Chatham College - Cornerstone Yearbook (Pittsburgh, PA)

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history of the College Back in 1869, when tunes, times and girls were sweet and simple, a group of Pittsburgh men decided to do something about the girls, knowing that the tunes and times would follow. And they did. the men. 1 mean. They founded Pennsylvania Female College on a hill above Fifth Avenue here in Pittsburgh. The men who took the destiny of Pittsburgh into their hands by making this initial break with convention and educating women were Messrs. Thos. Aiken, Jos. Dilworth, Jno. A. Renshaw, Alfd. Harrison, Alex. Chambers, David Aiken. Jr., W. B. Xegley, W. Scully, and Rev. W. T. Beatty. We owe these men a real debt of gratitude. If it hadn ' t been for their willingness to risk male superiority in giving us poor benighted females a chance, do you realize where and what we might be today? I suspect, though, that these men had no idea of the snowball of progress they were starting that February evening in Mr. Aiken ' s home, or they might have thought twice or more about leading us into the light. Since that evening, Pennsylvania Female College has become Pennsylvania College for Women, its one building has become fourteen, its 103 students now number 370, and its curriculum has been enlarged from instruction in spelling, reading, writing. English grammar, arithmetic, geography and history to include everything from setting a table to plotting the course of the stars. Many great names in the field of education have been connected with the college in the course of its seventy-five years, and many of its graduates have made their place in the world as educated women, just as the founders hoped they would. No book, no series of books, could ever tell a complete history of the college; there would always be a few little incidents left out. a name neglected, a teacher forgotten. You know the history of your college, because you have made it. but we would like you to know more about the people who made it before you. Dr. Black and Miss Pelletreau. first president and first preceptress of the college, were the Dr. Spencer and Miss Marks to the early students at PCW.

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y 9 t£ T he r- -tr i tVve PennsyIv a7}ya ? Vol. L— No PITTSBURGH, DECEMBER. 1883. RICK, K CKNTt The Collect- building is situated on Fifth Avenue, some three ami a half miles ire. in the centre of the city. The loca- tion is the most commanding and beautiful within the bounds ol the municipal corporation, being free from the smoke and dust of the city, perfectly retired, and yet within three minutes ' walk of the Oakland horse cars. To use the language of one who is familiar with the scenery of the country: No educational institution in the land can compare with the Pennsyl- vania Female Cc llege tor beauty of situation, purity of atmosphere, compass ol view, and special adaptedness of the location to retirement, combined with ready access to the advantages ol the city. The College is reached from different parts of the city by two principal routes — the Fifth Avenue Street Railway. landing passengers at the College entrance, and the Penn ' a Central Railroad, at East Liberty, and Fifth Avenue Street Cars. Strangers, on arriving at the Union Depot, may obtain all needed information by inquiring for Messrs. Pitt aim q Co., who are authorized by the College to deliver baggage and give directions to all persons desiring to visit the institution. CHRISTMAS VACATION BEGINS DECEMBER iSth, 1883. SESSION RESUMED JANUARY 7th. 18S+ SECOND TERM— MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4th, 1884. The first Pennsylvanicm, 1883

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According to one of the catalogues, the supervision of the social life at the college was one of the duties of the president. Miss Pelletreau was responsible for all the formation of the personal habits and manners of the young ladies. It was she who enforced the dictum that the dress of the students be simple and inexpensive on all occasions. To comply with this ruling, suits were promptly adopted by the students. In that respect, the PCW woman hasn ' t changed in seventy-five years; suits are our uniform today, too. In fact, in most respects, there has been very little change. Our hats and heels are higher, our hair goes down instead of up, and just the reverse is true of our skirts, but the gin inside is still the same. She came to school for an education and that is her prime concern. But she is not adverse to a little fun on the side. Of course, dancing at the Terrace Room, movies in East Liberty, and a quick round of tennis have taken the place of our daily walks on Shady Lane, Classical concerts and literary and scientific lectures (which the early students could not attend unchaperoned ) . The hearts of all dorm students went out to the students of the ' 70 ' s when we discovered that they were not permitted to receive callers who did not present a letter of introduction from their parents, went to town for shopping only once a month, and were not allowed to leave school over weekends. This all seems to eliminate the possibility of dates, and looks rather dull to us, but a second thought reminds us that we have no dates now, so who are we to pity the former students? And a third thought makes us feel a little foolish for pitying them at all. As far as they were concerned, they weren ' t missing anything; such rules and regulations were the normal thing. We don ' t have the rules to contend with, but it might be easier than trying to wheedle a leave out of the U. S. armed forces. Miss Pelletreau may have been strict, but she was never like that. In delving into old catalogues and letters for anniversary material, we found one of the nicest of the PCW traditions, one that we would like to reinstate. When graduation day approached, each senior was permitted to select ' the man of her choice ' to escort her in the graduation march. Following the ceremonies there seems to have been a dance, the girls in white dresses and the men in evening dress.