Annie Wright School - Shield Yearbook (Tacoma, WA)

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6) Several girls from Hawaii were in the school. When the Islands were annexed to the United States in 1899 I had several applications and inquiries about the school. It was then that Dr. Boone, a Missionary from China, warned me against taking Eurasians into the school. He said they would be both a moral and physical menace. When, in the fall of 1899, I was obliged to resign my position on account of a death in the family, the school was in a flourishing condition as to income and numbers. Mr. Wright ' s endowment of $50,000 for Washington College for Boys, which had ceased to be, was added to that of the Annie Wright Seminary. Mr. Wright, who had recently died, had left an added $50,000 to the endowment, making $150,000 in all. Bishop Barker wrote me: It really is a fine school and it is hard to think of you not being here to have the pleasure of it all after the hard work of the past. The Rev. Dr. Nevius was one of our frequent visitors, and was always welcomed by us all. He would bring his microscope and could always interest the girls with his wonderful knowledge of our western flora and the marine life of Puget Sound. Bishop Rowe of Alaska often stopped with us, and sent us many girls from the far North, among whom was little Polly , the Russian girl who was a great favorite with us all. I remember the pleasant visit of George W. Childs, (of the Philidelphia Ledger) a personal friend of Mr. Wright, who had asked him to visi+ the School and tell him of its condition. Mr. Childs went over the buildings and looked at the books, and expressed himself as well satisfied, and told me I would be the president of a railroad if I were a man. which of course pleased me. General Lew Wallace of Ben Hur fame visited the School once, and gave the girls an interesting talk. The Rev. H. H. Gowen came from Seattle and gave us delightful courses in the English Poets, and we were all fond of him. The Chaplains of the School were successively the Rev. L. H. Wells, now the retired Bishop of Spokane, who was rector of Trinity Church, which we attended: the Rev. Dr. Babbitt, during whose rectorship the Trustees changed our attendance to St. Luke ' s Memorial Church, whose rector at that time was the Rev. John Dows Hills, who was also our chaplain. He was succeeded by the Rev. Mr. Barr, and he in turn by Rev, Frank H. Church. These Chaplains always conducted the daily morn- ing service in the School-room, which was then our Chapel, and taught the Senior Class in Church History, and prepared the classes for Confirmation. I always loved the motto of the School: From Strength to Strength , which was to me an inspiration as well as an incentive. It has proved a prophecy in its fulfillment, as shown by the present flourishing condition of the Schoo ' wlf i its beautiful new buildings and efficient staff and corps of teachers. That it may continue to go From Strength to Strength is my earnest wish and prayer for what I always call my beloved School . Sarah K. White. Page Fifteen

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(9 ZJne MSw LD. 6) grace of which helped us over many hard places, and she often said in her humorous way that there was more of ' vice ' than ' principal ' in her make-up. Soon after my advent a new addition was built comprising several classrooms, a working laboratory, and a museum which housed an excellent collection of Alaskan curios. This had been puchased at the request of Rev. Wells by Captain Stockton of the government ship Thetis. and was then valued by the Smithsonian in Washington at over $1000. which amount that institution had offered for it. There were also huge assessments for the grading of Division Avenue and First Street, and it was an enormous check that I paid for the high bulk-head on the First Street side, all of which was met by the income of the school. How I begrudged that last expense! I did so want those treasured dollars for school equipment and in- creased salaries for my teachers. For four or five years the school grew in numbers and increased in popularity. Then came, alas! those lean years which taxed our patience to the utmost. The excitement of the real estate boom had died down. The wheat crop east of the mountains (from whence came many of my pupils) failed. The public schools had raised their standards and increased their equipment and efficiency. And naturally the number of boarders, as well as day pupils, grew less. A farmer of eastern Washington as apology for failing to pay his school bill, wrote me: Times is rocky. Indeed they were, hlowever, with the unfailing courage of Mrs. Raynor, and the loyalty of the trustees and teachers, we did not lower our standards. I re- duced our salaries and the number of teachers, each of us taking extra work. In the meantime Bishop Paddock had died. He had always been the courteous and gracious friend and spiritual adviser, acquiescing in everything I proposed, but had never taken any active part in the workings of the school. It was difficult to get him or even the trustees, who were all business men, to call a trustees ' meeting in those early days. A quarterly meeting was often quite as much as we could com- pass, when they would look over the books and give their approval: seldom making any suggestions, and leaving the rest to me. At one time, when the exchequer was somewhat depleted, they appealed to Mr. Wright, who responded with a check, the amount of which I do not remember. But with this exception the school never had any other financial help, except, of course, from Mr. Wright ' s endowment, which was then $50,000. When Bishop Barker succeeded Bishop Paddock in 1895 as president of the school ex officio, he immediately took a very active interest in all of its details, financial and otherwise, and succeeded in creating a greater interest among the trustees and in his jurisdiction, not then a diocese. He also made many financial ventures, which I had not dared to make, one of which was advertising more widely. At his suggestion, Miss Beatrice Tisdale, one of my helpers, spent her vacation travelling through British Columbia and along the line of the Canadian Pacific Railroad, from which many of my pupils came, to make the school better known. Gradually, as times grew better, and the town took on greater business stability, the school resumed its former numbers. When Washington Territory was made a state in 1889 we gave the girls a half holiday to celebrate the occasion. Page fourteen

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(9 ZIh f H Lfl © Mrs. Sarah K. White. 1889 It was during my second year at the Annie Wright Senninary that Mrs. Sarah K. Wright canne as principal in 1889. and retained that position for eleven years through 1900. leaving then to t ake charge of her brother ' s house after the death of his wife. During her term of office the Seminary had a remarkable growth both in numbers and scholastic standing. The first principal, Mrs. Wells, had had a hard struggle dur- ing the opening years and Mrs. White followed ably in her footsteps, carrying the work on with marked success. She set a very high standard both in scholarship and deportment, and seemed to be able to reach the girls under her, appeal to the best that was in them, and inspire them to do their best in every way. As the standards of the school were gradually raised. Mrs. White ' s great ambi- tion to have the various women ' s colleges opened to the Seminary graduates on their school standing without entrance examinations, was in a measure fulfilled, four or five of the leading women ' s colleges agreeing to this arrangement. To Mrs. White is also due in a large measure the raising of funds for and the actual erection of the first real gymnasium the Seminary had. This gymnasium built in the summer of 1900. was a very attractive little building on the grounds just south of the Seminary proper, and connected with it by a covered walk. This building is now occupied by the Tacoma Drama League, and while not on its original site, is still on what was part of the old Seminary grounds. I remember how proud we old girls were of the new gymnasium with its fine bowling alleys, large floor space for basketball, dancing, calisthenics and all the various paraphernalia for gymnasium work. Very complete for that day. I am sure that much of what the various Seminary girls of that period have accomplished, and the success with which they have met the broader and harder tasks of life are due in a large measure to the wise and broad guidance of Mrs. Sarah K. White. Jessie Kershaw, March 17, 1931. 1901 In the fall of 1901, when we were living In Iowa, Bishop Keator was elected clerical deputy to the General Convention which was meeting that year In San Francisco, and we attended It together. This was our first visit to the Pacific Coast, and to me at least, it seemed a great and thrilling adventure. We traveled on the Canadian Pacific, little dreaming we were on our way to a f rst glimpse of what was to be our home for more than twenty happy years. We journeyed by train down from Vancouver on one of those heavenly days which that country sometimes has after the first fall rains have cleared away the summer smoke. We were entranced by the beauty which we glimpsed on every side: blue wa ters, dark forests lit with the fire of the vinemaple and snow-capped mountains In the distance, all so heart stirring to those with prairie-accustomed eyes. Later, after my husband ' s election to the Episcopate, a friend wrote him: I always thought you would go to Heaven sometime, but I never dreamed you would be bishop of it! This amused the Bishop tremendously, nor did he think it too extrava- gant as far as nature was concerned. Man, alas! does not always live up to the Page sixteen