The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1909-06-06
10000 GIRLS In EARNEST
YOUNG WOMEN IN BOSTON
STUDYING MANY THKNGI

STUDYING MANY THHNGl
Most or Them Seeking Practical Know.
odgo-Plan 70 Estsbush . Union 70,
Them-Rn0W Science ef Cooktn,
aud Arc Ill Fed|nsar esOsI Lie,
BosroN. June k-Bostou h 30 havs
something like Q Harvard Union 10,
young women. This institution. TO give
It Q long name, b TO ssrvs the o~onveuieuc,
not Of = single university but Of many
schools. general and technical
Although Boston Long ago ceased to b,
the literary centre Of the country tbs
city is still In Q very important senss IN
education centre. and almost ~ much 70,
young women - for young mon. Rcd.
olife. the Univeraity Of Boston, tie Boston
'Teoh,' Simmons College. the Normal
Art School, tho Museum School Il Dean.
the Conservatory Of Music and MANY
other schools great and small have ssy.
ersl thousand young women from places
in Massachusetts, and New England out
side the city; from distant parts Of the
United States. from Europe, Asia, Afncs
and the isles Of the sea. Persons who n,
fond Of large and round numbers nay thst
there are 10000 women, mostly between
the ages Of ~ and IS, attending thsss
schools and living for the most part h
dormitories and boarding houses.
Othen 60 in and out Of town daily b
their studies and many live with RELATIVES
and friends. Perhaps the hakarded total
OF 10000 includes q good many ths4 Apd
homes in this last fashion. but ths home
less make up q large and distinctive clAss
Of the young sptnster population.
| Now the wonder b that q town fshfy
dripping with active sympathies for shs
lonely, q town that has q refuge for nse.
lected domestic pets and q homo fos
disabled horses has 90 long left al thsss
young women to shift for themsslves.
A woman who came to Cambridge some
years ago to take . technical oourss nd
brought a letter to the clergyman vhoss
church abe attended complains tAsa
neither the pastor mol his aasstans made
any attempt to sock her out. and she W.
left In utter Loneliness.
Herr WAS probably An extreme ~.
for there have been efforts, sporadic md
systematic. to look after these eaSR
young students who live In and about
Boston eight or nine months IN the ysas
and have no natural social relak!oos.
Some excellent women give afternoon
teas to girls whom they suppose 70 b.
lonely. The students appear u week
ends. at dinners and NJ other ordinary
social affairs. Those young women Who
attend some church regularly are In
oluded in such social gatherings Of the
congregation a. they have time for.
In the dormitories. large and small. Of
such an institution as Simmons College
there is q community life. Perhaps every
considerable school that IL attended by
young women from out Of town has ZONE
form OF social organization. There ID .
social life Of the studios in which the girl
art students have their share.
All Of these efforts taken together.
however, do not supply the social needs
OF these thousands OF young women. 10
fact their social needs are 20 diierent
from those OF other women resident N
Boston that ordinary lei cannot meet
their requirements. 81
Young women at school in Boston are
in a very different situation from yoaAe
men. On tho average, the girls have
much less money to spend. and they are
much more in earnest about their studies.
because they come to school for a serious
and practical purpose.
That indefinite thing called oultues
not the chief object OF many girl students
from out OF town, and still less do they
come hundreds Of miles to a strange city
for the sake Of four years loaflng. athletic
and social amusement. They arc terribly
In earnest. aud 1t must be confessed that
a good many wear the traditions gold
bowed glasses OF the c~arioatures.
Simmons College. for example, hAs
thrown overheard the whole olasdo
paraphernalia OF education and teaches
even modern languages mainly with .
view to their practical use In technical
studies. Most OF tho hundreds OF girls
attending its classes are fitting thomssfv~
to be professional h~ousekeepers, lbref'
ians. stenographerA. private secrStsrss
and the like.
university schools are mainly occupied
in strictly u%tilitarian studies. Busy
young women such as these who arc eJ-
ing to save time and money do not want
the form Of relaxation supplied ~
ordinary social gayeties.
1t is supposed. however. that they
would welcome the sort OF social opPs1f.
tunity to be offered by o more or less dr.
tant equivalent Of the Harvard Union.
The institution will not be Q charity any
more than tho union IL. and II Is probAbS
that the various schools whose students
will be admitted to the advantag es OF ths
place will find it wise to contribute TO iw
support. Individual foes will thus ~
attraotlvely small.
The place will not be elaborate In ap-
pointments, but Il will furnish reading
and idling rooms, and there will be teAs,
and the like at suitable hours
Since the young women have quite enough
Of lectures In the classroom 1t will pernAps
be unique among Boston's public tno
institutions mot UNDERTAKING
to provide its members with too mucn o.
such intellectual pabulum. OF oouro
Il will moi be able entirely to esospe 0s
accustomed Bostonian . OF culture,
for where ten B~ostonians get together nins
listen while the tenth lectures.
One problem Of student life In boseou
the Contemplated institution oannGs
easily solve, that Of food. for even ~
should provide q single centrally lofaHs
where young women QUE p
wholesomely and deoently fed at q nooa.
price the ~gastronomie needs .! nj "a
thousands could not b met
Boston women students know more sbogt
the science Of cookery than any Others
the world, but perhaps there are not WV
worse fed young women among the Pr
sumably educated Glasses OF any cV
than those in the Boston schools.
The raw material OF food 10 very nlSn