Greenfield High School - Evergreen / Exponent Yearbook (Greenfield, MA)

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THE EXPONENT 13 IVY ORATION The Pioneer Women Educators Commencement week, when so many girls all over the country are finishing their high school courses, is an appropriate time to think of some of those women, who by their conscientious work, made it possible for the girls of today to receive an good an education as the boys. To the women of the nineteenth century the credit for preparing the way for the future liberal education of women belongs. Before this time it was hardly possible for a woman to obtain an education from any out¬ side resources, since both colleges and universities were closed to her. If she did succeed in raising herself from the uneducated position in which she found herself, it was through her own exertions. A lib¬ eral education formerly was not con¬ sidered necessary for a woman. She was only expected to marry and to know how to keep a comfortable home. To men, exclusively, be¬ longed the college and university training. At last, however, through the untiring efforts of several wom¬ en, the gate was opened so that wom¬ en desirous of further education, could obtain it. Chief among these were Mrs. Emma Hart Willard and Mary Lyon, names which are known far and wide because of their won¬ derful work for women. The town in which Mrs. Emma Willard was born was the quiet country parish of Worthington in Berlin, Connecticut. Her father, a man of unusual strength of intel¬ lect and will, well-read at least in the English literature of the times; her mother possessed of the quali¬ ties of a practical woman,—tact, shrewdness, efficiency and firmness, provided the background which made it possible for the girl to develop as she did. Picture for yourselves a mid-win¬ ter spent in their home. The even¬ ing over and the younger children put to bed, the rest of the family group themselves about a blazing fire. After the children have fin¬ ished their accounts of the day’s fun and work, they read selected pass¬ ages from famous authors, testing their ability in reading aloud. Then for another half-hour the father and mother read aloud. With this in¬ struction even the youngest was stirred by new, strange thoughts. This admirable home-training with two years in the village academy, then just opened, brought Emma forward to the commencement of her real life-work. She first experiment¬ ed by teaching in a village school, where, by her tact, she won the hearts of her pupils. Much of her spare time was spent in studying at the schools of Mrs. Royce and the Misses Patter. Soon after this Miss Hart went to teach in Westfield as assistant teach¬ er but after a year there she accepted a better position in Middlebury. At this time, she married Dr. John Wil¬ lard, a physician of Middlebury. For a few years her teaching was in¬ terrupted, but because of pecuniary reverses, she resumed her work again, and opened a boarding-school at Middlebury for girls. Even then she noticed how low and unworthy were the schools for women. She tried to get leaders of the day in¬ terested in the betterment of wom¬ en’s schools, but they showed no in¬ terest. After four years of the girls’ boarding-school experiment, the fame of it had gone far and wide. In an address sent to the New York Legis¬ lature, on a plan for improving fe¬ male education, she set forth the necessity of higher education for women so clearly that her plea met with the approval of the governor of New York and resulted in the es-

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12 THE EXPONENT heroes of the World War died we must all do our utmost that this great change will be for the best interests of humanity and towards that higher plane of civilization which has been the object of humanity for centuries. Since the war the nations of the world have been taxed to their utmost to solve successfully the gigantic problems created by the World War. These problems represent difficulties in our national life which must be correctly solved before the country can return to the normal state of peace times. These problems occupy the time of those in whose hands the reins of government lie. But when we study them and consider the ef¬ fects of the war, we often fail to realize that the standards of things have changed since 1914 and that the world has entered a new era, that we are living in the beginning of a new age and so these problems must be considered from standpoints which are in accord with the advance of the world. Let us endeavor there¬ fore to keep our ideas in tune with the world’s progress. To solve the problems of return¬ ing the country to a pre-war basis calls for the best there is in us. The industrial problems have caused us all great anxiety and discomfort. But let none of us sit back and criti¬ cize while we throw the blame for the conditions on certain parties. Rather let each one offer a solution for what he believes wrong. Let us study these problems and so come to realize the complicated nature of the troubles for this will keep us from censuring unneedfully and will give us the opportunity to help out by our advice and support being placed where they can be most ef¬ fective. The times make it neces¬ sary for every person to support the government to the best of his abil¬ ity. We should not expect the gov¬ ernment to do it all for that is im¬ possible. It is only thru co-opera¬ tion that the difficulties can be settled. We always find in rapid progress evil tendencies and forces. So in this time of progress the radical and revolutionary elements have seized on the new opportunities to instill harmful doctrines in the minds of those who will listen to them. They seek to pervert the working man with an account of his wrongs and a promise of an unobtainable Utopia. They desire revolutionary change in all our lines of national life. They wish to destroy the whole existing social fabric. Here then is the op¬ portunity for the individual to play a part in the happy outcome of this change. He is able to do something toward making this change gradual and within the bounds of reason. He can help to prevent fanatics from changing this progress towards a higher civilization to a downward course, for their aims are backward and if they were given leeway they might cause us to retrograde to the conditions under which Russia ex¬ ists today. It is necessary now more than ever for the individual to enlarge his viewpoint and to widen the scope of his thought. He must think in terms of the world and while retain¬ ing a steadfast love for his native land he should let his mind function with perfect freedom and not allow narrow ideas to hold him back to days of international rivalries. Per¬ haps we still have our international quarrels but there is a constantly growing sentiment, I hope, which arises from the love of peace in the hearts of men on this earth. We must think of our brothers in other lands as friends, not enemies. Therefore in this new age of the world’s history let each individual live his life so that it will be a factor in our progress, so that he may help in making the country a more noble, upright, and carefully progressive nation which will aid the world to reach a state where there is friend¬ liness instead of enmity as a pre¬ dominating characteristic.

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14 THE EXPONENT tablishment of a girls’ seminary at Waterford, in that state. This school was afterwards removed to Troy and incorporated under the name of the Troy Female Seminary. Under Mrs. Willard’s management, it gained a wide reputation and is still one of the leading schools for the higher education of women. It is now known as the Emma Willard school. Mrs. Willard also assisted in founding a school for girls in Athens, Greece. She traveled during her later life, through the Southern states, lecturing in behalf of the education of women. And now, be¬ cause of Mrs. Willard’s useful and honored life, her name will be re¬ membered in the United States as well as in Europe, as one of our famous pioneer educators. Another woman interested in the further education of women was Mary Lyon. Born in Western Mas¬ sachusetts, she was brought up by a widowed mother with many children and small means. This life was hard, but it rooted character deep down among the solid needs and es¬ sential efforts of existence. Every moment of Mary’s life was of use and was put to use. When she was still a small child, her mother found her one day playing with an hour¬ glass, but she explained to her moth¬ er that she thought she had found a way of making more time. In af¬ ter years she did make more time by using every minute advantageously. At the age of seven Mary walked two miles every day to attend a vil¬ lage school. She loved her studies and astonished visitors by her rapid progress. Finally the district school moved still farther away, and then Mary went to Ashfield to study, liv¬ ing there during school months and doing housework to pay for her board. When she was twelve years old, Mary decided to become a teach¬ er, a decision which astonished, as well as shocked the community. She pored over her books day and night and amazed the teachers by her rapidity. Miss Lyon said of her¬ self, “My mind runs like lightning.” It not only moved swiftly, but it held what it seized as it went. She was given a Latin grammar on Fri¬ day night. On Monday she recited the whole of it. Her first trial as a teacher was at Shelburne Falls where seventy-five cents a week and board made up her munificent salary. At the age of twenty she had saved enough money to attend Sanderson Academy at Ashfield. This was her great op¬ portunity and she improved it well, making a real sensation in the school by her brilliancy. They say that when Mary Lyon stood up to recite, her classmates laid aside their tasks to listen to her. After this she at¬ tended Byfield Academy at Byfield. Her friends advised her not to study further as she knew enough already, but Miss Lyon could not be diverted from her purpose. Suddenly the fact burst upon her that all things in this life were useless and unsatisfying except as they were used in helping humanity. From this time on she taught as though she were inspired. After becoming assistant at Sand¬ erson Academy, she left for a higher position at Derry. From here she went to Ipswich Academy, where she conducted the Academy with the aid of one of her former teachers. Dur¬ ing these years, Miss Lyon had been full of sympathy for the girls who could not get an education and de¬ sired one. So she tried to interest wealthy men, ministers and college presidents in her plan for forming a high-grade school or college for women. Most of these men refused. After much hard labor people began to take interest and this interest grew until at last Mount Holyoke Seminary, an institution which has grown into one of the foremost col¬ leges of the day, was opened. Do we fully appreciate the hard work done by these women who worked so hard not only to obtain an education for themselves, but also to help other girls to accomplish the same end? Then let us show our appreciation by having our lives demonstrate to the world that their work was not in vain. B. C. LOVELL.