University of Wyoming - WYO Yearbook (Laramie, WY)

Page 18 text:

T H.e. w f 3lti iMi mnriam ffl ' H nol HBI ko I H ■ • ' m 1 i i I I EiE ' — iIh fej H|pV f 1 ■jlH 3 u Dr. Agnes Mathilde Wergeland. May 9. 857. March 6, 1914. Professor of History, 1902-1914. Faithful, patient, loving, with the heart of a poet and the keen mind that penetrates disguises and refuses to compromise with truth, she so lived as to give something of her own self-mastery to those who knew her, and to them she leaves a memory vital and beautiful.

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n y T} V f J. E. McWiLLIAMS, B. S. Wool Investigations. Albert E. Bowman. B. S. Assistant State Leader in Farm Management. Otto Weise. A. M. Assistant State Chemist. E. V. Lynn, M. A. Assistant Research Chemist. Clara Prahl, B. A., B. Ped. Grade Teacher in Training School. Dorothy Worthington, B. Ped., B. A. Grade Teacher in Training School. Eugenia Neer, Grade Teacher in Training School. Miss Anna Rice. Grade Teacher in Training School. Katherine Nenno, Grade Teacher in Training School. Alice Downey, Assistant in Training School. LuciLE Wright, Assistant in Training School. Mary Hollenback, Assistant in Training School.

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Tlv, V f y O ICZDIICZZDI O 1 T 1 1 i 0|( )|| )|o Dr. Vergeland — An Appreciation T is with a deepened sense of gratitude that I was enabled to be a student in one of Dr. Wergeland ' s classes and thus gain an impression of a vital, true personality that I write this little appreciation of her, from a student viewpoint. It is with an awakened sense of the futile- ness of ever presenting a true picture of one who was so noble and true in herself, that I hesitate before choosing terms with which to express my appreciation of her life. In describing any person ' s character, one may a thousand times cross-section the life, so to speak, and present many different phases or attributes of the life, that at best are but the merest approximations to the true characer. The personality is a moving spirit or living energy that to be fully appreciated must be known as a personality. This is par- ticularly true of Dr. Wergeland, whose character presents such a beautiful synchronization of so many varied talents and capabilities, that the spirit of the woman to be really under- stood must be known. Artist, musician, poet, teacher, she was, but yet more, a unified personality, through which the light of a wonderful soul shone. To best bring a little impression of her true character to you, one had best describe only that activity in which he knew her best. As a professor and teacher, she mirrored in her work all of those qualities which made her so wonderful along other lines. As a teacher, she probably made a greater impression upon the University and its student body, than in any other way. As a writer and poet, she probably made a greater impression on the world. Her viewpoint of life and work can serve as an ideal and example for all students, which, if students could only appreciate it, would serve as a model for all future scholastic attainment. A few of her characteristics, discussed very briefly here because of space, seem to me to be the essential characteristics of true scholarship. She possessed that characteristic, simplicity, which goes so far toward making beauty of character. Great lives are almost always simple lives. Her work was Jone simply and efficiently without ostentation. She possessed that trait of thoroughness that must ac- company simpleness if real accomplishment is to be attained. Dr. Wergeland sought knowledge that was definite and accurate and spared no pains in getting that kind of knowledge. No detail that was worthy, deserved to be lost if it possessed the attribute of truth. But with this ability to remember detail, she also possessed a sense of proportion, of the eternal fitness of things, that kept her knowledge from becoming a mere conglomera- tion of facts without connecting links. With these desirable intellectual attributes, there went a sweetness of character that ennobled her whole life. She was kind and gentle to all who came in contact with her. She was never sarcastic or cutting, but possessed a kindly humor that pleased without hurting. Throughout her life, an abiding love of nature comforted and cheered her. Flowers, birds, and mountains were her delight, the inspiration for her beautiful poetry. Withal, her life was beautiful in the living, a well proportioned, artistic life, con- sistently lived in accordance with high ideals and an unswerving devotion to truth. John E. Anderson. U