Page 233

[image: THE FADETTE ORCHESTRA]

PERHAPS no one instrument has been more nearly monopolized by women than the harp. While there have been able and famous men performers on the harp, like Ap Thomas, the talented Welshman, and Schueker of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, it is probable than many more women than men play this instrument. The attraction which the instrument has for a woman may be partly accounted for from the fact of its picturesque accessories. It certainly is true that no more charming picture can be imagined than a beautiful woman, clad in a simple but artistically designed gown, playing upon a harp.

Maud Murray is a young woman who has achieved success as a harpist at concerts and various public performances. Another very successful young woman harpist is Miss Harriet A. Shaw. Although she played the violin and piano it was not until she was fourteen years of age that Miss Shaw turned her attention to the harp. Then she went to Europe and began a most thorough course of study. In Dresden she pursued her work under Carl Ziech, of the Royal Grand Opera. Other teachers on her chosen instrument were Mr. Lockwood, harpist to the King of Bavaria, and A. Thomas, harpist to the Queen of England; also under John Thomas and Loreuzi, the Italian master, with whom she spent two years.

This extensive course of study, coupled with diligent work, has made Miss Shaw an artist of great merit. She has appeared as soloist with some of the most noted foreign orchestras, and has performed with the Buffalo Symphony Orchestra, on which occasion she performed the difficult Nikolai Concerto.

Page 234

Miss Shaw has also written many delightful compositions, not only as solos for the harp, but songs with its accompaniment. Her song, "Thou Art My Everlasting Light," has been particularly successful.

Miss Shaw seems to strive especially, and far more than most harpists do, after great variety of tone-color, not confining herself to the single contrast between whispering pianissimo and what approach to forte the harp can make, but seeking after and often successfully exploiting a wider range of tone-effect. Her technique is brilliant, and her playing essentially musical.

The demand which has sprung up during the last few years for small orchestras to play at hotels, more particularly at summer hotels and summer resorts, has opened a new field for women in music. With all due deference to the men, any one will admit that a prettily dressed company of young women is much more attractive to look at than the same number of men can be. They seem to be equally fortunate in selecting and performing such music as will please the public at these resorts. The number of these ladies' orchestras is now considerable. Many are small, only a quartette, directed by one of their own number. The larger organizations, with the exception of the Fadette Ladies' Orchestra, have usually been directed by a man. With the Marion Osgood Orchestra, however, came a departure in the shape of a woman leader, Miss Marion Osgood, who started the first one in America. This organization was succeeded by the Fadette Orchestra in 1888, with only six players. In 1890 Mrs. Caroline B. Nichols assumed the leadership and has conducted very successfully ever since. The size of the orchestra has been greatly increased in later years, and it is competent to perform the most difficult and intricate compositions.

From time to time another instrument has been added whenever an efficient player has been discovered. Even then, to provide some most important instrument, it has been necessary to have women specially trained. The French horns, for instance, whose beautiful, mysterious tones add so much color to orchestral pieces, were taken up, malice prepense, by two young violinists. So, at the time this article is written, an oboeist and bassoonist are preparing themselves--are, indeed, almost ready--to fill the only existing vacancies in the "wood-wind" division of instruments. The full import of this will be better understood when it is known that a person who already has a thorough musical understanding must still devote several years of hard, constant practice to acquire even a moderate degree of skill upon any of those difficult instruments.

In 1895 this orchestra was incorporated in Boston, its permanent home, and since then it has steadily grown in favor. It numbers a first violin and director, four additional first violins, four second violins, two violas, two violoncellos, two contrabassos, kettle-drums and a bass, two flutes and piccolo, two clarionets, two cornets, two French horns, three trombones snare-drum and "traps," and piano-

Page 235

forte. Six of the ladies are notable soloists. In the winter the work of such an orchestra includes playing at club meetings, receptions, weddings and evening parties. They often play for dancing at balls or "small and earlies," and are favorites for afternoon or evening musicals.

[image: MRS. CAROLlINE B. NICHOLS]

Who would not prefer, at a reception or the commencement exercises of a girls' seminary, music evolved amid the flutter of lawn and lingerie to that struggling up from amid the stiff starched front and the dismal swallow-tail; or harmonies scented with the delicate aroma of violet water, rather than with beer, tobacco and bologna!

Marietta Sherman (Mrs. Raymond) was also a pioneer as a woman director. All three of these women learned to play the violin, and developed from that into directing. Miss Osgood and Miss Sherman always directed with the violin in hand. It remained for Mrs. Nichols to assume the baton and become the first regular woman director. An interesting feature in this connection was the presentation, in the autumn of 1897, of a solid silver baton to Mrs. Nichols by Dr. Ivan Michels, a Russian diplomat, who had been attracted by the playing of the orchestra at Washington in the summer of that year. All through the summer they played at Glen Echo, on the Potomac, six miles out of Washington, giving daily programs of popular music in a shell-shaped pavilion on "Wooded Island." On Friday evenings a concert of entirely classical music was given. The auditorium seated ten thousand people. For the daily work the members wore a neat uniform suit of cadet blue, with jacket and military braiding, and in

Page 236

the evenings, light silks and muslins. The leader and manager of the Fadettes, Mrs. Caroline B. Nichols, is a most attractive woman, with marked ability along business as well as musical lines. She is a member of one of the old families of Dedham, Mass., and inherits her musical propensity from her father, who was a leader in Boston's musical circles. She has devoted a number of years to close and careful study of the violin, of which instrument she is thorough master; also to the science of harmony and to instrumentation and orchestration.

Miss Dora P. Damon, one of the soloists of the Fadettes, is regarded as one of the finest cornetists among Boston women. She is a member of the Damon Quartette, her three sisters, still school girls, playing the violin, flute and piano.

Another soloist is Miss Belle B. Yeaton, whose chosen instrument is the trombone, upon which she has no feminine rival in the country. A native of Chelsea, she was instructed entirely by her father from the age of twelve.

Miss Viola M. Dunn, the clarionet soloist, came of fine Maine stock, where her ancestors were among the early settlers. From her childhood she showed a pronounced taste for music, and began her devotion to the clarionet at the age of fourteen[. She has been a pupil and is now assistant to Eustach Strasser, the noted clarionetist, who points to her with pardonable pride as his first female scholar. She has had many honors conferred upon her, and holds the office of clerk, treasurer and the leader's assistant in the Fadettes.

Miss Mary J. Tracy, performer on both violin and viola, began her study of music when only a child, when she took up violin playing.

The Fadettes' first violoncellist is Miss E. Josephine Hale, of Malden. She has done work with a quartette and trio, besides the orchestra, and at a musical festival in Weirs, N. H., not long since, was the only woman in the orchestra, and was highly praised for her performance.

Miss Alice E. Ball is flute soloist to the Fadettes, and the sisters Cora and Ardelle Cunningham, of Chelsea, Mass., are the only women French horn players in America.

To the list of her other musical accomplishments Miss Estelle M. Churchill adds the playing of snare and bass drums. She also intends to add tympany or kettle-drums, but her real position is that of first pianist to the ladies' orchestra.

Miss Blanche M. Little has mastered that unusual instrument to take a girl's fancy, the contrabass, and is happy in the possession of a genuine Mittenwald instrument of the finest tone and strength. She is a Boston girl, and comes of a thoroughly musical family.

Other members of the orchestra are Misses Nettie and Freda Damon, Beth Page, Florence Hall, Minnie Grover, Eleanor Mauser and Christine Allendorf, all young women of character and strength of purpose.

Page 237

What the orchestra has done in Boston can be done elsewhere. Girls of talent will find the keys of a musical instrument more interesting to handle than the keys of a typewriter, especially if in the former case the hours are very much less and the pay a great deal more. Let competent women in our larger towns and cities think on this. Here is a new field opening; here new opportunities. Really good players will always be in demand.

Page 238

TO the savage, woman is a slave; to the half civilized she is a toy and to the enlightened she is man's equal.

The old Greek law gave woman a child's place and held her in lifelong tutelage. Fathers in mediaeval history and Christian fathers assigned no higher position to her. From the English Heptarchy to the Reformation she was still a servant. During succeeding years she might have been seen drawing ploughs through the furrows, bent under heavy loads, harnessed with the animals in the fields and forced into every imaginable drudgery. From American discoveries to the Civil War she seemed harnes sed [sic in the place she was compelled to occupy for the sake of an established custom of servitude. To-day she keeps step with man in scientific pursuits, in art and in all occupations.

The places occupied fifty years ago are not sufficiently wide and broad for the girl of to-day. Changed conditions have brought women not only to positions of larger duties and heavier responsibilities, but to broader growth and nobler life.

Man to-day has to cope with a knowledge and aptitude which often baffle him at every point. This is as it should be, for a woman's intellect is as worthy of cultivation as a man's. Does the new education, the new order of things, tend to make her less womanly?

No indeed; a true woman is womanly in whatever she chooses to do and wherever she chooses to live. Whether she be found at the bar, in the pulpit, the Senate or bench, she may still be a woman in the highest, noblest sense.

Page 239

Since the day of woman's creation, there never was an age when so many legitimate opportunities were given a girl to become a part of this working world, an essential factor in its progress and a sharer with her brother in its emoluments.

She finds her highest service in ministering to humanity. Patients in hospital wards wait for her ministrations, pharmacists require her assistance, childish souls need her guidance, publishers, printers, artists, architects offer to her the chance for a cultivated and honest life in places hitherto unoccupied.

James Russell Lowell once wrote: "No man is born unto the world whose work is not born with him."

A child uninfluenced by the suggestions of others will engage in occupations for which she is by nature naturally adapted. She will do those things which she loves best. For hours her work will take up her attention. In one's life vocation "a little child shall lead." A child's mind is a guide to the woman's place.

The little girls whose dolls are sick, fed, nourished and nursed may in late years find her place among the physicians or in hospital wards cheering and ministering.

The child who for hours sits with her books, totally oblivious to all surroundings, may later find her place in the field of literature. The crude, deformed pencil drawings of many a girl have in womanhood developed her, and her productions as an artist are then widely prized. The little one who makes imaginary pianos of the chairs and tables, who sings her lullabys, carols, oratorio or opera selections to her dolls and child friends, may in womanhood find her proper place in the music world.

The child of domestic tastes, she who fashions marvelous creations in dresses or hats, who produces with the scissors wonderful designs from colored papers or teaches her mimic doll-schools, will later find her place among the dressmakers, milliners, designers or teachers.

The lives of our women who have become famous in various lines of work show that many hours of their childhood days were spent in the work in which they afterward became pre-eminent. The child's uninfluenced occupations are often but the woman's work in embryo.

The struggles, the disappointments of many a woman in industrial pursuits often arise from a lack of thought in regard to her chosen career.

A grave and daily recurring mistake is made in seeking the fields which are already overcrowded and not seeking new occupations. If fewer girls would qualify themselves for the overcrowded professions and fit themselves for other skilled employments and newer industries, there would be a less number of anxious, discouraged, overburdened women.

Page 240

Even after a work is mastered, or the girl is proficient in her art, then comes the question, where shall I pursue it? To many a girl in the country town comes the dream of earning her living in the city. Unless her preparation has been exceptionally thorough, her talent remarkable, her work superior to all others, her resources and influential friends many, it is a risk for her to seek the city. Stenographers, photographers, dressmakers, physicians who are unknown in a city must wait, and wait long, must struggle, and struggle hard.

The girl who would make her work profitable must select some special branch and pursue it diligently, striving with heart and soul to render herself as nearly perfect in it as possible.

Her name should become known in some one occupation; one work, one particular branch, one place.

Unless she strives incessantly to get to the top she will remain at the bottom, and down there lies the threatening monster starvation. Unless in filling her position, she can make her influence and her power broadly felt, unless she can develop and bring the highest of her nature to her work, she has not chosen the right work or the right place in which to pursue it.

Whatever may be your gift, whatever your God-given powers, cultivate your own talents; as Emerson says:

"Insist upon yourself, never imitate. Your own gift you can present every moment vith the cumulative force of a whole life's cultivation; but of the adopted talent of another you have only an extemporaneous half possession. That which each can do best, none but his Maker can teach him. No man yet knows what it is, nor can, till that person has exhibited it."

To think we have the ability to do a thing is almost to accomplish it.

To determine upon success is frequently success itself. Eager, earnest resolution in some line of work is its accomplishment, for to a steadfast, consecrated, resolute soul there are no impossibilities.

Maternity is her mission and education is her work. George Herbert said, "One good mother is worth a hundred schoolmasters." The advancement, improvement and the safety of the nation depend upon the perfect home, and earth's noblest thing is the woman perfected in the wife, the mother who rules that home. The husband's character and work, the child's love and life, are dependent upon her; what she is they will be.

The history of the home life of our famous men demonstrate that it was a woman's love, encouragement and help that inspired them to the noblest purposes, and through her influence they became a power for good.

A man may build a palace, but he can never make of it a home. The spirituality and love of a woman alone can accomplish this. By right divine these are a woman's special and unrivaled privileges.

Page 241

Throughout the broad highways of life we find the gates have been opened by a long procession of noble women.

In the hospitals by the battlefields of the Crimea, Miss Nightingale gave cheerfully and unfailingly her own vitality for the comfort and new life of the soldiers.

The name of Clara Barton means the greatest of humanitarian movement. Incredible exposures, tainted atmosphere, of battlefields and hospitals, unremitting care for wounded soldiers, a life of love and sacrifice are all associated with her name.

In prisons and reformatories we find the influence of Mary Carpenter, Sarah Martin and Angela Coutts. They, by lifelong efforts, lessened the hours of imprisonment, provided employment, education and shelter for the unfortunates and left names ever to be associated with foremost deeds in philanthropy and self-sacrifice.

In the broad fields of literature we are influenced by Harriet Martineau's untiring work in education, government, woman's rights, temperance and political economy. Here, too, was Fredrika Bremer, the Swedish authoress, Charlotte Bronté and her experience with soul-despairing fate, Louisa Alcott, a providential gift to father, mother, sisters, and hundreds of girls, and Elizabeth Stuart Phelps' long struggle for the oppressed.

Trained for the profession as physicians, conquering much that threatens womanhood, are the names of Elizabeth and Emily Blackwell, our country's earliest and noblest women physicians. Dr. Zakrzewska's struggles and victories have made the path smoother and easier for other women who would study medicine, and the work of Cordelia Green inspires many a girl to enter the profession of giving life and strength to humanity.

The schools founded by Mary Lyon, the organized training schools of Catherine Beecher, the American work in kindergarten instruction by Elizabeth Peabody, all point to a path and a place in the educational world for the young girl of to-day.

In the scientific field the observations and discoveries of Caroline Herschel and Maria Mitchell demonstrate the work is not beyond that of a woman. The world wide-fame and true, faithful works of Rosa Bonheur, Susan Hale, Sarah Clarke, Anne Whitney and Harriet Hosmer are an inspiration to the girl who would enter the studio and produce true art and beauty.

A woman's place to-day, as in the early years, must largely be defined by her taste, capacity and health.

"Blessed is she who has found her place, and is conscious that her efforts are strong links in the endless chain of woman's life and work."

Page 242

PHOTOGRAPHY is especially adapted to a woman's artistic taste and delicate touch. Many girls practicing photography as amateurs, do their work well and it seems unaccountable why so many who reach a creditable degree of excellence in the work should be satisfied and so cease to produce better results. Why should they not continue in the art, master every detail, enter the field as professionals, and pursue the work as a business? Hundreds of women might accomplish far more in this occupation than at present.

Is it lack of energy, of courage or capital that deters them? It cannot be lack of energy, for the hours spent in the work by the ambitious, enthusiastic and painstaking amateurs prove the contrary. It should not be on account of insufficient courage, for it has been said that "the business woman is a nineteenth century production. She is honestly proud of her work, and of being a link in the great chain which keeps the business world moving." The hesitation should not be based upon the plea of "no capital," for the bright, determined girl of the present will always overcome this difficulty.

The work is not too difficult for a woman. For years it was regarded as a particularly occult and mysterious process, requiring a special gift, a knowledge of chemistry and years of professional study. During these years photography, to the woman, suggested untidy work, blackened hands, and soiled aprons.

Page 243

To-day it is acknowledged to be a fascinating work, easily understood, requiring no superior knowledge, and demanding but a comparatively short time of study and preparation.

The introduction of electric lights, dry plates, light machinery, and dainty photographic devices renders the work more agreeable and available to women besides offering at the present day a most inviting field.

Nearly two-thirds of a photographer's patrons are women and children, and a woman photographer of pleasing manners, obliging disposition and artistic sense is most successful in securing happy results when the critical moment of posing arrives. There is but one best position, one best view of all objects. It is acknowledged that in woman the artistic sight is more perfectly developed than in man. This natural gift enables her to immediately discover the one best position--the one best view of her subject.

A woman quickly grasps the beautiful and harmonious in nature and in art. She naturally understands posing, colors in dress, and all the details that make up the artistic photographs of women and children. She will quickly tell why this line, shade or curve is more desirable. She possesses the faculty of bringing out the best in the patron who poses before her.

Many years elapsed in the history of photography before the public became assured of these neutral gifts in women--gifts so admirably adapted to this work, so favorably suited to its success. The photographers in several of our cities were assured of woman's efficiency in this work after securing her aid in their studios. It was when thus employed as assistants that women fully realized their adaptability, discovered opportunities for improvement, and resolved to pursue the work as a profession.

Mrs. Julia Cameron, of England, early realized that the ideal portrait consists in portraying a glimpse of a man's soul; not only the face but the intellect, the genius, the spirit in its completeness--these must all enter into the faithful portrait. This she aimed to accomplish and seldom has the work been more satisfactorily accomplished. She produced portraits which were an immediate inspiration to others who were striving to do sincere and truthful work. It is said: "She was of a most distinguished and fine nature, and was of unique pre-eminence in the profession of which she has made a great and noble name." Tennyson was her neighbor, and often he posed for her. The faces of Browning, Carlyle, Sir John Herschel, Charles Darwin and Tennyson were among her noblest of English portraits. In these she succeeded in portraying the loftiest aim and the utmost steadfastness which were the principles of their lives. It is this that vivifies their portraits. "When I have had these men before my camera," she once said, "my whole soul has endeavored to do its duty toward them in recording faithfully the greatness of the inner as well as the features of

Page 244

the outer man." This is the secret of her power and her success: "Truth in art for truth's sake." It has been said that her work merits comparison only with the best portraits from the old masters.

London to-day has the most celebrated woman photographer in the world. Miss Alice Hughes, the daughter of Edwin Hughes, the portrait painter, has earned this enviable reputation.

Her photographs are more expensive than any others produced in London, and yet she is scarcely able to attend to her orders. Her work is all done at her home in Gower street, London, and here there are no surroundings usually associated with photographic galleries, No outward sign on portal or windows suggests the atelier. Her studio is built out over the garden and from the drawing-room one descends to it by three or four steps. The secret of her success is that she makes her subjects perfectly at ease. She lets them pose themselves and makes only the changes that are absolutely necessary. Among her photographs are nearly all of our American girls who married Englishmen, from Lady Randolph Churchill to Lady Terence Blackwood.

Mrs. Emily Stokes of Boston, is an example of what a woman may accomplish in photography. When compelled by misfortune to give up her London home, she came to America to begin life among strangers. Having been associated with enthusiastic photographers in England, and believing that the position could be filled by women as well as men, she resolved to enter the field as a professional. For sixteen years she has aimed to produce the true child portrait. She has conquered difficulties, and is an enthusiastic and successful artist. "This one thing I know," she said brightly, and it would be well if many girls could say the same. "I know every detail of the work; it is the only way to success," she added, as she glanced about the room at the pictures of sweet child faces.

Since the first public exhibition of photographs in London in 1852, and especially since the Paris Exposition in 1889, photography as an art has steadily advanced, and in the recent exhibitions in European and American cities the photographs executed by many women have been an inspiration urging others to enter the field. Not only have these women exhibited portraits, but their photographs of landscapes, marine views, mineral and vegetable specimens have won for them a wide reputation.

Some of the most beautiful photographs in the United States have been produced by Miss Johnston, of Washington. She has attained a superior degree of excellence in all her work. As a professional she ranks among the list of leading photographers in the country. The truthfulness and artistic beauty in all her photographs have earned for her a name pre- eminent among photographers. She has done much work for newspapers and magazines, giving to the public truthful pictures of much that is constantly occurring in the public life of the capital city.

Page 245

[image: VIEW IN FRANKLIN PARK, BOSTON.--(TAKEN BY MISS A. E. BROWN)]

Page 246

Miss Beatrice Tonnesen, of Chicago, has opened a studio in that city, and her photographs of women and children, especially the latter, are already noted for their beauty.

Mrs. Farnan, a California woman, has earned the reputation of accomplishing remarkable results in photography.

In February, 1896, the Youth's Companion offered prizes for the eight best amateur photographs submitted during the following six months. Over six thousand photographs were received in response to the offer. Miss Emma Farnsworth, of Albany, N. Y., submitted a most truthful scene, "When the Day's Work is Done." This was awarded the first prize, and strikingly illustrates the perfection to which a young woman has brought her art.

Others who obtained prizes were Mrs. Sarah Holm, of Wisconsin, and Miss Kate Matthews, of Kentucky.

The girl who decides to leave the army of amateurs and enter the professional arena must feel assured that she has patience, an artistic taste, determination and business ability. She must be willing to inform herself of the multitudinous operations to be performed; she must expect waste and loss, and she must be able to rise above disappointments and trials. To be successful in working a "four-by-five" outfit does not imply an equal success with an "eighteen-by-twenty-two." The ability to make a few blue-prints daily does not mean equal success in producing five hundred to one thousand a day in albumen, ilo or platinotype[. To be able to please a few interested, intimate friends is widely different from contending with the capriciousness of disinterested strangers. To take a picture and secure a local artist to do all the work requires little ability when compared with understanding the operating, printing, mounting and finishing. Possession and production are widely different in their meaning. It is one thing to work for pleasure and one's self and quite another to work for profit and the public.

Too often a girl thinks if she buys a camera, some plates and a few chemicals she can become a photographer. In her mind all that is necessary is to expose the plate properly, develop it, print from it, tone and fix the prints, and then the art will be mastered. She forgets that few can expose a plate with perfect success, that judicious, painstaking care is necessary to develop it, and that toning requires skill. It must not be supposed that with the cheapness of material and the present comparative simplicity in applying it, the pictures require less care than formerly. The conditions of light and composition are the same as they were in the early days of photography, and the laws of lenses and theories of light must still be studied with the greatest care.

The girl who would be a photographer should consider her adaptability for the work, and, having decided to pursue the occupation, she will do well to work with some reliable firm. When once an opportunity is found in some photo-

Page 247

graphic studio she must work earnestly and hard in learning the details of the work. After a short time is given she will obtain a position as assistant in the work. If she be on the alert for opportunities she will, when fitted, find the right locality and here build up a business of her own. The cost of materials, furniture, rent, wages and the fund for emergencies must then be considered. One young woman of the East fitted up a skylight for fifty dollars. The expense incurred will vary according to the taste of the young woman. Once furnished and equipped the subsequent outlay is but trivial, and if good work is furnished the profits are assured. A young woman may choose to devote herself to but one branch of the work. Should she excel she will find with determination the opportunity of assisting in some large studio. The operator and the one who poses the subject hold positions of importance and responsibility and are usually paid the highest salary. An education in photographic science is required, a knowledge of light and its effects, an artistic taste, and a knowledge of theories that constitute art in portraiture. Women who excel in these, who are professionals, will receive from fifteen to fifty dollars a week.

Especially adapted to a woman's delicate touch is the process of retouching photographic negatives. Before entering upon this branch of the work it is essential that she should draw and possess a knowledge of anatomy, especially of the face, neck and shoulders. If the work be undertaken without this knowledge, distorted, unnatural productions will be shown, and failure will result. The work also requires strong eyes, for the use of artificial light is a constant strain upon the eye. The amount paid for this work in large cities varies from ten to fifteen dollars a week.

Printing is the most interesting part of the work. Several women in the larger studios receive from twelve to eighteen dollars each week.

Girls who enter the work to mount the pictures should be alert, detect at a glance any imperfection, and must have artistic feeling.

During the past thirty years there has been a demand for the application of color to photographs, and to-day hundreds of young women are devoting themselves to supplying the demand. The technique of the work is simple. Many women earn from twelve to fifteen dollars a week by executing orders. After a short course of study they are able to earn more. A knowledge of drawing is necessary, or the artist is unable to produce form, and the work is flat or distorted; there must also be a knowledge of color, or the tints will be dry and hard.

One young lady of the East has supplied the teachers of schools with figure subjects. She has reproduced with exactness the little dramas and comedies of life. Here there are pictures of boys, their work and pastimes; school girls in their natural pleasures or duties. Kites, hoops, marbles, tops, dogs, are all so truthfully pictured that the teacher is seldom required to tell long stories for the

Page 248

children's amusement and instruction, for the photograph's explanation is clear, and from these the numerous stories are told or written.

Another young woman with her camera has reproduced engravings, and her copies of famous old pictures in European galleries and prized ones in America, have earned for her reputation and profit.

One woman makes a specialty of children's photographs, another confines her work to landscapes, a third takes photographs of interesting events in the city and sends them to the illustrated papers.

Everywhere in the scientific world the power of the photographic camera has been felt. Physics, Chemistry, Mechanics, Astronomy, Zoology convince one that by patience and study a woman may put her camera to a most excellent use.

Many eminent scientists are constantly preparing and publishing scientific papers. However perfect their language may be, however clearly their thoughts may be expressed, the words are often found inadequate to convey an actual visual impression. These papers, to satisfy the public and make the thoughts of more value, should be illustrated. The old illustrations of mammals, birds, reptiles and fish are frequently untrue, misshapen representations.

The young woman whose photographic work possesses merit and accuracy may in this field pursue her work to most profitable ends and to the advancement of learning. This field is full of interest to the gifted young photographer, but one in which ingenuity is demanded.

This is an age of books and book illustrations. The various processes of book illustration are annually enriched by new applications of photography. The present knowledge of the flights of birds and the motions of animals can be produced by the camera in a most accurate degree. Here the young woman may choose her work, and if she would succeed she must strive for the best and seek to do not only good work but a superior quality of work.

Page 249

WHEREVER architecture leads, decorative art follows.

While there are women there will be homes; and women will never cease to desire beauty and attractiveness in their homes. This desire is inborn and universal. The home of every woman should be as individual a possession as her wardrobe and requires equal care and taste in the selection and purchase.

A home manifesting an air of taste, refinement and classic simplicity is far more desirable and is a better indication of the owner's character and education, than the possession of a costly, inharmonious, unrelated array of paintings, porcelains, rugs and bric-a-brac. The perfectly furnished home is a crystallization of culture, expressing the habits, tastes and character of the family. Strangers, visitors and friends will judge the woman by the taste, comfort aud equipments of her home.

It is the woman's hand that can and has given to many a home that mysterious, nameless charm, that atmosphere of harmony and quiet happiness which is felt in the very entrance hall. Such women have possessed unconsciously a knowledge of the laws of color and harmony and have been naturally endowed with the requirements which make many a woman of to-day the successful interior decorator.

Within the past two decades the profession has grown to such a remarkable extent that it has brought about a revolution in many American homes. During the past few years some of the most notable successes of women have been achieved in the art of interior decoration.

Page 250

It is as impossible to overestimate the importance of her work in the art as it is impossible to overestimate the importance of beautiful and tasteful surroundings in real life. Goethe said no man leaves a room the same person that he entered it, and if this be true then the room should attune his spirit to harmony, dignity and truthfulness. Every parent to- day realizes the duty of surrounding his child with beauty and fitness; it is his duty to establish a standard of taste in his children which will endure throughout their lives.

In the days of Jewish history woman's inherent love for personal beauty and artistic surroundings was manifested in the skill with which she embroidered veils for herself, for her home and her sanctuary. Grecian mythology teems with stories of the women who performed work for the decoration of their homes. In all ages, when the arts have flourished, every part of a room has been adorned with ornament.

The Egyptian women decorated their walls. The Byzantine women, the Moors, the Greek and Roman women never held plain walls in good repute. Even the women among the cave-dwellers decorated the interior of their homes with bone ornaments.

The Japanese women excelled in the simplicity of their home decorations. An air of elegance, refinement and serenity of mind is manifested in their quiet, airy, open rooms. Here there is no crowding, no incongruous objects, but everywhere appropriateness and harmony of coloring with exquisite workmanship. Here there is no false standard of display. The Japanese women as interior decorators teach us the "simple grace of not too much."

The women in England's homes were surrounded by examples from which they felt beauty and inspiration. Growing up amid great museums, rare collections, noble old houses, depositories of accumulated art treasures, rich interiors, famous architecture, is it not a natural consequence that their homes should exhibit the influence of high art?

Mary Moser, of England, who was early admitted as a member of the royal academy, earned the reputation of an interior decorator. She was much admired by Queen Charlotte, and she, at one time, decorated a room at Frogmore for four thousand five hundred dollars. This room was one of the earliest examples of interior decoration by a professional woman artist.

Miss Robinson, of England, superintended all the interior fittings and decorations of the ocean steamship "Campania," of the Cunard line. The appropriateness, taste and skill combined with its magnificence are a proof of what a woman may accomplish with patience and persistence. She was conscious of her natural artistic instincts, and so received thorough instruction in the art. In Manchester, after opening her rooms of artistic furniture, failure seemed imminent; few orders and no sales resulted from the venture. The few orders

Page 251

were executed with such satisfaction that others followed. At the Manchester Exhibition, her fittings attracted the attention of the royalty and won for her the appointment of "Decorator to the Queen." Success followed. A branch office was opened in London. Her decorations were soon seen in hotels, theatres, churches and homes. Miss Robinson is said to be the first woman to receive recognition from Her Majesty.

The women of America grew up amid different surroundings from those of their English sisters. It was and is necessary for Americans to create examples of this decorative art.

For years in the United States, buildings remained without ornament. Hotels, theatres, churches and a few homes of the wealthy were ornamented later, but not until the past few years has a general taste for interior decoration been manifest.

This present decorative impetus is largely due to the Centennial Exposition in 1876. The present movement owes its origin largely to the women, who quickly gained a general idea of the true meaning and importance of the art of decoration.

Women eagerly urged the manufacture of more artistic materials, new industries were the result of urgent requests for more artistic stuffs and metals. Several women from this time gave their attention to the study of the best mode of treatment for the adornment of American homes, and as Americans are receptive people, the new work quickly gained lodgment. To- day the demand for good decorators has almost exceeded the supply of competent artists in this work. Everywhere people are waiting for information, ideas, and designs, regarding their homes. They are on the alert for anything new, suggestive, appropriate and beautiful.

The interiors of our public buildings and homes are daily being prepared for the decorator of taste--the artist who excels in the work.

Among the most successful of interior decorations done by women, those in our own colonial style rank among the highest in simplicity, appropriateness, suggestiveness and intelligence.

In reproducing the interior decoration of different periods or peoples, American women have been most successful in the Moorish and Japanese styles. The old bamboos, curious bronzes, carved teak wood, celestial porcelains, Japanese flower panels, swinging seats and curiously wrought lanterns make a most interesting and pleasing effect.

Several firms of women house-decorators in New York have succeeded to a most gratifying extent both artistically and financially. These women are always prepared to make designs and decorate one room, a suite, or a whole house. Estimates of the cost are given. One firm began business in 1882, and employs

Page 252

from fifty to sixty women, who design and make hangings for houses, and superintend the interior decoration. During the past ten years this firm has produced more than five hundred designs in silks and cottons which have been manufactured and sold throughout the United States.

Mrs. Candace Wheeler, of New York City, is the leading spirit of the firm called the Associated Artists. About 1880 she began a business in a modest, unpretentious way, and to-day its influence is felt in homes from New York to San Francisco. Mrs. Wheeler's draperies, hangings, tables, stands, fabrics, show a peculiar artistic beauty and fitness. Her skill demonstrates what a woman may accomplish in this field of work.

Since the inauguration of this little band of artists in New York, a revolution has taken place in elaborate interior decoration in America.

This society has elaborated curtains for theatres, balls, decorations for the interior of churches, club-houses and other public buildings.

Under the direction and inspiration of Mrs. Wheeler (Dora Wheeler Keith), Miss Emmet and Miss Clark, the art of interior decoration has been brought to what was formerly considered an impossible degree of excellence. The footsteps of these few brave women have made a wide path in this new field.

Here true art and manufacturing industry are blended in their own furniture, inlay work, ceiling decorations, wall papering, panelings, parquetry floors and glass mosaics.

The products of American looms never before included such filmy silks and damasks, and the tints surpassed those in the gown of Enid of old.

Hardly a building of magnificence in the country does not possess some work of the Associated Artists. It may be a dull Japanese portière for the Veterans' Rooms of the Seventh Regiment Armory, or a curtain of cloth of gold for the library of the Union League, but in all, excellence and marvelous taste is displayed.

All "Wellesley girls" are familiar with the beautiful frieze in the Browning Room at the college. This is composed of flower panels, painted by Miss Ellen Robbins, of Boston. These exact reproductions of familiar flowers show in design and color absolute truth in following nature.

Miss Grace Lincoln Temple, of Washington, D.C., has worked up to a prominent position in interior decoration. She had charge of the decorations in the Woman's Building at the Atlanta Exposition in 1895, and her work then made an impression that was national and everywhere favorable.

Every woman who is planning a home is ambitious and anxious that it manifest a superior taste and refinement in its furniture and decorations.

This may be the old country place to be remodeled into the repose and dignity of a colonial home, the winter rooms in the city or in the South, the

Page 253

summer cottage by seaside, or the mountain home; wherever it is to be, artistic ideas are demanded, and each style of building, location and surroundings calls for its own particular adornment and treatment. Every woman, when planning or purchasing, is apprehensive; she fears that this or that acquisition may not be the correct purchase. This work of planning and purchasing is often a serious perplexity, and too frequently vexation and disappointment attend the final disposition or arrangement. Two contiguous objects are incongruous. The Naples yellow tint in the new and expensive rug mars and absolutely destroys the delicate canary yellow of the walls. How vexatious it all is! In this extremity one must do one of three things: be reconciled, exchange the rug or have the walls redecorated. Inharmonious rugs, draperies, ceiling or wall decorations may mar the beauty of a home when with proper treatment these would have been a delight, and all this might have been accomplished at the same expense. It is in just such instances that the professional interior decorator's knowledge is demanded, appreciated and prized. Women, from these experiences, foresaw the necessity of trained artists for this work, and earnestly made preparations to conquer all difficulties.

Among the first women who resolved to master the art--art it is--was a young Eastern woman. She was conscious of possessing an artistic taste of more than ordinary excellence. She resolved to study diligently and earnestly the needs of home-makers in regard to interior decorations and furnishings.

It was an unknown path, and she had for a guide only her love and taste for the work. Her capital in stock was represented by a little knowledge of the general rules of decorative art, the harmonies of color, good judgment, artistic perception and a fair amount of business ability.

Thus equipped, she searched through the various art and decorative magazines, she purchased manuals and hand-books of decoration, and resolved to succeed. She at once classified the hints given. In the index to her blank books were the styles: Moorish, Turkish, Japanese, Roman, Dutch, Louis Quatorze, Louis Quinze, Henri Deux and Colonial. She studied the characteristic features of each style, the simple but definite suggestions and descriptions applying to each, and enlarged upon many by adding original designs.

Then she studied the effects produced by certain treatments of rooms. Halls, reception rooms, libraries, dining-rooms that were large, small, high, low, dark or sunny, received careful study. Her investigations included the best tone and coloring for the rooms; frieze, wood-tints, wall-papers, curtains, portières, rugs, coverings, in fact every detail from a scheme for ceiling decoration to the skins and mosaic of the parquetry on the floor were earnestly studied, together with the quantity, quality and effect of different light, the surroundings and the inmates of the home.

Page 254

She then secured her samples of carpets, wall-papers, paints and silks. Arranged on her tables were the cool shades adapted to entrance-halls, staircases and vestibules; the quiet tones in olives, bronzes and greens for the library, the warm rich shades required for the dining-rooms, the light and airy tones for drawing-rooms and boudoirs.

In addition to these she secured samples illustrating that important and underlying principle of color gradation. A floor covering of pure strong tone, the wall decoration carrying out the next gradation, and the correct tint for ceiling to complete last gradation. This was her preparation.

She then sent her cards to a number of friends and acquaintances, announcing herself as ready to furnish them with suggestions and plans for interior decorations and furnishings.

Her first efforts, like those of others in all work, were of necessity limited to a small territory, but her energy, ability, superior taste and judgment were at once recognized. Her work broadened. Each new order when filled, caused the next to look less formidable, and each new decoration represented her best work. She soon required assistants, and to-day many Eastern homes show the skill and resolution of this young woman.

"How may I become a successful interior decorator?" is the question asked by the girl of to-day.

Go to some art school or school of design; seek a thorough training--one which will enable you to make broad schemes, comprehensive combinations; which will teach you the laws of harmony and color effect, and that mechanical and mathematical knowledge founded upon the immutable laws of both nature and science. All this knowledge is necessary. Then obtain the co-operation of some architect; for the day has arrived when architecture and interior decoration go hand in hand. They are dependent upon each other for the realization, the perfection of the highest in art.

Nearly every large city has its art schools. In these schools the average yearly fees rarely exceed one hundred dollars. Exceptional work, marked talent or promise of superior skill may win a free scholarship.

At the School of Applied Design in New York over two hundred pupils assemble in the different classes.

Here young girls of sixteen are working side by side with women of fifty. Here one's amateur accomplishments may be directed to practical use.

At the Cooper Union, one of the famous art schools for women in New York, there are free classes. In order to enter these, each applicant must furnish proof that she is unable to pay for instruction.

It is not desirable that applicants should be under sixteen years of age, and no applicant over thirty-five years old is received.

Page 255

To the girl who is unable to attend a school, there is the chance of serving an apprenticeship to some firm of interior decorators. With natural ability, taste, keen observation, and love for work, she may at length become an assistant.

Such a young woman will soon learn that the first principles of successful decoration lie in harmony of color. She will next learn that the first, accurate and best teacher of color is nature. Nature's classes are free. It has been said, "An intelligent study of the distribution of tints in the natural world will make a successful colorist." Nature never errs, her tints and shades never jar, and here everything works together for beauty. Ruskin dwells constantly upon this fact.

What are the chances for success in this work?

A woman, who, at a glance, can grasp the situation of a home, the character of its occupants, who can understand just what will be appropriate, who possesses the power to please individually and collectively, who can group all things in perfect harmony and unerringly combine tints that charm, will find her work in demand, her remuneration gratifying and her success assured.

Fewer occupations are better adapted to a woman's taste; few offer a greater scope of originality and in none will the true artist more rapidly advance.

Hundreds of women whose environment and opportunities prevent them from entering more popular or more familiar fields may find their true place among the interior decorators.

This work meets the needs of the rich, and the field is not crowded. The work also meets the needs of the middle class of people whose refinement and cultivation apparently exceed the means for gratifying their desires in reference to home decoration. To the girl who will make a special study of decorations, and furnishings suited to the demands of this class, who will be quick to follow the popular taste in a way equally effective but less expensive, there is a larger, surer opening, for the value of interior decoration depends not so much upon the richness of material as in harmony of color.

Where is the most desirable place to pursue this work? Where shall I meet with the greatest success? If unknown, and with few resources, the struggle in the city may convince one that "art is long."

In a large and prosperous town a woman's success may be more prompt. She will be able to provide material far more artistic and beautiful than the average local shopkeeper can afford to keep in stock. This local shopkeeper, too, rarely possesses the taste or understands the art even if he could afford to keep the materials.

Among a few thousand inhabitants her ideas, her ability and taste in interior appointments will be recognized almost immediately. Her samples of artistic goods are soon known by all, and appreciated. A business here means less advertising, less capital, less competition. If she excels in her work, she will

Page 256

find the radius lengthening and she will soon be employed in decorating the suburban homes of the city.

If the young woman chooses to locate in the metropolis, she will do well to associate herself at once with architects and co-operate with them. If her work possess real merit, her success will come, although not as promptly as she might wish.

Is it possible to make this work profitable financially? Yes; if you have business faculty. No; if you possess only the artistic ability and lack those business qualities which so essentially attend the success of any occupation in this present age of competition. You may have talent, pre- eminent talent, your work may call forth praise and admiration, but you cannot live upon these prized phrases uttered so often by admiring friends. Praise is a sorry and uncertain crutch to lean upon when traveling in your field. The harvest will yield but poor profits.

If one can study but one branch of the work, which is the most advisable? The decoration of homes is productive of most good, in that here the inmates are daily influenced by the work.

Churches have from time immemorial been the recipients of priceless treasures of art and craftsmanship, and to-day these buildings afford a large field for the decorator, for in all true art there is religion.

There is another public building in which interior decorations should be given more attention; this is the school. In what better place can permanent, artistic decoration fill so important a part in stimulating the imagination and forming the minds? Leading, distinctive and impressive subjects should here be seen. Whether in painting or sculpture, a suggestive, appropriate decoration here would be a daily inspiration to thousands of minds that would retain time influence throughout their lives, and make them nobler and happier.

Page 257

THE desirability of a college education for girls is less frequently questioned at the present time than it was a few years ago. It has become natural to ask, when a girl completes her public school education, "Are you going to college?" Perhaps in a few years the question may be, "To what college are you going?" Every year the number of girls who answer, "Yes, I am going to college," increases, but the increase is largely due to the fact that many of these girls are obliged to add to the words, "if possible." To wish to go is easy; to plan and determine to go is not difficult; but how to carry out the plan is the question that presses upon the girl whose purse is light. The first thing to decide is, of course, the particular college one wishes to attend. Among several institutions, offering equal advantages in the matter of instruction, it is wise for the young woman who must get her higher education by her own efforts to choose that one which offers her the best opportunities for such work as she is fitted to do.

Having made her choice, there arises the puzzle of providing the money for the expenses of the first year. After entering college one may perhaps win scholarships, or earn her way term by term; but, for the first year, it seems necessary to provide a moderate sum, sufficient to pay one's entrance fees, and to guarantee a portion of the year's expenses.

Page 258

If the plans for college life have been made several years before the time comes to put them into effect, a sufficient sum of money may be in hand from vacation earnings. Or some friend may be found who is willing to loan what is necessary, to be repaid when the student has been graduated and is earning her own livelihood.

Lacking these resources, our girl will probably have to give a year to this preparatory stocking of her bank, and the question of what to do is often very perplexing.

One bright girl, as she was studying this problem, with her gaze fixed on the toe of her boot, discovered the answer right there, and a room, furnished with all the appurtenances for cleansing and blackening ladies' boots and shoes, is putting into her purse the money for her first year at Vassar.

The year of teaching in the country school, which many girls make their stepping-stone between high school and college, is not to be despised as a means of income. Of course the amount so earned will be moderate. Were it large, young girls would have no chance at all in such places.

No girl should try this means of earning, however, unless she has some aptitude for teaching. The country school has some rights, and is not to be regarded purely as a source of income.

With willingness to do any kind of honorable work, the chances of success are reasonably sure.

Now let us suppose the entrance fees paid, and the young girl fairly launched on her four years of college life.

At the very outset let her be sure to be perfectly frank about her needs with the college officers. It will not do to be too shy or too proud to ask for work, hoping that in some way it may be offered without the asking. Too many girls are in need to expect that.

"A penny saved is a penny earned," says the familiar old proverb. Economy must be a cardinal virtue with the girl of small means. It is not necessary to specify the little ways in which economy can be practiced. Great neatness and order in taking care of one's apparel must be a matter of course.

It is useful to know that sometimes a chance is offered college girls to do their own laundry work. Quite a sum may thus be saved.

The first thing that occurs to most students as a way of earning money is tutoring. This is natural, and the upper years in college give opportunities for doing this work.

The remuneration is usually excellent, a fact which makes tutoring especially desirable. But it is not every student who is fitted for this work. One must have some aptness for teaching, and must have gained some reputation as a thorough student, During the first year some other kind of work is more easily obtained.

Page 259

In some colleges domestic work used to be meted out to the students as a part of their daily task. As the amount of mental work required has increased this practice has fallen into disuse.

Domestic workers are all hired at present, and the girl who is willing to wait on tables, or to assist in running the domestic machinery in any of the ways allowed by those in charge can earn reasonable payment for doing so.

The superintendent of domestic work often needs assistance in her office, and some girl is almost sure to find her place there.

Her fellow students may furnish a means of income to our would-be earner. Not all who attend school are poor, and those who have plenty of spending money, or even but a reasonable amount, usually prefer to spend their leisure hours in some other way than in sewing on buttons, rebinding the frayed skirt bottoms, or mending hose.

If the college bulletin board contains the notice that Miss A. will do such work at reasonable rates, Miss A. will probably find her spare moments filled and her purse filled also.

Do not let any girl think she will be despised for doing such work as this. It has come to be a matter of course in college life; and the girl who is modest, kind, cheery and ready to use whatever talent she may have to add to the social life and enjoyment of those about her, will find herself liked and respected, even though she post her advertisement as "mender."

To many, library work is especially attractive. All college libraries need assistants, and several girls may usually find work in this line.

Any one who has been a teacher will appreciate the fact that the pressure of really important work on a college professor leaves little time for the correction of the numerous recitation papers passed in by students. Upper class girls are often employed to correct the papers of lower class girls, and to do the clerical work for their teachers.

When a college is situated in or near a large city, a way of earning money is in vogue that cannot be used in schools distant from a city. This is newspaper reporting. Society events, theatre, opera, concert and lecture, all are served up by these young workers, who are thus adding to their experience as well as their money.

Scholarships need hardly be mentioned. It is well understood that these exist, and are open to all.

But one may be a very excellent scholar, and yet fail to get a scholarship, since these are limited in number. In most well-endowed colleges, however, a girl who has shown herself deserving in every way, may obtain some help from the college funds, on the plan of returning the money sometime, if she is ever able to do so. If never in a condition to return it, she may consider it a free gift.

Page 260

It is not to be supposed that an exhaustive list of the methods of earning money during college life has been given. In actual experience the willing girl with eyes and ears open, would probably find many other ways. The methods mentioned are not theories, but have all been actually practiced at such colleges as Wellesley, Vassar and Boston University.

The only condition necessary to receive aid at any college seems to be that a girl shall be deserving, and shall be willing and able to help herself.

If the needs for work are not too pressing, she who saves a little time to take some part, however small, in the social life of an institution is doing a wise thing. She will gain needed variety, make pleasant friendships, and add to her education what books can never give her. Some very definite qualifications are needed by one who would work her way through four years of study.

First of all is health. To the strong, so many things are possible. And there must not be simply health at the beginning, but a constant care to keep in a healthful condition. Usually, a careful supervision of the pupils, and the gymnasium work and outdoor exercise required of them, keep them in excellent condition. But only the girls themselves can guard against overwork.

In anxiety to maintain a good class standard, and yet do work enough to earn the much needed money, the temptation to overtax one's strength is great. But it is worse than useless to yield to this temptation. Precious health once lost, one's plans and hopes for advancement go with it.

Two ladies were discussing a successful teacher in our public schools. "Her brilliant mind," said one, "has given her success." "Her perfect health," replied the other, "has been as great a factor. She is a beautiful example of a sound mind in a sound body. Her perfect poise gives her power than her pupils feel though they may not recognize its source."

The young woman who takes up any line of work must show herself trustworthy. If she engages to do a certain thing, it must be done thoroughly, promptly and ungrudgingly.

If one has not the quality of courage, cultivate it. Not merely the dogged persistence that will finish a task begun, but the sunshiny courage that can transform even drudgery.

Above all else, there must be perseverance. It will not always be pleasant and easy to lose many of the good times going on around one, sometimes from lack of means, again from lack of time. There will come moments when the question, "Is it worth while?" will rise to torment one: hours when life seems all work, with no pleasure openings at all. Then is the time for a discouraged girl to tighten her will fibres; look at all the bright places to be found in her daily life: set before herself very clearly again the results she hopes to gain, and then work steadily on, putting into life all the good cheer possible.

Page 261

The results that she hopes to gain: What are they?

A rich harvest of knowledge, of course. But it is to be hoped that something more is expected and obtained than knowledge of books.

The college graduate should have gained knowledge of herself, of her own capabilities, and of the place she was meant to fill in the world. She should know how to carry herself in society, how to entertain, how to lose herself in consideration for others.

Through the distinguished musicians and lecturers who favor our colleges, she has gained glimpses into the worlds of art that have helped to polish her mind.

From the precept and example of Christian teachers she has learned the beauty of unselfish work; and has come to see that success in life is not to be measured by fame or money.

The college graduate should be able to refute the common complaint that higher education is unnecessary for the girl who is not to enter a profession, but is to have the management of a household.

She should feel, and be able to show, that the executive ability gained in college can be turned to the ordering of domestic comfort, as well as to the teaching of the classics. Her knowledge of chemistry and sanitation should give her household proper food, and keep her home in purity. And all the knowledge she has gained will not be too much for the guiding of a little child's mind. Sometimes it will not be enough to answer his questions.

"Frances is younger at twenty-five than she was when she entered college at nineteen," said a mother, speaking of her oldest daughter. "She was prim and old-fashioned then, and very one-sided in her views. Has she not changed?" Indeed she had. One saw a charming woman, easy in manner, interesting in conversation, and with that subtle something about her, that would certainly make any one describing her say, "A woman of character."

There was good material to work on in this case, but almost any prominent educator can recall instances of crude, unformed girlhood, that four years of college life have softened, rounded and developed into gracious womanhood.

To become a noble, cultivated, helpful woman! Is not that a high ideal for any girl? And if college life will help in the attainment of that ideal, then it is worth the glad giving of work and sacrifice.

Page 262

"I am indebted to my father for living, but to my teacher for living well." --Alexander the Great.

NEXT to the woman in the home, guiding and training her own little ones at her knee, stands the woman in the schoolroom teaching and leading thousands of little souls from the homes of others. Next to marriage there is no vocation for which woman is naturally better fitted than for that of teaching. She it is who guides, inspires and elevates. The safety and perpetuity of our national life is largely dependent upon a living, loving, womanly teacher in every schoolroom of our country.

In America the first lessons in English history, literature and composition were taught by the colonial mothers. These women teachers, by the fireside or spinning wheel, encouraged their children to keep up a close intercourse with the friends of the old home, and these early lessons from women of sterling character left their influence upon the later teachers.

Long after schools for boys were maintained, the girls were still at home with their "samplers" for "educational opportunities for children" meant educational opportunities for boys--and boys only. "Samplers" and "manners" should make a girl content.

Ambitious girls then, as at present, found a way to attain their desires, so in groups they quietly sat on the steps of the schoolhouse to hear the boys recite. How much they learned is not recorded, but there is mention that the "act was frowned upon and in some instances met with proper punishment."

Page 263

In 1761, when the school at South Byfield, Mass., admitted girls, it was regarded by the conservative as a "foolhardy act," one man saying of the girls, "It will make them less healthy, less domestic, less useful."

"Women must be educated; they must be!" exclaimed Mary Lyon, as she walked the floor with flushed cheeks and flashing eyes. Her mother wrote: "Mary will not give it up." This young woman's determination was a realization and the founder of Mount Holyoke College represented the culture of the early New England and New York schools.

"Added opportunities for culture means added power for usefulness," and that every woman might have this was the plan, labor and prayer of Mary Lyon's work as a teacher.

In all these schools girls proved their ability as pupils and with the increasing number of schools came the demand for women teachers.

The importance of deciding this question of woman's ability to teach is evident from the accounts of an old meeting. The arguments, favorable and unfavorable, were given thoughtful attention. One man sought to convince the others that woman was incompetent, lacked the physical force, and closed his remarks by arguing: "She can never thrash the boys."

Others brought forth the argument that woman had "directed and guided her little family with a gentle hand, tender love and sympathy; if able to teach the few, can she not teach the many?"

This argument won. Those who doubted and disliked the innovations of progress were convinced as they always will be.

The charge to the woman teacher was given hesitatingly, distrustfully, by the people. Among these teachers the struggle for bare existence and subsistence was severe. They received almost nothing for their labor of love; discouragements were met at every step and this new path was made even more thorny by prejudice than by necessity. The early women teachers met and conquered every difficulty.

In the little school kept by Elizabeth Peabody, at Lancaster, Mass., America early saw exemplified the principles of Plato, Plutarch, Luther, Rousseau, Pestalozzi and Froebel. The brothers and sisters whom she taught, as well as the daughters of the farmers and traders, here learned the meaning of Froebel's truth, "harmonious growth through self-activity."

Miss Peabody moulded the life of each pupil, and, above all, showed herself to be the true teacher in teaching others how to live. "Throughout my teaching life, I always made human life, as such, a leading study," said she. To-day every teacher who will "educate the soul" and follow the examples of Elizabeth Peabody and her sister, Mary Peabody Mann, will not fail in her work. These two devoted sister teachers skirted the borderland of the present kindergarten

Page 264

method, but it remained for Froebel to evolve the practical methods that put children in possession of their faculties before they are contaminated by the world.

The call for more schools of this character and for more women teachers increased.

In America, after the war, when the work of the reconstruction of the South was progressing, it was largely due to the corps of devoted women teachers that the colored people were brought into subjection and trained for industrial pursuits. These women exerted their influence along the lines where service demanded and duty called.

The history of every country shows that the very flower of womanhood has entered the ranks of teaching.

The girl of the present feels this truth.

The faculty of Wellesley College was and is largely composed of women. When Miss Alice Freeman, the young alumna of the University of Michigan, became Wellesley's second president, a great and marked development was apparent. To know the ideals of Wellesley was to know the ideals of Miss Freeman. When she became Mrs. Palmer, Miss Shafer made a strong permanent impression and left her influence on hundreds of teachers in the country.

Mrs. Irwine, Cornell's graduate, has exemplified the same high standard of womanhood, being an example of the motto on the college walls: "Non ministrari sed ministrare," and woman's highest honor has ever been found in faithful service.

We can trace the work of women as teachers in our colleges of Mt. Holyoke, Smith, Vassar, Wellesley, and thousands attest to the deep ethical influence, direct or indirect, exerted by Emma Willard, Catherine Beecher and Mary Lyon.

To-day thousands of young girls, encouraged by what has been done, are saying: "I intend to teach when I am through school."

This is one of the highest and noblest of ambitions, but she must carefully consider the requirements, the preparations, the struggles and the chances of her success.

Let a girl ask herself these questions:
Have I good health and strong nerves?
Have I broad education?
Do I love children?
Am I patient to a remarkable degree?
Am I sympathetic?
Have I tact, good judgment, common sense and governing power?
Have I originality and comprehensiveness of view?
Have I the faculty of imparting to others the knowledge I possess?
Am I able to awaken interest in children?
Am I willing to give up my present pleasures, privileges and freedom for those of a teacher?

These are among the requirements, and who is sufficient for all these things? The girl who teaches must be, and if these questions are inwardly answered in the negative, then the girl has no right to indulge in the dream of teaching. In this work there should be no experiments. Uncertain experiment upon human souls is tragedy of the worst kind. There is a fitness--a divine, inborn fitness--a wisdom of heart and soul required in shaping souls that is not essential to possess in shaping clay or fashioning draperies.

To the girl who is conscious of possessing the requisite traits of character comes the question: "What preparation is necessary?" "Get the best training and the highest education at any cost," were the words of an eminent teacher. Too much depends upon our schools to accept anything in a teacher but the most careful training, the broadest culture and the best womanly development.

One of our foremost women teachers said: "If you are strong and healthy, strong of purpose and determination, do as I did: borrow the money, go to a college or at least a training school, and in two years after the completion of your course you will have paid your debt and made yourself an heiress of the world's greatest riches."

Send for circulars of the various training schools, study and compare them, decide upon your work, and train--train as the athlete trains for the victory he hopes to win. Exert every effort in daily toil for the place you aim to fill.

Do not seek to become the average good teacher, but seek to make of yourself a most superior teacher.

Every child in the land demands the best work, the highest character in every teacher.

Our whole nation demands it and must have it.

A course at a training school is not long, nor is it expensive. In nearly every instance after the first term the weekly expenses may be reduced by assistance given in some line of work.

The only department of teaching which is not overcrowded is that of the kindergarten. In this field there is still room for hundreds of teachers. This is acknowledged to be the most important branch of the work and, as a natural corollary, the training is of the greatest importance.

Energy and time must be devoted to the study of every possible improvement adopted in the teaching of child-culture and child-development. A full understanding of its methods means the conviction that the best hope for the future of the world lies in the kindergarten and most of all in the kindergarten teacher.

Page 266

Each year the training schools are sending out women teachers who for months have given their attention to the fundamental laws of psychology and all that vitally concerns the development of tender, tiny child-life.

In all other grades professional preparation is demanded. The Normal College of New York, which furnishes ninety per cent of its public school teachers, is a free institution. From this college about four hundred girls are annually graduated, and five-sixths of these become teachers.

In the School of Pedagogy of New York the work lies beyond that of the normal schools. Here degrees are granted and advancement and success await those teachers who are able to acquaint students with the scientific investigations and principles of professional preparation.

After the decision is made and the preparation is accomplished, there will be many obstacles and struggles for the young teacher.

"Why do you select teaching as a field of work?" was asked a graduate.

"Oh, because the hours are shorter, and the vacations are longer than in other vocations; besides," she added, "you know the salary is assured, it is a permanent work if one shows ability, and one meets the most cultivated people." Six years later at a late hour one evening two hundred examination papers were closely packed on a table before her. These had taxed her physical, mental and nervous forces, and with eyes, head and heart aching, she was closing her day's work at eleven o'clock at night. Had she found the hours short?

Had she found an opportunity to meet the people she had hoped to meet? She had put her strength and vitality into the lives of others. She had been making men and women. She had made the reputation of being a rare teacher; but was she? She had never learned how to retain her forces for the benefit of those under her charge, and had a mistaken idea of her calling and its demands. Her life had been one of devotion but not true devotion; hers was not the ideal of duty-doing. Hers had been a complete self- surrender, an heroic self-sacrifice, but it had been a suicidal self- surrender and a mistaken sacrifice.

"It is all a struggle," said a teacher of three years' experience. "What is not?" Your realization of the deficiencies that cause the struggle, the responsibilities that increase it, is the strongest proof that you will become a better teacher.

"There is so much of pedagogy, so many scientific principles to grasp!" she continued.

Yes, but does all this resolve itself into simplicity when once mastered? Be thankful that a science of education has been formulated, adopted, and that you are commissioned to impart it to others.

The girl who contemplates teaching should clearly picture to herself the contrast between life as a student and life as a teacher. As a pupil she spent the

Page 267

greater part of her time sitting undisturbed in quiet halls, thinking of the one lesson before her, and of her individual desires. As a teacher she spends the greater part of the time standing or walking about a schoolroom, often noisy with street sounds, and she must think not only of the one lesson, but the many on her days program, and adapt each to the minds of not one but the forty, fifty, or even sixty pupils before her.

When at school she talked only occasionally, was surrounded by congenial faces and enjoyed her freedom at recess. When a teacher she must expect to talk a greater part of the time to a class whose faces represent all sorts and conditions of people, and at recess her care and responsibility is not lessened.

As a student her work was planned, the interest was created and her liberty was enjoyed.

As a teacher she must plan for every moment, she must create and sustain interest, and her liberty becomes confinement for at least a portion of the day.

A disheartening, discouraging outlook, is it? No. On the contrary, it is inspiring, it is full of incentive, full of love, engaging heart and soul. No vocation is capable of producing grander results, no work is more comprehensive, no work well performed is so soul-satisfying than this of leading and teaching living, breathing, human souls.

Whatever preparation is necessary, whatever struggles are encountered, she must make up her mind that she will succeed.

Once a timid-spirited woman ventured to suggest to Lydia Wadleigh that failure might attend her proposed plan. "Failure!" exclaimed Miss Wadleigh, flashing her large black eyes in defiance and scorn, "I fail! Never!" She carried this principle through her girlhood days among the New Hampshire hills at Sutton; it helped her to mount the heights at the New Hampshire Literary and Scientific Institution; it was the foundation of her success in the early Twelfth street school in New York City and finally won for her that glorious thirty-two years' record as New York's ablest woman teacher, closing with eighteen years as first lady superintendent of the Normal College in New York. Many a teacher to-day has felt the influence of Miss Wadleigh's "I fail! Never!"

Every girl who would teach successfully must be in herself all that she desires to communicate to those in her care. The traits of her own character stand out far more clearly to the intuitive minds before her than the chalk marks on her blackboards. If she would teach honesty, she must be honest; if she would teach truth, she must be true; if she would teach conscientious duty, she must be conscientious to her own duties. A teacher cannot be one thing and teach her children to be another. Childish minds are quick in detecting the slightest imposture and quick to resent it. Any trace of hollow pretension is supremely abhorred by a child. A child's perceptive and discriminating faculties have been

Page 268

underestimated. A model of pure thoughts, high ideals and noble aspirations will be loved and faithfully copied by the pupils.

The new education lies rather in the spirit of the teacher than in the subject taught; for, underlying all, permeating all, and paramount to all else in the school is the character of the teacher.

The great aim of the teacher should be to develop character. "Moral education is the essence of all education," said Elizabeth Peabody. Apply all your energy to make a high, liberal, justice-loving manhood and womanhood, and the result will be a success.

Page 269

IN this nineteenth century women are first enrolled as college presidents, professors and principals.

America to-day feels the influence of its women leaders in Vassar, Smith, Oberlin, Boston, Chicago, Wellesley, Cornell, Radcliffe, Michigan Universities and hosts of others. Our colleges stand for great ideas and these ideas are, in many instances, the ideas, the aims, the efforts of the women who act as principals.

Every year vast sums are left for the endowment of some college. Money alone cannot make a college; personal leadership can do this. Every new scholastic institution needs women of lofty ideals of the power of leadership, of administrative ability and of magnetic personality. Positions as presidents, professors or principals require the largest executive and administrative ability, the broadest education, the ablest, noblest women. No more faithful, resolute, devoted women workers have anywhere given more of their resources, of their physical and mental powers, of their very life's energy than these women as college educators who have helped to sustain, develop and perfect the greatest institutions of the age.

Not until the middle of the present century were attempts made in England to provide for the higher education of women. Queen's College and Bedford, in London, were established. Twenty years later Girton and Newnham followed, later still Lady Margaret and Somerville, at Oxford, then came the degrees to women at the University of London and of the honor examinations at Cambridge and Oxford.

Page 270

These early colleges, by the conservative, were regarded as a source of amusement. In 1870 the first lectures for women, resident in Cambridge, England, were delivered by university men. To these lectures the women came, eager for a higher, broader education than had hitherto been offered. Soon, from another part of England, came an application from a woman anxious to come to Cambridge and receive the instruction. The request was considered and after much deliberation it was granted. As a natural consequence more women applied, and in 1871 a house was opened for students under the charge of Miss Clough, who afterward became the principal of Newnham College.

In 1874 the first women students were admitted. Among those who attended during the first fifteen years, five became professors and lecturers in American colleges, one became principal of the Cambridge Training College for Women and hundreds became teachers.

In the educational movement in our country there were brave pioneers. The names of Mary Lyon, Emma Willard and Catherine Beecher signify broad ideals, early struggles and complete victories. It is largely due to their efforts that young women were placed side by side educationally with men. When the subject of a college course was mentioned to a conservative it was met with remarks similar to:

"Who shall cook our food and mend our clothes if the girls are to be taught philosophy?" or, "Think of a wife who forced you to talk perpetually about metaphysics or to listen to Greek and Latin quotations!"

Emma Willard early began to plan for a higher education of women, and with her to plan meant to accomplish. Her mastery of her girlhood's lessons, whether Milton, by the sheltered fireside, or astronomy from the exposed horse-block, proved that in her mind the difficulties should and would be overcome. This principle urged her forward through the schools of Miss Royce and Misses Patten in Connecticut, on to the position of assistant in Westfield Academy, to the full charge of a school in Middlebury, Vermont, and at last to the realization and establishment of the Academy for Female Education at Waterford, and later to more commodious quarters at Troy, N.Y. Popular sentiment was opposed to her "visions." At her school "in Waterford, in 1820, occurred the public examination of a young lady in geometry. It was the first instance of the kind in the State, and perhaps in the country, and called forth a storm of ridicule."

Miss Willard's path was not strewn with flowers; it was made extremely thorny; but her one purpose was to succeed.

What did it mean to her, how was it to be accomplished? It meant study and work from ten to fifteen hours a day, a constant effort to remove public prejudice, to rise above ridicule, to overcome indifference, and to explore new fields. It could only be accomplished by skillful teaching, patient drilling, the

Page 271

wise addition of new studies to the old, the slow winning of the co- operation of leading minds, submitting plan after plan to eminent educators, by arousing philanthropy and calling upon benevolence. All this Emma Willard did. She patiently and zealously prepared the way for a new era in woman's education. Troy Seminary was the result of her life-work.

To her, as to scores of other noble women at the head of schools, devolved the labor of arranging, re-arranging, simplifying, methodizing and leading as well as the responsibilities of the financial management. In all this work she was a power in that first of American schools for young ladies. The five thousand young women who were under her training have left rich legacies of her active, wide-reaching work.

Can one ask for a prouder, grander monument?

It is to such women of wide intellect and resolute determination that America owes much for its educational advancement of women.

Oberlin, Mount Holyoke, Vassar, Smith and Wellesley are indebted to the many noble women who pointed out the path and shed their own light upon it for the guidance of others. Many of the obstacles met and overcome by Emma Willard have been encountered by other women.

In Holyoke, Elizabeth Blanchard, its principal for five years and president for one, largely gave her energies for its present advancement. She arranged new schedules, secured extra funds and aimed to have the school a realization of the expressed purposes of its founder, Mary Lyon: "A permanent institution consecrated to the work of training young women to the greatest usefulness." To-day its present president, Mrs. Elizabeth S. Mead, is striving to develop these principles, and to her devotion, her love, is largely due the high standard of the work accomplished.

Mrs. Marianne Dascomb, when appointed principal of the ladies' department of Oberlin College, Ohio, established and sustained the fullest curriculum of studies for women which, in the history of our country, had, previously, never been reached. Here, in the forests of Ohio, in 1833, was established that first mental discipline equally as thorough and severe as that which had been and was then required of young men.

This college was an early example of the movement which accomplished so much toward supplying the wide West with great and efficient institutions for the higher education of women.

The early foundations of that educational movement were, to a great extent, laid by Marianne Dascomb, who, at the age of twenty-four, in the interests of literature, religion and humanity, accepted her responsible position. As the Western forests were gradually swept away, this institution became more of a power each year and to her judicious management, wise judgment and noble

Page 272

womanhood the college at Oberlin largely owes its safety, its wisdom and its early success.

[image: PROFESSOR MARIA MITCHELL]

Another girl struggling under adverse educational conditions was Sophia Smith. Eager for study, confronting meagre opportunities for education, realizing popular prejudice, indifference and opposition, she resolved to build a college for women. While the brother was gathering gold this sister's heart was preparing to dispense it. Her munificent gift of $400, 000 was called forth by her inmost feeling and thought: "There is no justice in denying women equal educational advantages with men. Women are the natural educators and physicians of the race and they ought to be fitted for their work." Again she said, We should educate the whole woman, physical, intellectual, moral, spiritual." The Greek motto over the entrance door at Smith-College, "Add to your virtue knowledge," was and is a principle nobly exemplified in its women professors.

A Vassar College woman will recall with feelings of pleasure and almost of reverence the names of Professor Maria Mitchell, Professor Braislin and Dr. Webster, who were early members of the faculty.

The magnetic influence, intense individuality and helpful spirit of Maria Mitchell, who for twenty-three years was Vassar's professor in astronomy, were long felt after her pupils had entirely forgotten zenith, azimuth, all the

Page 273

mathematical mysteries of eclipses, precession of equinoxes and the management of the sidereal clock in which this gifted woman was so thoroughly informed, and all of which were so loved by her.

She once said, "I had only ordinary capacity but extraordinary persistency." Her early familiarity with Nantucket's wide-bordering sea, the deep, blue overarching dome, her father's telescope, her books and this "extraordinary persistence" incited her to reach forth into the mysteries of creation and the outer universe, to earn for herself the gold medal from the King of Denmark, the copper one from San Marino, to accept the position of professor of astronomy at Vassar College when it was opened in 1865. Later it was this same persistency that completed her important scientific essays, her contributions on astronomy in the Scientific American, and most of all that made her work at Vassar, strong, vital, lasting and successful.

The homelike appearance inside the observatory, with its quiet, country- like surroundings, its windows half-hidden by roses and overlooking the garden, all proclaimed the woman, not the professor. Inside, the bust of Mary Somerville, the pictures of home friends, the china, books, souvenirs of foreign travel, all were evidences of womanly love and feminine taste.

The picture on instruction nights was that of the stately professor with piercing black eyes, her strong face softened by snow-white curls, seated like a queen among the beautiful, bright-eyed, laughing girls. Practical, mathematical work, drawings, photographs, records of meteorological matters and calculations beside the great telescope, was a part of the work required and accomplished; but greater, grander than all this was her earnestness, inspiration, strength, truth and justice which she imparted to every girl in her class. For such a professor a young woman has a reverence almost approaching worship.

The grandeur and breadth of her life-work seemed a part of herself; the quality of greatness always seen in the unfathomable spaces seemed reflected in her character; the great sums entering into her daily calculations were symbolic of the greatness of her daily duties.

The lives of such women as professors are not measured by the work accomplished by brain and figures.

A professor is not only loved because she can penetrate nebula, detect impurities in minerals, discover new specimens in science or develop a new method in literature or history, but because she can penetrate aspirations, detect thoughts, discover talent and develop character and womanhood.

Mr. Durant, the founder of Wellesley College, said, "Educated Christian women have more to do in forming the opinions and making the character of men than all other influences combined; I will build a hall large enough to accommodate three hundred girls."

Page 274

[image: ALICE FREEMAN PALMER]

While these plans were maturing a conscientious girl in the West was diligently studying all that nature gives so freely and all that schools gave.

Her desire for a higher education was increased by the opening of the doors to women of the Michigan University.

Here Alice Freeman entered, and after graduating in 1876 and spending two years in teaching, she was called, at the age of twenty-four, to the chair of history at Wellesley College. Her character, her work at once gave rise to the prophecy that she would some day be its president. In 1881 the summons came. She won all hearts.

Her ready sympathy, her sincerity, her conscientious devotion were an inspiration to every young woman to lead the same pure, earnest, noble life. To her untiring energy and conscientious devotion was due the higher standard, the broader work, the nobler womanhood.

Her example has been followed by Mrs. Shafer and Mrs. Irwine. Others, at the head of our seminaries and academies have a record glorious in its execution and grand in its influence. From the East to Mrs. Mills, president of Mills College, California, noble examples of women are found in our institutions whose influence each year is broadening. Included in the faculty of Standard University, California, is Miss Mary McLean, who has the distinction of being the youngest woman in the faculty of any Western college. The young lady is twenty-five years of age, an only child,

Page 275 [blank]

Page 276

and has been carefully reared. Her father is Rev. J.K. McLean, D.D., who has been in California for thirty years, and is known all over the West. He is the leading Congregationalist in California. Miss McLean, after graduating at the University of California, went first to England, where she entered the Oxford College annex. Later she studied in Berlin and traveled extensively. At Stanford Miss McLean is an adjunct to the chair of English literature. She will introduce a number of European methods, culled from the great colleges, all of which she has visited, into her new department.

[image: "HOMELIKE APPEARANCE INSIDE THE OBSERVATORY."]

The first normal school of which a woman was principal was founded in St. Louis, Anna C. Brackett, a graduate of the Framingham Normal School, being at one time its efficient head.

Not until within a comparatively recent time have colleges recognized pedagogics as a science. The first professor of pedagogics in America, Miss Bibbs, was appointed in the University of Missouri.

Few people outside of those in the educational circles realize all that is required in the character and ability of our woman principal. She must always be hopeful, cheerful, courageous: she must possess superior sense, keen insight, wise judgement; she must show skill and tact in managing the infinite number of college affairs, must meet every duty with devotion and zeal, must hold herself and hundreds of others in her care with a gentle hand yet with the firmest strength of will, and often sacrifice her own happiness for that of others.

In her daily work, in personal interviews, in consultations with teachers, matrons, parents, pupils, in assigning daily exercises and studies, in delivering her course of lectures to her girls, in general class instruction and in her ever watchful supervision does she not add each moment some new gem to her well-earned crown? Is she not entitled to the highest place of honor and power in the hearts of the college girls?

Many instances are cited in which comparatively unknown teachers of superior, natural ability and rare excellence have suddenly been called to assume the professorship or principalship in some institution of learning.

The teachers of the highest merit are raised from obscurity into the brightest light, she who was unknown in her work becomes known, the weakest becomes the strongest. Many of our women professors in Vassar, Smith and Wellesley received the call to greater, broader work when discharging the daily work in a field less known. True merit will find its place.

The filial-like devotion and affection which never ceases to exist between the student and the woman principal is the uniform and highest testimony to the high esteem in which these women are held. Their noblest work is written in the career of the thousands of young women whom they have fitted for life's highest and best service.