Mount Vernon College - Bell Cote Yearbook (Washington, DC)

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J istorp of tfje fetfjool . — i lHE story of the life of Mount ||| Vernon is a long and vividly interesting one, dominated by the omnipresent memory of Mrs. Elizabeth J. Somers, the founder and beloved inspiration of the school. First, it must be said that Mrs. Somers was a born teacher, with that certain knack in her blood. When a Judge Cooley, who was spending the winter in Washington, asked her to tutor his three daughters, she couldn’t refuse. And these three little girls, Clara, Minnie, and Mary, were the first of countless numbers of young ladies who were to become Mrs. Somers’ girls”. The wide, sunny room, in which Mrs. Somers taught, was at 204 F Street. So it was that in 1866, she embarked upon what was to become a pleasure-filled ca- reer, and one in which she contributed much more than mere book-knowledge to the lives of her many students. After the Cooley sisters came six girls who were slightly older. At one time the number of this group was increased by one, when a Japanese prince joined the lessons fer a short period. It was in 1875 that Mrs. Somers opened her first organized school, naming it Mount Vernon Seminary, for the Mount Vernon Place Church in Baltimore, where her brother Dr. Thomas Eddy devoted { 8

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JjMstorp of tfje cfjool many hours of his time in service to the congregation. The daily rituals of the school at that stage were stiff but useful in training of the young ladies. The following quota- tion from the book Elizabeth J. Somers by Faith Bradford, best illustrates a typical day at 204 F Street: Seven o’clock was the rising hour, half after seven, breakfast time. The spirit of the morning table was appropriate to the beginning of a new day. A verse of Scrip- ture was required of each gi rl, and woe betide the miss who too frequently pro- duced one noted for its brevity. A walk followed breakfast, then devotional exer- cises; the serious business of learning was pursued until one o’clock luncheon. From three until five was a study period; half an hour was allowed for dressing for din- ner. Dinner brought with it a require- ment that seemed a task at the time, but in later years was a cause for gratitude; each pupil was obliged to present in the course of natural conversation, some sub- ject of art, science, or general current in- terest. Quaint as such a custom seems six- ty odd years after, it was a step toward the acquisition of useful information, and a nct-to-be despised training in the art of conversation.