University of Rochester College for Women - Croceus Yearbook (Rochester, NY)

Page 11 text:

CROCEUS II make any further concessions to the women of the city - their petitioners - and it is highly probable that, if the funds had not been forthcoming, on that September afternoon, the doors of the University of Rochester would have remained permanently closed to women. Whatever, then, may be our convictions concerning the cause to which Miss Anthony devoted her life, to her memory we must pay ungrudgingly the full tribute of respect and honor. As a result of her self-sacrificing struggle we, the women of the Twentieth Century, are enjoying the heritage of higher education which was denied those of her own generation. .....-swim aft '-- - I .if .

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IO CROCEUS amount, and that the time limit expired the next day. The burden of the enterprise which she had inaugurated was to fall upon her shoulders after all. Yet she was equal to the emergency. She spent a sleepless night, but by mid-afternoon of the next day she had succeeded in secur- ing additional pledges for 56,000 The day was waning, however, the Board was in session and was liable to adjourn at any timeg and the cause would be lost. Finally, at the crucial moment, her indomitable perseverance conquered. The last 352,000 was pledged by an aged and wealthy citizen of Rochester, and Miss Anthony proceeded in triumph to the place where the Trustees were in session. But her triumph was short-lived. The pledges were duly examined and approved, with the exception of that for the last 332000, which was declared invalid owing to the age and precarious health of the donor. Miss Anthony was stunned. Should the battle be lost, and on a technicality? Never! She had not wished the cause of coeducation to suffer from any connec- tion with her name, she told the august gentlemen, and then added hrmly: U I now pledge my life insurance for the S2,000.,' The deed was done - the task accomplished - and in the language of the press, the doors of the University of Rochester were opened to women. That they had been opened by the women, for the women, might with equal propriety have been added. There is one grave fact regarding this enterprise that the public per- haps did not grasp. When the credit for the success of the coeduca- tional movement is attributed to Miss Anthony, few but those who knew her best are able adequately to count the cost. The strain had been stupendous upon a woman of her years: and it resulted in a stroke of apoplexy, slight and apparently not serious, but marking the begin- ning of the final collapse. l-ler physical vigor was never regained in all its fullness, and her buoyant spirit sank under a depression that she was never able fully to shake oft. And what would it have meant if Miss Anthony had not been moved to complete the work that she had begun and to fling herself into the breach at the critical moment? Simply this - that the consummation of the cause of coeducation would have been indefinitely postponed, and the girls of Rochester, for the future, at the price perhaps of much expense and sacrifice, would have had to seek their college training elsewhere, or never have been able, many of them, to attain it at all. The Trustees, owing to the apathy of the wealthy citizens of Rochester, and the growing hostility of the alumni, were by no means ready to

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The Board of Trustees LEWIS P. Ross, President, ...... 67 Mortimer Street, Rochester, N. Y. J. SLOAT FASSETT, LL.D., First Vice President, . fclass of 18755, Elmira, N. Y. WILLIAM S. ELY, A. M., M. D., Second Vice President, fclass of 18615, 78 S. Fitzhugh St., Rochester, N. Y. CHARLES M. WILLIAMS, A. B., Secretary, . . . fclass of 18715, 710 Wilder Building, Rochester, N. Y. JOSEPH T. ALLING, A. IvI., Treasurer, .... fclass of 18765, Jones St., cor. Dean, Rochester, N. Y. JOHN H. DEANE, A. IvI., ....... fclass of 18665, 135 Broadway, New Yorlc, N. Y. JOHN P. MUNN, A. B., M. D., ...... fclass of 18705, 18 West 58th Street, New York, N. Y. GEORGE C. HOLLISTER, B. s., ...... fclass of 18775, 4 Granger Place, Rochester, N. Y. HENRY C. VEDDER, D. D., ...... fclass of 18735, Chester, Pa. RUFUS A. SIBLEY, .... 240 Main Street East, Rochester, N. Y. WALTER S. HUBBELL, A. B., ...... fclass of 18715, 605 Wilder Building, Rochester, N. Y. DAVID J. HILL, LL.D., ....... United States Embassy, Berlin, Germany. RUSH RHEES, D. D., LL.D., . . . 440 University Avenue, Rochester, N. Y. JOHN B. CALVERT, D. D., ........ fclass of 18765, Potter Bldg., 38 Park Row, New York, N. Y. ALBERT H. HARRIS, A. B., ....... fC1ass of 18815, Grand Central Station, New York, N. Y. Elected 1892 1 885 1899 1888 1 895 1879 1886 1890 1894 1895 1895 1896 1899 1899 1900