An Overlooked Pioneer: Blanche Evans Hazard by Corey Ryan Earle
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AN OVERLOOKED PIONEER: BLANCHE EVANS HAZARD, CORNELL UNIVERSITY’S FIRST PROFESSOR OF WOMEN’S STUDIES, 1914-1922 Dean’s Fellowship in the History of Home Economics College of Human Ecology Cornell University by Corey Ryan Earle ’07 Summer 2006 An Overlooked Pioneer: Blanche Evans Hazard by Corey Ryan Earle ABSTRACT A pioneering historian, educator, author, and civic leader, Blanche Evans Hazard taught in the Department of Home Economics at Cornell University from 1914 to 1922. Although her name is unknown to many modern historians, Hazard’s achievements include early development of innovative courses on industrial economics, labor management, and women’s studies. She authored numerous historical works, including the definitive history of the boot and shoe industry, earning her the honor of being one of the first woman published by Harvard University Press. Additionally, her influence during the women’s suffrage movement in New York State helped prepare countless women for their new responsibilities as voting citizens. She is perhaps one of the most overlooked accomplished women of the early twentieth century. An Overlooked Pioneer: Blanche Evans Hazard by Corey Ryan Earle TABLE OF CONTENTS I. EARLY LIFE, EDUCATION, AND TEACHING .............................................. 1 II. AT CORNELL: WOMEN ON THE FACULTY ............................................... 12 III. AT CORNELL: COURSES AND ACTIVITIES............................................... 16 IV. AT CORNELL: WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE ......................................................... 36 V. LIFE AFTER CORNELL................................................................................... 41 VI. PUBLICATIONS................................................................................................ 46 VII. CONCLUSIONS................................................................................................. 54 APPENDIX A. TEACHING POSITIONS................................................................... 57 APPENDIX B. COURSES TAUGHT AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY ...................... 58 APPENDIX C. SELECTED READINGS FROM “WOMEN IN INDUSTRY”......... 59 APPENDIX D. CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF PUBLICATIONS............................. 60 An Overlooked Pioneer: Blanche Evans Hazard by Corey Ryan Earle I. EARLY LIFE, EDUCATION, AND TEACHING Blanche Evans Hazard was born in Randolph, Massachusetts, south of Boston, to William T. Hazard and Mary Ellen Hazard in January of 1873. Excepting her years at Cornell University, she would spend nearly all of her life within a twenty mile radius of Boston. Blanche’s father, born in Rhode Island in April 1933, worked as a bookkeeper and store clerk. Her mother, born in July 1844 in Massachusetts, tended to the home and Blanche’s two older siblings. The eldest sibling, Helen E. Hazard, was born in January 1870. Blanche’s older brother, William H. Hazard, was born in August 1871. Little information is available about their family history or situation outside of the U.S. Census records. After attending a local school with her siblings, Blanche entered Thayer Academy at the age of fifteen in 1888. Located in Braintree, MA, the academy was founded as a private, coeducational preparatory school in 1877 and remains so today. Up until 1920, students from neighboring towns, including Randolph, were given free tuition at the school, easing the burden on Hazard’s family.1 At Thayer, Hazard studied under Anna Boynton Thompson, the head of the history department. Thompson taught at Thayer for over forty years, and it is likely that she strongly influenced Hazard towards a career in history and teaching. The two women continued a correspondence even after Hazard left the school. Thompson was very supportive of her women students, encouraging them to make their mark on the world. Her insight 1 History of Thayer, http://www.thayer.org/glance/default.asp?L2=3. 1 An Overlooked Pioneer: Blanche Evans Hazard by Corey Ryan Earle on Hazard’s destiny was almost prophetic: “I expect a brilliant future for you.”2 Hazard earned her diploma from Thayer in 1892. It is unknown if her siblings attended Thayer, but no one else in her immediate family attended college.3 In 1892, after being recommended by her instructors at Thayer Academy as an “advanced and specially qualified” student, Hazard began taking courses in history and economics as a “special student” through the Society for the Collegiate Education of Women at Harvard University, also known as the Harvard Annex.4 The Annex had opened in 1879 for the instruction of women by regular members of the Harvard faculty. However, for whatever reason, Hazard was not interested in staying long at the Annex, and Anna Boynton Thompson wrote to convince her to stay a second year.5 During her first year of study there, Hazard taught “current history” part-time to students at Thayer Academy, likely working with Thompson. But unable to earn a degree from the Annex, she departed in 1894 in order to spend the next decade teaching at a variety of schools.6 Hazard briefly taught history and English literature at a high school in Maynard, MA before spending a year in Louisville, KY at Hampton College, a now- 2 Anna Boynton Thompson, letter to Blanche Evans Hazard, August 24, 1894. Thompson passed away in 1923. Interestingly, Hazard was the one who deposited her papers at Radcliffe College. The Thompson papers also include a eulogy given by Hazard and much of their correspondence. For more on Thompson, see the early chapters in Joan C. Tonn, Mary P. Follett: Creating Democracy, Transforming Management (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003). 3 Blanche Evans Hazard, Radcliffe Alumnae Information Questionnaire, March 18, 1928. 4 Brockton Enterprise, “Perennially Active,” September 7, 1957. 5 Anna Boynton Thompson, letter to Blanche Evans Hazard, June 27, 1893. 6 One of Hazard’s contemporaries was Mary Parker Follett, who studied with Anna Boynton Thompson at Thayer and entered the Harvard Annex in 1888, four years ahead of Hazard. Both Follett and Hazard were interested in history and economics, and both studied with the same professors, such as Albert Bushnell Hart. Like Hazard, Follett graduated summa cum laude from Radcliffe (in 1898) after studying there irregularly. Follett went on to become a noted social worker, author, and pioneer in industrial management. The similarity of interests and education between the two women is considerable, though no record of any interaction between the two is known. 2 An Overlooked Pioneer: Blanche Evans Hazard by Corey Ryan Earle defunct preparatory school for girls. She returned to Massachusetts in 1896, teaching history and economics at a high school in Concord until 1899. While at Concord, Hazard published her first book, a historical narrative of prehistoric and colonial times. Her publications will be discussed in a later section. Because of the success of the book in classrooms throughout the country, she was invited to be head of the history department at the Rhode Island Normal School, staying from 1899 to 1904. In Rhode Island, Hazard was now teaching future teachers. Her passion for making history accessible and interesting to all students was surely passed on to her pupils. While in Rhode Island, she also published her second book, a collaboration with Harvard Professor Albert Bushnell Hart on colonial children. Thayer teacher Anna Thompson had encouraged Hazard to work with Hart years earlier. Thompson had previously studied with Hart, and an 1893 letter from Thompson to Hazard states: “Dr. Hart continually asks me to write articles for publication upon my ideas of teaching History, but I have no time. When you take Sophomore themes you can do it for me, and publish in Educational Journals, and become famous, and get a fine position.”7 In 1904, Hazard returned to the Annex, now called Radcliffe College. The college had been incorporated after Hazard left in 1894, and diplomas for both the A.B. and A.M. degree were now offered. Radcliffe’s first president was Elizabeth Agassiz, wife of Harvard professor Louis Agassiz, who had served as one of Cornell University’s first non-resident lecturers. Meanwhile, Hazard’s family had also moved to Cambridge, MA. According to the 1900 United States Census, the entire family resided together in a rented home. Her father was now retired and her brother was a 7 Anna Boynton Thompson, letter to Blache Evans Hazard, June 25, 1893. 3 An Overlooked Pioneer: Blanche Evans Hazard by Corey Ryan Earle typewriter “drummer,” or salesman. Blanche’s sister, Helen, was also a school teacher in Cambridge. From 1904 to 1907, Hazard was enrolled as a regular student at Radcliffe, although she taught part-time at a private girl’s school in Boston until 1906. The private school, opened in 1902 by Mary E. Haskell, gave students a liberal education through innovative teaching methods such as field trips to factories, hospitals, and museums, as well as bringing in guest professionals to the classroom.8 It is likely that Hazard’s later teaching at Cornell was influenced by Haskell’s methods. At Radcliffe, Hazard’s primary interests focused on constitutional and economic history, and she was elected to the Radcliffe History Club in fall 1906.9 Her college tuition was funded by scholarships. She was the first recipient of the Elizabeth Cary Agassiz Scholarship, and she also received the Edward Austin Scholarship, which was given to “needy meritorious students and teachers to assist them in payment of their studies.”10 In 1907, Hazard demonstrated her historical