The Anaconda standard., 1899-11-21
ONE GIRL FROM EACH STATE.
Certificate Provided by Industrial Art
School of New York

| school for women in New York has
| called forth unusual attention from
the fact that the faculty has given a
| free scholarship to the governor of
| each state, and in consequence bevy
| of young women from all parts of the
| United States is In attendance. The
| scholarships are given without any
| proviso, the governors having free rein
| in making their choice
The young women collected in this
| manner form an interesting aggrega-
| ton. They represent the talent Of
their states. as each governor has made
| his choice with discretion.
Mrs. Cory, the president of the in
| stitution, is the first teacher OF practi-
| cal designing in this country and was
| for some years with Cooper institute.
| She not only acquired her technical
| knowledge in the Cooper union, where
| she afterward taught, but became i'm
| bued with the philanthropic spirit of
| Peter Cooper. Her teaching showed
| her the possibilities of women in in
| dustrial art and she determined to
further their education in that field.
| The Industrial Art school was pro-
| jected with the view of preparing
women to become self-supporting. That
| 1t has carried out this intention is
| shown by the long list Of graduates
| who have made names.
First of these is Virginia Brush, who
| DSCoIie mere anu dDIOdu.
| Some Of the most elegant houses in
this part of the United States have
! been decorated by her including two
| or three of the Vanderbilt houses, Mrs.
| Angus. Belnpnt's and score of 9TH
ers. Miss Brush has now an esta blish-
| ment where number of women earn
| a livelihood.
Many other pupils are cited to show
what benefit is being conferred upon
| the girls who have been sent as state
| representatives. Industrial designing
schools all over the country are off
shoots from the New York institution
and many of them have as their heads
graduates of the Cory school. Many
establishments employ the pupils.
Mrs Cory spoke enthusiastically of
| the material which the governors had
sent All the governors have respond
ed except Governor Roosevelt" she
said. Il have had many inquiries about
| the appointment from New York but
as 1t is entirely in the governors ha nds
| | have to await his action. That the
girls sent me have been selected with
| out partfality Is eyinced by the talent
they show. They are in earnest. and
there is no keeping them back. / am
| delighted with the outlook Not all
| the appointees are here yet, only Is be-
ing present on the opening day. Of
course, many girls have to wait until
| their expenses are arranged, for there
is no provision for that. In many cases
| interested friends have raised the trav-
| cling expenses and means Of living
! here.
'The length of the course depends
upon the pupil. L. have had girls who
were designing for big houses at the
end OF two months. -
The school has been here for 10
years and is the pioneer. The scholar
! ships have been given in twos and threes,
hat cfr ~ J,Nlo f,f,> .aI
after is to be an established feature,
is new this year. ! felt as if the bene-
fits Of the school should be wide
spread. OF course, at distance We
could not judge of the desirable quail
tiles of APPLICANTS, so we hit upon the
idea Of bestowing the scholarships up
on the governor.
Perhaps in this connection you
would find my own experience inter
esting. In 1887, after having been COM
PEELED to occupy an apartment with a
hideous carpet, I determined to become
a designer of carpets ] had no knowl-
edge of drawing or colortng, but I set
out to find knowledge looked through
books of reference and went inquiring
| about my cherished plan. Finally I
got my information in Hartford direct
from carpet mandatory. They had
never had woman designer. but
showed me what was wanted and sent
|
them some original designs, which were
promptly sent back.
However. the head of the firm sent
me a kindly letter, saying that as
women bought carpets he thought
women ought to design them and sug-
gested that I go to Cooper Union and
receive instruction and they would give
me another chance.
| II finally gained admission to Cooper
| Union, only to find that the teachers
| did not know any more about practical
designing than I did. Cooper Union
taught designing and taught 1t well,
| but it was not as applied to any prac-
tical purpose. l kept on with my work
at Cooper Union, but I went among the
buyers and carpet trade associations
| until found some one so interested in
my plan that he sent one of his design
ers to give me lessons. The philanthro-
pist was the president Of the Carpet
| Trade association. My teacher was
the head designer for one of the large
factories in the city. He gave me six
weeks free instruction. and by that
time Cooper Union thought me capable
OF teaching a class. There were II
women in the class
1T is one of the best labor openings
for women in this country. There is a
steady demand for patterns which can
not be filled by the designers in this
| country. For instance, a wallpaper
manufacturer when sending to Eu-
! rope for patterns does not send for a
pattern which will exactly fit his ma
chinery. The same applies TO chintz
cretonne carpet-anything that will
give a novel idea to the manufacturer.
After they are brought to this country
| the designers adapt them to the re-
| quirements. There is no use of this
with all the undeveloped talent in this
country. I am happy to say that the
| trade is realizing this.
las to the remuneration, have pu-
pills now employed in work rooms who
earn all the way from s12 per week for
beginners to $1,000 a year; $40 a week
| is the average. Pupils who work at
home selling their designs by the piece
earn from SIS to $50 per week. I have
one pupil who is earning $50 a week
throughout the fall. spring and winter
| months, resting in the summer.
why is there a dearth of practical
| schools? 1t is almost impossible to get