Evening star., 1937-05-02
Mount Holyoke College
To Observe Centenary
Staff, Students and Alumni to Pay Honor to
Mary Lyon and Her
Battle.
Battle.

SSSoAhC 0SAAOlA4S, WllO 10 w ulaAC OuL
pies?" Her best friends thought her
q visionary and demonstrated with
her to look upon life more reasonably.
to give up her quixotic ideas about
educating her sex. They even told
her she was being looked upon as
undecorous in her opinions and not
altogether lady-like, because of the
strength Of her convictions. Once she
Is said to have replied, MY heart is
sick. My soul is panied by this
empty sentility-this genteel nothing
ness"
Her wholly unselnsh viewpoint is
emphasized in her own comment about
her so-called crazy scheme" Il have
much stronger desires to do some
thing toward establishing some gen.
eral principles Of female education
than to accomplish much myself"
The indomnitable courage that was
required and the ardor and vigor
she put into her daring enterprise
are best illustrated in another state
ment she once made about her en-
deavors, 1T is one Of the incest OF
mental operations to distinguish be-
tween what Is difncult and what Is
utterly impossible"
Women Kept Their Place Then.
Although today, within the bounds
OF good taste and reason, women
are free to raise their voices in
championship Of their ideals, it was
the generally accepted tradition OF
Mary Lyons time that women in
New England did not raise their voices
In public. not even in prayer meeting
Therefore, her task had to begin with
instilling enthusiasm for her project
In the minds Of those who were on
the whole very greatly opposed to
1.-THE men Of New England.
DR.. Edward Hitchcock of Amherst
College, one Of the few men Of his era
IN favor Of 1t, wrote: "Respecta BILE
periodicals were charged with sarcasm
and enmity to Mary Lyons plans"
Perhaps 1t was at this time that her
mother is credited with having said to
a neighbor, Mary will not give up.
She just walks the floor and says over
and over when all is so dark, Commit
thy ways unto the Lord Trust also in
Him and He will bring it to pass.
Women must be educated. They
must be-"
Because her beliefs were brought to
pass through her indomnitable cour-
age her amazing faith, resourcefulness
and vitality, despite the further ham
dicap OF the financial panic Of 1897,
her services to education in the United
States were attested to many years
later by her election to Americas Hall
OF 1mmortals in 1905.
Refused to Turn Aside.
She herself appears never to have
been diverted from her course by the
thousand things upon which she COM
ments as apt Ito turn ladies aside"
from their undertakings in contrast to
the exemption of gentlemen" from
them. The record book OF the sub
scriptions to the cause she pleaded
with such fervor tells its own story of
s27 900 given by 1900 people in %
New England towns to this blue-eyed,
0A6AA VA GU Ava IShSllCl OL1 IlCI
house-to-house canvass with her little
green velvet bag.
On February IL, 1886, the Massa-
chusetts Legislature granted q char
ter to Mount Holyoke Seminary, prede-
cessor Of the Mount Holyoke College OF
today, with william Bowdoin, John
Todd, Joseph D. Condit. David Choate
and Samuel Williston listed as Its
trustees and incorporators. To this
group the Rev. William Tyler. the Rev
Roswell Hawks and Joseph Avery were
subsequently added. Building prepa-
rations were authorized In April for
"an edifice "a feet by so and 10 acres
with huckleberries growing near the
road and further away blackberry
patch crossed by rough ravine."
November 8, 1897, saw this first OF
Americas feminine educational ex.
periments opening its doors to &c
young females, doors without sills ol
even steps for many months there.
after. To these the precursors OF
Americas college girls OF today, she
once said when adversity's shoe wa.
pinching . bit more than usual, "Thi!
is an experiment. I cannot succeed
without your help. The life of thl
institution depends upon you this firs'
year" And the 80 who studied BY
the light Of whale-oil lamps and shiv.
cred over draughty Franklin stoves II
no wise let her down.
Students Shared Work.
To make the education OF the pu.
pills as inexpensive as possible, Mis-.
Lyon worked out various plans where.
by each student had q share In tn.
domestic work Of the institution. Thi!
feature she always insisted did no,
have as its further objective the
teaching of domestic science, but rath
er the lnculcation of democracy ane
| the provision of brisk, "motivated" ex.
ercise. The entire planning and su.
pervision of this arrangement, as wei
as that of ordering and cooking of the
food itself, was upon Miss Lyon'i
shoulders.
One of her biographers writes
Morning after morning. Miss Igor
rose in the dark and the cold to Sc,
that the bread was rising properly"
That her bread and her student!
were each watched with equal yea
through the rigors of that first New
England Winter is evident from thi
note in her journal. I'm their domestic
work as in their studies, the younf
| ladies are all I could wish"
The second year of what had beer
once described as the scheme of al
unbalanced mind found 100 girl
crowded into the building and 40(
turned away for lack Of room. TIT
same lack Of accommodations KEEP
other hundreds away the third year
New England parents were seeing {
new educational era for their daugh'
| terS.
Many Alumni Here.
A number of Mount Holyoke's dis.
tinguished alumnae In addition to Sec.
retary of Labor Perkins reside In oul
midst, many of whom will be present
at the centenary celebration. Among
them are Miss Dean Cole headmis.