Central Yesterday By Emily A. Michael
Laura Yeater’s Spirit Lives On Even if you don’t believe in ghosts, it’s easy to believe that Laura Yeater haunts the residence hall named after her. After all, many of her personal furnishings and household items are still in UCM’s oldest residence hall. Yeater, its patron, was well known for her philanthropy and strong sense of caring for single women. She headed up fundraising efforts to build the hall and even became the hall’s first housemother,
held for 15 years. Coming from an allwoman’s university, Yeater was appalled at the male-dominated culture of UCM, specifically the housing situation. She saw the need for a female dormitory, a place where women could have available facilities and good living conditions at minimal cost. With the help of a wealthy mentor back East and a prominent women’s organization, Yeater made her vision a reality. She estimated the new residence hall would cost about $225,000. By promising to raise half of that goal, she enlisted the help of Helen Gould, the eldest daughter of American financier Jay Gould and the creator of a scholarship that Yeater had received to fund her education at Wellesley. Gould was then a member of the National Board of the YWCA, and through that organization, several other projects and a lot of hard work, Yeater raised her half. On May 10, 1941, Yeater saw her dream come true. After a 25-year absence from campus, she returned for the dedication
The Alumni Association is seeking Yeater Hall residents for a reunion this fall. Send them your contact information at alumni@ucmo.edu. watching over the eight residents with the care and devotion of a real mother. For generations, students have whispered she is still there, watching over her girls. Yeater came to Warrensburg to teach English in 1900 after graduating from Wellesley College in Massachusetts. One year later she became head of the Latin and Greek departments, a post she
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of the Laura J. Yeater Hall for Women. “Giving my name to the residence hall for women on the Warrensburg campus is a touching tribute and it is quite wonderful,” said Yeater all those years ago. Just as Yeater considers Gould a vital link to her education, many women feel the same way about Yeater. “When I enrolled at Central Missouri State Teachers College in 1941, I was assigned to Yeater Hall Room 315 where I lived for two years,” says Myra Seafoss Hiles, a 1945 and 1975 UCM alumna. “No one had lived in that room, and I have always been so proud to have lived in a brand-new room.” When asked if Yeater Hall is haunted, she responds by saying, “Of course the third floor of Yeater Hall is haunted — by all the eager young women who lived and learned there!”
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