Centennial Westridge school 2013-2014
Volume 5 | September 2013
Miss Ranney’s Westridge School: The Perfumed and Bangled Girls “From the very beginning, Westridge was an outspoken sort of place where women assumed leadership roles and where preparation for higher education was a cherished goal.” (Article title and excerpts are from the 75th anniversary publication, Westridge School 1913-1988. “The Perfumed and Bangled Girls” was written by Pam Ellis-Simons ’67,Westridge Trustee 1986–1991.)
In 1913, most girls didn’t go to college. Careers outside the home were almost unheard of. But a good, formal high school education was imperative for those well-heeled young ladies going on to finishing school. If nothing else, their mothers advised, it might help them catch an intelligent, well-connected young man. Margaret, Marian, and Anne Brackenridge were no exceptions. Their parents, William and Margaret, had no intention of sending them to college. Mr. Brackenridge pronounced it perfectly useless for getting married and raising children. But he did want his daughters to have the best fundamental education money could buy, and when no other Pasadena schools were found to his liking, he and his wife started one of their own. (continued on page 2)
westridge beginnings
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1954 | Former headmistress Louise Wood initiates the American Friends Service exchange program which pairs up sister schools around the world. Westridge is matched with the Schulfarm Scharfenberg in Berlin. Miss Elizabeth Edmundson is appointed the first head of the Upper School. The seniors enjoy their first Ditch Day.
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1955 | The school officially states that it “is open to all qualified students, without regard to race or creed, and there is no discriminatory policy of any kind,” and further redefines its philosophy to “seek a diversified student body, consisting of girls of high standards who will contribute to the school through academic achievement, or leadership, or other personal qualities.”
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1957 | The first Green and White Ball is held at the Huntington Hotel. Proceeds of $1,040 benefit the Alumnae Scholarship Fund which supports an alumnae daughter. 1958 | The school’s first Annual Giving Drive is launched in September; by the end of the year $7,356 is contributed. Jae Giddings Carmichael ’42 collects and arranges art for the first exhibition in the newly transformed Main Building hallway gallery.