom m end to the trustees that academic and collegiate stu­ dents and faculty take a course in First A id , and asking that more girls assist w ith bandage m ak in g at the Red Cross, and that the 196

1938-1945 physical training department “ plan a m ore extensive and vigorous training for every girl in school.” H e w arned the students that “in time of w ar opportunities m ay not last as lon g as w e hope” and that they must m ake the most of them. H e added the hope that no one w ould allow prejudice to affect her attitude tow ard others at school and that Packer w ould resolve to m eet emergencies that m ight come “ w ithout panic and w ithout fear.”

W h en D r. Shafer had come to Packer three years before, A m erica was at peace. T h e school was then ninety-three years old. O f the hundreds o f A m erican academies for both boys and girls, founded in 1845 or earlier, less than tw o score have survived. But Packer has survived and has weathered m any crises w h ich sank other educa­ tional ships.

D r. Crittenden guided the school through a period w hen the country was at w ar w ith itself. D r. Backus took control w hen the ship was badly in need of repair and rem odeling. D r. G oodw in w as captain through a period w hen most of Europe and A m erica w ere at w ar, and D r. D enbigh held the helm through the difficult post-war years and the financial depression o f 1929. But D r. Shafer is in com ­ m and w hen the w hole w orld is at w ar, Europe, Asia, A frica, A u s­ tralia, both the Am ericas, and all the islands o f all the seas, w hen the w hole order of society— econom ic, social, and political— is chang­ ing, w hen no one can w ith any certainty forecast the future. H is is the most difficult task that has yet fallen to any president o f Packer.

In September,1938, how ever, although the storm was heavy over Europe and threatening clouds w ere loom ing on our ow n horizon, and although the country had not by any means made a complete recovery from the depression o f 1929, A m erican waters w ere com ­ paratively calm , and the general scene was m uch as it had been dur­ ing the last years of the previous administration. T h e radio and the airplane had become established factors of A m erican life. M any of

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Stormy Years the girls and faculty had travelled by airplane, and at least one Packer girl could fly a plane herself. Probably every Packer student had a radio in her home, although a fe w of the faculty still held out against the innovation, and all the faculty w ere trying to break the girls of the habit of studying at hom e w ith the radio on.

T h e N e w Y o rk theatres, concerts, and art exhibits were surpassed by none in the w orld, and Packer students availed themselves more and m ore of the opportunities of the great cultural capital. A ll of the best A m erican films, as w ell as all of the worst, could be seen in Brooklyn, and m any of the finest foreign film s in N e w Y o rk.

B rooklyn had become the second largest borough of N e w Y o rk in area, the largest in population, and “ one o f the nation’s ten leading comm unities by every measure. It w as fifth . . . in industry, third in population, first in foreign trade, second in num ber o f schools and pupil population . . . and was an im portant shipping center w ith 187 piers berthing as m any as 700 steamships o f 75 lines.” 1 In a large city the public, even the young, are more aware of the national background than in smaller places. A t this time the situa­ tion, national as w ell as international, was changing. “ From 1921 to 1929 the U nited States was perhaps the most self-satisfied country in the w orld,” 2 and N e w Y o rk perhaps the most self-satisfied city in the U nited States. But by 1938 Am ericans had begun to descend from this peak o f smugness, and the N e w D eal was at the height of its popularity and its social and political experimentation.

Education had been affected by national conditions. T h e small colleges for some time had had to compete w ith the large private and state universities, the private elem entary and secondary schools w ith the increasingly excellent public school system. Th ere had de­ veloped a m arked tendency toward emphasis on equipm ent rather than on curriculum , on quantity rather than on quality, on voca­ tional rather than on cultural courses. Students w h o w ould not or could not have acquired A .B .’s in 1900 were dazedly acquiring

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19 3 8 -19 4 5 M .A .’s and P h .D .’s, w ith a very dim idea of w hat it was all about.

A lready the cultural ideal in education was on the defensive— a situation that has grow n m ore serious during the w ar w ith its tre­ mendous demands for definite skills.

Packer was still a cultural school, g iv in g no strictly vocational education, although m any of its courses w ere accepted as prerequi­ sites in some technical schools, and as good preparation for certain positions. W ith a registration o f five hundred and sixty-nine for the school year 1937-38, Packer was operating at a slight, although not alarm ing, loss.

In such a time o f national transition, international chaos, and educational uncertainty, D r. Paul D . Shafer came to Packer, younger than any other head had been at the tim e o f inauguration. Born on February 19,1902, at Chesterland, O hio, the son of a clergym an, he was thirty-six years old w hen he began his term at Packer. H e was educated at Bethany College, from w hich he graduated in 1923.

H e began his career as a teacher and athletic coach at the Chester H ig h School in W est V irg in ia im m ediately after his graduation, goin g from there to W esleyan U niversity at M iddletow n, Connecti­ cut, as an instructor, and thence to be head of the E nglish depart­ m ent in the Collegiate School at N e w H aven. In 1926 he became instructor and athletic coach at the M ilford School for boys in C on ­ necticut, was appointed assistant headmaster in 1928 and headmas­ ter in 1936. H e found tim e w hile h old in g these positions to do editorial w o rk on a newspaper, to attend the Y ale U niversity D i­ vinity School for tw o years, and to take a P h .D . in education at the Y ale Graduate School (1936) and after that to lecture there on sec­ ondary education.

D r. Shafer did not begin to w o rk in 1923 after leaving college: he began to w o rk at the age of tw elve, and from then on, Saturdays and vacations and sometimes in the afternoons of school days he en­ gaged in an astonishing num ber and variety o f activities, both w ith

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Stormy Years his head and his hands, activities that brought him into contact w ith m any people of m any types. A ll his life up to 1938 his w ork had been largely w ith boys and men. H e must have felt as if in Packer he had come to be a sort of Father Superior in a convent. H is extraordinarily active and varied experience accounts in part for his adaptability, his naturalness, his understanding of hum an nature, and his lack of rigidity. So early and varied an acquaintance w ith the practical w orld of affairs also increased his natural ability to look facts in the face and to see things as they really are and helped to m ake him not an idealist in his attitude toward the w orld around him , but a realist w ith ideals looking tow ard the betterment of conditions as he finds them.

D r. Shafer is not so m uch of a challenger o f fundam entals, not so m uch o f a non-conformist as w as D r. G ood w in ; he agrees w ith the fundam ental theories of governm ent, society, religion, and educa­ tion prevalent am ong the forw ard-looking groups of today, but he has carefully thought out his agreement.

H is w hole life has developed a strong sense o f responsibility.

M uch of his early w o rk dem anded enterprise and responsibility.

T w o years after graduating from college he began to hold positions o f responsibility, head of department, assistant headmaster, head­ master. H e was a husband at twenty-three and a father at twentysix. H e has a daughter of seventeen and a son of fourteen.

L ife began to be serious early for this young m an, now entering his prime. T h is fact has made him see and value the hum orous side o f life and hum an nature. H e appreciates jokes and w itty sayings and he him self has the g ift o f w it— and w hat is rarer, a w it w ithout m alice or unkindness. O nce someone asked him w hat was the dif­ ference between teaching boys and girls. “ Tears,” he answered.

Dr. Shafer has a soft heart. It is hard for him to scold or punish.

But w ith his tender-heartedness goes great determination. If any figh ting is to be done, the other person does it. D r. Shafer sits at

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1938-1945 ease; he is quiet, he does not say m uch, but he holds on till the op足 position is exhausted, and he generally wins.

H e is dem ocratic socially and w hat is called a good m ixer, and his m anner is easy and natural. H e, is, how ever, a little shy and fundam entally reserved. H e is given to understatement and under足 emphasis, rather than to the opposite.

H e is unusually observing and has an excellent m em ory, a quick sure grasp of details, and the pow er to correlate them . H e know s his ow n m ind and he makes it up very q uickly. O nce he has form ed an opinion, it takes very convincing argum ents or facts to m ake him change it.

In appearance D r. Shafer is a handsom e m an w ith dark hair, dark blue eyes, and the build and easy motions of an athlete. H is photographs show the strong m oulding o f the face, the determ ina足 tion o f the m outh and chin, and the directness of his gaze, but they do not give the pleasant and open expression o f his face w hen he is speaking and w hen he smiles.

In addition to his w ork at Packer, he is active in com m unity life, a m em ber of various educational and civic organizations, such as the Association o f Private School Teachers, the Headmasters Association, the Junior C o llege C ouncil o f the M iddle A tlantic States, of w hich he is past president, the Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools o f the M iddle States, the Com m ittee for C ity and C ivilian Defense, the board of trustees of the B rooklyn Savings Bank, the board of directors of the B rooklyn H ospital and its executive council. H e is also a director of the Brooklyn-Queens Y .M .C .A ., and president of the board o f trustees of the Brooklyn Public Library.

H e belongs to four clubs, the B rooklyn Rotary C lub, the Rem 足 brandt Club, the C entury Association, and Sigm a N u . H e is fond of golf, farm ing, books, and the theatre, and owns a farm in N e w Jersey. W henever he can spare the time, he plays p in g pong and

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Stormy Years badm inton in the gym nasium in the late afternoon w ith other faculty sports enthusiasts.

H e is, like D r. G oodw in , som ewhat im patient— not w ith people, but because he is in a hurry to get results. H ow ever, he spent his w hole first year at Packer in w atching the school w ork and inform ­ ing him self. O ne of the teachers said, “ I never kn ew that a new man could come in and m ake so little disturbance. T h ere hasn’t been a ripple.” H e has made some ripples since, but his changes have been so gradual that even the most crystallized of the faculty (to use a fa­ vorite w ord of D r. G oodw in’s) have been able to adjust themselves.

Mrs. Shafer, w ho was Im ogene Gillespie before her m arriage and a graduate of W ilson College, is connected w ith the school through both her husband and daughter, Lee. She has always been interested in athletics, and has achieved considerable skill in badm inton, hav­ ing participated in the M etropolitan, Connecticut, and Eastern bad­ m inton tournaments. Mrs. Shafer attends all the Packer social func­ tions and entertains the academic and collegiate schools, class by class. T h e girls love her teas and troop in, take off their hats, sit on the floor and talk and talk and talk, and then g o to the dining room and eat and eat and eat. She know s the faculty and almost all of the girls. She comes to school frequently for luncheon, and is charm ing, simple, natural, and kind.

Packer presidents have varied considerably in their specialties.

D r. Crittenden specialized in the classics, D r. Backus in English literature, D r. G oodw in in science, D r. D enbigh in mathematics, and D r. Shafer in education. H e is m uch in dem and as a speaker and has w ritten m any articles in w hich he has stated very definitely his ideals, not only for education but for fine living.

D r. Shafer’s educational philosophy cannot be labelled w ith the tag conservative or progressive, for he believes in no absolute system. It is easy to see w h y he was attracted to an old school, for he stresses the necessity of kn o w in g the past in order to understand

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1938-1945 the present and prepare for the future, and in m any passages in his speeches he talks of the continuity between the past, present, and the future. H e says that the citizens o f a dem ocracy need m inds w hich have gained understanding through broad study of the past and present. H e is m uch interested in history, especially A m erican his­ tory, and he has read a great deal of it, including m any historical novels.

Packer was dedicated by her founder to training for the develop­ m ent of Christian character. O ver and over again D r. Shafer em ­ phasizes character as the chief goal of all education, and character based on religious convictions. H e defines w orthy character as con­ sisting of courage, hum ility, unselfishness, kindliness, a high regard for self and one’s fellow s. A g a in he says that character is “ being the best person w e can im agine, doing the best w e can and doing that best w ith fu ll regard for our fellow s. . . . Character is m ore than ability. It is the use o f ability. . . . Steel is sharpened by som ething harder than itself.” 3 H e believes it possible to teach the principles of personal conduct.

N ext to character, he emphasizes the individual in education.

H e does not believe in w hat m igh t be called collective education, teaching the group w ith no attention paid to the individuals com ­ posing the group. H e dw ells on the importance of teaching the individual, kn o w in g the individual, developing the individual. “ Y o u hear,” he said to the Packer seniors, “ of the social m ind and of social m orality as w ell as other things social. These times seem to m ake us forget that there is the m ind of each person; there is the m orality o f each individual and if the individual m ind is stagnant and the individual m oral code low , all the fine-sounding phrases in the universe cannot m ake them socially h igh .” * H e believes in private interviews and in the sort of affection for the child on the part o f the teacher w hich can be given only to A n n ie Jones and M ary Sm ith, not to an abstraction called the pupil.

203

Stormy Years H e places h igh value on guidance by adults and considers the teacher and the parent as perhaps the most im portant factors in training the child. H e is not an adherent of the extremists w ho believe in the m inim um of guidance from elders in the school and home, and he considers adult inspiration for the child, either real or im aginary, a necessity for its developm ent.

W ith all his emphasis on guidance, D r. Shafer is equally insistent on self-control, self-discipline, and self-direction by the child, as w ell as on respect for properly constituted authority, for he believes in the individual’s pow er to direct his ow n destiny to a considerable extent. H e cautions parent and teacher that their role is a disappear­ ing one, and that somewhere along the road the child must take the w heel him self.

H is discussion of dem ocracy and of the relation of the school to dem ocracy is thoughtful and penetrating. H e believes the prac­ tice of dem ocracy to be m ore valuable than the study of democratic theory, although he advises acquaintance w ith the theory o f our ow n dem ocracy and that o f other democracies. H e believes in the value of experience and in the pains as w ell as in the pleasures of governm ent by the people. But he alw ays returns to the individuals w ho m ake up a democracy. In speaking of the uncertainties o f life today in the outside w orld, he says, “ Certainties must always be found w ithin ourselves.” 6 A lth o u gh in his speeches he emphasizes the serious side of life, he is fu ll of fun him self and wants everyone to enjoy life. In con­ sidering people, both teachers and students, he frequently asks, “ Is she a happy person ? Has she a sense o f hum our ?”

In order to appraise any adm inistration, it is necessary to exam ine acts as w ell as theories, for too often acts and theories do not agree.

D r. Shafer is a thoroughly consistent person. W h at he thinks, w hat he says, and w hat he does spring from w ell-thought-out ideas and strong convictions, and are accordingly harmonious.

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DR. PAU L D. SHAFER P r e s id e n t o f th e P a c k e r C o lle g i a t e I n s tit u te s in c e 193 8

THE

CHAPEL

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I9 4 I

i9 3 8 ~ l945 H is changes, like D r. D en b igh â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, have not been fundam ental, partly because of the social and financial situation. A large part of his energy and time has had to be expended in m eeting financial problems in this tim e w hen the w hole environm ent and m any of the tendencies of the age are difficult for private schools and for cultural schools. In this effort he has been successful, w ith the w hole­ hearted backing of the board of trustees and the invaluable w ork of the finance comm ittee o f that body. But neither D r. Shafer nor the trustees can, of course, provide a fair w in d in a storm or a calm , and so they have had to accom plish their aims by adapting the school to the troubled times. It is fortunate for Packer that the president at this tim e has the rare com bination of idealistic creative­ ness and practical business and adm inistrative ability.

D r. Shafer has, in some ways, given the faculty m ore voice in the adm inistration than any previous president. T h e prefects (teachers w h o have charge of the various classes, sit in the grade rooms, do the clerical w o rk for their grades, and act as advisers to them ) have more responsibility than they have ever had before, and handle matters o f discipline and academ ic failure w hich have hitherto been m anaged in the office.

T h is effort to bring the faculty m ore into the adm inistration of the school, w ithout evading the responsibility that is properly his, is in accordance w ith his emphasis on dem ocracy. H e has appointed and organized a faculty advisory com m ittee to discuss matters of general policy, another to arrange for the g iv in g o f certificates in chapel to the fourth academics and to members o f the m usic and glee clubs, still another to take charge of the after-school special features program , and m any others.

Perhaps the most im portant o f all the committees is one that oversees extra-curricular activities. T h is comm ittee fosters all sorts o f activities, m akin g a special effort to secure general participation by all students according to their individual tastes, paying m uch

203

Stor?ny Years attention to the individual student, and getting a statement from each girl of her tastes and activities. M embers of student organiza­ tions serve on this comm ittee along w ith the faculty. H ere w e see four of D r. Shafer’s theories in practice— his theory of the im por­ tance o f activities not connected w ith the class room, o f dem ocracy, in that students and faculty w ork together, his theory of the im ­ portance o f the individual, and his theory of self-direction, in that students play a very large part.

Individual faculty advisers have been appointed to help new stu­ dents in difficulty, and a faculty comm ittee advises students goin g on to college from the Packer Junior College. Greater attention is paid to h elping girls to select program s adapted to their post-school plans. T h e courses of the Junior C ollege fall into seven classes: liberal arts (college transfer course), term inal liberal arts (for students w h o do not plan for further form al education), homem aking, fine arts, laboratory position course, pre-nursing, and pre­ business courses. A ll of the last five courses are term inal in them ­ selves, but can be taken also by students plann in g to transfer to other schools or colleges.

H elp ing students to choose program s carefully has draw n atten­ tion to the practical value of the Junior College, w h ich has been som ewhat overlooked in the past, the public being inclined to re­ gard Packer as purely cultural. N o purely cultural courses have been dropped, however, unless, as in the case of G reek and G erm an, the dem and has ceased.

T h e distinction between cultural and practical courses is not so definite in this modern w orld as it was once. In earlier days anyone could recognize bookkeeping, arithm etic, cooking, and sew ing as practical, and literature, composition, history, French, and art as cultural. But nowadays a secretary w h o know s nothing but h ow to type, add and subtract, and spell is not very valuable to the most practical em ployer alive, and the m anager of a tea room w h o can

206

l 9 3 $ - l945 cook, but know s nothing about nutrition, interior decoration, or psychology w ould not be very successful.

T h e w ar has added new committees, one on defense, one on w ar relief, and a post-war plann in g comm ittee to encourage at Packer the study of the plans, ideas, and proposals for post-war organiza­ tion throughout the w orld. These committees are composed of both students and faculty.

T h e w ork of the preparedness or defense comm ittee, begun in the spring of 1941, grew out of the threatening international situa­ tion. Its object was to clarify the school’s ideas about dem ocracy. A faculty panel discussion was held before the Shop C lub, and later a series of talks was given in chapel to all the school, beginning w ith a discussion by D r. Shafer of dem ocracy as a form of govern­ ment. Probably Packer gave m ore thought to the subject o f dem oc­ racy and the good life in a dem ocracy in that year than it had in the w hole previous ninety-six years. It is hum an nature to begin to analyze and appreciate a blessing only w hen it is threatened.

Packer has been a rather free school for both faculty and students throughout its history, and D r. Shafer has continued this healthy tradition, leaving methods entirely to the teachers.

H e has added some courses to the curriculum . Th ere is, for in ­ stance, ethics in the fourth academic and junior years, w h ich m ight be expected from a president w ith D r. Shafer’s interest in conduct and character, and w h ich he teaches him self. O ther additions are courses in Spanish, in photography, in the history and appreciation of art in the academic school, and courses in the history and appre­ ciation of music in both academic and collegiate schools.

T h e dem and for more m athem atics fostered by the w ar has been met by an academic class in trigonom etry including spherical trigonom etry, helpful in navigation, and in the Junior C ollege by instruction in statistics. Courses in current events have been intro­ duced into both the academic and collegiate schools. A secretarial

20~[

Stormy Years course and a secretarial m ajor, w h ich D r. G oodw in tried so hard to secure, w ere offered for the first tim e in 1943-44. T h is secretarial m ajor consists not m erely o f typew riting and stenography, but also o f business English, accounting, psychology, ethics, general com ­ position, economics, speech, the history of the printed book, and office practice, supplemented by lectures from outside speakers on topics such as personality, groom ing, office etiquette, approach to em ploym ent, office m achinery, and office m anagem ent. T h e secre­ tarial m ajor course leaves room for three electives, chosen by the student.

N o t only have new courses been added but there has been a con­ siderable change of emphasis, partly because o f the w ar and the demands of the times. M ore attention is paid to m odern and con­ tem porary w o rk in sculpture, and in architecture there is more emphasis on housing and large scale planning. A course in A m eri­ can art has been added. In all the art classes the values of freedom are stressed, since the creative arts are dependent upon freedom of thought and action.

In E nglish the developm ent of vocabulary, the research theme and library w o rk are em phasized to meet the needs o f a society w hich writes reports on everything on earth. These particular fea­ tures in English were introduced in 1929, w h en Miss Elsa C hapin became director o f the E nglish department. W ith the com ing of the w ar and the intensified consciousness o f the value o f free speech and o f governm ents w hich tell the people the truth, the E nglish composition w o rk has been related firm ly to free speech and dem ocratic principles by em phasizing responsibility tow ard facts.

In literature basic ideas or traditions encouraging form s of selfgovernm ent are studied. “T h e A nglo-Saxon epic Beow ulf carries an E nglish class into a consideration of G erm an tribalism, present as w ell as past. French classes read ‘Pour la V ictoire,’ follow the fortunes of the F igh tin g French and m ake a study of the French

208

CHRISTMAS PLAY AT PACKER IN 1 9 4 3

THE

FIRST

GRADE

IN

I9 4 3 : GIRLS

AND

BOYS

19 3 8 -19 4 5 colonies. In V irg il the T ro jan horse has an im m ediate m eaning unknow n a fe w years ago.” 8 In Spanish classes L atin-A m erican af­ fairs are em phasized and use is m ade o f the material from the PanA m erican Union.

In the history department, besides the courses in current events, in all classes “ there is constant cross reference to the events and problems of today. From Caesar’s to M ussolini’s ambitions and from N apoleon’s to H itler’s cam paigns are obvious transfers, but there are hundreds of others, greater and lesser, constantly being made. M ilitary history and strategy of the past have a n ew im por­ tance, as cam paigns and com m anders are compared. T h e causes of w ar and the problems of peace cannot be surveyed in the past w ith ­ out reference to the present, or be studied for the future w ithout kn ow ledge of the past.” 7 In economics and sociology the difficulty has been w hat to choose for discussion, since so m any econom ic and sociological problems have been aggravated by w ar conditions. In science classes civilian defense, econom y and conservation o f materials, and sanitation have been em phasized. “ T o d ay classes in chem istry find an im ­ m ediacy in topics that once m igh t have seemed far from everyday experiences. Poison gas and chem ical explosives are o f m ore than academic interest. T h e value o f the chem ist’s w o rk in devising sub­ stitutes for materials now hard to obtain becomes evident. In physics lies the foundation for aviation and for radio com m unication. T h e use o f technical kn ow ledge in every branch o f m echanized w arfare is recognized. N utrition is another field closely allied to the w ar effort. W henever these and m any other subjects come up, the w ar is present. T h e dem and for graduates w ith scientific training m akes the girls w o rk in g intensively in those fields realize that a job, per­ haps closely related to the w ar, lies just ahead.” 8 T h e physical education program also has felt the effect o f the war, and meets rather w ell the standard V icto ry Corps program for

209

Stormy Years wom en. Seniors, excused from gym nastics for m any years, are now required to take it.

O ne of the most interesting features of school life instituted by D r. Shafer is the forum , one for each academic and collegiate class, held from time to time in the m orning in the grade rooms. T h e pro­ gram s are planned ahead of time and students selected to lead the discussion. A ll sorts of topics are discussed from w orld rehabilita­ tion to the Packer lunch room. T h e forum s are necessarily brief and do not settle any question, m ajor or m inor, but they are valuable in training students to think on their feet, to discuss in public, to have a feeling for group ideas, and probably to get some of the usual schoolgirl grum bling out of the students’ systems in a h igh ly bene­ ficial w ay.

Attention has been paid to the physical safety of the school as w ell as to its mental and m oral w ell being. T h e building has undergone a num ber o f changes in the prevention of fire h aza rd — m inor ones (m inor as far as the building is concerned, but very im portant in the matter of safety) such as riot bolts on the outside doors and w indow s opening on fire escapes, the installation of a sprinkler system, and the m ajor change o f an enclosed, fire-proof, steel and concrete central stairway, and an enclosed, fire-proof elevator. Re­ turning alum nae miss the spacious grace o f the old central open stairs, trodden by so m any generations, and certain social aspects of the old open-grill elevator are regretted. A s one ascended w ith slow solem nity in the old elevator, one got a cross section of school life, and at each floor, standing at ease although som ewhat crowded, one could gibe at one’s panting friends w h o could not get into the elevator. But the new stairway is beautiful in its ow n w ay, sunny and spacious and clean, the new elevator is sw ift and luxurious, and both w ill provide safety if ever fire visits Packer again.

Several useful pieces of equipm ent have been purchased, a school camera and a m oving picture camera for a pictorial record of school

210

19 3 8 - 1 9 4 5 events, and a schem atograph m achine installed in the gym nasium for posture tracing, w ith a view to im proving the posture o f the girls. Perhaps the camera, if the girls see the pictures, w ill be equally effective in the matter o f im proving posture. A dark room has been fitted up for the camera club, and a sound-proof m usic room , the g ift o f Miss Julia B. A nth ony, has added to the com fort of the music students and the rest of the school as w ell. Bronze name-plates have been affixed to the outside of the building on each side of the front door, partly for publicity purposes, partly to help strangers seeking the school to kn ow w hen they have arrived. It is one of the strange characteristics o f a large city that people w h o pass a building twice a day for years do not kn o w w h at the building is. M uch of the na足 tural curiosity of the norm al hum an being is destroyed by the over足 w h elm in g num ber of sights and sounds cro w d in g upon the w eary senses.

A m otion picture projector for both sound and silent film s and a record player are tw o very im portant pieces o f equipm ent, the form er m akin g possible m any excellent films, particularly valuable during the curtailm ent o f the after-school trips by the w ar. Since the acquisition of a portable record player, w hich can be used by any department, the school has been gradually collecting a record library. T h e music department, naturally, has the largest num ber o f records, already ow n in g the w orks of the great composers from Bach and Beethoven to Stravinsky and H indem ith, as w ell as records illustrating the history of m usic from the Plain Song to the m odern period. T h e E nglish and speech departments also have a small record library, including readings from the Bible, Shake足 speare, Chaucer, and some of the m odern poets, the singin g o f bal足 lads, mediaeval and A m erican, and m ediaeval stringed music.

T h e Packer library has grow n steadily in num ber and variety of books and services to students and faculty. T h ere are now in the w hole library about fifteen thousand volum es, including the three

211

Stormy Years thousand in the Bates library and tw o thousand or so in the elemen­ tary school and in different departm ental rooms and offices. T h e m ain library contains the standard w orks o f reference, including the G reat O xford D ictionary. T h ere is an excellent card catalogue and also a fairly large list of m agazines, representing the varied in­ terests of the school. It is a good general library for a preparatory school and junior college, w ith an especially good collection of art books, and is strong in literature and history. T h e librarian of Queens C ollege in N e w Y o rk C ity, visiting the library in 1943 in connection w ith a special investigation he was carrying on, asked permission to cite the Packer library in his report as an excellent one.

T h e original paintings and etchings w h ich decorate the w alls, the airiness and ligh t of the room, the alcoves lined w ith books, and the lon g tables m ake the room com fortable and restful. T h e fire­ place, w ith a bronze figure relief by Solon Borglum , is a m em orial to D r. Backus. T h e figure holds a torch and an Indian crouches by her side. T h e w hole m em orial, sym bolic of the advance o f educa­ tion since the time the Indians ruled L o n g Island, is one of the most beautiful o f the m any m emorials at Packer. T h e library is very quiet.

N o matter h o w m uch m ay be goin g on in other parts o f the build­ ing, the library can always be counted on as a refuge for the stu­ diously inclined every school day from eight-thirty in the m orning to six o’clock at night. T h is quiet and orderliness have been secured by unrem itting vigilance and effort on the part of the librarian, Miss Morse.

T h e standard o f academic w o rk has rem ained high. Packer con­ tinues to send a large num ber o f students to college. In 1941 fiftytw o girls w ere accepted by thirty-six colleges from V erm on t to Texas and as far west as A rizon a, thirty-one girls goin g as freshm en and twenty-one as sophomores or juniors. In 1942 forty-two Packer girls graduated from degree-granting colleges, and fifty-four w ent

212

THE N EW STAIRW AY IN TH E CENTRAL BUILDING, 19 45

THE

LIBRARY

TODAY

*9 3 8 - 1 9 4 5 from Packer to twenty-nine different colleges. T h e colleges accept­ in g Packer candidates one year or another m ake a lon g list.* M any art and technical schools also accept Packer students, Pratt Institute in the com m ercial art, engineering, and teachers’ training courses, and the Massachusetts Institute o f Tech nology, am ong others. Packer students, finishing the m achine-draw ing course, m ay go directly into the drafting rooms of m anufacturing concerns, such as the G rum m an A ircraft C om pany and the Sperry Gyroscope Com pany.

D r. Shafer is aware o f the one-sidedness o f the old-time conven­ tional academic curriculum , a curriculum w h ich calls into play only a few of the intellectual powers necessary to a fu ll and useful life. H e is tryin g to m ake Packer a school w here students o f all abilities can find some skill in w h ich they can excel. T h is policy is apparent in all departments from the Junior C ollege to the elem en­ tary school.

T h e elem entary staff, a very good one, is skillful in the handling both of students and subject m atter, and aims at purposeful activity for the children. T h e teachers keep in particularly close touch w ith the home and cooperate w ith it.

D r. Shafer has thus sum m arized the objectives and achievements o f the elem entary school at Packer: * So m e o f these co lleges are: A d e lp h i

G ettysb u rg

Sarah L a w re n c e

A lle g h e n y

H ofstra

A m e rica n U n ive rsity

H ood

S k id m o re S m ith

B arn ard

H u n te r

S w arth m o re

B en n in gto n

M a ryla n d C o lle g e fo r W o m en

S w e e t B riar

B eth an y

M id d leb u ry

T e m p le

B ro o k ly n L a w School

M o u n t H o ly o k e

U n iv e rsity o f A riz o n a

B ryn M a w r

N e w Jersey C o lle g e fo r W o m e n

U n iv e rsity o f T e x a s

C o lb y

N e w Y o r k U n iv ersity

U n iv e rsity o f W iscon sin

C o n n ecticu t

O h io W esleyan

V assar

C o rn e ll

P e m b ro k e

D uke

St. Joseph’s

W e lls W e lle sle y

E lm ira

St. L a w re n c e U n iv e rsity

W ilso n

2/5

Stormy Years T o help students to live fu lly ; to train them in the essential skills of oral and w ritten expression, readin g and arithm etic; to develop habits o f ac­ curacy, concentration, and hard w o rk ; to encourage them to be consider­ ate of others; to stim ulate u n fo ld in g interests and to g u id e them in the discovery of n ew ones; to perm it the developm ent of appreciation of the beautifu l in art and literatu re— such appreciation to be fostered in part by creative w o rk in the art itself; to develop self-confidence and selfm astery; to foster religious reverence and faith.

G irls w h o have com e throu gh the P ack er elem entary school are m ore than able students. T h e y show respect for their elders and their school, not through com pulsion, but because they choose to do so. M ost o f them re­ veal self-control w h ich seems to be the product o f restraints im pelled by their un derstan ding and affection, rather than by fear. In their attitude tow ard class w o rk , they indicate for the m ost part that they h ave taken the initial steps in learn in g to d o exact and th o rou gh w ork.

In the first grade the w o rk is inform al and the children hardly kn ow that they are being taught. Th ere are no num erical or letter ratings in the first four grades, w hich include boys as w ell as girls.

In the teaching abundant use is made o f spontaneous activities by the children, each w o rk in g at his ow n rate of speed. T h e activities in all eight grades are thoroughly creative, including handw ork and dram atization. M uch tim e is spent by the very little children in the garden and playground.

Spontaneity and freedom to express and grow w ithout confusion or disorder m ay be said to be the m otto o f the elem entary depart­ m ent at Packer. In the phrase, w ithout confusion or disorder, is indicated the place o f discipline at Packer, for provision is made for the control o f self and the recognition of the rights of others.

A fter Pearl H arbor, Packer, w ith the rest of the country, settled dow n to the steady daily routine o f doing its part tow ard w in n in g the w ar. A s 1941 turned into 1942 and Bataan surrendered, Corregidor fell, and M anila was captured, gasoline was rationed in the

214

193V-1945 East, then sugar, coffee, and fuel oil throughout the nation, and m ore and m ore young m en w ere inducted into the A rm y , N avy, Coast G uard, Marines, and A ir Force. T h e faculty, like that o f most other schools, helped w ith the rationing program , the students also assisting w here they could. W h en in 1943 meat, butter, cheese, and processed fish, fruit, and vegetables w ere rationed, the Packer lunch room, along w ith other city restaurants, established meatless days and was less generous w ith sugar, coffee, and butter. Faculty and students stood patiently in line at the grocery stores to secure pro­ visions, and accustomed themselves to the dark streets during the months o f the dim-out.

G irls and faculty took on m ore activities, w ent on w ith their daily w ork w ith calmness and fortitude, and avoided the manifestation o f hatred engendered by w ar tow ard enem y nationals. A Japanese girl in the fourth academic, w h o had been popular before Pearl Harbor, continued to be popular after it, and in her distress was com forted by her classmates. T h e experience suffered by Fraulein H arm s in the First W orld W a r was not repeated in the case o f Frau Krebs as far as hostility at school w ent, partly because she herself was anti-N azi, but m ore because the hysterical hatred of all things G erm an has not been characteristic o f the w ar o f 1941 in Packer or elsewhere, as it was in the last w ar. But G erm an electives dropped and in 1943 vanished altogether and Packer lost Frau Krebs, w ho, how ever, found a position teaching G erm an to soldiers in the U n i­ versity of Pennsylvania.

L ife has not been unduly serious at Packer, although the school has responded to the seriousness o f the times. M oney for w ar activi­ ties has been raised in m any ways, by plays and teas and even by a contest over the relative singing abilities of Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby— tw o radio crooners appealing especially to the youn g of the fair sex. B ing came out ahead in the contest. Perhaps the inci­ dent is illustrative o f Packer’s “progressive conservatism.” This

215

Stormy Years frivolously joyful affair netted sixty dollars for the purchase of kn itting wool.

Packer contributed m oney and service to the usual charities, equipped hospital beds for Britain, adopted some Finnish children, and gave m oney to the fund for Chinese babies, and to various other funds and organizations.

W ith all its w ar activities the school still found time for other extra-curricular events— an im portant factor in education. Some new activities in the gym nasium , such as ping pong and badm inton tournaments, w ere added. Miss W rig h t started a glee club in the Junior College, in addition to one already existing, composed of younger girls. Th ere were m ore teas and m ore plays, w ith boys taking the m ale parts in the academic and collegiate plays and a professional coach to direct. A second dance, the Pelican prom, was instituted in the fall of 1938, attended by juniors, seniors, and their young m en friends. D u rin g the w ar both this and the senior prom have had to be given up because the young m en w ere engaged in m uch grim m er activities than dancing.

T h e flower beds in the garden w ere planted to vegetables under the direction o f Miss Sweeting, teacher of science and director of the G arden C lub, w ith M r. Barton as technical adviser, and lettuce and cabbages replaced pansies.

These m any activities have made Packer busier than usual, espe­ cially the faculty, since it has been smaller during these seven years than during some periods, because the school has been smaller. D r.

Shafer inherited rather a m iddle-aged faculty, because after the de­ pression of 1929 few teachers left Packer for other positions, and w hen lay-offs w ere necessary, the trustees tended to retain those teachers of longest service— a kind and hum ane policy and prob­ ably on the w hole an efficient policy, but one w hich upset the na­ tural age balance. A num ber of teachers reached the age lim it (largely self-determined) between 1938 and 1945 and retired, and

216

PACKER CHILDREN IN TH E GARDEN, 19 4 5

IN TH E PLAYGROUND

THE

GARDEN

TODAY

1938-1945 were replaced by younger people.* E linor C lark, w h o graduated from Packer in 1935 and returned in 1941 as secretary to the presi­ dent and w h o is now secretary of the Institute, w rote o f the faculty: O n the staff one realizes continu ally the fine characters o f the personnel and their spirit o f fine cooperation in every phase o f the school’s life. It w o u ld be hard to define the atm osphere of P acker, b u t surely it is in large part attributable to the fact that P ack er fa cu lty m em bers are persons as w ell as teachers. A n d it is the responsibility o f a lim ited fa cu lty and stu­ dent b od y for extra-curricular activities o f all kind s, and the continuous participation of both students and fa cu lty in com m on problem s w h ich create the w arm th o f fee lin g in the hearts o f all connected w ith P acker.

P acker reunions take place as often w h en an alu m n a m eets a teacher as w hen an alum n a m eets a classm ate. A lu m n a e loyalty to P ack er is strength­ ened by close association, w heth er present or recollected, w ith the person­ alities w h ich are P acker.9

Packer lost a distinguished m usician w hen R. H un tin gton W ood ­ man, organist and musical director, resigned in 1940. H e was suc­ ceeded at the organ by W in slo w Cheney, a pupil of Mr. W oodm an and o f M arcel D upre, and one of A m erica’s most brilliant concert organists, and as musical director by Miss E lizabeth W rig h t. From the death o f A m y D unlap in the same year the school lost one of its outstanding alumnae and teachers o f all time.

O n the death o f M r. Babbott in 1933, L ew is W . Francis succeeded him as president of the board of trustees. Packer has been fortunate in the presidents of the board. T h e y have all been deeply interested in Packer and conscientious in the fu lfillm en t o f their duties.

Packer people, g o in g hurriedly about their business, are not so acutely aware o f the trustees as they are o f the teachers, the stu­ dents and the alumnae. Y e t the trustees are a part of the pattern w hich is Packer. Since 1845 they have been there— always chang* T h e retirin g ag e fo r teachers w a s o fficially set a t six ty in th e fa ll o f 1940 , a lth o u g h fe w , if a n y , teachers h a v e been co m p elled to retire a t th a t ag e, o r h a v e ch osen to d o so.

2 /7

Stormy Years ing, yet always the same, a sort of steady, unimpassioned sky against whose large serenity the rest of Packer sometimes seem like shoot­ in g stars or bewildered bats. T h e y are always em inent men and wom en, successful and influential in the com m unity. W henever one of them dies, the others are grieved and they w rite a sincere, m oving, and discrim inating tribute to the colleague they have just lost. It is called a M inute, and the nam e has poetical implications, for it is a m inute and the last one in these kindly, useful lives of m en and w om en w h o take time from their busy days to run the affairs o f Packer out of pure public spirit and interest in education.

T h e trustees are a self-perpetuating body, that is, they themselves nom inate and elect members to fill vacancies caused by death or resignation.* It is fortunate for Packer that it has a board w ho have seemed over-cautious at times in their han dlin g of the school’s finances, for, had not business affairs been m anaged cautiously during the fat years, the school could not have survived, as it has, the lean years.

For the N ineteen-Thirties and Forties have been lean years in­ deed, not only for Packer, but for most schools of its type, and not only for schools but for m any other institutions. T h e depression of 1929 and the other storms that have beset Packer in the first ninetyfive years o f its existence have been those that w ere to be expected in any lon g voyage, but the storm of the Forties is a convulsion of civili­ zatio n— the tempest, the hurricane, and the earthquake combined, on a scale hitherto not experienced or even im agined by man.

In these stormy years m any private schools have had to close and small colleges have had a hard time. T o meet the situation, D r.

Shafer has sent an annual letter to alumnae and parents on the state of the school each spring, and another letter to parents o f pros* T h e ch a rter w a s ch a n ged in 194 3 , m a k in g the p resid en t o f th e Institute a m e m b e r of th e bo ard, and a rra n g in g fo r o n e trustee to be n o m in a ted e v e ry fo u r years b y the A ssociate A lu m n a e fro m th eir n u m b e r— a tr u ly p rog ressive an d d e m ocratic step. A lso th e o ld re q u ir e ­ m en t th a t all trustees liv e in B ro o k ly n w a s elim in a ted .

1938-1945 pective pupils each September. H e has sent out also a small map show ing com m unities w ithin com m uting distance of Packer, an excellent article on Packer, reprinted from Am erican Private Schools™ and tw o very attractive small folders, one o f w hich con­ cerns the Junior College.

In the spring o f 1943 C ollege D ay was instituted. N am es of stu­ dents in various h igh schools and private secondary schools w ho m ay be interested in the Junior C ollege are secured, and invitations sent to these girls. T h e visitors are received in the m ain office, and then taken to exercises in the chapel. A fterw ards they are conducted on a tour of the building, shown exhibits, and introduced to m em ­ bers of the faculty. T ea is served, and the students of the Junior C o l­ lege act as hostesses.

These devices, the greater prosperity of the com m unity, brought about by the w ar, and the ability of the president, the staff, and the trustees to interpret the needs of the times have checked the falling trend in registration. In 1943-44 ^

total enrollm ent at Packer in­

creased by twenty-seven students. A s this book goes to press, the registration for 1944-45 shows a ten percent increase over that of the previous year. A ll over the country there are hopeful signs for schools and colleges for girls.

Thus Packer so far has weathered the storm and m ade progress, although w ith reefed sails. It has been said that a well-designed and well-built ship w ith an able master and a faith fu l crew can live through any tempest— w ith the help of G od. Packer seems to prove this statement.

H ow ever, the m axim that G od helps those w h o help themselves is equally true. T h e realization felt by all presidents of Packer through most of its history for the necessity of a large endow m ent has been expressed by D r. Shafer, and he has steadily advocated a new build­ ing on the playground. T h e board of trustees has now appointed a comm ittee to have plans prepared and to raise m oney for a new

219

Stormy Years building w hich w ill be placed on the playground and w h ich w ill be used for various com m unicative and participatory activities, such as physical education, dramatics, and speech (Packer has long needed a new gym nasium and another aud itoriu m ). T h e plan is to include a conference room for the library and for the display of valuable m useum materials, not only to assist the history of art de­ partm ent, but also all phases of the curriculum w here such visual aids are valuable. Each m em ber of the staff whose departm ent m ay be affected has been given an opportunity to consult w ith the archi­ tect. M oney raised for the Centennial is to be used for the erection of this building after the war.

B y 1944 forty-two hundred w om en (in round num bers) had graduated from Packer, o f w hom about thirty-two hundred are now living. T h e num ber of form er students w h o have not grad­ uated and the num ber of parents o f form er students and graduates still livin g are not kn ow n to the historian. But w ith such a large and loyal body of alumnae and so m any public-spirited citizens inter­ ested in the continuation of private schools, it should not be impos­ sible after the w ar for so good a school, w hich has served so w ell for one hundred years a large and prosperous com m unity, to obtain the financial security w hich it needs.

T h ro u gh all its history, Packer has had well-defined objectives.

A s times change and the school changes w ith them, these objectives need redefining. In the fall o f 1943 a faculty comm ittee prepared a definition o f the educational aims of Packer’s secondary school— the first time, so far as is revealed by history, that such a docum ent has come from the faculty. T h e report is adm irably specific, but the general statement is o f particular interest: In a democracy some education should be available to all children of secondary school age, in accordance with their desires and abilities, whether intellectual or manual. T h e aim of such education should be to develop their physical, emotional, and mental powers and abilities so that

220

T~-

THE

CLASS

OF

1945

THE

PACKER

WITH

THE

PROPOSED

the architectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s drawing

IN S T IT U T E

From

C O L LE G IA T E

NEW

B U IL D IN G

1938-1945 they m ay be responsible, cooperative, creative members o£ society and selfreliant individuals with inner resources that give enjoyment and meaning to life. T heir education should reveal to them important portions of their heritage of knowledge, experience, and ideals as citizens of the world, the nation, and the community.

D r. Shafer has sum med up both Packer’s and m uch of his ow n educational theory thus: T h e school exists for the child . . . T h e school is to furnish intelligent and sympathetic guidance for the child in grow ing, in m aturing into a person able to live with satisfaction in a society— know ing self and society, past and present, being able to adjust self to society whenever necessary but possessing principles of conduct, ideals of action, and knowledge which w ill m ake for a self-respect sufficient to prevent the individual’s supine capitulation to every phase of the passing scene— even sufficient to energize a resistance which w ill eventuate in an effort to remedy what is w rong and to create what is lacking and what is better.11

These tw o quotations from D r. Shafer and his faculty express no radically new philosophy, but they do express a new emphasis.

Packer has always striven w ith great sincerity to give the kind of training dem anded by the com m unity w hich it serves. Brooklyn parents today dem and som ething very different from w hat was dem anded in 1845 or even in 1890. T h e studies and extra-curricular activities o f today are a far cry from those o f the old B rooklyn Fem ale A cadem y. T h e school w as founded prim arily to educate the daughters o f the trustees and other prosperous business men o f the H eights. T h ro u g h the years the school policy has expanded and has been diversified, as our ideas o f dem ocracy and the position o f w om en in a dem ocracy have expanded and have been diversified.

Seven years is a short time to judge o f the success o f an adm inistra­ tion, for results in education show but slowly. It has been no easy task to keep the school in academ ic equilibrium , true to its ow n

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Stormy Fears policies and ideals, and still adapted to the abnormal conditions of a country at w ar. T h e present administration has begun w ith great vigor. T h e changes and developm ents and the spirit of the school itself are vital and stirring.

A n institution of long life is like a great river ever changing, yet ever the same. T h e country changes as the river leaves its source in the hills and flows onw ard; the banks change; the river bed changes; m any little streams add themselves to it; the traffic on the riverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s broad bosom is transform ed: but it is still the same river.

A brupt changes, resulting in falls and rapids, m ay be th rillin g and scenic, but are often fatal to the small craft trying to navigate its waters. T h e current of Packer under its fifth president runs strong and free as it flows through a war-convulsed country. It is o f the country, bearing the traffic o f the country, but it has a tranquillity of its own. A n d this is as it should be in an institution w h ich guides young people through the early part of their lives.

D r. Shafer and his faculty are w ell fitted to carry on the school and to perpetuate its personality. Interested in the past and in its continuity w ith the present and the future, believing in the con­ servation of the things in our national and educational past that are w orth preserving, yet forw ard looking and progressive, they can be trusted to take Packer through the difficult transitional years ahead.

X A Long Way Forward «

t t ’s a

long

w ay

out of th e

past an d

a

long

w ay

f o r w a r d .”

A So said Stephen V in cen t Benet. W h a t is to be the course o f Packer on her lon g w ay forw ard in the second century of her exist­ ence? Th ere have been g ro w in g fears for the private school and small college in the last three decades. T h e large and excellent public school systems all over the country, supported by public money, and the increasing num ber of large and excellent state and city univer­ sities supported by state and city fund s— sometimes dom inated by politics— have offered keen com petition to private schools and col­ leges. W h y should private schools and colleges exist at all ? W h at can they do that the public schools and universities, w ith their almost unlim ited financial resources, cannot do better ?

D r. Shafer has given the answer to this question as w ell, perhaps, as it can be given: Private schools and private colleges . . . are providing education which meets individual needs, often in spite of very adverse conditions. T h ey are

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A Long Way Forward as yet undominated by any systematized bureaucracy. T h ey are free to seek the good in the new and to hold fast to the good in the old. T h ey do not represent any aristocracy, except that of an idealism associated with full personal growth and consistent good work.1

T h e Report on the Philosophy of Secondary Education by the Packer faculty also answers the question succinctly: In the general scheme of education, the independent schools have a place because they can perform specialized services and functions that are difficult for the public school. T h ey can give more attention to the needs of the individual; they can be less bound by the average; in administration and in choice of staff they can profit by their greater freedom from ex­ ternal controls; they can work with greater freedom in experimenting with curricula and methods and in developing personalities.

T h e greater flexibility o f the private school and college and their comparative freedom m ake them a valuable factor in a democratic society, and to lose them w ould be an educational tragedy.

A lth o u gh Packer has met the diversified demands of its students in the past, it is and always has been prim arily a cultural school.

T h e future o f the cultural school is being w id ely discussed. T h e trend o f the twentieth century tow ard vocational training has been greatly increased by the w ar, w hich requires h igh ly specialized skills. T h e papers are full of the achievements of young men w ho can design, build, or fly airplanes; w h o can design, build, or m anage ships, guns, and tanksâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; of the troops specially trained for figh ting in the jungle, on skis, or for invasion by parachute. N o medals are bestowed on cultivated persons as such.

W ith w om en in the A rm y , the N avy, the Marines, and the Coast G uard, and in defense w ork, specialized skills are dem anded of girls almost as m uch as o f young men. N o w and then a lone voice is raised (usually that of an educator) to rem ind the public that a broad culture, know ledge of literature, history, art, and language,

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A Long Way Forward of psychology, economics, and sociology are needed now , more than in any previous period of the w o rld ’s history, to understand the m any civilizations that w ill have to be dealt w ith in the reorgan­ ization of the war-ruined w orld. But these lone voices are drow ned by the sound of guns and bombs, by the w h ir of factory m achinery, and by talk of grand strategy.

Th ere m ay be a reaction after this w ar as there was after the last.

A war-w eary w orld m ay turn w ith relief to the resources of minds educated in the liberal arts. It m ay realize that the rich understand­ ing, the sympathetic im agination, and the w ide range of inform a­ tion and intellectual pow er w h ich are the results o f such an education in fertile soil w ill be needed, not only to restore our na­ tional life and the pursuits o f peace, to solve the problems o f our ow n dem ocratic society and to help to reorganize the w orld, but to m ake for a full, rich, and satisfactory life for the individual.

Schools like Packer are needed as never before. A paper o f D r.

Shafer’s has a suggestive phrase in the title, Am erican Schools Should K eep L o n g Range Objectives W hile M eeting War N eeds of Societyf For one hundred years Packer has kept long range objec­ tives. M ay she keep them for another hundred years! “ W e have beheld the past and h ow it led U p to the threshold of today.” 3 So said a Packer poet. W e have beheld the past. W h a t lies beyond the threshold of today w e see but dim ly. W e can only have faith that in the new-but-old w orld the new-but-old Packer w ill continue in the fine tradition of its past.

225

PACKER COLLEGIATE IN S T IT U T E , T H E CHAPEL

Supplement A

Packer Personalitiesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; The Trustees I.

TH E BOARDS OF 1 8 4 5 , 1 8 5 3 , AND I 9 4 5

T h e first board o f trustees o f the B roo k lyn F em ale A cad em y w as elected some tim e betw een D ecem ber 20, 1844, and January n , 1845, their nam es first appearing in the M inutes o f January 11 , 1845. F o r the first three m onths they chose a tem porary chairm an at each m eeting. O n M ay 10 ,18 4 5, John Skillm an was elected president o f the board.

F IR S T B O A R D O F T R U S T E E S O F T H E B R O O K L Y N F E M A L E A C A D E M Y , 1 8 4 5

John Sk illm an

G eorge W o o d

Francis Spies

Elisha D . H u rlb u t

Peter C la rk

D a v id G . C a rtw rig h t

W illia m S. Packer

D a vid Coope

John H . Sm ith

Seth L o w

T h o m a s Baylis

W . I. C ornell

A brah am C rist

John H . Prentice

O liv e r FI. G ordon

22-J

A Long Way Forward F IR S T B O A R D O F T H E P A C K E R C O L L E G IA T E IN S T IT U T E , 1 8 5 3

( Also the Last Board of the Brooklyn Female Academy) G . G . V a n W agenen

Peter C . C ornell

Peter Balen

A . B. Baylis

J. W . H arp er

L oom is Ballard

C y ru s P . Sm ith

J. H . Prentice

B. D . Sillim an

J. Sullivan T h o rn e

A . W . Benson

J. M . V a n C o t t

O . H . G ordon

A . A . Low

D a vid Coope

T H E BOARD O F

I9 4 5

M r. L ew is W . Francis, President M r. Sidney W . D avidson , V ice President D r. M errill N . Foote, Secretary M rs. K atharin e Sloan Pratt, T reasurer M rs. Roscoe C . E . B row n

elected January 3, /9/0

M r. L ew is W . Francis

elected January 3,1916 elected January 3,1922 elected December 4, 1922

M r. H en ry A . Ingraham M r. W a lter H . C rittenden M r. Ernest P . G ood rich T h e R ev. Phillips P . E lliott M r. Richard S. M aynard M r. Sidney W . D avid son M rs. K atharine Sloan Pratt M r. W illia m M . Parke M r. C harles R . G a y D r. M errill N . Foote D r. John F . T hom pson D r. Paul D . Shafer Mrs. F rederick C . H olden M r. James M . H ills

elected March I, 7926 elected April 24,1933 elected April 24,1933 elected February 75, 1934 elected March 4,1935 elected January 4 ,193J elected January 8,1940 elected June 1,1942 elected December 7 ,1942 by charter amendment, November, 1943 elected January 3,1944 elected April 3,1944

2 . A L I S T O F T H E P R E S ID E N T S O F T H E B O A R D T h e B rooklyn F em ale A cad em y and the P acker C ollegiate Institute have had, in the hundred years o f their com bined existence, nine presidents o f the board: John Sk illm an (18 4 5 -4 7 ), G eorge W o o d (18 4 7 -5 0 ), at one tim e m ayor o f B rooklyn V illa g e, Seth L o w (1 8 5 0 -5 1), gran dfath er o f the Seth L o w w h o w as

228

Supplement the first mayor of greater N ew Y ork and president of Colum bia University,* G . G . V an W agenen (1851-58), A . A . L ow (1858-93), Joshua M . V an Cott (1893-96), Bryan H . Smith (18 9 6-1911), Frank L . Babbott (19 11-3 3 ), and Lewis W . Francis (1934 to the present).**

3 . SKETCH ES OF IN D IV ID U AL TRUSTEES D A V ID G . C A R T W R I G H T

D avid Gardiner Cartw right was a trustee from 1845 to 1851, and deserves notice because he suggested and took the first steps toward founding the Brooklyn Female Academ y. Born in 1799, he used to tell his granddaughter, Elisabeth W oodbridge Morris, in his deep, rumbly voice, “ I was born the year Washington died— as one star set, another rose.” 1 H e came from Nantucket, went to sea as a boy on a whaler, and later was captain of a schooner in the coastal trade between North and South Am erica. H e left the sea in the Eighteen-Thirties or early Eighteen-Forties and settled in Brooklyn— one of those N ew England seafaring men of whom there were so many on the Heights in the early days. A lthough he was a Hicksite Quaker, he attended the Church of the Pilgrims in Brooklyn. “ H e was a strikingly handsome old gentleman with his bright blue sailor’s eyes and his white hair . . . worn rather long over his neck. . . . People often turned to look after him on the street.” 2 L ike all Quakers, he believed in the education of women. H e sent his oldest daughter to Rutgers Institute in N ew Y ork, and two of his younger daughters attended the B. F. A . H e not only suggested the founding of the B. F. A ., but was also active in establishing the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute. H e died in 1892 or ’93.

JO H N

H . P R E N T IC E

John H . Prentice, born in 1803, was in 1845 an influential and successful citi­ zen, a partner in the flourishing fur business of Packer, Prentice, and C om ­ pany. H e had taken up his residence on Brooklyn H eights in 1839, where he resided until his death in 1881.

He was a trustee and the treasurer of the B. F. A . and of Packer from 1845 to 1879. O f his six daughters w ho lived to grow up, five graduated from Packer and the youngest, Mrs. Theron G . Strong (still living and active) attended the * T h e gra n d so n , Seth L o w , w a s also a m em b e r o f the board fro m 189 6 to 1900. ** A c tin g P resid en t, D ecem b er 1 9 3 3 -M a rch 193 4.

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A Long Way Forward school from 1857 to 1870. After his retirement from business in i860, Mr. Prentice devoted all his time to the public interest. H e was a trustee of the Polytechnic Institute, of Greenwood Cemetery, a director of the Brooklyn Savings Bank, and president of the board of water commissioners o f the Ridge­ wood W ater W orks. A s a member of the Park Commission, and chairman for some time, he was responsible for some of the most beautiful features of Prospect Park. H e was also trustee of the Brooklyn Bridge Commission, for which he was particularly fitted, since he was possessed of a general knowledge of engineering and a quick perception of the beautiful.

H e was a man of unusual ability, fine character, and dignity.

A B IE L A . L O W

Abiel Abbott Low , like John H . Prentice, was a N ew Englander, one of the first of the influential N ew Englanders on the Heights in the second quarter of the nineteenth century. H e was born in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1811, coming to Brooklyn in 1829. H e was a merchant prince, an importer of tea and a builder of clipper ships. Identified w ith many civic improvements, he was as generous as he was responsible and able. H e was the president of the Civil Commission which gave the Sanitary Fair in 1864.

H e became a member of the board of trustees of the B. F. A . in 1851, and was president of the board of Packer from 1858 until his death in 1893. H e was a liberal, thoughtful man, as generous of his time and strength as of his money.

Th e last two years of his life he gave a bonus of fifty dollars to each teacher at Packer, and he frequently helped students financially without the beneficiaryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s know ing the identity of her benefactor. H e gave many gifts of five hundred or one thousand dollars to the school at various times for specific purposes.

H is commencement addresses, bound into the annual catalogues from 1858 till 1882, show the intelligence, dignity, and nobility o f the man. L ike Mr. Packer and Mr. Prentice, he exemplified the fine and interesting traits of both the early Brooklyn and the early Packer.

JO SH U A M . V A N CO TT

Judge V an Cott was elected trustee on August 13, 1856, and served until his death on August 13, 1896 on the board of the B .F .A . and of Packer, exactly forty-six years. D uring the last three years of his term he was president of the board.

Descended from one of the early D utch settlers, and born in N ew Y ork in 1815, he was one of the prominent and exceedingly able lawyers of both N ew

250

Supplement Y o rk and Brooklyn. Although he practiced law in N ew Y o rk during part of his career, he was identified through most of his long life w ith Brooklyn. H e made a specialty of admiralty law, but practiced in other legal fields as well, ranking with such lawyers as Joseph Choate and W . M. Evarts. H e drew the charter of Packer and helped to draft that of the Long Island Historical Society, of which he was an active member. H e was a member of the Church of the Pilgrims and at one time president of the Congregational Society.

One of the most active of the Packer trustees, he was chairman for fifteen years of the committee on instruction. H e regarded the Packer girls as his daughters, and was much beloved by them. His portrait bespeaks the courdy gentleman, witty, genial, easy, generous, and high-minded. T h e Minute of the Trustees upon his death said: “ Our friend was a cidzen greatly honored. Since his early manhood, when Brooklyn was a village, he has been a leader in the community, and a student of its welfare. H is professional work, and especially his official services as Coun­ sel to the Corporation, made him acquainted with the needs of the city, and his knowledge of its growth and its municipal history was probably more in­ timate and detailed than that of any cidzen now living. H e had witnessed the struggle, somewhat fierce and trying, by which a community must make its way, passing through confusion and turbulence from a quiet village into a great and well-governed city.”

B R Y A N H . S M IT H

Bryan H . Smith became a trustee in 1877, succeeding his father, Cyrus P. Smith, fourth mayor of Brooklyn, and from 1896 until 1911 he was president of the board. “ H e was devoted to Packer beyond all other interests.” 11 H e al­ ways, if possible, attended chapel on Friday m orning to hear the salute to the flag. H e frequently had teas for the faculty and for the graduating class. His granddaughter, Elizabeth Mount Ross, graduated from Packer in 1917.

M r. Sm ith, at the tim e o f his death, w as one o f the oldest residents o f B roo k­ lyn, and had been engaged in the dom estic w oolen goods com m ission business, retirin g in 1891. L ik e m ost P acker trustees, he w as interested in philanthropic and civic affairs. H e w as a trustee o f the B roo k lyn Savin gs B a n k from 1873 to 1912 and president from 1894 to 1912.

H e was a man of deep convictions and high ideals, as well as of practical sense and administrative ability. Influential in the community, modest, yet positive, he had cultivated tastes, and combined the gracious courtesy of a highminded gentleman w ith the sagacity of the practical man of affairs. H is many

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A Long Way Forward years only gave to his service the “ relish of the saltiness of time which made his counsel wise and his vision far-seeing.” 1 W IL L IA M

S. P A C K E R , I I

W illiam S. Packer, the only son of the Founder, was born in Brooklyn in 1845, and graduated from Yale in 1866. H e spent several years in professional studies and in foreign travel. H e was a trustee of Packer from 1877 until his death in 1893, and was especially interested in the library, “ which bears witness to his discriminating taste of what is best in literature.” 6 Mr. Packer was a lawyer by profession, but in later years he gave up general practice for the management of his mother’s real estate and his own literary pursuits. “ H e was an unusually good lawyer and a clever business man.” 6 His nature was bright and gay and “ there was a delicacy and grace in his humor, and an airy touch in his fancy which were as rare as they were d elig h tfu l.. . .

H e had the true Gallic w it and the sense o f style of the best French writers.” 7 The principal literary work upon which he was engaged in the last years of his life was a book on the history and literature of the reign of Queen Anne. He had done a great deal of valuable and scholarly w ork on it at the time of his death, although he had not completed it.

H e married Mary Keys Jones of Baltimore, a woman of charm and musical talent, who had much influence in musical circles in Baltimore and Brooklyn.

He left two sons, the Rev. W illiam S. Packer, III, a trustee of Packer from 1902 to 1907, now serving on the advisory council of the board, and Andrew D ick ­ son Packer, who died in 1915, and a daughter Mary, now Mrs. Robert O. Brockway, who graduated from the Institute in 1897.

Judge Holt, a personal friend, said of him, “ H e had the . . . most attractive intellect and the most beautiful nature that I have ever know n.” 6 F R E D E R IC K P . B E L L A M Y

By the death of Mr. Frederick P. Bellamy on September 15,1929, the board of trustees of Packer lost the last close connection of its membership w ith the family of the Founder. H e was Mrs. Packer’s nephew. H e made his home with her in his young manhood, and was deeply devoted to her and to her memory.

H e furnished for alumnae, students, and friends of the school from time to time “ a picture of the Founder that made her . . . live again for the inspiration of a generation that never knew her.” 9 H e was a trustee of Packer for fortyfour years and secretary of the board for thirty-five years, and rarely missed a meeting when he was in the city. H e was a frequent visitor to the school.

232

Supplement M r. Bellamy was a brother o f Edward Bellamy, the author of Looking Back­ ward. H e married Blanche W ilder, a radiantly beautiful woman, of social charm and literary gifts, and had one son, F. W ilder Bellamy, w ho presented his father’s portrait to the school in 1932, and w ho served on the board of trus­ tees from 1930 to 1933.

Mr. Bellamy graduated from Union College in 1868, which later conferred on him the honorary degree of M .A ., and from the Colum bia L aw School in 1872. H e practiced law in Brooklyn for fifty-five years.

H e was charming and friendly with a sparkling wit. H e had a great deal of nervous energy and “ a gay temperament, although in matters of which he dis­ approved, he could be caustic. H e was most generous in his admiration and in his affections. H e was a popular clubman at the Ham ilton Club and the Century Association, and a delightfully genial host.” 10 FR A N K L . BABBOTT

Frank L . Babbott succeeded Bryan H . Smith as president of the board in 1911, and continued in office until his death in 1933, at the age of seventy-nine. H e had become a trustee in 1889, thus serving for forty-four years.

H e graduated from Amherst in 1878 and from the Colum bia L aw School in 1884. H e was a member of the boards of many civic, artistic, and educational organizations— of Vassar and Am herst (w hich, am ong others, conferred a doctor’s degree upon h im )— and he was particularly active as director of the Brooklyn Public Library and of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, of which he was president from 1920 to 1928. H e was largely responsible for the enrichment of the art collection. “ A s Vice-President of the Municipal A rt Com ­ mission, he had great influence in raising the artistic standards of public works.

The intellectual, artistic, and civic interests, not only of Brooklyn, but of the country, suffered a great loss in his death

H is w ork was know n abroad and

the governments of France and Denm ark both gave him decorations in recog­ nition of his services to education and art.” 11 H e was one o f the chief patrons of the Boston Symphony concerts in Brooklyn and for many years had tw o boxes, one for his family, and one for the Packer teachers.

His three daughters graduated from the Institute, Mary Babbott Ladd, Lydia Babbott Stokes, and Helen Babbott Macdonald.

Mr. Babbott came frequently to chapel and his face was familiar to all the members of the school. T h e Minute of the Trustees on his death spoke of his “ power to gain and hold the respectful affection of young people,” of his “ de­ lightful sense of humor,” and added that “ his high ideals of w ork and conduct, the atmosphere of his own culture, his genial dignity and his friendly, under-

233

A Long Way Forward standing sympathy w ith the teaching and administrative staff were some of the factors that combined to make his service to the school unique, inestimable in value, beyond all price.”

H A R R IE T P . P A C K E R

H arriet Packer, “ Miss Daisy,” as she was called by those w ho knew her, was a kind and charming person, with long, luxuriant, gloriously red hair, although, as this was before the days when red hair was appreciated, she suffered on ac­ count of it. She had studied under Chase at the A rt Students’ League, and manifested considerable talent, especially in portraiture, and had the promise o f a career as a painter, but she gave it up after Mrs. Packer became invalided by inflammatory rheumatism, and devoted herself to the care of her mother.

A fter her mother’s death until her own in 1909, at the age of sixty-one, she interested herself in Packer, being elected to the board of trustees in 1907. She was active in the Alum nae Association, of which she was an associate member.

She had attended Packer up to her senior year, when her mother took her and her brother to Paris, where she finished her education and learned to speak beautiful French.

A ll accounts of Miss Packer represent her as a lovely and lovable person, somewhat shy and retiring, perhaps a little overshadowed by her brilliant and more dominant mother.

L E W I S W . F R A N C IS

Lewis W . Francis was born in 1865, the son of a prominent clergyman w ho was pastor for over thirty years of the K ent Street Reformed Church in Brook­ lyn. Upon graduation from W illiam s, Mr. Francis entered the employ of Witherbee, Sherman and Company, an iron m ining company near Lake Champlain, and for ten years prior to 1926 was its president. H e then became associated with the Corn Exchange Bank Trust Com pany, of which he is a vice-president w ith headquarters in Brooklyn, where he has lived for more than forty years. L ik e the other presidents of the board, he is active in various business, educational, and cultural organizations. Mr. Francis’ business activi­ ties include membership on the follow ing boards of directors: Witherbee, Sherman Corporation, Taylor, W harton Iron and Steel Com pany, and the South Brooklyn Savings Bank. H e is also president of the Hoagland Labora­ tory o f Brooklyn, vice-president of the L ong Island Historical Society, treasurer of the Philharmonic Society of Brooklyn, and, until its consolidation w ith the Institute of Arts and Sciences, was a director and secretary of the Brooklyn

234

Supplement Academ y o f Music: he is also director and treasurer of the Brooklyn Urban League. H e is the senior warden of St. A n n ’s and is identified with the Diocese of Long Island as member of the Diocesan Finance Committee and a manager of the Church Charity Foundation ( St. John’s Hospital) of L on g Island. A past president, he has been an active member of the Rembrandt Club and the Tw entieth Century Club, both of Brooklyn, and for many years was a member of the Hamilton Club, and the University Club of N ew Y ork, as well as of other business and civic organizations.

Mr. Francis was elected to the board of trustees in 1916, and succeeded Mr. Babbott as president in 1934.* D r. Shafer writes of him thus: “ Mr. Francis is a man whose interests cover a wide range. Despite his asso­ ciation with several boards of directors and trustees, and despite the require­ ments of his own business, he has always given careful attention to Packer. As President of the Board he naturally attends the regular meetings of the group, but, in addition, he generally is present when the various committees convene, and at the same time attends w ith enjoyment the student functions at Packer.

In directing the affairs of the Board, Mr. Francis shows a keen understanding of human nature. H is courtesy, his considerateness, and his refusal to dominate are all evident in his official associations. “ His attitude towards me and m y position is ideal, in that he shows sym­ pathy with my problems, does not expect the impossible, and gives me a free hand in the conduct o f the Institute. “ In disposition Mr. Francis is quiet, affable, friendly, unruffled. H e can be stubborn when he feels that opposition to some o f his ideas is felt by other Board members, but he is most gracious. H e is conservative in that he clings to what is, until it is proved to be useless or harmful, but at the same time he is constantly w illing to try something new. In this attitude his general outlook corresponds with his appearance, for he is surprisingly youthful-looking in the light of his actual age. In every respect he possesses the best qualities o f a good president of a board of trustees.”

Mr. Francis is a familiar figure at Packer, taking his responsibilities seriously.

His attitude toward the staff is particularly kindly, and he has been responsible for much of the considerate treatment of them.

H e married Sarah Dimon Chapman, the granddaughter of Sarah Carey, who attended the B. F. A . from 1846 to 1850. Mrs. Francis is a frequent, inter­ ested, joyous, and cheering visitor to her Alm a Mater’s halls. T heir daughter Mary, now Mrs. Otis C . Stanton, was a student at Packer, of the class of 1927. * A c tin g Presid en t, 19 3 3 -3 4 .

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A Long Way Forward

B Packer Personalities— The Staff I.

J U L IA B. A N T H O N Y

Julia B. Anthony, born in 1855, graduated from Packer in 1874, joined the faculty in ’86, was librarian from 1897 to 1917, and a member of the English department from 1888 to 1914. O f great integrity of character, devoted to Packer and Brooklyn, generous beyond her means and strength, truly philan­ thropic, genial and whimsically humorous, Miss Anthony was one of that small company best described as choice and rare.

She had read much of the odd and little know n in literature. H er memory was stocked with anecdotes from the world of books, from the Brooklyn and Baltimore of her girlhood, and from Packer over the years she had known it.

She entered the school as a student in 1871, and since she was active in the Alum nae Association from the year of her graduation until 1941, when she became ill, she knew the school well for seventy years.

Besides her great service to the school and to the alumnae, perhaps the most remarkable thing about her was her conversation. F ixing one with a merry but shrewd blue eye, she would begin— digress— digress from the digression— digress from the digression from the digression, while her interlocutor, how ­ ever quick-witted, struggled to follow her. She always eventually finished the topic she began with. “ Laura W ylie,” Miss Anthony would observe with a gurgle, “ says that I talk like Tristram Shandy.” A n d indeed she did. But whether one was able to keep up w ith her or not, one was always entertained.

She would take infinite pains to find references needed in academic w ork and to set a student on the road to good reading. If the books were classified sometimes rather oddly, they were easily found by Miss Anthony who, with the gait called by the girls the Packer trot, would dart around the library w ith incredible speed for one who appeared so frail. She did not keep the library as quiet as m ight have been desired, but it was a homey place and retained the atmosphere of the early Packer long after it had disappeared from every other portion of the building. In spite o f some lack of system, she built up the library and inculcated in the students a genuine love of reading.

After her resignation from Packer, she worked for a time at the university library in Princeton. For many years she did a great deal of work on “ T he Packer Alum na,” and was frequently seen at Packer. W hen she died on June 26, 1944, Packer lost a truly characteristic, fine, and significant figure.

236

Supplement 2.

L U C Y E. CH ASE

(M R S . OSGOOD P U T N A M )

L ucy Chase, Packer 1879, teacher of mathematics from 1885 to ’93, was bril­ liant, charming, and very popular. She had vigor, vitality, and a fine spiritual­ ity. She loved Packer, enjoyed her w ork, and found teaching exciting and creative. She made “ mathematics as fascinating as literature.” 1 She, with Annie Gordon and A m y Dunlap, have been mentioned as representative of the finest type of Packer woman. She is now living in San Francisco.

3.

SU SAN K . COOK

Susan K . Cook, who had come to Packer from Vassar, taught literature, Evi­ dences of Christianity, moral and mental philosophy, and natural theology, from 1868 to ’91, and was in charge of the collegiate department during the latter part of her time. She died in 1911.

She had studied under Agassiz, w ho is said to have considered her mind one of the finest he had ever known. Mrs. Mary R. W . Stubbert, Packer 1872, wrote that although she had met on both sides of the Atlantic women distin­ guished in education, there were few whom she considered the peers of Susan K . C ook and Mrs. Leffingwell.

Miss Cook was small and delicate, with pink cheeks and lovely hands and wrists. She dressed severely in dark colors in keeping w ith her devout, ascetic temperament. She was so very devout that she fasted too severely for her strength in Lent, and she would never allow the great Bible, always on her desk, to be profaned by having so much as a pencil laid upon it. She blushed easily and the girls liked to compliment her to see the lovely color rise to her cheeks. “ H er step was noiseless and her voice low, but on occasion her firmly spoken ‘Ladies!’ brought an instant stillness to the big room which was the home of the collegiate department.” 3 Miss Cook was scholarly with a clear, steady mind, a brilliant teacher, and a definite thinker. T w o of her favorite remarks were, “ A lw ays verify quota­ tions,” and “ N othing lies like facts, unless it is figures.”

One of her students wrote: “ W e studied psychology (mental philosophy) historically and by statement o f formulae, rather than theoretically and experi­ mentally, as the subject has been followed since W illiam James wrote a col­ legiate text book. . . . W hen we read Milton we did not get just lines, but glimpses of a great mind in an age of struggle trying to solve deep religious questions.” 3

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A Long Way Forward.

She taught the “ long patience, that search for knowledge by w hich each soul fulfills its D ivine destiny.” 1 H er methods were those of the fine teacher in every age.

4.

CLARA L . CR A M PTO N

Clara L . Crampton, born in 1869, graduated from Packer in 1890, was ap­ pointed as an assistant in the fourth elementary grade in 1891, and to the mathematics department in ’92. In 1916, after D r. M cK ay’s resignation, she was made director of the department, continuing in that position until the spring o f 1927, when she became ill. She died in the summer of 1928. W hile she was teaching, she did graduate w ork in mathematics at Adelphi, N ew Y ork University, and Cornell.

Possessed of an unusually quick mind and great enthusiasm, merry and joyous, she made mathematics fascinating to some of her students and clear to all of them. She was simple, friendly, and perfectly fair. She was rapid in her movements as well as in her mental processes. Katharine Burr, Packer 1918, recalls asking her a question in the main hall, and “ as she answered, she flew down the hall toward the library w ith me behind her, all the time tossing information about some theorem to me over her shoulder.”

She used to pour herself out in class and seemed as interested in the girls as in the subject. Some of the alumnae considered her the most brilliant teacher at Packer in her time. D r. Denbigh said of her: “ She had the patience of a great teacher. In all m y experience I have never known a better teacher of her subject . . . or one more generous of her time and effort. She built her life into the walls of Packer.” 5

5.

C E L I N D A T . D A V IS

Celinda T . Davis, w ho graduated from the B. F . A . in 1855 and taught Latin from 1867 to 1900, lived to see Brooklyn change from a country village to one of the largest cities in the United States. She was lame, and in those days before the first elevator, she had her classes on the fifth floor.

Although a dyed-in-the-wool classicist, she was a very lively person, witty and gracious. “ She kept her classes on their toes, was fully aware of the im ­ portance of discipline, but had a very happy sense of humor. Latin with her was not only a mental exercise as good as mathematics, but it was a course in history and literature.” 8

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Supplement 6.

A M Y DU N LAP

A m y Dunlap was one of the outstanding teachers of the whole one hundred years of Packer’s existence. Born in Brooklyn in 1879, entering Packer as a student in 1891, and graduating in 1899, she returned in the fall as a teacher of Latin, and in 1900 she became registrar. She took her B.S. at N ew Y ork University in 1916 and her M .A . later at Columbia. In 1916 she was appointed teacher of sociology and economics, and continued in that position until her death in May, 1940, teaching also, for most of that time, a course in European history. H er enthusiastic interest in all the problems o f the day, her equally keen interest in art, literature, and music, her w ide and varied reading, her many European trips, and her one great pedagogical purpose— to compel her students to think— made her a fine teacher.

She loved cards and photographs. T h e bulletin board for History G de­ lighted nearly everyone in school. There m ight be a series of post cards of the Bayeux tapestries bought by her in France, prints of illuminated manu­ scripts with comments in her handw riting— “ A ren’t the litde animals in the border biting themselves, precious!”— some lovely detail from Chartres, a rural scene from Spain, or a curious vista shot through a doorway, many of them taken with her own camera. H er photographs were uniquely lovely, audacious, arresting— like herself.

She was an inspiring teacher and a real friend to many of her students.

Indeed, she had friends everywhere— classmates and their families, alumnae, the captain of the Norwegian freighter she had sailed on, her physician, her colleagues, the man at the garage w ho serviced her car, the policeman at the corner, the shop girl who had sold her a hat, the tailor w ho had relined her coat, the florist, the keeper of the delicatessen.

She was primarily intellectual. “ I tell you,” she would say, “ there is no substitute for brains.” But she also loved quantities of things and numerous people who were not intellectual. She loved flowers— the florist’s w indow delighted her— and she loved the butcher’s shop w indow w ith its contrast of red and white meat: she loved food: she loved kittens: she was a dectective story enthusiast.

She was impulsively kind, idealistic, and courageous, w ith the courage of which gaiety is an essential part. She was vivid and vital, a very handsome woman with lovely color, tw inkling eyes, and lilting voice, thoroughly alive.

For her dominant characteristic was vigor— vigor of mind and body. She was vigorous in her pleasures, in her likes and dislikes, in her w ork, in her

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A Long Way Forward fatigue. She was vigorously weary. W hen she complained, which was seldom, she complained vigorously: when she rejoiced, w hich was often, she rejoiced vigorously.

She was naturally a leader. N o one who ever knew her could possibly forget her, and although it is five years since Packer halls resounded to her hearty laughter and her lovely voice, her memory still lives.

7.

D A R W IN G . E A T O N

Darw in G . Eaton had been vice-president and director of the State Normal School at Albany before he came to the B. F .A . at the age of thirty-eight.

H e had an M .A . and P h.D . from Hamilton College. H e was distinguished, not only as a teacher, but as a lecturer and scientist. In 1882 he tendered his resignation to the trustees of Packer because of ill health, but the board refused it, and gave him a leave of absence instead. In 1883, after D r. Crittenden’s death, he was unanimously elected president, but he resigned after a few months since his health did not improve sufficiently to allow him to return.

H e recovered later, and lived on the Heights until his death in 1895 at the age of seventy-three. From 1867 to ’68, during D r. Crittenden’s year of leave, he was acting president, and from 1889 until his death, he was a member of the board of trustees.

W hile at Packer, Professor Eaton spent three vacations in Europe, and devoted one year to visiting educational institutions in England, France, Germany, Italy, Egypt, Palestine, and Greece. From Italy he sent to the school the mosaic table still in the main office. A fter his retirement, he spent a year travelling in this country, m aking also a trip to the Sandwich Islands to inspect volcanoes. H e was one of the official party to observe the total eclipse of the sun in 1878 for the government at Idaho Springs. H e was experimenting in obtaining a vacuum with Rontgen rays while Edison was experimenting along the same lines. D uring his earlier days at Packer, he was professor of chemistry in the L ong Island College Hospital and received in 1864 the honorary degree of M .D. The Minute of the Trustees upon his death reads: “ H e was a man of unfailing fortitude, pure in heart, generous in his judg­ ment o f others, exacting o f himself, strong in the power of self-control, modest, earnest, and sincere.” ’

24.O

Supplement 8. TH E GARAHANS

Ellen Garahan came to Packer in 1852 and stayed until 1892, teaching pen­ manship. She it was who reproved a girl asking if she had not written her copy well, w ith the words, “Let another praise thee, and not thine own lips.”

Her sister, Hannah Garahan, w ith round, smiling face and gray eyes, always good-humoured and suave, came later in 1864 and stayed thirty-three years, being librarian from 1871 to ’97. These little ladies, “ almost twins,” 8 who patted their pupils on the shoulder and m ight have stepped out of Cranford, had both been at the Albany Female Academy.

9 . A N N IE GORDON

Annie Gordon graduated from Packer in 1874 and returned that fall as an assistant in D r. Crittenden’s office and in the boarding department under Miss Elizabeth Smith. She was secretary from 1878 to 1885 and registrar from 1885 until her sudden death in 1900. From 1882 to ’83, during the illness and after the death of D r. Crittenden, she, according to the Minute of the Trustees on her death, “ alone in her office [the present bursar’s office, opening into the book room], alone and unadvised, carried the perplexing details of the Insti­ tute affairs.” She was secretary to the board of trustees for twenty-one years.

Serene, poised, placid, w ith depth of character and gracious warm th, she was like Miss Nelson in her remarkable memory for names, in her dignity, her genuine humility, her deep interest in the individual, and the profound impression she made on the students. A remarkable quality was her great friendliness. T h e students all knew her and she was everybody’s beloved friend. She was a close friend of Mile. Vincens, like herself, an exquisite person.

It has been said that Miss Gordon, Mrs. L ucy Chase Putnam, and Miss Dunlap, all graduates of the Institute and all members of the faculty, were embodiments of the fine qualities that are peculiarly Packer.

10.

A D E L IN E JO N E S

Adeline Jones, afterwards Mrs. Perry, was on the staff as a department teacher from 1846 to 1853. She returned in 1855 and taught mathematics from 1856 to 1861. After an absence of three years, she taught history, 1864-65. Miss Jones was a friend of Mrs. Packer’s, and “ a most fascinating and sprightly person, adored by young and old. She called Mrs. Packer ‘Lady Hester,’ and often spent weeks at a time at 2 Grace C ourt.” 8

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A Long Way Forward II.

S IG IS M U N D L A SA R

Sigismund Lasar was organist and professor of music from 1875 to ’95, although he was ill the last two years of his official tenure. H e was “ blusteringly melodramatic, in the best tradition of the temperamental, foreign singing master. But he loved music, and knew what he was about, and though we made fun of him, we enjoyed singing for him, and he taught us some beauti­ ful chants. W e used a hymn book edited by him which was much better than most of the hymn books of that period.” 10 A n article on Packer’s musicians has a paragraph on Professor Lasar: “ Perhaps standing alone, inasmuch as to him w e owe the fundamental reconstruction of our chapel singing, is Sigismund Lasar. A man in sympathy with the most dignified movements of the age; possessing a knowledge of the ideals of church music; a friend of composers, a musical critic of world re­ nown; impetuous to geniality; modest to inspiration; in a word, a genius.” 11 H e originated the processional, in which the girls come streaming in at all the chapel doors simultaneously, singing as they come, the little girls first, the seniors and faculty last. “ H e trained the chorus at Packer and gave it a reputation held by no other school in the country.” 12 H e died in September, 1

8 9 5 -

12.

M A R Y C . H A T H A W A Y L E F F IN G W E L L

Mrs. Lefifingwell, in Packer as Miss H athaway from 1855 to ’57, and from ’62 to ’71, and as Mrs. Leffingwell from 1871 to ’75 and from ’78 to ’82, was an outstanding teacher in the collegiate and academic departments. She was in charge of the junior class at one time, and taught domestic science, botany, algebra, and conic sections. She and Miss Susan C ook were considered by Mrs. Stubbert two of the most distinguished women she had ever known.

Mrs. Leffingwell was different from Miss Cook.— vivacious, active, experi­ mental, enthusiastic, and spontaneous. She took all of her botany class w ho could go, to the Catskills for two weeks after school closed one summer, to study wild flowers, and it was an experience that is still remembered by those who went. She succeeded in so impressing her class in domestic science with the duty of personal economy, that for at least one season they all wore cotton gowns of their own m aking.

She used the “ text book by Catherine Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe, as the point of departure for talks on the w idening of wom en’s work, social outlook, and responsibilities.” 12 L ike Miss Cook, she was a woman of high

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Supplement idealism, strong character, and complete devotion to her w ork, but while Miss C ook’s method was patient and scholarly, w ith Mrs. Leffingwell “ there was always the call to rise and shine.” 14

13.

M A U D B E V E R ID G E N E L S O N

Maud B. Nelson, now living in California, graduated from the Institute in 1891, was appointed that fall to teach a class in history, and the next year entered the president’s office, succeeding Miss Swain in 1893 as secretary to the president. In 1898 she was promoted to be the president’s assistant, re­ taining this position until 1930, when she resigned to live near her nephews and sister-in-law in California. She was considered “ something afar by most of the students, like a figure in a stained glass w indow .” 15 T all, slender, and unusually erect, w ith gracious dignity and old-world courtesy, w ith graceful movements and lovely hands, Miss Nelson’s beauty was of the spiritual type.

Alum nae associate her w ith what is now called the main office, where she sat for thirty-eight years. Miss Nelson herself called the attention of the writer to the interesting development in the office and its relation to the development of the school.

In 1891, Miss Nelson writes, the main office was the only office for the president and secretarial staff. D r. Backus sat at a large double desk in the alcove (later partitioned off with ground glass) and Miss Nelson sat opposite him. Books and stationery were sold across the hall in what is now the bursar’s office. T h e grow ing complexity of the school is evident in the increasing number of offices. In 1945 there are five— the main office and reception room, occupied by a secretary, the glass-partitioned alcove, used for interviews, the office of the secretary of the Institute, opening out of the main office, the president’s office beyond, which from 1854 to 1907 was the library, and the registrar’s office beyond that. O n every desk, except the president’s, there is now a typewriter: in Miss Nelson’s early days, hers was the first and only one.

On every desk now there is a telephone, and others in the hall, lunch room, and other parts of the building.

Miss Nelson had a remarkable m em ory— and still has— and could call nearly all students and alumnae by name. Mrs. H azel Cook Quantin, Packer 1907, says that in her student days she “ remembers Miss Nelson as a gracious, kindly presence in the office of w hom we had no fear but a very respectful adm iration.. . . N o one has ever seen Miss Nelson upset or hurried, no matter how tired or busy.

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A Long Way Forward “ The main office was a very friendly, social place in Miss N elson’s day and she was subject to constant interruptions from students, alumnae, faculty, and people from outside. O ver and over again it meant long hours of work after everyone else had gone home, to pay for the unstinted attention she gave to nervous, sometimes querulous teachers, girls complaining or complained of, parents with real or fancied grievances. N o one knew from her manner that her desk was piled with unfinished w ork. She was a repository of other people’s troubles, and a source of strength and encouragement to them. I never saw her impatient or angry, but she could put an unruly girl in her place without hurting the girl’s self-respect, and unhesitatingly and quite pleasantly ask a salesman to take off his hat in the office. She was not austere, but I think no teacher would have powdered her nose in the office in her presence. “ One of Miss Nelson’s abilities is that of m ixing successfully various kinds of people. I think she rather delighted in bringing together different types and finding common ground. A tremendous capacity for affection is hers, and her interest in people is very keen. H er deeply religious feeling is without cant, a belief that keeps her close to sources of strength that are very real to her.” 16 Miss Nelson is exceedingly generous and many people were helped by her, frequently without their knowledge, and always without the knowledge of anyone else. She worked easily and well w ith people and adapted herself perfectly to three quite different presidents. As Mr. Barton, superintendent of the building, said, “ It was a pleasure to do business with Miss Nelson.”

N o one w ho ever met her could fail to be impressed by her, and today, when she has been gone from the Institute for fifteen years, she is the person for whom alumnae most often inquire. It is impossible to put into words the individuality and distinction of Miss Nelson’s character and personality. There are other people w ho could have done her job w ell— though few could have done it so well. It is what she w as— and is— that has meant so much to Packer.

D r. Denbigh said of her: “ W hen we think of all we would have Packer stand for and be— when we think of Packer personified— w e think of Miss Maud B. Nelson.” 17

14.

E L IZ A B E T H

J . S M IT H

Elizabeth J. Smith, in charge of the Boarding House from 1850 to ’84, and in charge of the collegiate department from 1846 to 1870, taught Geography

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Supplement of the Heavens by E lihu Bunitt, “ the learned blacksmith,” and W ayland’s Moral Science, from 1850 to ’69. From ’70 to ’77 she seems to have been in the president’s office. From references to her, it is evident that she was a person of ability and importance in the early school, but nothing very definite has come down to us except the follow ing amusing reminiscence: “ Miss Smith, tall, stately, soft-footed . . . invariably surprised us by appear­ ing . . . in any mischief w e m ight be up to. M y chief memory of her is our wonder why her hair was so much blacker Monday mornings than Friday afternoons.” “

15.

E M IL Y J A M E S S M IT H

(M R S . GEORGE H A V E N P U T N A M )

Emily James Smith, called by the girls “ Jim Smith,” teacher of Latin and Greek from 1891 to ’94, was a brilliant classicist. She did a number of excellent translations from modern languages as well as from the classics, and wrote several books, among them the clever and brilliant T h e Lady. She was a choice person, with a keen sense of humour and a caustic w it, “ the most brilliant girl of the first class graduated from Bryn M awr in 1889.” 19 H er good taste in dress, together with her intellectual and pedagogical accomplishments, won the admiration o f the girls, but a somewhat reserved manner kept them at a distance. She left Packer to become dean of Barnard College. Mrs. Putnam died on September 7, 1944.

16.

W A L T E R LE C O N TE STEVEN S

D r. W alter LeConte Stevens, w ho came to Packer in 1882 as a substitute for Professor Eaton, and in 1883 was appointed as his successor, was primarily a scientist with physics as his specialty. A native of Georgia, he was thirty-six years old when he came to Packer. H e held a B .A. and an M .A . from the University of South Carolina and an honorary degree from the University of Georgia, and had done considerable research in binocular perspective and published several papers before he came to Packer. H e resigned in 1890 in order to study abroad, where he spent two years at Strasbourg, Berlin, and Zurich, and in 1898 became M cCorm ick Professor of physics at W ashington and Lee University, retiring in t922.

A dapper, briskly-moving litde man, w ith a slender, erect figure, entirely absorbed in science, with some of the attributes of genius, he was one of those teachers for whom a school consists entirely of one department, their own.

Whenever he saw desirable equipment for good value, he bought it, without

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A Long Way Forward authorization and presented the bill to the Institute. For several years more money was spent on the physics department than on all the other departments put together.

H e liked attending school parties, and doubtless the fact that he was a C ivil W ar veteran and unmarried, made him more popular w ith some of his students. T h e stiffness of his courses and his rather severe standards gave him fewer students than he wished, but those w ho entered his classes found him a very clear teacher, “ every statement couched in concise and beautiful words.” 20 “ H e was always interesting, and particularly so one term, when he had just discovered A lice in Wonderland, and could hardly talk o f anything else.” 21 Miss Clara Crampton was one o f his most responsive and friendly pupils.

The girls called him Stevie, although not to his face, and enjoyed such expeditions as going across the unfinished span of Brooklyn Bridge w ith him, and being taken to see a very early example of m oving pictures in a little dark loft in down-town N ew York. W hen the film turned out to be a prize fight, the girls were amused, and Stevie was perturbed. H e introduced original problems in geometry, which had previously consisted entirely of memory w ork. Professor Stevens was one of the outstanding teachers of Packer’s history.

17.

JE S S IE V A N B R U N T

Jessie V an Brunt graduated from Packer in 1882, and taught in the art de­ partment from 1884 to 1910, resigning in order to devote all her time to m ak­ ing stained glass windows, which she gives to churches and other institutions all over the world. T h e little w indow in the alcove in the main office is hers.

She has made over sixty windows. W ith the presentation of a w indow to a church of the Maoris in N ew Zealand in 1937, she fulfilled her ambition to have the sun pass through her glass twenty-four hours a day. T h e sun never sets on Miss Van Brunt’s windows or the British flag. l8 .

B E R T H E V IN C E N S

Berthe Vincens was a teacher of French and instrumental music from 1879 to 1882. She was away from 1882 to ’84, returning as a teacher of French only, becoming director of the department in 1890. In 1900 she left Packer for Smith College. L ike her friends, Annie Gordon and A m y Dunlap, she was a dis­ tinguished, charm ing woman.

Graduates of the Nineties remember Mile. Vincens as “ young, delightfully

246

Supplement fresh, with a merry laugh and a great deal of vivacity. She had the conspicu­ ously trim figure and style in wearing clothes, as well as the competence and business sense that are peculiarly French.” ~ She was a lady of the old school, with poise, tranquillity, stability of character, and strong self-control. She had also the cheerful heroism in bearing trouble which characterizes the French at their best.

As a teacher she was strict, expecting her students to w ork hard, and they did. She was really scholarly and opened the world of French literature and philosophy to the girls. Very young when she came to Packer, she is still living.

19.

K A TE M . W ARD

Kate M. W ard, born in 1869, took her B .A . at Wellesley in 1892, her M .A . in 1893, and from 1894-95 studied in Berlin, Paris, and Oxford on a foreign fellowship from the W om en’s Educational Association of Boston. She came to the English department of Packer in 1895, and was made director about 1905, resigning in 1929. She travelled often in Europe and brought European culture to her class room.

Miss W ard was “ a little dynamo of energy . . . and many of her students were spellbound by her teaching. . . . [She had] a great spiritual pull, plus warmth and humanity . . . [and] responded quickly and with supreme tact to the exuberance of youth.” 23 T h e English department was a collection of individual teachers, rather than a real department, when she became director. Miss W ard, a wonderful organizer, made a plan of work for connected development from the primary grades up. She also made the English classes smaller, meeting three times a week, instead of once a week w ith long private interviews, as had been done.

T he Packer English courses were got in line w ith those given in the high schools and junior colleges. Miss W ard also helped to lift the standard of literature read in the elementary school, and to increase greatly the resources of the Packer library.

W hile standardizing the w ork, she still kept the individual freedom of teachers in the department. She held regular monthly department meetings— an innovation at that tim e— and helped to get young teachers, college-trained.

Miss W ard’s abilities would have enabled her to do well a principal’s work, but her devotion to Packer and the satisfaction she found in her many outside activities kept her at the school.

Miss W ard w as— and is— an active and ardent socialist, although never of the extreme w ing of the party. T his was an anomaly at Packer, where the

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A Long Way Forward great majority of parents, students, teachers, and trustees were rather on the conservative side in politics. T hat she was retained and appreciated for thirtyfour years by a school which, during at least the first twenty of those years, considered socialism a menace, is significant, not only of Miss W ard’s own qualities, but of the understanding and tolerance of the trustees and their policy of leaving their teachers free. There was no control of her opinions in the class room. A ll of her students knew her political and social beliefs, al­ though she was too fine a teacher to try to convert them to her ow n theories. “ Miss W ard’s classes were thrilling experiences.” T hey were “ rich and many of us came out changed human beings. . . . [They were] practically courses in economics and sociology,” 24 as well as in literature. Her theme topics were difficult and challenging. “ T h e difficulty that many of us experi­ enced was to find time for any other work, our interest in Miss W ard’s classes was so great. I know many who consider them one of the great privileges of their time,” writes one of her students.20 Miss W ard is now living in Downers Grove, Illinois.

20.

GEORGE M . W H IC H E R

George M. W hicher was not only a fine teacher of the classics, but also a poet and a humanist. “ Young, whimsically humorous, scholarly, vivid, he won friends on every side.” 26 H e was extraordinarily gifted, a stimulating, im ­ aginative teacher. “ His Latin classes translated Horace into modern verse, sometimes using slang. T he class had a lovely time.” 27 H e published several volumes of graceful lyric verse and in his later years was a reviewer of books on ancient history and mythology for “ T h e N ew Y ork Herald Tribune.” His poetry shows a well-rounded, fulfilled, healthy personality, happily zestful. H e came to Packer from Lawrenceville in 1892, and left in 1899 to go to Hunter College. W hile there he had leave of absence to act as director of the School of Classical Studies of the Am erican Academ y in Rome.

A t Amherst, where he lived after his retirement in 1924, “ he glowed in his V irgilian evening, the mellow scholar, the essayist of stimulating imagination, the poet who could fix visions of beauty. Here was not the philosopher, for he hammered out no thesis to bore you; not the sage, for the sage is pontifical — just the full-sphered Humanist, the large-minded, fine-spirited civilized man . . . a rounded fulfillment of the prayer of Socrates, ‘O beloved Pan and ye other gods of this place, grant to me that I may be made beautiful in my soul w ithin’.” 28

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Supplement 21.

JO N A TH A N

CALL W OODM AN

Jonathan Call W oodman, father of R. Huntington W oodm an, came to Packer in 1854, teaching choral singing and playing the small two-manual Jardine organ which was pumped by hand, for there was no pipe organ until 1865, when the trustees appropriated three thousand dollars for one. Mr. W oodman introduced his songbook called the Musical Casket, compiled from the works of the great composers, such as H aydn, Rossini, Mendelssohn, and other masters. Before Mr. W oodm an’s time, the girls had been using the Musical Album for Female Seminaries and Academies by George E. Root, w hich con­ tained such songs as “ Com e w ith thy lute to the fountain,” “ W hat are the w ild waves saying?,” and “ Com ing thro’ the Rye.” Mr. Jonathan W oodman left Packer in 1861 for the N ew Y o rk public schools.

22.

R. H U N T IN G T O N W O O D M A N

Mr. W oodman, born in Brooklyn, was the son of Jonathan Call W oodman, also organist at Packer, and inherited his father’s musical talent. H e played at his first church service at the age of thirteen, and a year later was regularly appointed organist at St. George’s Church in Flushing, L on g Island. In 1880 he became organist at the First Presbyterian Church on the Heights, where he remained for sixty years, resigning in 1940. In Brooklyn he studied com­ position for four years under Dudley Buck, and in 1888 he went to Paris to study under Cesar Franck.

H is career was successful from the start, and he soon acquired renown as a recital organist, as an acknowledged master of the organ and choral direct­ ing, and as a composer of many beautiful songs and cantatas, widely sung anthems and part songs, and interesting pieces for the piano. In 1893 he was one of ten organists selected by the bureau of music of the Chicago W orld’s Fair to give the first series of recitals on the great organ. H e also played at the Buffalo and St. Louis expositions.

Mr. W oodman was a member of many musical organizations, including the Am erican Guild of Organists, which he helped to found, and he was active in the department of music of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences.

In May, 1935, Brooklyn celebrated “ almost riotously” 20 his fiftieth anni­ versary as organist at the First Presbyterian Church, and Packer celebrated, not riotously, but with deep affection and appreciation, his fortieth anniversary as organist at the school. T h e class of 1885 presented to Packer his portrait, painted by Eleanor Bannister. H e received the honorary degree of Doctor of

A Long Way Forward Music from Grove City College at Grove City, Pennsylvania, and from the N ew Y ork College of Music. H is two daughters, W inifred and Jocelyn, graduated from Packer.

Mr. W oodman resigned from the Institute in 1940 because of ill health, and was made Director of Music Emeritus. H e was succeeded as director of music

by Miss Elizabeth W right, and at the organ by W inslow Cheney.

Mr. W oodman, though quiet and shy, had a great capacity for friendship.

H e was thoroughly kind and tolerant, never harshly critical. H e hardly knew that meanness and ugliness existed, and “ his mind never held an ungentle thought.” 30 H is eager spirit was reflected in his w alk, which was incredibly swift.

Mr. W oodman was an enthusiastic yachtsman, but to Packer he stood only for music. Nearly every m orning for forty-five years (for he was seldom absent) the school listened to his beautiful music, looked at his finely chiselled, sensitive face, and loved him not only for his music, but also for his gentle and exquisite personality. H e died in Brooklyn on Christmas day, 1943, at the age of eighty-two.

23.

LA U R A J . W Y L IE

Laura J. W ylie was a teacher of Latin from 1884 to ’88, of English from ’88 to ’95, and director of the English department from ’92 to ’95. She was one of the really great teachers, not only in Packer, but in the whole country.

Singularly eager, vivid, and brilliant, she was “ yet disciplined, reflective, amused, and tolerant.” 31 She was a student at Vassar under D r. Backus.

She was from her youth an omnivorous reader, but with no trace of pedantry. W ith enthusiasm for the world of ideas and w ith real scholarship she had “ an unquenchable love of people and of experience at its outposts. . . . [She was] a pioneer and a hum anist.. . . Seated at her desk, an alert, dark figure, noble and beautiful, always leaning forward a little, her great brown eyes flashing from one to another of the girl faces before her . . . [she made] her classes vibrant with interest, enthusiasm, amusement, and sometimes consternation.” 32 She took her Ph.D . from Yale in 1895, having leave from Packer. She was one of the first women to enter the Yale Graduate School, and her doctor’s thesis was the only thesis by a woman to be published by Yale up to 1924.

Trained as a student and as a teacher under D r. Backus, she believed, as he

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Supplement did, in the great value of private interviews w ith students, and her interviews were deservedly famous. Her “ little study near the chapel stairs . . . [was] a living place.” 33 In a day when the general run of teaching in Latin and mathematics was mechanical drill and in literature somewhat superficially cultural, Miss W ylie took her classes into a different world, “ a strange, exciting world . . . difficult yet enthralling. She challenged and puzzled her students, and made them think and feel.” As a teacher of Latin, she opened the Roman world to her students. “ Sternly uncompromising in her sure discernment of lazy or shabby or superficial thinking . . . [she made the girls] compete w ith themselves— not with one another.” 34 She was interested in the Rivington Street Settlement and had a strong inclination toward social work. H owever, she never went into it professionally, but entered the English department at Vassar in 1897. Later she became the head of the department, retiring in 1924.

She never grew old, and her home in Poughkeepsie up to the time of her death in 1932, was a center for the eager exchange of ideas for students and graduates. She is known chiefly as “ Miss W ylie of Vassar,” but she was also a part of Packer and Packer a part of her.

Superintendents of the Building

24.

ARTH U R E . BARTON

Arthur E. Barton came to Packer in 1911. H e is a Massachusetts Yankee, w ith the characteristic traits— an independence of a brand to be found nowhere on earth outside of N ew England, and the genuine N ew England integrity and sturdy kindliness lying just beneath a veneer of humorous cynicism. H e is especially fond of little children, w ho flock around him. H e has under him a building staff of eighteen, some of whom w ork only half time. In a factory Mr. Barton would be known as a trouble shooter, for when anything goes wrong, he is called to the rescue, and has seldom failed to locate and remedy the trouble. H is two daughters, W inifred and Dorothy, attended Packer.

O f the trustees and faculty at Packer when Mr. Barton first came, only one trustee and three teachers remain. O f twenty-eight trees in the garden in 1945, only four were there in 1911. People and trees come and go, but Packer con­ tinues through the years.

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A Long Way Forward 25.

W IL L IA M

J . C A L V IN

W illiam J. Calvin, then called the janitor, employed by the school from 1882 to 1915, succeeded his mother. H e stayed on to tend the fires for four years after Mr. Barton was appointed superintendent of the building. A n Orange­ man from the N orth of Ireland, long, lean, shrewd, humorous, and absolutely honest, he was known by every one. H e was married in the library of the school and lived with his fam ily in the basement apartment until 1895. Miss Maud Nelson recalls him sitting in the garden summer evenings and telling tales of how the Irish giant, G ig-M agog of the Causeway, out-witted and out­ did the Scotch giants.

Under Mr. Calvin were one man and four women. A list of his duties made out by the trustees consists of seeing that the building was swept and dusted daily, the floors washed once a week, the grounds and sidewalks taken care of, all laundry required by the Institute done— of m anaging the heating plant and doing all errands for the treasurer’s and president’s office, and of furnish­ ing the luncheon served to the students, although the luncheon was a very simple one.

Mr. Calvin worked hard and managed to save money, which he invested in real estate. H e educated his son to be a doctor and his daughter, who graduated from Packer, to be a nurse.

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C

Miscellaneous

i. A Letter from M attie Bigelow of Springfield, N ew Y orf, a student at the Brooklyn Fem ale Academy from 1851 to '52, to Mary Francis Brown, her roommate at the Boarding House.1 Springfield Tuesday A u g. 28th/54 D arling Mollie Long, long have I waited for a white winged messenger from thee, until even the siren voice of hope is hushed and hope has fled I know not whither.

You remember it says in the “ Good Book” “ hope deferred maketh the heart sick” and these words have indeed been verified in this instance. For days, weeks, and even months I have hastened to the Post Office with a smiling face and hope whispering with her bewitching voice today thou shalt receive the long looked for wandrer. I would inquire, but no letter bearing your w ell re­ membered autograph met m y expected gaze and w ith lengthened phiz and my brain filled w ith wonder, I would wend m y way home. Mollie I wrote you two letters so long ago I have forgotten the precise time but not one solitary word have I heard in answer to them. A n d I have come to the conclusion that Uncle Sam may have proved negligent, as I know he often is for I am confident you would have answered m y letters had you received them. This feeling ac­ companied by an ardent desire to hear from you soon has prompted me to write once more.

A h ! Mollie w hat think you I should do were it not for your pictured sem­ blance you so kindly sent me. Oh! how often do I open the case and gaze at those loved features. T h e eyes so “ darkly beautifully blue” are perfect and the waving tresses disposed so gracefully all, all are perfect.

— Mollie are

you never going to place me in possession of that which I should prize so highly! Every time I think of the daguerreotype you have of me I am vexed that I ever allowed you to have it. I think it perfectly horrid and looks a little worse than the original which I am sure there is no need of, it is in every respect perfectly awful. N ow Mollie, if you still cherish a single spark of love for me please erace it and if you wish I w ill give you a better one.

Mollie are you spending the summer at your dear home or are you roaming in search o f pleasure! N ow Mollie I want to have a cozy “ tete-a-tete” with you as of yore. W hat has become of your old friend George, is he still the

A Long Way Forward George of by-gone days? H ow is Uncle Sam and is he still the possessor of a Boquet, or have the bright petals drooped and withered! D o you hear from any of our mutual friends at Mr. Crittendens often? if you know anything concerning any of them please inform me. I was in N ew Y o rk two weeks last September I was in hopes to have met you there, or at least to have heard whether you were in the land of the living or not. But I heard no tidings of you.

--------- W ill was home in July accompanied by three friends, we of course enjoyed his visit very much. Mollie do you remember Uncle Alonzo! he is now numbered among the silent sleepers at Green W ood. W e received tidings of his death last week. Dear kind Uncle how deeply w e feel thy loss--------Mollie you doubtless have heard of Emma D odge’s death! I had the pleasure of meeting her three times at W atertown and received an invitation from her to spend the next vacation with her at her home, But e’er vacation came they raised the fleecy snow from Earth, and laid Emma in her narrow home.

Sunday I attended church as usual And ever and anon, the wind Sweet-scented with the hay, Turned o’er the hymnbooks fluttering leaves

That on the window lay.

L ong was the good man’s sermon, Yet it seemed not so to me; For he spake of Ruth the beautiful,

And still I thought of thee.

L ong was the Prayer he uttered, Y et it seemed not so to me; For in m y heart I prayed with him, And still I thought of thee.

Mollie I would be delighted to welcome you to my home shall I not have that pleasure some day? By the way Annie W hite and I came very near m aking you a visit in M ay— I received an invitation from Annie to visit her then and as an inducement she said she would take me to visit you. But it was not con­ venient for me to leave home just then.

Please write soon Toujour vos soeur Mattie

Supplement 2. L etter of M ary Francis Brow n o f N o rw ich , N e w Y or\, to her father.

(M ary B row n, th e M o llie of th e preceding letter, was at th e Brooklyn F em ale Sem inary from i8 y i to 1853, w hen she graduated. S h e lived in th e Boarding H o u se then run by D r. C rittenden. S h e was sixteen years old when this letter was w ritten?)

Brooklyn, N ew Y o rk, Sept. 13th, 1851 Dear Father,— I have just finished a composition for Monday, and having a whole day before me in which to learn five or as many more lessons, I have stolen a few moments to occupy in writing home. I have taken dimentions of the great Elephant, finished my w alk in Broadway and finally entered school. I have waited that when I did write to give you a full description of my situation and my school, which I could not have done before and done it justice. I was most discouraged the few first days, it was impossible to get m y studies arranged— there are so many scholars and so many classes, and in fact so many teachers.

But things go on very pleasantly at present, and bright prospects of a con­ tinuation. In giving you a description of the school and rules, I cannot say a great deal in few words and therefore you must have the patience to read a long story which in the end amounts to but little,— If you have received a catalogue of our school, you then know something of its situation. W e go from the house to the Academ y w ith all the ease imaginable, just take our books and ascend [sic] four pair of stairs, go out the back basement door into the building, w alking a few steps in the open air, not but a few.

W e go in, fifteen minutes before nine in the m orning and stay until two o’clock which [is] then our dinner time, these are the only hours that w e spend in school.

Get up from the dinner table about 3 — and at 6 have tea. From that time till 7, take lessons in dancing and w alk around the Academ y yard, w hich is back of the house, very large and pleasant, at 7 the bell sends everyone to their room, for study, from that time till 9 we must study and are obliged to do so. I am not driven to it very often for I have to study for m y own benefit both afternoon and evening till the last minute, at V2 past 9 a bell rings for us to get in bed, and that we must do for at 10 the lights are taken.

Another bell at 6 in the morning to get up and at 7 for breakfast, one of the teachers boards here, and we under her care w alk out before or after breakfast as we prefer. Tuesday’s and Fridays for going out, and no other

A Long Way Forward time. Friday evenings a sociable in the parlor, to practice rules of E T I­ Q U E T T E . Mr. Crittenden’s fam ily consists of a wife one son and a daughter, all sit at the table with the boarders, which makes fifty-four in number.

I should not do right to complain of m y board as most of the girls do away to school, for w e have excellent set tables, two kinds of everything for dinner and breakfast, sometimes for tea-peaches and melons to excess. Sundays we are to attend Church twice a day rain or sunshine under the care o f Mr. Crittenden.

H e has seats hired for us at the Presbyterian and w e form a procession in the morning and with his family go to Church.

Mr. Crittenden is known from the Atlantic to the Pacific as an excellent man. his w ife is a very kind woman, he reminds me very much of Samuel Randall, appears like him, as equally as intelligent, he always finds a good anecdote to give at every meal, fam ily prayers before breakfast each morning.

Yo u may expect a letter from him soon, he expects to correspond w ith our parents at least as often as once a month.

There are five Pianos in the house, one in the Academ y, and an Organ.

Chapel exercises— every m orning and singing w ith the Organ. W e have a large library— and everything just as it says in the Catalogue, it is not exag­ gerated like many others.

As I have not got much more to say I w ill copy my list of studies as they are, which are as follows, “ French" each day, "Algebra" each day, also reading

History and Domestic History Tuesdays and Thursdays. Critical reading in "Paradise Lost” each day. Geographical review Mondays and Wednesdays.

Reading of selections with spelling and definitions Drawing once a week.

Writing lessons once a week, (m ine for a specimen of their penmanship) the regular Young Ladies reading class i o’clock afternoons. Singing for beginners on W ednesdays— and composition once in two weeks. These are the only studies I could have now, and in a few weeks I shall be through with these and take up others. I did not go in for any particular time, the only vacation through the year is a week at Christmas.

A un t Maria sent for me to go over there yesterday. I went and stayed the evening, and they brought me home, it is only a short distance, she came over here the morning that I went into school which was the next Wednesday after I left home, and selected a room for me. I have a room mate, but Mr. Crittenden is going to change her for a Y o u n g Lady that is a stranger but a very pretty girl who says she must either room with me. or not stay she often gets homesick.

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Supplement I presume you do not care to have me write any more and in the style but this is a very warm day. and Mr. C . says the warmest week w e have had in ten years, Yours in haste, Mary Your letters w ill come sooner if directed to the care of A . Crittenden, Brooklyn

3. Letter from William S. Packer to his sister-in-law, Althea Packer, at Charton, Saratoga County, N ew Y or\f N ew Y ork, March 30th— 1839 Dear Sister/--------I acknowledge with delight the receipt of your substantial compliment in the shape of six pieces of made up linen (vulgarly called shirts). I accept them with more than ordinary feelings of gratitude & pleasure, first, because they are presented by a dear friend, second, because they were unexpected; thirdly & to conclude because I really needed an addition to that particular quarter of my wardrobe.----------For situated as I am, without the kindly influence of nature’s purest pleasure— the last best gift of G od to man, I frequently find myself reduced to a very threadbare condition but since you have interposed in m y behalf, I fondly cherish the hope that hereafter I shall not be destitute of that noble luxury, a fine, clean, new linen shirt— this con­ siderate kindness is not so much valued on account of the substantial reasons I have offered w ith my thanks— as from the new feeling it has awakened that there is a single friend that feels a solicitude for m y enjoyment. I had almost abandoned the idea, that friendship for me existed, except in nam e— but from this moment I w ill never doubt again. N othing ever proved to me so clearly, that our pleasures are made up of the veryest trifles in the world if directed by friendship— present my love to your family & accept the assurances o f my devoted esteem for yourself.

T ru ly your brother, W . S. Packer

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A Long Way Forward 4. The Packer Seal Miss Maud Nelson writes that she had heard long ago that the Packer seal was a reproduction of the Packer family crest. T h e present members of the Packer family have some reason to believe that the American Packers are a branch of the English family in Kent, but they have not been able to authen­ ticate this belief. T he Packer seal is not a reproduction of the crest of the Kent Packers, but both seal and crest have the same motifs, the pelican in her nest plucking drops of blood from her breast (know n in heraldry as “ the pelican in her piety” ) and the oak leaves. In the crest there are no young and there are many more oak leaves, and the pelican, sitting on the nest instead of standing with wings raised as in the school seal, is above, not on the shield, which in the family coat of arms has other heraldic emblems. It is interesting that the standing pelican used in the seal is the same as that on the crest of another branch of the English Packers, living in Essex.

It seems extremely unlikely that the presence of the pelican and the oak leaves in the English Packer fam ily crest and the seal of the Institute is due to pure coincidence. It is more likely that the designer of the seal in 1855, the year after the school was renamed, deliberately chose those emblems, either hearing of the crest from Mrs. Packer, or, more probably, finding it in a book of heraldry (since Mrs. Brockway writes that she never heard her grandmother mention a Packer crest), and adapted them to the school, adding the motto.

In heraldry the pelican feeding her young is an emblem of Christ, but in the Packer seal it stands for Alm a Mater, sustaining her young intellectually with her own essence.

5. The Position o f W om en in th e E ighteen-Forties The tall, strong, healthy Am erican girls and women of the twentieth century are in great contrast to the notoriously frail and short-lived American women of the Eighteen-Forties and Fifties. There were several reasons for this lack of health. T igh t corsets, to produce the wasp waist, long, full skirts and petti­ coats, hanging heavily from the hips and impeding the movements of the legs, skin-tight sleeves, set low at the shoulder, preventing a fashionably dressed woman from lifting her hands above her head, hoop skirts, m aking it difficult for women to get into and out of carriages and to go through doorways, were all injurious to the health. Dresses were so long and so thick, collars so high,

258

Supplement and hats so large that no violet rays could penetrate to the swathed bodies beneath. Even the bathing suits were so long, full, and thick that they were intolerably heavy when wet and made swim m ing impossible.

But even if wom en’s clothing had not prevented any freedom of movement, girls would not have been permitted to engage in vigorous exercise, for it was considered indelicate and unladylike. Neither the home nor the early school paid much attention to the exercise or health of the girls. W hen the schools woke up to the necessity o f calisthenics (from two Greek words mean­ ing beautiful strength, w ith beauty emphasized rather than strength), it con­ sisted at first of the tw ining of wreaths and decorous marching, and later of exercises w ith sticks called wands, these exercises all taken in the long, heavy street costumes o f the time. Probably the modern class day exercises at Packer, the daisy chain at Vassar, and similar fetes at other girls’ schools and colleges derive from the early calisthenics.

Many doctors and educators urged dress reform and other health measures for women, but even the most enlightened did not advocate muscular strength.

There was no climbing of ropes, no vaulting, no active games like basket ball.

Victorian ladies did play croquet in ridiculous costumes, but that not very active game was not imported from England until 1866. Ladies walked or “ strolled” for exercise, but one glance at the w alking costumes of the Forties and Fifties shows that no one thus attired could have had any really healthful exercise. Riding was considered proper exercise for ladies, but then, as later, it was confined to a few, and the riding habits of the time were long, full, and cumbersome.

Even in the Sixties, when wom en’s colleges were being founded, lady­ likeness had to be considered. Vassar featured a “ special school of physical training under the charge of a lady professor who . . . [instructed] in the accomplishments suitable for ladies to acquire.” Vassar also taught “ such sim­ ple feminine sports as Archery, Croquet, and Graces” (probably the rolling of hoops, formerly called grace hoops). These passages are taken from the pro­ spectus of 1865, which also stated that “ the intellectual course of studies will be ample but not crushing.”

W om en were supposed to be as lacking in intellectual power as they were actually lacking in physical health. T hey were supposed to be unable to think: they could perceive and associate ideas, but could go no further, it was thought (much like an intelligent house cat). It was commonly believed that women were intuitive, but could not reason, that their motives were petty, their char-

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A Long Way Forw ard acters unstable, that they were created by G od vain, irresponsible, childish, and trifling. Doctors and scientists demonstrated that wom an’s brain was by construction unable to cope w ith such subjects as politics, Latin, and mathe­ matics. T h e idea of a woman bookkeeper produced much mirth.

But in spite of these conditions and ideas, the W om an’s Movement made progress, especially that part of it advocating higher education. There were schools for girls even in the eighteenth century, but the good seminaries, emphasizing serious subjects and endeavoring, with varying success, to give women training comparable to that given in the high schools and colleges for men, are usually said to have begun with the establishment of a seminary at Troy, N ew York, in 1821 by Emma W illard.

T he more enlightened part of the public, which did not subscribe to the extreme theories of the position and nature of women, founded and supported such schools as the seminary at Troy and the B. F. A . in Brooklyn.

6. Minard Lafever Minard Lafever (thus spelled by Mr. Lafever on receipts in the Packer ar­ chives), the architect of the central building of Packer, was born in 1797 and died in 1854, fifteen days after classes began in the building he had designed.

H e began his career as a carpenter w ith a scanty education. In architecture he was self-educated, but in his early thirties he began to practice the profession and to teach art. H e published the first Am erican manual in architecture.

H e built nearly forty churches with a wide variety and individuality which gave him a significant place in the history of Am erican architecture. A m ong his productions in Brooklyn were the terrace and archway on Montague Street, the Unitarian Church of the Saviour, the Swedenborgian Church on Monroe Place, and H oly Trinity.

Mr. Lafever’s first books and the first part of his career were imbued w ith the Greek idea. H e lived and worked, for the most part, while the Greek Revival was at its height, and his earlier buildings were typical of the period, with “ strange translations of Greek arches full of awkward charm and rather eccentric beauty.” 4 The last part of his life he became interested in the Gothic, or that variety of it called Victorian Gothic, of which H oly Trinity and Packer are both excellent examples.

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Supplement 7.

The Boarding H ouse

T he Boarding House was presided over by D r. and Mrs. Crittenden from 1846 to ’54, and by Professor and Mrs. Eaton from 1854 to ’69. Miss Elizabeth Smith assisted both the Crittendens and the Eatons, and when the Eatons withdrew, she took over the entire management until 1884. She was then succeeded by Mrs. C . H . Stone, who, assisted by Mrs. N . B. D e Saussure, formerly “ Lady Principal” of Vassar, managed it until 1888. W hen the school ceased in 1888 to operate the Boarding House, and the Joralemon Street house was given up, Mrs. D e Saussure received Packer boarders into her own home at 147 Montague Street for four years.

T h e Joralemon Street house was dark red, probably of brick. It had a shallow porch with iron w ork along the first storey. There was a high basement, a drawing room floor, and two full storeys above, five windows wide. A hall ran through the center of the house. T h e rooms were large and each was occupied by two students. In the Nineties and until the house was torn down to make way for the building of Alum nae H all, the alumnae occupied the drawing room floor.

For the first time in 1893 the catalogue was silent on the subject of “ a residence for students.” Apparendy, however, there was still need for such a residence, and the catalogues from ’94 to 1902 recommended the home of Mrs. Burgwyn Maitland at 260 Hicks Street. In 1903 the catalogue again omitted any reference to such a residence, and the era of the Packer Boarding House was finished, at least for the first hundred years.

After the early days of the B .F .A . there seems to be little information available about the Boarding House. It is not possible to tell even how many girls lived there. T h e largest number of girls from outside the city during the Forties and Fifties were from N ew Y o rk State, with N ew England next.

D uring the late Sixties and the Seventies there was a mere trickle from N ew England and the largest number were from N ew Jersey and Pennsylvania.

There were always a few girls from the South, usually from six to ten, w ith the largest number nineteen (in ’65), and about the same number from the Middle West. Practically none came from the far West. T h e boarders were, of course, mostly in the upper classes, and constituted from five to ten per cent of the total registration. Probably their influence on the school was not very great.

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A Long Way Forward.

8. T h e Brooklyn Female Academy, 1852-53. Family Regulations.5 (T h is manuscript, in the handwriting of Mary Frances Brown, is torn on the edges of several pages. Surmises as to the missing portions are enclosed in parentheses.)

In a family of young persons brought together from different parts of the country for the one important object o f Education, it is very difficult to ar­ range a system that w ill suit so great a variety of tastes and habits; reference must be had to the wants rather than the wishes of such a fam ily, although the latter should be consulted as much as is consistent with higher considera­ tions . . . .

W hen an individual enters a house as a guest or permanent resident, it is understood that she is honorably bound to respect the household arrangements by complying with their requisition. W hen she ceases to do this she makes herself both disagreeable and unwelcome, and is in most cases got rid of as soon as possible . . . .

T h e object here is to lay the ground work of habits, opinions, and principles that should be safe to follow in after life, and which w ill be matured and strengthened as the years pass away. T o make a beginning therefore we will commence w ith — 1 st,— the m orning hour.

The ladies w ill rise when the first bell rings at six o’clock (before is not desirable at this season of the year) and arrange their dress and rooms before breakfast.

2nd— Each lady is expected to be punctual at m orning prayers and always at the table when the blessing is asked, and she w ill not leave the table without asking the lady who presides to excuse her, or sending by one of the domestics for such an excuse.

Excuses, however, are to be avoided as much as possible for a disorderly table is exceedingly disagreeable. If a young lady is so much indisposed as to be unable to appear at table, she will let the causes of her absence be made know n by her room-mate that we may give her all the attention necessary to her comfort. W hen one is able to be about the house, we wish her always to come regularly to her meals as the yielding to fancied maladies is both foolish and troublesome.

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Supplemetit 3rd is exercise This in the open air is one of the most important of our arrangements.

Each one must w alk at the appointed time without she can give Miss Smith some good and sufficient reason for being excused. If absent without excuse she must expect to lose the privilege of going out in the afternoon.

Each person is required to be in her place at the Academ y at a quarter before nine, and except for the practice of the Piano ladies cannot run back and forth from the Academ y even during recess.

W hen one is indisposed and feels obliged to leave school, she must seek permission from Miss Smith who w ill kindly let her necessities be known.

Should the young ladies be in other departments, the teachers of those depart­ ments w ill permit their pupils to speak to Miss Smith.

4th Item. Visiting rooms is not allowed at any time except by the especial permission of Miss Smith. Standing about the doors and talking is as much o f an interruption as entering the room, and in some cases more of an interruption.

This custom to those who care to possess their rooms and their souls in peace and improve the moments as they fly, is extremely annoying and should not be indulged in. T h e fam ily sitting room is open after dinner until tea time, and any young ladies who wish to commune w ith each other in a social and appropriate way, are welcome to go there. Noise and frolicking would not be agreeable there nor in the halls or rooms above.

Noise and frolicking is very well to a certain extent and in a suitable place.

We have no facilities provided for this but neither is it desirable that we should.

W hen persons are away to school they must be put to practice some selfdenial and be subject to some restraints that would not be necessary at home.

Hence the propriety of being placed in circumstances where the little trials may prepare one to bear properly the greater ones of life.

The very passing up and down the halls by a hard footed course [sic] girl, can be made a serious annoyance to some who look upon a quiet and gentle manner as necessary to the character of a refined and delicate female.

5th Item. T h e hours between seven and nine in the evening are devoted exclusively to study. T he bell w ill ordinarily determine the hour and it is not admissible for the young ladies to talk in their rooms or wander about the halls; perfect quiet is not only necessary but is absolutely required. After nine the ladies are at liberty to amuse themselves as they please, always remember­

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A Long Way Forw ard ing not to infringe upon the regulations of the fam ily. A t half-past nine a bell will ring for the ladies to prepare for bed.

A half hour is little enough for the duties of preparation, such as reading a portion of the Scriptures and the solemn committal of ourselves and those we love to the care of our Heavenly Father, without whose watchful provi­ dence we should neither slumber nor sleep.

A t ten the lights must be extinguished and it is particularly requested that each person w ill put out her light before getting to bed. Sometimes they are left burning upon the table to the risk of every inmate of the house as our former experience could fully show.

8th Item. O n Tuesday afternoon the ladies are permitted to spend the after­ noon with such friends as their parents may approve of their visiting, coming in punctually as not to infringe upon the regular hours of the family.

W hen one is invited to an evening party they may be indulged in a later hour, but in ordinary visiting the usual hour for returning must be observed or another opportunity for going out w ill be lost.

T h e ladies are permitted occasionally to spend the Saturdays and Sundays with friends. T his should not happen oftener than once in three or four weeks.

In such a case it is desirable that their friends should come for them and see them safely home on Monday morning in time for their school duties without incurring the necessity of a tardy mark.

9th Item. On Sunday night the ladies w ill gather their soiled clothes, count the pieces, and affix to each bundle the name and number of the pieces. They will please leave the bundle outside the chamber door between nine . . . (and ten) so that they can be taken a w a y .. . .

If these bundles are not found . . . (at this time) they w ill be left to lie over for another . . . (w eek); washing of wearing apparel can n o t. . . (be allowed) as there are no adequate conveniences . . . (for this) process, and whoever wishes to learn th a t. . . (process) will find better opportunities at home. Indeed . . . (there) is no parent but would prefer their daughter to spend their time more in harmony w ith the object for which they came.

W ith regard to company, the ladies are permitted to see such friends whose claims their parents or guardians approve, provided they do not c(om e) un­ seasonably or unreasonably. On Friday a(fternoon) the ladies are less (busy) than any ot(her day). This afternoon w e would prefer should (be reserved) for calls as far as possible, so as to a(void) constant running that so seriously

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Supplement (annoys the fam )ily,— W hen the ladies are engaged (in their) duties, they will not be disturbed (by com )pany. Cases where interruptions seem to (be res)ponsibly necessary may be exceptions. T he time that the ladies are most at liberty can be easily made know n to their friends. W hen an individual is out of her room and cannot be accounted for by Miss Smith or her room-mate, she must not think hard if we do not look from D an to Beersheba to find her for it is no slight labor to look over the whole house, letting alone the adjoining building. W ith reference to visits from young gentlemen they are not admis­ sible as a general thing. If a friend from the home of one of the young ladies should call, bringing a proper introduction from their parents, she w ill be permitted to see him, but residents here w ill not be admitted except for some particular, simple, and satisfactory reason. W e cannot assume a responsibility so irksome, for w e deem a parent’s roof the only safe and proper place for young ladies to receive this kind of promiscuous society.

These arrangements have not been (made for) . . . children, but as a means of (affording the) best opportunity for intellectual (training) to Young Ladies. Teachers and (pupils have) no separate interests here and it (is to be hoped) that kind feeling and conciliating (manners) and devotion to study with G od’s (ble)ssing in all will make the acquisition of knowledge agreeable and eminently successful.

9. Exam ination in E n g lish Literature, iSyo." 1. Give a definition o f the words boo\ and library, and describe at least two modes of preserving written records different from our ow n method.

2. H ow were literary compositions preserved and disseminated in the Middle Ages before the invention of printing?

3. W hat was done in English Literature before 1474 A .D .? (by the Celts, Anglo-Saxons, Chaucer, etc.)

4. G ive an account of the Introduction of Printing.

5. Enumerate six of the prominent writers of the age o f Elizabeth, naming their most important works, and their characteristics, adding a full account of two authors mentioned.

6. W hat is the History of our English Bible?

265

A Long Way Forward 7. G ive an account of the most eminent writer of the seventeenth century, not omitting to state the position in reference to the great conflicting influences of his day.

8. N am e the three authors who are now best remembered, who wrote be­ tween the Restoration and the reign of Queen Anne, with a short account of their work.

9. G ive an account of the origin and growth of newspapers and periodicals.

10. W hat class of writers was most numerous in the eighteenth century?

G ive several examples, at least three.

10. The Associate A lu m n a e.

T he Associate Alum nae was organized in 1882, but not incorporated until 1890. O f the eleven original incorporators— Elizabeth B. Monroe, Adelina Bierck, Harriet Judson, Fanny D . Fish, Caroline W . Barnes, J. Frances Pease, Marion Loder, Aletta L . Tow er, Lazelle P. Hinrichs, Grace L . T h allon — only two are still livin g— Adelina Bierck, ’78 (Mrs. C . R. Sm ith) and Caroline Barnes, ’74.

There are five out-of-town chapters, those of Englewood, L ong Island, Montclair, Ridgewood, and Westchester-Connecticut.

The Associate Alum nae administer several funds, some for the aid of teach­ ers and alumnae, some for scholarships, some for the endowment, and one which, originally designed to buy books for the library, has of late been used to assist teachers to travel.

The headquarters o f the A . A . are two pleasant, sunny, beautifully furnished rooms in Alum nae Hall, overlooking the garden, from which “ T he A lum na” is issued. T he magazine started as a semi-annual in 1885. It is an able, readable paper, devoted for the most part to news and experiences of the alumnae and to school affairs. It has been invaluable to the historian.

The officers of the A . A ., particularly the president, w ork closely w ith the president and staff of the Institute. T h e bond between the Association and the school, before the inclusion of alumnae on the board of trustees, was strength­ ened by the visiting committee.

Much as Mrs. Packer was respected by the school, she was represented in

266

Supplement school affairs only by the men she nominated to the vacancies occurring on the board of trustees. In the Fifties, Sixties, and Seventies it would have been unusual to have a woman sit on the board. But the younger alumnae, catching the spirit of the Nineties, began, soon after the incorporation, an agitation for alumnae representation on the board, which culminated in the spring of 1896 in a formal petition for two alumnae members. T his petition was refused by the trustees on the ground that they had not the power to grant it by the terms of the charter, although, they said, individual trustees could nominate alumnae to fill vacancies.* This, however, they did not do, continuing to nominate and elect men until November, 1907, when they capitulated completely and elected unanimously three women, Miss Harriet Packer, and two alumnae, Mrs. W illiam H .

Ziegler and Mrs. Cornelius Zabriskie. O n Miss Packer’s death in 1909, Mrs. Roscoe C . E. Brown replaced her. These women, although representing the alumnae, were selected by the trustees.

In 1939 the first trustee to be nominated by the alumnae, Mrs. Katharine Sloan Pratt, was elected by the board. T h e alumnae have nominated a trustee every three years since up to 1943, when they voted to nominate every four years.

In refusing the petition of ’96, the trustees suggested a visiting committee of three from the A . A . to w ork w ith the committee on instruction of the trustees. In May, ’97, the first advisory visiting committee was appointed by the Association. This committee for many years was very valuable to the school. Since the representation of the alumnae on the board of trustees, it has not been so active.

The Associate Alum nae suggested Founder’s D ay, the first regular observ­ ance of which was on November 9, 1911, the anniversary of the dedication of the building in 1854. Since then it has been celebrated annually on the Friday nearest that date, at the Institute. T h e alumnae used to march in, class by class, holding their class banners— a picturesque custom which has been given up in recent years. Students and faculty follow the alumnae in the regular chapel processional. T he ceremony has always been interesting and m oving, and not the least interesting and m oving feature is the contrast in the singing of hymns and “ Alm a Mater” between the richer, mellower voices o f the alumnae who are living in the outside world, and the fresh, untouched voices of the girls who stand as yet on the threshold of life. * A fte r M rs. P a ck e r’s d eath in 189 2, n o m in a tio n s w ere m ad e b y th e m em b ers o f th e board.

2^7

A Long Way Forward ii.

The Bates Library.

Th e Bates Library is a valuable possession for Packer. It makes the school know n among scholars, and it is very useful in stimulating in Packer girls and faculty an interest in and appreciation of rare and beautiful books.

A few notable volumes among the three thousand are: the 1493 Nuremberg Chronicle, Captain John Sm ith’s T h e Generali Historic of Virginia, N ew England and the Summer Isles (1627), Esquem eling’s Bucaniers of America (1684), Mather’s Magnalia Christi Americana (1702), and Brissot de Warville’s N ew Travels in the United States (179 2), and early editions of John Calvin, Arthur G olding, and Martin Luther. It has also early editions of Sir Thomas Browne, Dickens, and Ruskin.

Perhaps the most valuable and significant book in the Bates collection is the 1855 edition of W hitm an’s Leaves of Grass, the second issue of the first edition, partly printed by W hitm an himself in a building at the corner of Fulton and Cranberry Streets (n ow marked by a bronze tablet).

A very interesting book, a rare piece o f early Americana, is Joyfull Newes out of the New-Found Worlde (1596) by Nicholas Monardus, the foremost Spanish physician of his time, describing the “ divers herbs, trees, plantes, oyles, and stones,” chiefly of the W est Indies. A bound set of “ Punch,” from the first number of July, 1841, through December, 1900, is in itself a social history of England for the second half of the nineteenth century.

Packer also possesses in the Bates Library “ a small and charm ing edition of Catullus, printed by the Aldine Press of Venice in 1502, the Pine Horace, engraved on copper, issued by John Pine, a London engraver, 1735-37, Franklin Cato Major of Cicero, published in 1744, a typographical master­ piece from Franklin’s Philadelphia press, the Baskerville V ergil, the beautiful V ergil issued by Baskerville of Birmingham, England, cited by Macaulay as the first of those famous editions that went forth to astonish the librarians of Europe, a first edition of Spenser’s T h e Faerie Queen (1590-96), and a first edition of Milton’s Paradise Lost (1669), believed to have belonged to Milton’s daughter Deborah, to whom he dictated the poem.” 7

268

Notes o f Sources i i . D o ro th y F o lg e r P retz, P a ck e r 1 9 1 9 .

II 1 . M a rth a P ren tice S tro n g . M em o ries an d C re a tiv e A ch iev e m en ts o f a C e n tu ry .

2. Q u o te d by James H . C a llen d er in Y esterd a ys o n B r o o k ly n H eig h ts, p . 106.

3. T h e B ro o k ly n D a ily E a g le , A p r il 4, 18 5 3 .

4. C e lin d a T . D a v is , in T h e P a ck e r A lu m n a , D ecem b er, 1 9 1 1 .

5 . C a ro lin e C o w le s R ich ard s. V illa g e L ife in A m erica .

6. A rth u r T ra in . P u rita n ’s P rogress, p . 182.

7 . R ich ard s, op. cit.

III 1 . D . G . C a rtw r ig h t in a letter to D r. W e s t in th e P a ck er A rch iv es.

2. D . G . C a rtw rig h t. A c c o u n t o f O r ig in in the P a ck e r A rch iv e s.

3. T h e B ro o k ly n D a ily E a gle, July 12 , 1 9 1 4 .

4. G ra ce P erry. H isto rical S k e tch , in T h e A lb a n y A c a d e m y fo r G irls, C e n te n n ia l C e le b ratio n , 18 14 -19 14 .

5. D r . S p ra gu e. A d d ress in th e P a ck er A rch iv es.

6. E a rly C a talo g u es.

7 . L e n t by M a ry B r o w n ’s d a u g h te r, M rs. W a lte r K . A d a m s o f M in n eap o lis.

8. Q u o ted fro m M a ry F rancis B r o w n ’s letter to h er fa th e r an d h e r letter to a frie n d in N o r ­ w ic h , C o n n ecticu t, b o th letters le n t b y M rs. A d a m s.

9. Q u o te d in T h e P a ck er A lu m n a , D ecem b er, 192 9.

10. R . R . R a y m o n d . R ep ort o f the E x a m in a tio n C o m m itte e , 1863.

1 1 . M a ry A y lb u rto n W illis . I n th e O ld e n D a ys, in T h e P a ck er A lu m n a , June, 190 3. M iss W illis g ra d u ated fro m P a ck e r in 1863 an d w a s on th e staff in vario u s capacities fro m then u n til 1 9 1 1 .

12 . L u c y A . P ly m p to n . H isto rical S k e tc h , in T h e A lb a n y F e m a le A c a d e m y , 1 8 1 4 - 1 8 8 4 .

13. Q u o ted by M a rgare t E . W in s lo w in A S k e tch o f the L ife , C h a ra cter an d W o r k o f A lo n z o C ritte n d en .

14. D en is T ild e n L y n c h . “ Boss T w e e d .”

1 5 . T h e B ro o k ly n D a ily E a g le , Janu ary 3, 18 53.

IV 1 . R ep ort o f D r . B a ck u s to the T ru stees, in th e M in u tes fo r N o v e m b e r, 1890.

2. H e n ry R eed Stiles, ed . H isto ry o f K in g s C o u n ty , v . II, p p . 9 5 2 -3 .

3. Ibid.

4. M a ry P a ck er B ro c k w a y , P a ck e r 18 9 7, in a letter to the w riter, July 2 3 ,1 9 4 2 .

5. T h e P a ck er A lu m n a , D ecem b e r, 1 9 1 1 .

6. F ro m tw o articles in T h e B r o o k ly n S u n d a y E a g le , July 12 , 1 9 1 4 an d June 18, 19 1 6 .

7 . Ju ly 1 2 ,1 9 1 4 .

8. T h e P a ck e r A lu m n a , D ecem b er, 1 9 1 1 .

9. Ibid., M a y, 1903.

269

A Long Way Forw ard 10. Ibid., June, 1892.

1 1 . M a ry P a ck er B r o c k w a y , in a letter to th e w riter, F eb ru a ry , 194 3.

12. Ibid.

13 . Ibid.

14 . P a ck e r A rch iv es.

1 5 . F ro m th e F o u n d e r’s D a y Sp eech , N o v e m b e r, 19 2 5 , p rin ted in T h e P a ck e r A lu m n a , D e ­ cem ber, 19 2 5.

16 . T h e P a ck er A lu m n a , D e ce m b er, 1 9 1 7 .

1 7 . Ibid., June, 1903.

18. H e n ry V a n D y k e . A d d ress at th e U n v e ilin g o f the M em o rial W in d o w to D r . C ritte n d e n and Professor E a to n , A p ril 15 , 190 6, p rin te d in T h e P a ck e r A lu m n a , June, 1906.

19 . C a ro lin e B arnes, P a ck e r 18 74 . R em in iscences, in the P a ck e r A rch iv e s.

20. C e lin d a T . D a v is , op. cit.

2 1. F ro m a clip p in g fro m T h e B ro o k ly n D a ily E a g le , N o v e m b e r, 190 6, in th e P a ck e r A rch iv e s . T h e d a y o f the m o n th has n o t been p reserved .

22. F ro m a F o u n d e r’s D a y Sp eech , N o v e m b e r, 1 9 1 1 , p rin ted in T h e P a ck e r A lu m n a , D e ­ ce m ber, 1 9 1 1 .

V 1. H e n ry R eed Stiles. H isto ry o f the C ity o f B ro o k ly n , v . II, p. 439.

2. Ibid., p . 466.

3. Ibid.

4. Ibid., p. 467.

5. C o l. S in n s’ M o n ta u k T h e a tre So u ven ir.

6. C a ta lo g u e o f 1 8 7 1 .

7. C a ro lin e B arnes, op. cit.

8. T h e P h o en ix , M a rch , 18 6 7.

9. T h e P a cker Q u a rterly, D e ce m b er, 1869.

10. Ibid., D ecem b er, 1870 .

1 1 . Ibid., A p ril, 18 72 .

12. Ibid., June, 18 72 .

13. Ibid., Janu ary, 1874 .

14. Ibid., June, 18 75 .

1 5 . Ibid., D ecem b er, 1876 .

16. C a rd era C o llin M a y, P a ck er 18 79 . Speech befo re the A ssociate A lu m n a e , 192 9.

1 7 . C e lin d a T . D a v is, op. cit.

18. P a cker C u rre n t Item s, D ecem b e r, 1934 and F e b ru a ry , 19 3 5 . Parts o f these articles h ave been su m m a rized b y th e w riter.

19. T h e n ew sp ap er a cco u n t w a s p a rtly su m m a rize d , p a rd y qu o ted b y A le n a L y o n C a rp en ter, P a ck er 1 8 7 1 , at th e fiftieth an n iv e rsa ry o f the class o f ’7 1 .

20. June 19 , 18 74 .

2 1 . M a rgare t E . W in s lo w , op. cit.

22. M in utes o f th e T ru stees, M a y, 1869.

23. C a ro lin e B arnes, op. cit.

VI 1. T h e K en to n s, p u blish ed in 1902.

2. T h e L a n d lo rd at L io n ’s H e a d , p u b lish ed in 18 9 7.

3. R u th W a lk e r B risto w , P a ck e r 190 5 , in a letter to th e w rite r, O cto b e r 8, 1942.

27O

N o te s of Sources 4. G o ld e n Y esterd ays.

5. B ro o k ly n , N e w Y o r k , in H a rp e râ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s M a g a z in e , A p r il, 1893.

6. So m e R ecollection s o f O ld B ro o k ly n in the Seven ties an d E igh ties, in V a le n tin e 's M a n u ­ als, 1 9 1 9 - 2 0 .

7. H . W . B . H o w a r d . T h e E a g le and B ro o k ly n .

8. M in u tes o f th e T ru stees, M a y, 1893.

9. M a u d B . N e lso n , in a letter to th e w riter, M arch 22, 194 4 .

10. In a letter to th e w rite r, M ay 3, 194 3.

1 1 . T h e P a ck er A lu m n a , D e ce m b er, 1889.

1 2 . C a ta lo g u e o f 1884.

13. F ro m a c lip p in g fro m th e S u n d a y E a g le , D ecem b er, 18 8 7, in the P a ck e r A rch iv e s. T h e d ay o f the m o n th has n o t been p reserved .

1 4 . E d m u n d K . A ld e n , ch a irm an . M in utes o f the T ru stees, F eb ru a ry, 1908.

1 5 . C a ta lo g u e o f 1888.

16. M in u tes o f th e T ru stees, Janu ary, 1888.

1 7 . E m ilie L . P latt, P a ck e r 1898, in a letter to the w rite r, July 28, 1 9 4 1 .

18. M ary E . C a lh o u n , P a ck er 18 9 3, in an in te r v ie w w ith th e w rite r, F e b ru a ry, 194 3.

19 . E lisabeth W o o d b rid g e M orris, P a ck er 1890, in a letter to th e w rite r, M a y 3, 194 3.

20. [John H . D e n b ig h ]. T h e P a ck e r C o lle g ia te In stitute, 1 8 5 3 -1 9 2 8 .

2 1 . T h e P a ck e r A lu m n a , D e ce m b er, 1930.

22. F ro m an u n p u b lish ed a u to b io g rap h y, parts o f w h ic h w e re p rin ted in T h e V assar A lu m n a M a g a z in e , M a rch , 1930.

23. F ro m a n ew sp ap er c lip p in g in th e P a ck e r A rch iv e s , p re su m a b ly o f early A p ril, 1908.

24. Ibid.

25. In the issue o f A p r il 2, 189 2, in th e P a ck e r A rch iv e s . T h e n am e o f the n ew sp ap er has n o t been p reserved .

26. M in u te o f th e T ru stees o n th e d eath o f D r . B a ck u s, A p r il, 1908.

2 7. L u c y C h ase P u tn am , P a ck er 1 8 7 9 , in T h e P a ck e r A lu m n a , June, 193 4.

28. C la ra B arrus, ed. T h e L ife an d L etters o f John B u rro u gh s, v . I, p . 3 5 4 .

29. M a u d B. N elso n , op. cit.

30. F ro m a n ew sp ap er clip p in g o f M a y 1 1 , 190 5 , in th e P a ck er A rch iv e s . T h e n am e o f the p ap er has not been p reserved .

3 1 . T h e P a ck e r A lu m n a , June, 190 7.

32. T h e B ro o k ly n D a ily E a g le , N o v e m b e r 1 1 , 1 9 1 9 .

3 3 . T h e P a cker A lu m n a , D ecem b er, 18 9 7.

V II 1. T h e P a ck e r A lu m n a , June, 1 9 3 1 .

2. F ro n i a n ew sp ap er c lip p in g , M a rch , 190 8 , in th e P a ck e r A rch iv es. T h e n am e o f th e n e w s ­ pap er an d the d a y o f th e m o n th h a v e n o t been p reserved .

3. In a letter to th e w rite r, June 1 1 , 19 4 2 .

4. Ibid.

5. T h e P a cker A lu m n a , June, 1 9 3 1 .

6. H e n ry James. C h arles W . E lio t, v . I, p . 309.

7 . T h e P a ck e r A lu m n a , F e b ru a ry, 1 9 1 2 .

8. Ibid., June, 1 9 3 1 .

9. R ep ort o f th e V is itin g C o m m itte e o f th e A ssociate A lu m n a e , June, 1 9 1 1 .

10. P a ck e r C u rre n t Item s, M arch , 1 9 2 1.

1 1 . T h e B ro o k lyn D a ily E a g le , F eb ru a ry 2 7 , 1 9 1 5 .

271

A Long Way Forward vrii 1 . In a letter to the w rite r, O cto b e r 7, 194 3. M r. A v en t w as a stu d en t an d later a co lle agu e o f D r . D e n b ig h at th e M orris H ig h Sch oo l.

2. Joseph D a n a A lle n , H ead m aster o f the P o lyte ch n ic Prep arato ry C o u n try D a y S ch o o l, at th e m e m o ria l service at P a ck e r, O cto b er 3 1 , 194 3.

3. A t the m em o ria l service.

4. Q u o ted b y M rs. Q u a n tin at the m em o ria l service.

5. E lin o r C la r k , P a ck e r 19 3 5, n o w Secretary o f the Institu te, in a letter to th e w rite r, M arch ,

1943 6. M rs. Q u a n tin , op. cit.

7. S tan ley R . Y a rn a ll, P rin cip al E m eritu s o f the G e rm a n to w n F rien d s Sch oo l, P h ilad e lp h ia, in a letter to M iss H e le n D e n b ig h , A u g u s t 3, 194 3.

8. A p ril 24, 193 3.

9. A u tu m n , 19 1 9 .

10. John H . D e n b ig h . T h e P a ck er Jun ior C o lle g e , in T h e P a ck e r A lu m n a , D e ce m b e r, 19 3 3 .

1 1 . M in utes o f the T ru stees, D ecem b er, 1930.

12 . A d d ress at th e lu n ch e o n o f the A ssociate A lu m n a e , M a y, 193 3.

13. D ecem b e r, 1 9 3 1.

IX 1 . T h is is B ro o k ly n . P rep ared b y the B ro o k ly n C h a m b e r o f C o m m erce.

2. G e o rg e M . S teph en son . A m e rica n H isto ry Sin ce 18 6 5, p . 5 5 1 .

3. A d d ress a t W o o d m ere A ca d e m y , M a y, 193 9 .

4. A dd ress to th e G ra d u a tin g Class at P a ck er, June, 194 2 .

5. C e rta in ty fo r Y o u th , d eliv ered at the C en tral B ran ch o f th e B ro o k ly n Y .M .C .A ., A p ril 12, 1939.

6. L id a B ran d t. W a r in the Class R o o m , in T h e P a ck e r A lu m n a , June, 194 3.

7. Ibid.

8.

Ibid.

9. T h e R etu rn o f an A lu m n a , in T h e P a ck er A lu m n a , D e cem b er, 194 2.

10. Jam es E . B u n tin g . A m erica n P riva te Sch ools, ed ition o f 194 2.

1 1 . A n n u a l report to the trustees, O cto b er, 1939.

X 1 . P a ck er T o d a y , A dd ress a t th e an n ual lu n ch e o n o f the A ssociate A lu m n a e , A p ril 2 6 , 1 9 4 1 .

2. T h e B ro o k ly n D a ily E a g le , A n n u a l E d u catio n S u p p le m e n t, A u g u s t 26, 194 3.

3 . E liza b e th S. S m ith , P a ck er 19 3 2 . S o n n et p re fa c in g T h e T h re s h o ld o f T o d a y , a p agean t p erform ed on F o u n d e râ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s D a y , N o v e m b e r 9, 192 8.

SU PPLEM EN T A 1. E lisabeth W o o d b rid g e M orris, P a ck er 1890, in a letter to th e w rite r, D e ce m b e r, 194 3.

2. Ibid.

3. E liza b eth M o u n t Ross, in a letter to the w rite r, F eb ru a ry 2, 1944.

4. M in u te o f the T ru stees on th e d eath o f M r. S m ith , M a y , 1 9 1 2 .

5. M in u te o f th e T ru stees on th e d eath o f M r. P a ck er, A p ril 25, 1893.

6. Judge G e o rg e C . H o lt. S p eech at a m em o ria l service fo r the m em b ers o f th e class o f 1866 a t Y a le , June 23, 1896.

7 . Ibid.

8. Ibid.

212

N o te s of Sources 9. M in u te o f the T rustees on th e d eath o f M r. B e lla m y , O cto b er 7 , 192 9.

10. B erth a B a ck u s B ro w n , P a ck e r 18 9 3, in a letter to th e w rite r, A p r il 2, 194 4 .

1 1 . R oscoe C . E . B ro w n . M in u te o f th e B o ard o f D irecto rs o f th e B ro o k ly n P u b lic L ib ra ry , on th e d eath o f M r. B ab b o tt, 19 3 3 .

SU PPLEM EN T B 1. B erth a B a ck u s B ro w n , in an in te r v ie w w ith th e w rite r, D ecem b er, 1 9 4 1 .

2. So p h ie C . P ren tice, P a ck e r 1890, in a letter to the w riter, S ep tem b er, 194 3.

3 . F . M . J. T w o T e a ch e rs, in T h e P a ck e r A lu m n a , June, 192 4.

4. Ibid.

5 . S p eech at th e service on A ll Saints D a y at P a ck er, 1928.

6. B erth a B a ck u s B ro w n , in a letter to th e w rite r, M a y , 194 3.

7 . M in u te o f th e T ru stees o n th e d eath o f Professor E a to n , N o v e m b e r, 18 9 5.

8. B erth a B a ck u s B ro w n , in an in te r v ie w w ith th e w rite r, Janu ary, 194 2.

9. M a ry P a ck er B ro c k w a y , in a letter to th e w rite r, M a y 3, 194 2 .

10 . E lisab eth W o o d b rid g e M orris, in a letter to th e w rite r, M a y 3, 194 3.

1 1 . F a n n y D . F ish , in T h e P a ck er A lu m n a , June, 1903.

12 . T h e P a ck er A lu m n a , D ecem b er, 189 5.

13. Julia B. A n th o n y . P a ck er in the Seven ties, in P a ck er C u rre n t Item s, F e b ru a ry , 19 3 5.

1 4 . F . M . J., op. cit.

15 . M ad elein e D ic k ie W e stb ro o k , P a ck er 190 6, in a letter to th e w rite r, S ep tem b er, 19 4 2 .

16 . In a letter to th e w rite r, A p ril, 194 2.

1 7 . A d d ress a t the an n u a l lu n ch eo n o f th e A sso ciate A lu m n a e , 1930.

18 . M a ry In g a lls, P a ck e r 1858, in a letter to D r . D e n b ig h , A p r il 1 9 , 1 9 2 7 , in th e P a cker A rch iv e s.

19. M a ry E . C a lh o u n , op. cit.

20. A lic e M u n s H o tch k iss, P a ck e r 1890, in an in te rv ie w w ith th e w rite r, Janu ary, 194 2 .

2 1 . Elisabeth W o o d b rid g e M orris, op. cit.

22 . B erth a B a ck u s B r o w n , op. cit.

23. A d e la id e G ill, P a ck e r 192 8, in a letter to th e w riter, O cto b er, 19 4 2 .

24. M a d elein e D ic k ie W estb ro o k , op. cit.

25. Ibid.

26. R oscoe C . E . B ro w n . A dd ress a t F o u n d e râ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s D a y , 1 9 3 7 , in T h e P a ck e r A lu m n a , D e ce m b e r,

I937â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;

2 7 . L u c y B u rn s, P a ck er 18 9 9 , in an in te r v ie w w ith the w rite r, M a rch , 194 2.

28. R oscoe C . E . B ro w n , op. cit.

29 . T h e A m e rica n O rg an ist, M a y, 19 3 5 .

30. E liza b e th W rig h t, in an in te rv ie w w ith th e w rite r, F e b ru a ry, 194 4 .

3 1 . E lisabeth W o o d b rid g e M o rris. M iss W y lie o f V assar.

32 . Ibid.

33. E lisabeth W o o d b rid g e M orris, in T h e P a ck e r A lu m n a , June, 193 2 .

34. E lisabeth W o o d b rid g e M orris. M iss W y lie o f V assar.

SU PPLEM EN T C 1. L e n t b y M rs. W a lte r K . A d a m s.

2. L e n t b y M rs. W a lte r K . A d a m s.

3. L e n t b y M a ry P a ck e r B ro c k w a y .

4. R ich ard H . Pratt. F ro m G e o rg ia n to V ic to ria n , in H o u se an d G a rd e n , A p r il, 19 2 7.

5. L e n t b y M rs. W a lte r K . A d a m s.

6. Prin ted in T h e P a ck er Q u a rterly , June, 18 70 .

7 . M ario n S. M orse, in T h e P a ck e r A lu m n a , June, 19 3 7 .

213

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REMINISCENCES IN LETTERS AND INTERVIEWS Addoms, Jessie A. Addoms, Lucy Copeland Anthony, Mrs. Paul Dix Avent, John M. Barnes, Caroline W. Barton, Arthur E. Benedict, Ruth C. Bourdon, Marguerite L. Brandt, Lida R. Bristow, Ruth Walker Brockway, Mary Packer Brown, Bertha Backus Brown, Roscoe C. E. Burns, Anna Burns, Lucy Burr, Katharine Calhoun, Mary E. Chapin, Elsa Chase, Alice G.

Child, Francenia S. Clark, Elinor Cushman, Wilhelmina McGrath Davidson, Victoria Hinman Denbigh, Helen D. Denbigh, John H. Gill, Adelaide Goodwin, Edward N. Goodwin, Helen Hall, Mary A. Hotchkiss, Alice Muns Lovell, Katharine S. Miller, Lulu Heitkamp Morris, Elisabeth Woodbridge Morrow, Elisabeth Post Morse, Marion S. Nelson, Maud B. Perry, Edna M.

277

Petersen, Kate O. Pettiner, Hope King Platt, Emilie L. Prentice, Sophia McCartee Putnam, Lucy Chase Quantin, Hazel Cook Richardson, Margaret Pratt Ross, Elizabeth Mount Shafer, Paul D. Sperry, George T. Strong, Martha Prentice Thompson, Elizabeth I. Van Everen, Alice Berkefeld Waite, Minnie E. Ward, Kate M. Westbrook, Madeleine Dickie Wright, Elizabeth Yarnall, Stanley R. Ziegler, Agnes Bowdish

Index B a rto n , A r t h u r E ., 15 9; 2 16 : b io g ra p h ic a l

A b b o tt, L y m a n , 126.

A c a d e m ic S c h o o l, 20; 105; 15 7; 220 -22 1.

A lb a n y F e m a le A c a d e m y , 16 ; 1 7 - 1 8 ; 33;

sk e tch , 2 51.

B a rto n ,

D o ro th y

(M rs.

G eo rg e

R.

M o o d y ) , 2 5 1.

46; 241.

A ld e n , E d m u n d K ., 130.

B a rto n , W in ifr e d (M rs. E rn e st G . D u n n e t ) , 2 51.

A le x is , G r a n d D u k e , 7 1 .

A lu m n a e , i n ; 220: A sso ciate A lu m n a e ,

B ates, B essie G r a h a m , 190.

17 ; 50; n o ; i n ; 1 2 1 ; 12 5 ; 2 66 -26 7:

B ates, Jam es H a le , 190.

re p o rt

B ates L ib r a r y (S e e L ib r a r ie s ) .

of

in v e s tig a tin g

c o m m itte e

(1 8 8 3 ), 10 2 -10 3 : fiftie th a n n iv e rsa ry ,

B a ylis, A . B ., 228.

19 4 -19 5 : A lu m n a e H a ll, 5 7; 123; 1 2 5 -

B a ylis, T h o m a s , 227.

126; 266: a lu m n a e tru stees, 218 ; 266 -

B e e ch e r, H e n r y W a r d , 70; 79.

267: v is itin g co m m itte e , 152; 156; 267.

B e lla m y , B la n c h e W ild e r

(M rs. F r e d ­

e ric k P . B e lla m y ) , 233.

A n th o n y , Ju lia B ., 118 ; 12 3 -12 4 ; 2 1 1 : re sig n a tio n , 1 4 1 : b io g ra p h ic a l sk etch ,

B e lla m y , E d w a r d , 50; 233.

236.

B e lla m y , F r e d e r ic k P ., 44; 4 7 ; 50; 52;

A th le tic s, 6 1-6 2 ; 80; 105; 10 8 -110 ; 158; 185; 188; 20 9 -210 ; 216.

58; 74: b io g ra p h ic a l sk e tch , 232-233.

B e lla m y , F . W ild e r , 233.

B e n e d ic t, R u th C ., 187.

B a b b o tt, F r a n k L ., 193; 195; 229: d ea th ,

B en G r e e t P la y e rs, 120.

B en son , A . W ., 228.

2 1 7 : b io g ra p h ic a l sk e tch , 233-234.

B a b b ott, H e le n (M rs. Ian M a c d o n a ld ) ,

B e th u n e , G e o r g e W ., S tatu e o f, 82.

B ie rc k , A d e lin a (M rs. C . R. S m ith ) , 266.

233 -

B a b b o tt, L y d ia (M rs. S a m u e l E . S to k e s ),

B ig e lo w , M a ttie , 30; 2 53-254.

B o a r d in g H o u se , 17 ; 2 4 -2 6 ; 3 8 ; 56; 6 8 -

233 -

69; 83; 8 9 -9 1; 2 6 1: B rid g e o f S igh s,

B a b b o tt, M a ry (M rs. W illia m S. L a d d ) , 233 B a ck u s, H e le n H is c o c k (M rs. T r u m a n

56; 5 7: re g u la tio n s, 2 5-2 6 ; 262-265.

B o u rd o n , M a rg u e rite L ., 13 7 ; 1 6 1 ; 187.

B oys in P a c k e r , 189; 214.

J. B a c k u s ) , 113 .

B a ck u s, S a ra h G la ss (M rs. T r u m a n J.

B re m e r, F re d e r ik a , Im p ression s o f th e B .F .A ., 2 6 -27.

B a c k u s ) , 113.

B a ck u s, T r u m a n J., 16; 22; 5 1 ; 96; 103; 112 ; 1 2 1 - 1 2 2 ; 1 4 1 ; 160; 18 1; 19 7 ; 202:

B re w e r, E liz a b e th , 164.

B r o o k ly n , C it y o f, 2; 5 ; 72 ; 99; 1 3 1: fro m

e d u ca tio n a l ch an g e s in P a c k e r, 1 0 7 -

1861 to 1883, 7 3 -7 9 : in th e Seven ties,

1 1 1 : b io g ra p h ic a l sk etch , 1 1 2 - 1 1 8 : p o r­

85: fr o m

tra it, 1 1 2 - 1 1 3 : d ea th , 118 ; 129: m e m o ­

fr o m 1908 to 1918 , 13 7 -13 8 : in 1938, 198: B ro o k ly n S a n ita ry F a ir , 7 5 -7 6 .

ria l to, 130; 212.

B a le n , P e te r, 228.

1883 to 1908, 92; 98 -10 2 :

B r o o k ly n F e m a le A c a d e m y , 3; 4; 5 ; 1 4 -

B a lla rd , L o o m is, 228.

40:

B a n n iste r, E le a n o r C ., 1 1 2 ; 142; 249.

D r . C r itte n d e n a p p o in te d p resid en t,

B arn es, C a r o lin e W ., 266.

16:

219

fo u n d in g , d ed ic a tio n

14 -15 : of

b u ild in g ,

b u ild in g ,

16:

18 -1 9 :

A Long Way Forward o p e n in g o f sch o o l, 20: c u rric u lu m , 2 0 -

C o r n e ll, P e te r, 228.

22: ed u c a tio n a l m eth o d s, 22-23 : c o m ­

C o rn e ll, W . I., 227.

p ositio n

C r a m p to n , C la r a , 118 ; 18 1; 246: d ea th ,

w o rk ,

28-30:

b u r n in g

o f,

37- 38 B ro o k ly n H e ig h ts : ch an g e s in d u r in g

192: b io g ra p h ic a l sk e tch , 238.

C r ist, A ., 15 ; 227.

o n e h u n d re d years, 2: in th e F orties

C r itte n d e n , A lo n z o , 16; 17 ; 18; 22; 38;

a n d F iftie s, 4 - 1 3 : in th e S even ties an d

56; 66; 6 7; 68; 7 4 -7 5 ; 79 ; 83; 88; 9 0 -

E ig h tie s, 10 1: fr o m 1908 to 1918, 137.

9 1; 96; 132; 197; 202; 256: b io g ra p h i­

B ro o k ly n P o ly te c h n ic In stitu te, 32; 39;

cal sk e tch , 3 1 -3 6 : p o rtra it, 35: d ea th , 36; 56; 92: tro u b le w ith th e class o f

42; 229.

B ro w n ,

M a ry

F ra n c is, L e tte r

to

h er

fa th e r, 2 4 -2 5 ; 2 5 5 -2 5 7 : L esso n B o o k , 24 B ro w n ,

1 8 7 4 ,9 0 -9 1 .

C r itte n d e n , W a lte r H ., 228.

C u r r ic u lu m : in th e B .F .A ., 20-22: in

M rs.

R o sco e

C.

E.

(B e rth a

B a c k u s ) , 1 1 3 ; 228; 267.

P a c k e r u n d e r D r . C r itte n d e n , 62; 80: u n d e r D r . B a ck u s, 9 5 -9 6 ;

104-108:

B ry a n t, W illia m C u lle n , 7 1 .

u n d e r D r . G o o d w in , 1 5 5 -1 5 8 : u n d e r

B u rro u g h s, John, 120.

D r . D e n b ig h , 186; 18 9 -19 0 : u n d e r D r.

S h a fe r, 206-210.

C a listh e n ics (S e e A th le tic s ) .

C u rtis , G e o r g e W illia m , 87.

C a lv in , M rs., 1 1 5 ; 252.

C u y le r , T h e o d o r e , 126.

C a lv in ,W illia m , 159: b io g ra p h ic a l sk etch , 252.

C a re y , S arah , 235.

C a r t w r ig h t , D . G ., 8; 14; 15 ; 227: b io ­ g ra p h ic a l sk e tch , 229.

C h a d w ic k , A lic e , 102.

C h a d w ic k , John, 7 1 . d u C h a illu , P a u l, 7 1 .

C h a p e l, 5 5; 5 7 ; 146: o rg a n , 123; 159: p rocession al, 242.

C h a p in , E lsa , 178; 208.

C h a se , A lic e , 119.

C h a se , L u c y

(M rs. O sg o o d P u t n a m ) ,

118; 1 1 9 ; 2 4 1: b io g ra p h ic a l sk e tch , 237.

C h e n e y , W in s lo w , 2 17 ; 250.

C h e ste r, D e a n o f, 7 1 .

C h ris to p h e r , M a rio n , 87.

C la r k , P e te r A ., 15; 227.

C o lle g ia te S ch o o l (S e e Ju n ior C o lle g e ) .

C o m m e n c e m e n t essays, 23; 3 1.

C o m p o s itio n , W o r k in , 28-30; 62; 65; 80; 89; 10 5-10 6 ; 10 7; 140; 208.

D a v id s o n , S id n e y W ., 228.

D a v is, C e lin d a T ., 238.

D e L a M a re , W a lte r , 194.

D e L u c e , P e rc iv a l, 108.

D e S au ssu re, M rs. N . B ., 261.

D e n b ig h , John H ., 16; 123; 152; 167; 169;

171;

176 ;

195;

19 7 ; 202: b io ­

g ra p h ic a l sk e tch , 1 7 2 -1 7 9 : d ea th , 176: p o rtra it, 1 7 7 : ed u ca tio n a l id eals, 18 0 184.

D e w e y , John, 139.

D ress, 194: M rs. P a c k e r ’s b a ll g o w n , 50; 194: co m m e n c e m e n t g o w n s in 1855, 70: in th e S even ties, 8 4-85: in th e E ig h tie s a n d N in e tie s, 95; 9 7: g y m n a ­ siu m

dress in th e E ig h tie s, 109: in

19 1 7 to 1918 , 165: in 1920, 170: in th e E ig h te en -F o rtie s a n d F iftie s, 258-259.

D u n la p , A m y , 118 ; 154; 1 8 1; 237; 2 4 1: d ea th , 2 1 7 : b io g ra p h ica l sk e tch , 2 3 9 240.

C o o k , S u san K ., 89; 118 ; 242: re sig n a ­

E a to n , D a r w in G ., 17 ; 56; 83; 85; 88:

tion , 105: b io g ra p h ica l sk etch , 237-238.

b io g ra p h ica l sk e tch , 6 7-6 8 ; 240: re sig ­

C o o p e , D a v id , 227; 228.

n atio n , 68.

Index E d u ca tio n a l P ro jects, 13 9-140 .

G o o d w in , N o r m a n , 142; 144.

E le m e n ta ry S c h o o l, 20; 139; 14 1; 158;

G o r d o n , A n n ie , 1 1 8 ; 237: m e m o ria l to,

16 1; 186; 18 9 -19 0 ; 2 13 -2 1 4 .

1 2 1 : b io g ra p h ic a l sk e tch , 241.

E le v a to rs: first, 123: secon d , 8 1; 210.

G o r d o n , O liv e r H ., 227; 228.

E llio tt, P h illip s P ., 228.

G r a y , A lo n z o , 17.

E n d o w m e n t, 90; 124; 1 9 1 ; 219-220 .

E x a m in a tio n s, 18; 2 7-2 8 ; 89; 107; 1 1 7 118 ; 179 ; 184; 265: reports o f e x a m in ­

H a le , E d w a r d E v e r e tt, 7 1 .

H a ll, G . S ta n le y , 13 8 -13 9 .

H a m p d e n , W a lte r , 194.

ers, 64-66 : R e ge n ts, 1 4 6 -14 7 .

H a m p to n S in g e rs, 161.

F a cu lty , 6 6 -6 7; II1 !; 15 4; 2 1 6 - 2 1 7 : o f the B .F .A ., 17 : o f P a c k e r fr o m

1875 to

1883, 88: u n d e r D r . B a c k u s, 1 1 8 - 1 1 9 :

H a r m s , M eta , 16 7 ; 2 15.

H a r p e r, J. W ., 228.

H a th a w a y , M a ry C . (S e e M rs. L e ffin gw e ll) .

u n d e r D r . G o o d w in , 1 4 0 -1 4 1 : u n d e r D r.

D e n b ig h ,

19 1-19 3 :

under

D r.

H e rb a r t, Joh ann F rie d ric h , 138.

S h a fe r, 205; 222: fa c u lty p en sion s, 128;

H ills , Jam es M ., 228.

x5 3 ;

H in ric h s , L a z e lle P ., 266.

193:

sk etch es

of

in d iv id u a l

H o ld e n , M rs. F r e d e r ic k C . (M a u d W i l ­

teach ers, 2 36 -25 1.

s o n ) , 228.

F a r n h a m , F ra n ce s, 178.

F e rris, R e v e r e n d D r ., 15.

H o u s m a n , L a w r e n c e , 161.

F ire H a z a r d , P r e v e n tio n o f, 6 1 -6 2 ; 80-

H u r lb u t, E lish a D ., 227.

8 1; r23; 210.

In g o ld sb y , M a ry P ., 95.

F ish , F a n n y D ., 266.

I n g ra h a m , H e n r y A ., 228.

F o o te, M e rrill N ., 228.

F ra n cis, L e w is W ., 2 1 7 ; 228; 229: b io ­ g ra p h ic a l sk etch , 234-235.

F ra n cis, M rs. L e w is W . (S a ra h C h a p m a n ) , 235.

F ra n cis, M a ry (M rs. O tis C . S ta n to n ),

Jam es, H e n r y , 1 2 0 -1 2 1 .

Jonas, M rs. R a lp h , 185.

Jones, A d e lin e (M rs. J. S. P e r r y ) , 241.

Ju d son , H a r r ie t, 266.

Ju n ior C o lle g e , 2 0 -2 1; 22; 80; 104; 105;

235-

10 6 -10 7 ; 1 4 ° ; 156-158; 16 1; 18 5 -18 6 ; 206.

G a ra h a n , E lle n a n d H a n n a h , 241.

G a rd e n , 17 ; 5 7; i n ; 159; 2 16 : fo u n ta in ,

K r e b s , H a n n a P a u l, 2 15.

7G 159G a y , C h a rle s R ., 228.

L a fe v e r , M in a rd , 54; 55: b io g ra p h ic a l

G o o d ric h , E rn e st P ., 228.

sk e tch , 260.

G o o d w in , E d w a r d J., 16 ; 12 9 -13 0 ; 136;

L a m b e rt, E d w a r d A ., 58.

r 38 i 139; t 4 ° ; 168; 172 ; 174 ; 180; 18 1; 189; 193; 200; 202: b io g ra p h ic a l sk etch ,

L a sa r,

14 1-155 :

L e ffin g w e ll, M a ry C . H a th a w a y , 237:

142;

167:

p o rtra it,

142:

re sig n a tio n ,

d ea th ,

142:

e d u ca tio n al

ch an ge s in P a c k e r, 1 5 5 -15 8 .

S ig ism u n d ,

118 :

b io g ra p h ica l

sk e tch , 242. b io g ra p h ic a l sk e tch , 242-243.

L ib r a rie s : o f th e B .F .A ., 38: m a in lib ra ry

G o o d w in , M rs. E d w a r d J., 142.

of

G o o d w in , E d w a r d N ., 142.

lib ra ry w o r k , 124: Bates L ib r a r y , 190;

G o o d w in , H e le n , 156.

2 12 ; 268.

281

P a c k e r,

12 3 -12 4 ;

185;

2 11-2 12 :

A Long Way Forward P a c k e r , M a ry (M rs. R o b e rt O . B r o c k ­

L in d sa y , V a c h e l, 1 6 1 -1 6 2 .

L o d e r, M a rio n (M rs. W e b s te r W a g n e r ) ,

w a y ) , 232.

P a c k e r , M a ry K e y s Jones (M rs. W illia m

163; 266.

L o w , A . A ., 8; 66; 7 5 ; 76 ; 87; 108; 123; 1 2 4 -12 5 ; 228; 229: b io g ra p h ic a l sk etch,

S.

P a c k e r, I I ) , 50; 232.

P a c k e r , W illia m S., 8; 15 ; 16 ; 17 ; 4 1 -4 2 ; 44; 48; 227: d ea th , 36; 49: p o rtraits,

230.

L o w , S e th (P re sid e n t o f th e B o a rd o f

44;

46:

b io g ra p h ic a l sk e tch , 45-46 :

le tte r to his sister-in -law , 257.

T r u s te e s ) , 227; 228.

L o w , S e th (P re sid e n t o f C o lu m b ia ) , 228; 229.

P a c k e r , W illia m S., II, 48; 52; 74: b io ­ g ra p h ic a l sk e tch , 232.

L u n c h e o n , 6 1; 62; 8 1; 122; 158.

P a c k e r , W illia m S., I l l , 126; 232.

L y m a n , A . J., 79 ; 126.

P acker

C e re m o n ie s:

C o m m e n c e m e n t,

39; 70: F o u n d e r ’s D a y , 50; 82; 267: M a itla n d , M rs. B u r g w y n , 261.

C la ss D a y , 86: A l l S ain ts D a y , 122:

M a th ew s, M a y S ch ie re n , 152.

P a ssin g o f th e S h ie ld , 122 : S a lu te to

M a th e w s, W illia m , 38.

th e F la g , 122; 159: R e p o rt o f P u n c ­

M a y n a rd , R ic h a rd S ., 228.

tu a lity a n d A tte n d a n c e , 160: C o lle g e

M c C ra c k e n , H e n r y N o b le , 194.

M c G ra th ,

W ilh e lm in a

(M rs.

D a y , 219.

S teven

P a c k e r C o lle g ia te In stitu te : G if t o f M rs.

C u s h m a n ) , 158.

P a c k e r, 4 1 -4 3 : d iscu ssion o f site, 4 2 -

M c K a y , John S., 238.

44: o r ig in a l b u ild in g , 5 4 -58 ; 6 0 -6 1;

M c K e lw a y , St. C la ir , 130.

M ille r,

M rs. C h a rle s

i ii

C.

( L u lu

H e it-

k a m p ) , 164.

W ar,

M o n ro e , E liz a b e th , 266.

M o rris,

M rs.

: o p e n in g o f sch o o l, 58: e a r ly e d u ­

c a tio n a l aim s, 63; 64: d u r in g th e C iv il

C h a rle s

73 -75 :

S ilv e r

Ju bilee,

86-87:

u n d e r D r . B a ck u s, 10 2 -13 2 : b u ild in g G.

(E lisa b e th

o f th e W e s t W in g , 110 : G o ld e n Ju b i­ lee,

W o o d b r id g e ) , 10 6 -10 7 ; 229.

M o rse , M a rio n S ., 124; 190; 212.

H a ll,

12 5 -12 7 :

b u ild in g o f A lu m n a e

12 5 -1 2 6 :

p resen t

e d u ca tio n a l

a im s, 132: u n d e r D r . G o o d w in , 136; N e lso n , M a u d B e v e rid g e , 118 ; 1 4 1 : re sig ­

1 3 9 - 1 4 1 ; 1 4 7 -16 8 : u n d e r D r . D e n b ig h ,

n atio n , 1 9 1 : b io g ra p h ic a l sk etch , 2 4 3 -

18 3 -19 5 : P la y g r o u n d , 188: P e n th o u se,

244.

189:

N o y e s, A lf r e d , 16 1.

se v en ty -fifth

a n n iv e rsa ry ,

195:

u n d e r D r . S h a fe r, 205-222: C e n te n n ia l, 1 ; 86; 220: p ro p o se d p o st-w ar a d d itio n

P a c k e r, A n d r e w D ic k s o n , 232.

P a c k e r, H a r r ie t L .

(M rs. W illia m

to th e b u ild in g , 2 19 -2 2 0 : fu tu re o f, S.

223-225.

P a c k e r ) , 16 ; 4 1 - 5 5 ; 59; 132; 203: d o n a ­

P a c k e r M a n sio n , 48 -49; 50.

tio n to P a c k e r , 42-44: bu st a n d p o r­

P a c k e r O rg a n iz a tio n s : A th le tic A ss o cia ­

tra it, 44; 48; 130: b io g ra p h ic a l sk e tch ,

tion , 120; 188: D r a m a tic A sso cia tio n ,

4 7 -5 4 : m a rr ia g e , 48: d ea th , 50; 130:

11 9 :

id eals fo r th e In stitu te, 6 3 -6 4 : re c e p ­

C lu b , 140: W o r k s h o p , 1 6 1 ; 185; 194:

tion to th e class o f 18 7 1, 86.

S h o p C lu b , 162: A sso cia tio n o f A c a ­

P a c k e r, H a r r ie t P ., 48; 50; 86; 267: b io ­ g ra p h ic a l sk e tch , 234.

P a c k e r, Julia, 48.

G le e

C lu b ,

119 :

S o cia l

S tu d y

d e m ic T e a c h e r s, 162: A sso cia tio n o f C o lle g ia te T e a ch e rs, 162: A sso cia tio n o f E le m e n ta ry T e a ch e rs, 162: S tu d e n t

Index G o v e rn m e n t A sso c ia tio n , 160; 18 3 -18 4 : Ju n ior G le e C lu b , 190: P a re n t-T e a c h e r A ss o cia tio n , 187; 190: L ittle T h e a tr e ,

S h e r m a n , G e n e ra l W illia m T e c u m s e h , 122.

S illim a n , B. D ., 228.

194: C a m e r a C lu b , 2 1 1 : G a rd e n C lu b ,

S k illm a n , John, 1 7 ; 227; 228.

2 16 : Ju n io r C o lle g e G le e C lu b , 216.

S m ith , B ry a n H ., 125; 229: b io g ra p h ica l

P u b lic a tio n s: The Messenger Bird, 70: School Room Echoes, 30; 39; 70: The Neophyte, 70; 8 1: The Gazette, 70: The Phoenix, 8 1-8 2 : The Quarterly, 8 1; 82-84: Packer Current Items, 16 2 -1 6 3 ; 185: Packer Song Boo\, 16 3 -16 4 : The Alumna, 84; 123; 140; 266: T he Pelican, 1 7 7 : Study Habits, 18 4 -18 5.

P acker

sk e tc h , 2 3 1-2 3 2 .

S m ith , C y r u s P ., 15; 228; 231.

S m ith , E liz a b e th J., 25; 68: b io g ra p h ic a l sk e tch , 244-245.

S m ith ,

E m ily

Jam es

(M rs.

G e o rg e

H a v e n P u t n a m ) , 1 18 ; 1 1 9 : b io g ra p h i­ c a l sk e tc h , 245.

S m ith , F . H o p k in s o n , 120.

S m ith , John H ., 227.

S p e rry , G e o r g e T ., 156.

P a ck e r S eal, 40; 258.

P a rk e , W illia m M ., 228.

S pies, F ra n c is, 15 ; 227.

P ease, J. F ra n ce s, 266.

S p ra g u e , W illia m B ., Sp e e ch at th e D e d i­ cation o f th e B u ild in g o f th e B .F .A .,

P e rry , E d n a M ., 18 1.

18 -19 .

P ra tt, F re d e r ic , 124.

P ratt, K a th a r in e S lo a n , 228.

S p u rg e o n , C a ro lin e , 194.

P re n tice , John H ., 7 ; 8; 15 ; 16 ; 1 7 ; 42;

S te ve n s, W a lte r L e C o n te , 107; 1 18 ; 119 :

227; 228: b io g ra p h ic a l sk e tc h , 229-230.

b io g ra p h ic a l sk e tch , 245-246.

P resch o o l D e p a rtm e n t, 144; 189.

S ton e, M rs. C . H ., 261.

P rim e , S. Iren aeu s, 7 1 .

S to rrs, R ic h a rd S ., 7 1 ; 79.

P u tn a m , B e n ja m in , 47.

S tra n g fe ld , H e n rie tta , 188.

P u tn a m , Joseph, 55.

S tro n g , M rs. T h e r o n G . (M a rth a P r e n ­ tice ) , 229-230.

S w a in , M a ry F ., 243.

R a tin g s, 158; 184.

R e g is tra tio n , 20; 3 1 ; 6 8-69 ; 79 ; 88; 1 2 7 128; 1 6 1 ; 1 9 1 ; 199; 219.

R oss, M rs. A la n ( E liz a b e th M o u n t ) , 231.

R o w la n d , C h a rle s, 15.

S w e e tin g , M a rjo r ie A ., 216.

T a lm a g e , T . D e W it t , 7 1 ; 79.

T h a c k e r a y , W illia m M a k e p e a ce , 71.

T h a llo n , G r a c e L ., 266.

R u n y a n , M a r y L ., 84.

T h o m a s , M . D ., 15.

R u tg e rs F e m a le In stitu te, 1 4 - 1 5 ; 229.

T h o m p s o n , John F ., 228.

T h o r n e , J. S u lliv a n , 228.

S h a fe r,

Im o g e n e

G.

(M rs.

Paul

D.

S h a fe r ) , 202.

T h u r s to n , A d a , 108.

T o w e r , A le tta L ., 266.

S h a fe r, L e e , 202.

T r ip s , A fte r-S c h o o l, 140; 187.

S h a fe r, P a u l D ., 32; 174 ; 1 8 1 ; 19 6 -19 7 ;

T r u a x , N a n n ie , 50.

222; 223; 225; 228: b io g ra p h ic a l sk e tch , 199-20 2:

p o rtra it,

201:

e d u ca tio n al

T r u s te e s, 2 1 7 -2 1 8 : fr o m

1883 to 1908,

1 2 4 -12 5 : B o a rd s o f 1845, 1853, 1854,

id eals, 202-204: ed u c a tio n a l c h a n g e s

a n d 1945, 2 27-2 28 : P resid en ts o f th e

in P a c k e r , 205-210.

B o a rd , 228-229: sk etch es o f in d iv id u a l

S h a rp , H . D ., 15.

tru stees, 229-235.

A Long Way Forward 20; 5 1 -5 2 ; 258-260: in M id a n d L a te

T u itio n , 2 1 ; 23; 60; 129.

V ic to r ia n tim es, 94; 96-98 : c h a n g e in one

V a n B ru n t, Jessie: b io g ra p h ic a l sk etch , 246.

V a n C o tt, Joshua M ., 15; 125; 228; 229:

years,

13 1-13 2 :

fr o m

W oodm an,

V a n W a g e n e n , G . G ., 58; 228; 229.

B e rth e,

118 ;

121;

W o o d , G e o rg e , 227; 228.

W o o d b r id g e , A b b y , 17; 164.

b io g ra p h ic a l sk e tch , 2 30 -231.

V in c e n s,

h u n d red

1914 to 1918, 165; 170.

2 4 1:

Jocelyn

(M rs.

H en ry

B.

W ig h t m a n ) ,2 5 0 .

b io ­

W o o d m a n , Jo n ath an C a ll, 58; 126: b io ­

g ra p h ic a l sk e tch , 246-247.

g ra p h ic a l sk e tch , 249.

V in to n , F ra n c is, S p e e ch at th e D e d ic a ­ tio n o f th e B u ild in g o f P a c k e r, 58-60.

W o o d m a n , R . H u n tin g to n , 58; 118 ; 119 ; 126; 15 9; 1 6 3 -1 6 4 ; 189: re sig n a tio n ,

V isu a l E d u c a tio n , 18 7 -18 8 ; 2 1 1 ; 220.

2 17 :

V o o rh e e s , C . S o p h ia , 23.

b io g ra p h ica l

sk e tch ,

249-250:

d ea th , 250.

W o o d m a n , W in ifr e d (M rs. P ierso n C u r ­ W a ite , M in n ie E ., 178.

t is ) , 250.

W a r : M ex ic a n W a r , 2; 4; 36: C i v il W a r , 2; 4 -5 ; 7 3 -7 5 : S p a n ish -A m e ric a n W a r ,

W o o d w a r d , S a ra h J., 178.

W r ig h t , E liz a b e th , 178 ; 189; 190; 2 16 ;

2; 93; 133: F irst W o r ld W a r , 2 1 ; 133; 1 6 5 -1 6 7 : resu lts o f th e F irst W o r ld

2 17 ; 250.

W y lie , L a u r a J., 56; 95; 118 ; 1 1 9 ; 236:

W a r , 1 6 9 - 1 7 1 : S e co n d W o r ld W a r , 3;

b io g ra p h ic a l sk e tch , 2 50 -251.

1 3 1 ; 166; 1 9 6 -19 7 ; 2 14 -2 15 .

W a r d , K a te M o rg a n , 95; 118 ; 162; 181;

Z a b risk ie , M rs. C o rn e liu s

1 9 1 -1 9 2 : b io g ra p h ic a l sk e tch , 247-248.

W e rre n ra th , G e o rg e , 83.

122; 159.

W e st, N a th a n ie l, 74.

Z a b risk ie , M a d e lin e , 159.

W h ic h e r , G e o rg e M ., 118 ; 1 1 9 : b io g r a p h i­

Z a b risk ie , O rle n a

cal sk e tch , 248.

P o sitio n

A.

Z a b risk ie , E lv ia (M rs. R u sse ll T . B a ile y ) ,

W e st, C h a rle s, 14; 15 ; 16.

W om en,

(O r le n a

E m e r s o n ), 122; 159; 267.

(M rs. H e rb e rt Sco-

v ille ) , 159. o f,

258:

in

th e

Z ie g le r , M rs. W illia m H . ( A g n e s B o w -

E ig h te en -F o rtie s a n d F iftie s, 1 -2 ; 1 9 -

284

d is h ) , 12 6 -1 2 7 ; 267-

P R O C U L

ADESTE

MAC TE

VI R T U T E