Wellesley College - Legenda Yearbook (Wellesley, MA)

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She lavishes her very life in labor of hand and brain for Wellesley, even as her husband lavished his. To this work of God she gives herself, and she gave him. It was a woman ' s prayer that blossomed in every Christian deed of his. I venture to quote from a personal letter written by Mrs. Durant this spring of ' 94. I gave mvself to the Lord, Aug. 33, 1S47, and have ever tried to consecrate to Him all He has given me since. This dedication of myself was a distinct act, and when God gave me the love of Henry F. Durant ' s soul, I gave that to Him also. Katharine Lee Bates. s

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that founder who is no longer in our sight. But the beloved founder who is yet with us hides herself so modestly from recognition and from praise, that of her we know far less than we would. Yet we cannot be altogether unaware of the ceaseless benevolence of that most fruitful life. Trained in childhood by her mother ' s precept and example to enrich the gift of money by the gift of service, the little hands accustomed to sewing for the poor, the little voice to reading for the blind, Mrs. Durant in womanhood has borne rich ]iar est of good seed. When a girl in Europe, surrounded by gayeties, she made opportunity for visit- ing prisons and other refuges of sin and miserv. And so, after their home was left unto them desolate, while the husband held great audiences enthralled bv his impassioned preaching, the wife as binding up broken hearts in Dedham Asylum, in Bridgewater Workhouse, in Boston Jail. For seven years Mrs. Durant served on the Advisory Board of the Massachusetts Prison Commission. For twenty-five years she has been — and always by unanimous elec- tion — the President of the Board of Managers of the Boston Young Women ' s Christian Association. To this latter institution, as to Moimt Holyoke, she has given generouslv of her substance. Her specific gifts to Wellesley it is impossible to completely enumerate. She has for- gotten, and no one else ever knew. So long as Mr. Durant was living, hu.sband and wife were one and inseparable in service and donation. But since his death, while it has been ob- vious that she spends herself unsparingly in college cares, adding manv of his functions to her own, a continuous flow of benefits, almost unperceived, has come to Wellesley from her open hand. Freeman Cottage has arisen, furnished and adorned; Waban Cottage has been enlarged, the Eliot established ; ice houses have been built, and homes for the college work- men. Valuable tracts of land have been piuxhased. Town water has been brought into the outlying halls and buildings, the gymnasium has been equipped, the chapel, kitchen, and laundry supplied with ventilating apparatus. The Botanical department, the Zoological museum, the art collections have received varied and valuable contributions. The beautiful Jarvis collection of laces, embroideries, and stuff ' s has been placed in the Farnswortli School of Art. Precious engravings have slipped themselves into the Shakespeare cabinet. A fine bronze placque in honor of Prof. Horsford has been hung in the lihrarv. Cut flowers and plants from Mrs. Durant ' s conservatory have continually found their way to studio and bot- any class, to student frolic and academic festival. But these and such as these, representing although they do thousands upon thousands of dollars, are the least of Mrs. Durant ' s gifts to the College. She gives us an abiding example of magnanimous character, of Christian consecration. We know her for a shining spirit. 24

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HELEN AL MRA 3HAFER, A. A., Ph D.