Lasell College - Lamp Yearbook (Newton, MA)

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young women with weak backs, lame sides, and delicate lungs were given special and thorough attention. Every girl was given such training as to increase her symmetry of form and give her an elastic, erect, and healthy body. Twice a week, just as we do today, the girls hurriedly jumped into their gym suits for their required period of gym. Their gymnastic costumes were of dark flannel and perfectly plain, but the more coquettish girls were allowed to trim their suits with bright braid. The young ladies would do their strenuous exercises on the ropes and bells, enveloped in skirts that could be not less than an yards in width and long enough to reach six inches below the knee. The blouse was a Garibaldi . To insure perfect free- dom of movement the belt of the costume had to be at least four inches larger than a close-fitting measure. There were also drawers on the Turkish style which had to be worn under the flannel skirt. These drawers were full and drawn in with an elastic below the knee so that they fell over a la Zouave . Then to complete the costume, these young ladies wore thick woolen hose. Thus befitted the girls gathered in Carter Hall for a strenuous game of dodge ball and keepaway. The Administration suggested to mothers that their daugh- ters' school dresses be simple and comfortable to wear. Thus the impeccably-dressed Lasellite of the 1850's made certain that her wardrobe included a walking skirt, free from the ground and not so heavy as to exhaust the strength she needed for pur- poses other than carrying her garments. Lasell Lou, in the days of no central heating, wore warm underflannel, night bonnets, and heavy, black hose. She never stepped out on rainy days without her walking-boots and water-proof leggings. Several years after the Seminary was founded, the Adminis- tration decided to do away with long, semester examinations. The young ladies took their work so seriously that the mere though of an exam threw them into a state of nervous exhaus- tioni The girls were then marked on daily work and short tests in c ass. Any student who at the end of one term had average marks of 95-100 was enrolled on the list of Self-governed , and took the following pledge: I will try so to act, that, if all others followed my example, our school would need no rules whatever. In all my relations with my teachers and schoolmates, I will throw my whole influence in favor of what I believe to be right, and for the good of the school. From then on such a student did as she pleased, as long as she showed herself worthy of the honor. This privilege included being able to take Walks outside the school grounds. In 1887 Lasell again took a step forward and offered a Mili- tary Drill as substitute for the conventional gymnastic exercise. There was a battalion of girls made up of two companies, A and B, under the supervision of Major George H. Benyon of the .1 '19 fN'1 .Page three -5 Ji

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Q i ,P My CHE trees spread cool patches across the grass as horse- ' 7' ' drawn carriages driven by mustached young men mire the young ladies playing croquet or badminton on the front lawn. But any girl caught speaking to, or even just smiling at a passer-by, was severely punished. These crin- olined and parasoled gentlewomen, who had come to Lasell to learn the beaux arts, were the reality of a dream. While visiting a friend in Auburndale in the early part of 1851 Professor Edward Lasell, inspired by the beauty of the surrounding countryside, decided that this was the ideal spot to build his school for young ladies. At that time Auburndale was not the busy residential district it is today, but a peaceful village dotted here and there with homes of the imposing archi- tecture of the day. Professor Lasell built upon a hill what is 'f ' y Q. stopped in front of the Seminary to watch and ad- 4' - Af'-iffx . 1 i K X Page two today Bragdon Hall, and what was then the Lasell Female Sem- inary. At first the Seminary was limited in its number of boarders to S0 girls. The young ladies and the teachers lived harmo- niously together in a family atmosphere. The boarding pupils were severely restricted in their social permissions and were never allowed to attend parties or theatres or to Walk, ride, or except by permission of their parents, to correspond with any gentle- man other than a father, brother, uncle or guardian. On 'Friday evenings and during Saturday the young ladies could receive callers in the parlors, but never, never, were they allowed to have gentlemen callers outside the members of their families. The Seminary was most emphatic in requesting parents not to send their daughters swectmeats, because the eating of con- fectionary was thought to be a great evil and detrimental to the health of body and soul. But even with such a rigid rationing of calories, the young ladies gained weight rapidly on the ex- cellent fare served at the Seminary tables. Even if the maidens of the day were modestly hidden under voluminous skirts and betraying folds and tucks, these retiring ladies were by no means lacking in feminine vanity. They lamented just as woefully as we do the addition of a pound or two or the loss of a hand-span waist. The young ladies took daily walks along the shaded paths of the village, but always in the company of a faculty member. The passers-by would stop for a moment to admire this youth- ful procession in their billowy skirts and perky bonnets. The ladies kept their eyes modestly lowered whenever they passed anyone on their walksg but sometimes there would be one girl who, if the attention of the chaperone were drawn somewhere else, would be so daring as to lift her skirts to show an inch of black-stockinged ankle. In order to give each girl agility and grace, the Seminary offered excellent facilities for physical education. All those

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X Q... I 54.1 ,iii i A-'iff X S' x I fi X i s if ' ,rf ll mu S -T-will V J Page four Fifth Regiment, M. V. M. These companies of martial-looking young women could be seen drilling on the front lawn, looking very trim in their uniforms of blue serge with Norfolk jackets with leather belts, and knots of white ribbon at their throats. Atop their pompadours they wore regulation blue caps with LSB in silver monogram on the front. In those days of strict social etiquette, when young ladies were kept close to the home, there were no proms, no weekends, no dates, but by no means was there a lack of fun. For leisure amusements, the girls organized two secret so- cieties, the S. D. Society and the Lasellia Club. These two clubs were great rivals. They held regular meetings, maintaining al- ways the strict procedures of formal assemblies. The ceremon- ies of initiation were always very solemn. There were secret oaths, codes and meetings. These groups were entirely social and strictly non-academic, but it was eventually necessary to abolish them. Not all the girls were invited to join and this made for hurt feelings. However, the absence of these clubs was not felt too strongly. There were numerous other activities to pass away any leisure hours. There was a Canoe Club which was open to any student who could pass a swimming test. The girls would meet on the shores of the Charles River, dressed in white and with straw bonnets atop their up-do hair. At the close of the season, there would be a race, and the winners received sweaters with the letter L . There was also a society of singers, the Orphean Club, which held weekly rehearsals and an annual concert. There were Saturday evening frolics when the girls and fac- ulty gathered in the gymnasium for games and entertainment. The Dramatic Club gave presentations, there was singing, and sometimes a few brave couples would do a polka or gavot to the delight of their audience. The excitement of today's Lasellites on the eve of the depar- ture for Bermuda or the White Mountains is comparable to that of our elder sisters of the 1890's as they packed their carpet bags in preparation for their Washington trip. Then there were no excursions to Bermuda nor skiing in the White Mountains but any girl, who possibly could, went on the annual visit to our Capitol. The girls would start off for the Auburndale station, umbrellas unfurled, their skirts dragging in the mud. They were in a hurry, as Lasell girls usually are. They traveled from Boston to Washington on a steamer. Some of them, as the journey on water progressed, felt a little queer and as the queerness continued till they reached Washington, it rather dampened their spirits. But once their feet were safely back on terra firma their excitement soared again and they set out for their hotel where there were apartments reserved for the Lasell party. The girls dined in a little, private dining-