The San Francisco call., 1895-11-17
DO THEY MARRY7
The Career of College Women After Gradua-
Il d.

The Career Of College Women After Gradua-
tion-What Vassar Girls Are Doing.
The first question everybody is i'm
patient to ask IS, "Do college women
marry?" Before I bring forth the facts,
let me tell the story of the young man to
whom an eccentric uncle bequeathed a
fortune on condition that he lived and
died bachelor, says Miss Frances NJ.
Abbott in the November Forum. AS it
could not be determined until after the
young man was dead whether or not he
would fulfill the conditions of the will, the
court decreed that the legacy could not
be paid. In like manner, as most of the
Vassar women are not yet dead, it is i'm
possible to present other than tentative
matrimoni statistics.
The record to date is this: Of 1882
alumne 400 have married-a trife less
than 3S per cent of the whole. AS the
"Miscellany" reports marriages every
month this percentage will be inaccurate
before even another class has been gradu-
ated. A truer proportion may be found
by taking the records of some of the earlier
classes. The first class C67)- nu mbered
four members; of these three have mar
ried-75 per cent. The class of '6S had
twenty-five members; fifteen of these-or
60 per cent-have annexed another name
to that on their college diploma. OF the
thirty-four members of '69 there are
twenty.one married. or not quite 62 per
cent. The class of 20 presents nearly the
same record; of the thirty-four mem bers
twenty-five are married. The last of the Sc
four classes has just celebrated it's quarter.
centennial.
According to Mr. Charles Francis Adams
by the time a man has been twenty-five
years out of college he has either failed or
won in the battle of life. Assuming that
woman's occupation and prospects
would be settled by that time, it may be
stated that, in the first four classes of
Vassar, sixty-one OF the ninety-seven
members-or about 63 per cent-have mar
ried; little less than two-thirds of the
whole number. A college woman 8
chances of marriage, then, are about two
solute statement; for, as matrimony can
be entered upon at greater age than
almost any other profession, it is quite
possible that the semi-ceDtennial of these
classes may show an increased percentage
in that direction. The average age of
students upon graduating from Vassar is
90 years and some months. The late
marry late, but they marry WE'LL" Let US
hope that time may not disprove her
observations.
Many and varied are the other occupa-
tions pursued by Vassar women, each
with small individual following. Libra
rianship has recently been elevated to the
dignity of profession, and six graduates
have adopted it. There are five artists
and five farmers. Included in the latter
list is Mrs. Frances Fisher Wood C74),
known in several other ways, who is the
proprietor of the Kingwood herd of Jer-
seys and manufacturer of choice brand
of sterilized milk for the special feeding of
infants. There are four chemists, two of
whom deserve further mention. Mrs.
Swallow-Richards C70), besides her ad-
vanced scientific investigations, has done
practical work which deserves the graft
tude of every housekeeper. Her pamphlets
on Home Sanitation 1.-The Chemistry
of Cooking and Cleaning" ETC., have been
widely circulated. Mrs. Richards is also
the founder of that famous pioneer insti-
tuition, the New England Kitchen of
Boston.
Miss Welt (91) has distinguished herself
in the universities of Geneva and Paris,
and is said to be the only woman chemist
in the latter city. Three graduates have be-