University of Wyoming - WYO Yearbook (Laramie, WY)

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ty W T y Dr. v er JHE best tribute that can be paid the memory of Dr. Agnes Mathilde Wergeland is a brief outline of her life, a life so full of accomplish- ment that any attempt to describe it in its entirety seems futile. She was born at Christiana, Norway, May 9th, 1 857, the last of a famous line of Norwegian patriots, artists, and writers. Her early life was spent in Norway in studying, at a good academy, then under private tutors, and finally in the University Library at Christiana. For her advanced work, she went to Germany, where in Munich from 1 884 to 1 886 she was a pupil of G. Konrad von Maurer. Thence she went to the University of Zurich, Switzerland, from which she received the Ph. D. degree in 1 890, being the first Norwegian woman to receive a Doctor ' s degree. A fellowship, won in competition at Zurich, brought her to Bryn Mawr in 1 890, where from 1891-1893 she was Reader in the History of Art. From 1895-1896 she was Lecturer in the Histor y of Art at the University of Illinois, and from 1896-1902 Decent in History at the University of Chicago. In 1 900 she returned to Europe, where she studied in Berlin for a time. Dr. Wergeland came to the University of Wyoming in 1902, teaching History and French until 1 909 and History and Spanish since that date. She taught Political Economy in 1902 and 1903, and in 1907 conducted a much valued seminar course in modern Norwegian and French drama. From 1897 to 1909 she was a non-resident Instructor in the Extension Division of the University of Chicago. She died at the age of fifty-six years, on Friday, March 6, 1914, after an illness of five weeks, at the Doctors ' Inn, the beautiful home which she and Dr. Hebard had built together and in which they had lived for the last eight years. Dr. Wergeland was universally regarded as a most able woman. She was a wonder- ful musician, having been a pupil of Grieg, and an especially fine linguist, having a thorough knowledge of ten languages. Her brother, Oskar Wergeland, who died four years ago, was an artist of international fame. She herself had great artistic ability, making many fine sketches in both ink and color. As a Professor of History, she was held in high regard. Ever since the appearance of her treatise on Slavery in Germanic Society During the Middle Ages, she has been regarded as an authority on slavery and serfdom. For many years she was reviewer and critic for The Dial, The Journal of Political Economy, and The American Historical Revierv. She also wrote for The Woman s Journal, The North American RevieJV, Poet Lore, The Theological Revierv, The American Architect and Builder, and was a con- tributor to the leading Norwegian periodicals published in both this country and Norway. As a poet. Dr. Wergeland ranked with the leading modern Norwegian poets. She had published one volume of Norwegian poems, entitled, Greater America, and at the time of her death had a second volume of poetry almost completed. Many of these poems have as their theme the scenery and beauty of Wyoming and the Western country. Her life was filled with accomplishment, a life lived simply, nobly, and truly. u

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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

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1 J T v,e V f Officers of the Alumni Association Acting President ...Ross B. MoUDY, 1900 First Vice President VerNER ROWLAND, 1913 Secretary W. A. HiTCHCOCK, 1912 Treasurer R. G. FiTCH, 1 900 Representative on the Board of Associated Students Frank Holliday, 1910