Barnard College - Mortarboard Yearbook (New York, NY)

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But all my words come back to me in shades of mediocrity like emptiness and harmony I need someone to comfort me Slow down you move too fast— you ' ve got to make the morning last

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DEDICATION: Barbara m .cross 1924 - 1967 Barbara Cross continuously extended and invested the substance o f herself for students and colleagues alike. The generosity of her spirit disarmed even those who knew her best, for she was altogether without pettiness or pedantry, and never allowed her endless fascina- tion with learning to take priority over a human demand. She was kind far beyond the familiar measure of a colleague, teacher or friend, and particularly tender in understanding the foolishness or helplessness of others. She never censured persons— only, and rarely, their actions. Her insights into her contemporaries corroborated her extradordinary sense of the past, which curiously put her outside time in the range and perception of her scholarship. Her unforgettable achievements was to blend compassion and intellect into a personal style that as moving in its felicity as in its truth. ANNETTE K. BAXTER Department of History It is difficult and painful to recall our moments with Barbara Cross, because there was more than respect and love and awe in our feelings towards her. Part of her mystique was that she could not be capsuled, summarized, or easily defined. She was not merely a scholar, a professor, or someone to turn to for advice, although she was certainly all of these. She was, instead, a rare blend of those personal qualities to which we could respond and those intellectual qualities which we admired and aspired to. To her students, she was as exciting and mysterious as the characters she introduced in her courses. Although we were often unable to grasp the subtleties of the complex patterns of thought she offered to share with us, we were always aware of the joy of learning from Barbara Cross. It did not matter that her courses were the most difficult, her reading lists the longest, and her class hours the least convenient. The courses she taught were always the most crowded and her students the most enthusiastic. The reason is not hard to find. For Barbara Cross was a great professor. Her lectures never failed to provide questions, new ideas, and finally, geater insight. Her love of knowledge and dedication to her work were contagious and in- spiring. In her presence, one always felt the spirit, the spark of learning. And that remains— Those of us who studied with her are left with so much that she taught us— not only of Emerson and Lawrence and Faulkner, but more important, of the excitement and satisfaction of struggling with a piece of literature and ultimately learning to love and understand it as she did. And so, it is painful to write this tribute, as one of many left with an unrepayable debt. I feel both humble and proud as I say my final thank you. HELEN NEUHAUS ' 68 Barnard, and especially the Barnard students, were very close to her heart, and I ' m sure she would have appreciated no other memorial so much as this, which testifies that her affection was reciprocated. ROBERT D. CROSS President, Hunter College 16