The Wellesley Legenda

r to l^=Al}=3 rV Cl*L*4J*— *r. k> tCu-ir&y €**£*}*— *W* . v%o it r fl f ii » a The Tdttle Oomfant printers rutland. vermont ^cfettotoUtffltncut The Legenda Board wishes to make grateful acknowl edgment to Gertrude Mor r rison, Jessie Gidley, and all others for their literary contributions; and to Alice Dickinson and Emma Dan forth for their aid to the art editors SDroicateo to tfje SDfpartmenta of (Knfflisf) ano Cngltstj ^Literature of flfllellcslep College op tfje Cla00 of jRineteen l£unoreo ano &tr Hark ! it is the echo faithful Slowly sounding, outward bound, Answering to the far cry mirthful Lending to it tone profound. Slight the distance from the hillside Of the echo's haunting strain, Clear and true the notes reflected, Treasure, truth and beauty gain. Farther creep the faltering shadows, Fainter grows the echo's home. Listen, ponder, through the meadows, Hold the message as you roam. Title Page 3 Acknowledgment 5 Dedication 7 Prologue 9 General History of Wellesley College ... 11 Chronological Table 25 Board of Trustees 30 Officers of Government and Instruction . 32 Class of 1 906 47 1906 Class Song 105 Other Classes 106 Organizations 135 Societies 153 Clubs 166 Festivals 178 Publications 188 Athletics 195 Dramatics 203 Plaisanteries 213 12 WELLESLEY COLLEGE LE G'E'N DlA &rur ivi! Utistovt) of ZZttUt&ltt) Concur " " ARNSWALLOWS ! Wellesley Magazine and " ' College News ! Try-outs for Glee and Man- dolin Clubs!" "Christian Association!" "Athletic " Association ! Even so do large placards of cabalistic black-letter art, or gayly alluring posters whose curves defy the wriggles of a Stanlaws-maid, or perchance, the honeyed accent of a " Financial Committee so dread " beguile the student during the opening weeks until suddenly the new Senior realizes with an odd, lumpy throb that the wheels of a precious last year are flying fast in an unceasing and relentless clickity- clack clicking of days; and dreamily she recalls that "there is a certain sadness about doing anything for the last time." The Freshman, too, is now, more new; and she also is sad from an uncalloused excess of doing things for the first time; she seeks to find a meaning in the bewildering rush of life. What does it mean? That a college, a great one, has swung into motion like some ponderous piece of mechanism whose piston rod drives slowly at first but with increasing speed as screw, nut, wheel and pivot wears down to its bearings. Our college life of today is intricate, established ; the fruition of years of experiment, it asks of its students little more than re-adjustment and adaptation. Usages are mellowing with age; traditions haunt the memory; and a "college spirit," illusive but not ephemeral, abides with us. Buildings crown WELLESLEY COLLEGE LEGENDA 13 the knolls, tennis-courts invite, class yells reverberate. Imagine a time when there was neither the echo of song nor the rustle of pub- lication; when the life of the college was pliant, supple, unshaped; when beaten path or blazed trail was not; and zest of life gave impetus to the zeal for initial trial. An effort was made in our behalf when by legislative act (1873) our name was changed to " Wellesley College" in lieu of the " Wellesley Female Seminary" set forth in the charter signed by Gov. William Claflin, our friend. A building and a name did not suffice. The "college" had yet to be made ; for this our Founders, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Fowle Durant, selected as their co-operator Miss Ada L. Howard of Mt. Holyoke Seminary. Many of our customs found a beginning in those seven fledgeling years (1875-1882). At Mr. Durant's suggestion Flower Sunday was inaugurated, the text being then as now, " God is Love." In referring to a sermon preached from those same words by the Founder himself, one of the early daughters of the college wrote home, " His sermon was full of enthusiasm setting forth a high standard of true, noble womanhood. We are to be reformers, teachers. We are to mould the country. One sentence of his I remember, ' O children, I want you to remember all of your lives that God is Love.' " The death of his little son placed such high ideals in the heart of the father, and the mother joyfully furthered their realization. Strolling through the grounds, Mr. Durant stooped to " pick a wee, white clover, saying, I need no higher miracle than that.' In every way during the few years he was permitted to work he planned for his " calico girls." The Zeta Alpha and Phi Sigma societies were the expression of his thought, and Shakespeare society was formed soon after. The first Tree Day [1877) belongs to this early period. The Students' Aid Society and Teachers' Registry 14 WELLESLEY COLLEGE LEGENDA were established; and in 1879 the Pioneers were graduated. With a dignified Alumna? once recognized the preparatory-school reached a vanishing point; but not until it had proved its efficacy, for only a tenth of the entering three hundred were prepared for college work. With this cutting of leading-strings the college waxed and increased. The original building, College Hall, no longer sufficed. The " Teachers Specials" were gathered together in a home provided through the munificence of Mrs. Valeria G. Stone. Poor Specials ! for it is rumored that a certain exacting Head required the furniture in each room to be placed according to one model. There would have been no difficulty then in granting Matthew Arnold's request " to see a student's room." About the same time the corner-stone of the College of WELLESLEY COLLEGE LEGENDA 15 Music was laid, Waban Cottage was made ready for use, and the Browning room was opened; all of them through the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Durant. In connection with the Browning room, it is remembered that when Mr. Durant and four wen were placing in it " The Reading Girl," a heavy statue, Mr. Durant said, " She need never be accused of reading light literature." Mr. Durant died October 3, 188 1. He left to the girls of those early years a gentle sorrow; to the girls who have come after him, a reverent regret. " He was bright and witty; not jolly, but wishing to see the girls happy." His favors were individual. When an epidemic of scarlet-fever filled the hospital, he arranged flowers and fruit with his own hands. The girl who received a camelia said 16 WELLESLEY COLLEGE LEGENDA " proudly, I know he did not give anybody else one." Flowers were favorites with Mr. Durant. He had crocus bulbs, snow-drops, and English violets planted over the ground, " enough for each girl to pick three a day," in an effort to have the girls share his love for nature. The Silent Time, twenty minutes for self-communion morning and " " evening, was his adaptation of Emerson's Know thyself ! Domestic service was adopted from Mt. Holyoke because Mr. Durant wished each girl to have a part in the work of the household and to appreciate the dignity of labor. With his death ended the first epoch of our history, President Howard resigning soon afterward because of ill health. With her successor, Miss Alice E. Freeman, of Michigan University, came growth. The days of pleasing lack of constraint were passing WELLESLEY COLLEGE LEGENDA 17 away. The college outgrew the life planned for the original domestic nucleus. Under President Freeman's administration (1882-88) Simpson cottage, the gift of Mr. Michael Simpson, in memory of Mrs. Simpson, opened to receive the more delicate girls who were not fitted for the bustling activity of a larger hall,—the " lame ducklings," as they were called. The laying of the corner-stone of the Decennial cottage, afterwards named Norumbega, soon followed. The Alumnae, generously aided by Prof. Eben Norton Horsford and others, contributed the funds. To Prof. Horsford we are also indebted for benefactions to the library and faculty parlor. Freeman cottage, the gift of Mr. Durant, and Eliot Cottage the joint munificence of Mrs. Durant and Mrs. Hollis H. Hunnewell, completed the outward growth of this truly golden age. 18 WELLESLEY COLLEGE LEGENDA Not less significant was the more academic development through the forming of student organizations. Zeta Alpha was dissolved in the spring of 1883, but the following October saw the birth of the Christian Association and the nucleus of the Philosophy Club. Later the Chapel Fund association organized. The six years of Miss Freeman's guar- dianship were ones of forth-putting life. Even after her marriage, as Mrs. George Herbert Palmer she continued to be a close friend of Wellesley until the day of her death. President Helen A. Shafer (1888-94) was graduated from Oberlin College. The college had long since discarded its creeping-bag; it had become a toddler of sturdy growth, and, like all other babies, it found its tongue. " The Courant," at first a mere ambitious column WELLESLEY COLLEGE LEGENDA 19 " " in the local paper ; The Prelude" and the Wellesley Magazine," the Legenda preceding the latter by a year, began to speak. The number of buildings was increased by the Farnsworth Art Building in which the Amos W. Stetson collection of paintings found a home. Perhaps the beginning of that building was still farther back. Wood Cottage, the gift of Mrs. Caroline A. Wood, was opened during this period. It was a time more specifically of development than of growth in numbers. Zeta Alpha and Phi Sigma societies were welcomed back. The Art Society, afterwards named Tau Zeta Epsilon, was founded. In two years came the Agora, formed from the Cottage Street Political Club.

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