Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1894-06-29
THE NEW EDUCATION.
CHANGES " HAS MADE IN THE PO-
SlTION OF OUR GIRLS.
They Will Hereafter Be Known For Their
Learning and Their social Tact. and They
VIII Also Insist That They Have Proper
Liberty.

Liberty.
The recent discussion If the condition OF
our young women in English life in The
Nineteenth Century has been suggested by
the change which the higher education OF
girls has forced upon the attention OF
mothers In English society The daughters
arc being educated like the sons, and they
crave the liberty and opportunities which
the sons enjoy. Ii Is impossible 10 hold
these young girls in the same social re-
straint which existed before Newman
and Girton were in existence, and the
English mothers are up in arms because
the girls refuse 70 be complacent maldens
and take the traditional position of young
women who are bending all their energies
to secure favorable offers of marriage.
While this discussion does not exactly fit
into the grooves OF our own social life,
there is great deal in il that Is suggestive
and important We all rejoice at the open
ing of careers for young women and IL Is
not because matrimony il any the less the
sphere in which woman realizes her highest
function that we welcome the increase OF
agencies through which young women,
like Young men, can follow their aptitudes,
and not only earn their own living, but do
the things which imply the fulflllment OF
their tastes and capacities. 1t l. great
thing 10 have gained this social ana IN
dustrial freedom. and where the demands
are not TOO heavy the independence ana
freedom which women have gained are
having the happiest effect upon their per
sonal welfare.
There is another and increasing class in
this country who are being prepared in our
homes for Radcliffe and Wellesley and
Smith colleges, and who are destined TO be
the leaders of our social and intellectual
life In the future. This class most closely
corresponds 70 the daughters OF English
men in the upper walks OF life, and II Is
not only in the education OF these girls
that wider range Of thought and life Is
10 be possible, but they are 10 give GER
tain elevation to the standards OF American
life They are 10 set forth the true POSI-
ton of woman not as an exception Of at
tainment among the few, but as the nor
NAL expression of our best life. These cd
ucatcd women will become, 10 IA great ex-
tent. our teachers Of the higher education,
but large portion Of them will find the
fulfllment of their ambitions in marriage
and will become more or less the leaders OF
society. What our higher education is ex-
pectcd 10 accomplish is not 10 turn out
into the world two or three thousand blue
stockings every year, but TO send into
American society hundreds of young wom-
en- who will realize their worth in careers,
who will be expansive in their influence
upon the world, and who, beyond their po-
sition as wives and mothers will be known
for their learning, for their social tact anu
for that indefinable influence which makes
a woman the center Of attraction and pow
er in the social circles in which she moves.
No one can watch the progress OF the
new education in the homes OF well 10 dc
people without seeing the silent transfer
nation which is already going on. one i
constantly coming across these oducatcC
girls. who lose none of their attractlveness
as women in the possession OF training
which enables them 10 handle the things
of the world with the dexterity and sue
cess possessed by their brothers. They arr
crowding into the ranks of the professions
Medicine and the law are favorite channels
for them, and in art, in music and IN TN
lesser professions women are beginning u
be nearly as numerous as men. The helt
is ample, and there is hardly woman
who aspires TO make II career for hersel
that does not find her place
The fact that every year these educa
tional institutions are placing these younl
women in the field of opportunity is 10 b
watched by the social student AS YER
important factor in American life. The
are transforming the homes from whlcl
they 90 forth into the world. and they ar
ready TO engage in the making of nev
homes and in the widening of the range q
our common life. The men and womel
now in middle age had IN few instance
the advantages, social and intellectual
which are now enjoyed by their daughters
and il is greatly TO their credit that the
have responded TO the demand that thei
girls shall come under the influence OF TN
) higher education 70 such an extent that /
. almost every social circle the college won
en- begin 10 DC an appreciate ana lnnueI
tial element.
The question now at the front Is whetho
these girls shall begin 10 take the leat
The effect of their wider training Is I
make "a humdrum life irksome and dis
$ tasteful, and to make the position OF
4 woman waiting for matrimony whic
? may never come, one that STILES the yer
o training which she has received. While Il
+ one would wish that young women shoui
!. necdlessly expose themselves TO ccnsure
y taking too much liberty, ii Is not posslb
x that girls thus educated will consent
: u trivial round" and the commo
. task" which are the traditional life
d most young women as we have know
II them, and it is in England no less tina
in America that parents need 10 be educa
l. ed 70 appreciate the position in whlt
l. their daughters, trained in the new ed
% cation, stand The friction which in son
l. quarters is complained of Is largely becau
o the fathers and the mothers of our CIR
are not intelligent in approaching the p
l. sition in which our girls Are placed or u
demands which the new Older of thin
'r creates. The only way of escape Is for q
a girls. with such tact and discretion
pl they can employ, to take matters into the
AZ own hands and insist that the llber
4 which is given To their brothers shall {
Y 20 a proper extent, allowed 10 themselvt
What we want in American society Is
gain the advantages of the higher educ
ton not simply for the girls who are l
Amt upon careers, but for those girls who
ID probable mission is to become centers
ne influence in our homes and whose vi
of mate place viii be that OF leaders In I
{, social world. The new education Will II
TO become effective with our best educat