Her Chosen Path: The Story of Mary Lowther Ranney

SCOBLE

HER CHOSEN PATH THE STORY OF MARY LOWTHER RANNEY

Fran Norris Scoble was the head of Westridge School for 18 years, from 1990 until her retirement in 2008. During her tenure as head, she knew scattered facts about Mary Lowther Ranney, but realized as the 100-year history was being compiled that she really knew very little about the woman who founded the school. That set her on a quest to learn all that she could about the founder, who was both a refined, conservative Episcopalian from Chicago and a suffragist with a very progressive view of education, art, and architecture.

There is still much about Mary Ranney we do not know—and likely will never know—but this slender book reveals the sources of her courageous commitments and her paradoxical imagination; sensibilities that still today define the culture of Westridge School.

In 2011, Fran Scoble was named chair of the Westridge Centennial Steering Committee. With assistance and support from many individuals, she has written this biography of Mary Ranney as well as the 100-year history of Westridge School.

BAL CON Y

Ramey DJ.indd 1

FRAN NORRIS SCOBLE

The life journey of Mary Lowther Ranney from the late 19th century into the twentieth; from her birthplace in Chicago to Pasadena, California; from teacher to architect to founding headmistress, is remarkable. From the particular perspective of the school she founded, shaped, and led with an intelligent and graceful sensibility for 25 years, her life and work were pivotal.

She came of age in Chicago as that city was literally rising from the ashes of the Great Fire of 1871 and was no doubt fascinated by the architectural boom around her. She attended a girls’ Episcopal boarding school, Kemper Hall Academy, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and then returned to Chicago to become a teacher and enrolled in classes at the recently established University of Chicago.

In 1904, she moved with her parents to Pasadena, California, where she secured a job as a draftsman with the Greene & Greene architectural firm. Just a few short years later, she responded to a request from a group of parents in southwest Pasadena to open a school for girls.

For Westridge, the “rest is history.” Much of what defines the essence of Westridge School in its Centennial Year can be found in the values held by Mary Ranney as a teacher, an educational thinker, and as a person. Westridge, and all who have passed through its doors, are in her debt. Her hidden hand has nurtured the dreams of generations and created a lasting legacy.

Her Chosen Path T H E S TO RY O F M A RY LO W T H E R R A N N E Y

4/26/14 10:45 AM

SCOBLE

HER CHOSEN PATH THE STORY OF MARY LOWTHER RANNEY

Fran Norris Scoble was the head of Westridge School for 18 years, from 1990 until her retirement in 2008. During her tenure as head, she knew scattered facts about Mary Lowther Ranney, but realized as the 100-year history was being compiled that she really knew very little about the woman who founded the school. That set her on a quest to learn all that she could about the founder, who was both a refined, conservative Episcopalian from Chicago and a suffragist with a very progressive view of education, art, and architecture.

There is still much about Mary Ranney we do not know—and likely will never know—but this slender book reveals the sources of her courageous commitments and her paradoxical imagination; sensibilities that still today define the culture of Westridge School.

In 2011, Fran Scoble was named chair of the Westridge Centennial Steering Committee. With assistance and support from many individuals, she has written this biography of Mary Ranney as well as the 100-year history of Westridge School.

BAL CON Y

Ramey DJ.indd 1

FRAN NORRIS SCOBLE

The life journey of Mary Lowther Ranney from the late 19th century into the twentieth; from her birthplace in Chicago to Pasadena, California; from teacher to architect to founding headmistress, is remarkable. From the particular perspective of the school she founded, shaped, and led with an intelligent and graceful sensibility for 25 years, her life and work were pivotal.

She came of age in Chicago as that city was literally rising from the ashes of the Great Fire of 1871 and was no doubt fascinated by the architectural boom around her. She attended a girls’ Episcopal boarding school, Kemper Hall Academy, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and then returned to Chicago to become a teacher and enrolled in classes at the recently established University of Chicago.

In 1904, she moved with her parents to Pasadena, California, where she secured a job as a draftsman with the Greene & Greene architectural firm. Just a few short years later, she responded to a request from a group of parents in southwest Pasadena to open a school for girls.

For Westridge, the “rest is history.” Much of what defines the essence of Westridge School in its Centennial Year can be found in the values held by Mary Ranney as a teacher, an educational thinker, and as a person. Westridge, and all who have passed through its doors, are in her debt. Her hidden hand has nurtured the dreams of generations and created a lasting legacy.

Her Chosen Path T H E S TO RY O F M A RY LO W T H E R R A N N E Y

4/26/14 10:45 AM

H E R C H O S E N P AT H

T H E ST O RY O F M A RY L O W T H E R R A N N E Y FRAN NORRIS SCOBLE

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F I N A L PA G E S 1/15/14 8:28 AM

CONTENTS Preface 1. Chicago Beginnings

11

2. Pasadena

15

3. The Founder

19

4. 324 Madeline Drive

27

5. Retirement

35

6. An Ending

37

7. Reflection

39

Acknowledgments

WestRan3rdpp ps_final r2.indd 5

9

45

F I N A L PA G E S 1/15/14 8:28 AM

40

Handwritten inscription Inlook 1927

F I N A L PA G E S

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By 1940, with a new headmistress in place and the board of trustees in charge of the school, the time was right to implement the tradition of Founder’s Day to honor Mary Lowther Ranney. A charming ceremony was held on the lawn of Ranney House as students and alumnae ceremonially poured water from individual urns into a fountain to symbolize “the spirit” of each class. The mixing of the waters symbolized “the spirit of Westridge School, the past and the present.”

At the ceremony, Margaret Brackenridge, who had first asked Mary Ranney to become the founding headmistress, made the following observation about Mary Ranney’s role in the school’s success: “In 1937, Miss Ranney announced...that the time had come for her to give up its government and take a much needed rest. We knew that she was not in robust health; but we were quite unprepared for the long and painful illness which followed shortly after her retirement from active life….When she passed away, we all felt that our loss was irreparable. We pause today to pay a loving tribute to her memory; for it is due to her unceasing effort to keep the school at the high standard which it has ever held… a home for our daughters, where they will learn the principles of right living and thinking which will fit them for whatever they may undertake in their lives, and which will enable them to hold the torch to light the way for those following. “ At that first Founder’s Day, Anne Parker read a tribute to Mary Ranney, written by Grace Henley, the principal of Polytechnic School, that read in part: “Miss Mary Lowther Ranney’s service and direction in the education of girls were a source of inspiration and admiration to all who had the privilege of knowing her. Her rich personality, her warm, generous, sympathetic heart, her capacity for affection and enduring friendships, her wide interests and fine achievements combined to make her a person of distinction and her life a radiant source of generosity, shelter, guidance, and confidence for others.”

1/15/14 8:28 AM

48

CREDITS

Mary Lowther Ranney Portrait, Alice Ludovici, 1937 All images courtesy of Westridge School archive except as noted Archival items photographed by Douglas Hill Dedication page, pages 10 and 12 courtesy of the Kemper Hall Alumnae Association, Kenosha, Wisconsin Page 8, Douglas Hill Page 16, 20, 47, courtesy of David and Judy Brown Page 38, courtesy of Stacy Kemp ’94 Page 46, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University; courtesy of Tom Leffingwell Her Chosen Path: The Story of Mary Lowther Ranney Published in the United States of America in 2014 by Balcony Press.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

For information address Balcony Media, Inc., 812 N. Fremont, Suite 205, South Pasadena, California 91030. www.balconypress.com Design by Schoenehauser, Pasadena, California Printing and production by Navigator Cross-media Printed in South Korea Traditions Š 2014 Westridge School ISBN 978-1-890449-68-1

F I N A L PA G E S

WestRan3rdpp ps_final r2.indd 48

1/15/14 1:01 PM

SCOBLE

HER CHOSEN PATH THE STORY OF MARY LOWTHER RANNEY

Fran Norris Scoble was the head of Westridge School for 18 years, from 1990 until her retirement in 2008. During her tenure as head, she knew scattered facts about Mary Lowther Ranney, but realized as the 100-year history was being compiled that she really knew very little about the woman who founded the school. That set her on a quest to learn all that she could about the founder, who was both a refined, conservative Episcopalian from Chicago and a suffragist with a very progressive view of education, art, and architecture.

There is still much about Mary Ranney we do not know—and likely will never know—but this slender book reveals the sources of her courageous commitments and her paradoxical imagination; sensibilities that still today define the culture of Westridge School.

In 2011, Fran Scoble was named chair of the Westridge Centennial Steering Committee. With assistance and support from many individuals, she has written this biography of Mary Ranney as well as the 100-year history of Westridge School.

BAL CON Y

Ramey DJ.indd 1

FRAN NORRIS SCOBLE

The life journey of Mary Lowther Ranney from the late 19th century into the twentieth; from her birthplace in Chicago to Pasadena, California; from teacher to architect to founding headmistress, is remarkable. From the particular perspective of the school she founded, shaped, and led with an intelligent and graceful sensibility for 25 years, her life and work were pivotal.

She came of age in Chicago as that city was literally rising from the ashes of the Great Fire of 1871 and was no doubt fascinated by the architectural boom around her. She attended a girls’ Episcopal boarding school, Kemper Hall Academy, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and then returned to Chicago to become a teacher and enrolled in classes at the recently established University of Chicago.

In 1904, she moved with her parents to Pasadena, California, where she secured a job as a draftsman with the Greene & Greene architectural firm. Just a few short years later, she responded to a request from a group of parents in southwest Pasadena to open a school for girls.

For Westridge, the “rest is history.” Much of what defines the essence of Westridge School in its Centennial Year can be found in the values held by Mary Ranney as a teacher, an educational thinker, and as a person. Westridge, and all who have passed through its doors, are in her debt. Her hidden hand has nurtured the dreams of generations and created a lasting legacy.

Her Chosen Path T H E S TO RY O F M A RY LO W T H E R R A N N E Y

4/26/14 10:45 AM

SCOBLE

HER CHOSEN PATH THE STORY OF MARY LOWTHER RANNEY

Fran Norris Scoble was the head of Westridge School for 18 years, from 1990 until her retirement in 2008. During her tenure as head, she knew scattered facts about Mary Lowther Ranney, but realized as the 100-year history was being compiled that she really knew very little about the woman who founded the school. That set her on a quest to learn all that she could about the founder, who was both a refined, conservative Episcopalian from Chicago and a suffragist with a very progressive view of education, art, and architecture.

There is still much about Mary Ranney we do not know—and likely will never know—but this slender book reveals the sources of her courageous commitments and her paradoxical imagination; sensibilities that still today define the culture of Westridge School.

In 2011, Fran Scoble was named chair of the Westridge Centennial Steering Committee. With assistance and support from many individuals, she has written this biography of Mary Ranney as well as the 100-year history of Westridge School.

BAL CON Y

Ramey DJ.indd 1

FRAN NORRIS SCOBLE

The life journey of Mary Lowther Ranney from the late 19th century into the twentieth; from her birthplace in Chicago to Pasadena, California; from teacher to architect to founding headmistress, is remarkable. From the particular perspective of the school she founded, shaped, and led with an intelligent and graceful sensibility for 25 years, her life and work were pivotal.

She came of age in Chicago as that city was literally rising from the ashes of the Great Fire of 1871 and was no doubt fascinated by the architectural boom around her. She attended a girls’ Episcopal boarding school, Kemper Hall Academy, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and then returned to Chicago to become a teacher and enrolled in classes at the recently established University of Chicago.

In 1904, she moved with her parents to Pasadena, California, where she secured a job as a draftsman with the Greene & Greene architectural firm. Just a few short years later, she responded to a request from a group of parents in southwest Pasadena to open a school for girls.

For Westridge, the “rest is history.” Much of what defines the essence of Westridge School in its Centennial Year can be found in the values held by Mary Ranney as a teacher, an educational thinker, and as a person. Westridge, and all who have passed through its doors, are in her debt. Her hidden hand has nurtured the dreams of generations and created a lasting legacy.

Her Chosen Path T H E S TO RY O F M A RY LO W T H E R R A N N E Y

4/26/14 10:45 AM