Bridgewater State University - Alpha Yearbook (Bridgewater, MA)

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A LETTER FROM DR. EDWARD ALLEN BOYDEN To the Graduating Class of the Bridgewater State Teachers College: If this were not an especial occasion, I would still have responded to the invitation to write a few words for the Year Book — remembering the difficulties that once beset an editor of The Normal Offering, twenty-eight years ago. Out of those student days comes the memory of an anecdote about a certain cullud gem ' mun who finally had to be exhorted by the companion of his choice, in these words: Ike! Why don ' yo ' express yo ' self ! And I judge the problem still remains, even in a co-educational school. But this is an especial occasion, an opportunity to thank both the Editors of the Year Book for their gracious dedication of this volume to Mrs. Arthur C. Boyden, and the students and Faculty for the many kindly expressions of affection and esteem which have so enriched her life. I think it may be truly said that she has served this school faithfully for nearly sixty years. Indeed, no one who has not lived in an executive ' s family, can realize how completely an in- stitution can dominate the life of a family; yet, it is characteristic of her that she has wished nothing in return but affection,- and this you have given her in most generous measure. As an alumnus of the School, I too have much to be grateful for. Its influence upon me began in the grades — in the very first grade — when, on one tardy occasion, Miss Stuart sorrow- fully turned the picture of the soldier boy to the wall. From that moment on, I have had a strong aversion to being late. In the eighth grade, I came under the influence of another noble woman — Miss Burnell — whose uncompromising austerity, mingled with humor [and a genius for reaching a boy ' s heart, eliminated much that was irrelevant to the career of a student. In Normal School days (we had not then acquired the more pretentious label), there were many to whom I and my contemporaries owe a lasting debt of gratitude. But thinking of the period as a whole, I am impressed with two great capacities that it developed: First, it taught us how to work (a virtue that has grown no less significant after observing university students for thirty years); secondly, both its curricular and extra-curricular activities (athletics, debating, editorial work and social contacts) gave us an all-roundedness that has made life one great adventure, ever since. In closing, I thought you might be interested in knowing how two great teachers — seen in the perspective of the years — appear to one who was a student of each. If I were to pick out only one characteristic, I should say that the outstanding quality in my grandfather was his ability to stir the conscience of a student, to open his eyes to the abundance of riches that lay ahead of him. The quality in my father that impressed me most was the acuity and sensitiveness of his mind. You recall the story of the little girl who was asked to describe the founding of England, and her brief summary of this event: It was settled by the angles, the saxons and the jutes. The acute angles went North and the obtuse angles, South. His mind belonged in the first cate- gory. It was ever sensitive to all contemporary thought. From each student and teacher, from every human contact, he was continually learning. Thus he grew in wisdom and in youth- fulness, to the end. His education never stopped. If we were to return today, I think he would give you this message: As you go out into life, keep the windows of your soul wide open, and the light of the gods that ye serve will ever shine in your faces.

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To KATHERINE CHIPMAN BOYDEN Wife, mother and friend The Class of 1935 In profound admiration and loyal fellowship Dedicates this book Katherine Chipman Allen was born April 25, 1852. After graduating from the Bridgewater Normal School, she was married in 1877 to Arthur Clarke Boyden. During many years in which Dr. Boyden became teacher, principal, and president at Bridgewater, Mrs. Boyden established and maintained a home which not only furnished a background for a singularly devoted family life, but also figured largely in the thought and affection of the school. We wish to express our loving recognition of Mrs. Boyden ' s ever-keen interest in all our college activities. Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life. . . . Her hus- band is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land. . . ■ She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness. She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her. . . . Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates. — (from Proverbs 31.)

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This is a letter received from Edward Allen Boyden, class of 1907, in response to a request from the Editorial Board. Dr. Boyden is Professor of Anatomy in the University of Minnesota — an institution containing some 1 5,000 students in regular attendance. Its department of Anatomy is one of the largest and ablest in American Medical Schools. Dr. Boyden is starred in American Men of Science for his contributions to the knowledge of the structure and function of the human gall bladder. In addition to some fifty articles embodying scientific investigations, he has published An Atlas of Embryology which is widely used in Medical Schools. His work is threefold, consisting of teaching (Human Anatomy and Embryology), research and editorial work (as Managing Editor of The Anatomical Record, one of the research journals of the American Association of Anatomists). This interpretation which Dr. Boyden has given us should not be left without some mention of Miss Ethel Boyden who with her fine musical talent served our school directly for some years after she graduated from it, and serves it still by preserving the beloved Boyden home. Thus both son and daughter have carried on the Boyden tradition of service.