Heroines of Service: Mary Lyon, Alice Freeman Palmer, Clara Barton, Frances Willard, Julia Ward Howe, Anna Shaw, Mary Antin, Alice C. Fletcher, Mary Slessor of Calabar, Madame Curie, Jane Addams — John Shaqi
Heroines of Service: Mary Lyon, Alice Freeman Palmer, Clara Barton, Frances Willard, Julia Ward Howe, Anna Shaw, Mary Antin, Alice C. Fletcher, Mary Slessor of Calabar, Madame Curie, Jane AddamsParkman, Mary Rosetta
History
Heroines of Service: Mary Lyon, Alice Freeman Palmer, Clara Barton, Frances Willard, Julia Ward Howe, Anna Shaw, Mary Antin, Alice C. Fletcher, Mary Slessor of Calabar, Madame Curie, Jane Addams
Parkman, Mary Rosetta
Women -- United States -- Biography
This is the first day of vacation. I have been so busy this
year that it seems good to get a change, even though I do keep
right on here at work. For some time I have been giving a young
man lessons in Greek every Saturday. I have had two junior
speeches already, and there are still more. Several girls from
Flint tried to have me go home with them for the vacation, but I
made up my mind to stay and do what I could for myself and the
other people here. A young Mr. M. is going to recite to me every
day in Virgil; so with teaching and all the rest I sha'n't have
time to be homesick, though it will seem rather lonely when the
other girls are gone and I don't hear the college bell for two
weeks.
Miss Freeman's early teaching showed the vitalizing spirit that marked
all of her relations with people.
"She had a way of making you feel 'all dipped in sunshine,'" one of her
girls said.
"Everything she taught seemed a part of herself," another explained. "It
wasn't just something in a book that she had to teach and you had to
learn. She made every page of our history seem a part of present life
and interests. We saw and felt the things we talked about."
The fame of this young teacher's influence traveled all the way from
Michigan, where she was principal of the Saginaw High School, to
Massachusetts. Mr. Henry Durant, the founder of Wellesley, asked her
to come to the new college as teacher of mathematics. She declined the
call, however, and, a year later, a second and more urgent invitation.
Her family had removed to Saginaw, where Dr. Freeman was slowly building
up a practice, and it would mean leaving a home that needed her. The
one brother was now in the university; Ella was soon to be married; and
Stella, the youngest, who was most like Alice in temperament and tastes,
was looking forward hopefully to college.
But at the time when Dr. Freeman was becoming established and the
financial outlook began to brighten, the darkest days that the family
had ever known were upon them. Stella, the chief joy and hope of them
all, fell seriously ill. The "little mother" loved this "starlike girl"
as her own child, and looked up to her as one who would reach heights
her feet could never climb. When she died it seemed to Alice that she
had lost the one chance for a perfectly understanding and inspiring
comradeship that life offered. At this time a third call came to
Wellesley,--as head of the department of history,--and hoping that a new
place with new problems would give her a fresh hold on joy, she accepted.
Into her college work the young woman of twenty-four put all the power
and richness of her radiant personality. She found peace and happiness
in untiring effort, and her girls found in her the most inspiring
teacher they had ever known. She went to the heart of the history she
taught, and she went to the hearts of her pupils.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account