LADY PRINCIPAL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI.
During the ten years of Mrs. Carr's connection with the University of
Missouri, we find her busy mind occupied by three entirely distinct sets
of interests.
In the first place, of course, there was the University work, into which
she threw herself with tireless energy and splendid success. The
position she occupied was Professor of English, and Dean of the Young
Ladies' Department,--a two-fold work, which threw her into contact with
both sexes in the classroom, and called for the exercise of rapid
judgment in the government of the young ladies.
As Lady Principal, she not only preserved order in the study, looked
after the health of its occupants, shaped the literary exercises of the
various organizations, and gave as much energy to procuring new students
as if she were conducting a private school; but she strove to win the
confidence of her girls, that she might lead them to higher spiritual
planes of life; and we find her making the same religious impress upon
the minds of the young men.
We need but refer to two letters written to Mrs. Carr in later years,
leaving the reader to judge of the positive results of such a character
as that of Mrs. Carr; results too significant and lasting, to excuse a
lack of appreciation, or to palliate the breach of unkind criticism. One
is written by a distinguished citizen who states that he was on the eve
of committing suicide, when he came under Mrs. Carr's influence; and
that she, unconscious of his darkened mind, saved him by the clear
radiance of her daily life. The other tells of a young man who entered
the University with no ambitions and no purposes in life.
"All that I am now," he writes, "I owe to the time spent with you in the
classroom." He occupies a high government position.
In 1882, Mrs. Carr, writing to Hon. J. S. Rollins, states what she
regards as her most important duties at the University: "The subject of
my salary was thoroughly discussed last year by your Executive
Committee, and it was reported to me by Eld. J. K. Rogers, that my
salary of $1,500 should remain unchanged. The avenue to my highest
success in my supervisory work (which is indeed, my chief work), is my
social intercourse with the young ladies under my charge; and this can
be best secured by having a home in which I am free to invite them at
any time. My classroom work, as Adjunct in the English Department, and
as teacher of calisthenics, entitles me to $1,200, and the classwork is
the least important, and the least embarrassing, of all. My supervisory
work demands the most constant and harassing thought and involves great
responsibility."
The following from Mrs. Carr, to the Board of Curators, will show how
thoroughly she threw herself into the interests of her young friends: "I
hereby testify that the appropriation asked by the Philalethian Society,
is needed to complete the furnishing of their Hall. I need not tell you
that the work for girls in our University is yet in its infancy, and
needs especially, therefore, your guardianship and helping hand. I have
encouraged the young ladies to appeal to you, through President Laws. If
you hesitate to grant the petition on the grounds of financial pressure,
will you please allow $138.60 of my salary to be deferred, until after
the next appropriation by our Legislature?"
Mrs. Carr began to lay great stress upon the physical developments of
her pupils,--a neglected branch of education in her own case. Her entire
work at the University was destined to strengthen those powers of
government, already highly developed, for the future scene of her
greatest usefulness; and, in after years, we find her views on physical
culture, carried out in concrete form. In addressing the young ladies of
the University, she said:
"If you will stand for one day at the corner of Washington Avenue and
4th Street, St. Louis, or Broadway and Fulton, New York, and watch the
passing multitude, you will see scarcely one in ten who is erect, or
well-built. The large majority of Americans are born of imperfectly
developed parents. After six years' association with the robust women of
England and the Continent, the physical degeneracy of American women
appeared more marked to me than ever before. In London, the broad feet
of robust women make the flags resound in the early morning; in New
York, the tiny feet of pale-faced ladies trip along Broadway at stated
fashionable hours. An Englishwoman thinks nothing of walking from six to
ten miles a day. After climbing and descending the Cheops of Egypt, I
was unable for three days to ascend an easy flight of stairs. An
Englishwoman who went up the Cheops as I did, rowed up the Nile, the
following day, to the Boolak Museum, enjoyed a donkey ride back to
Cairo, returned to the hotel, and spent the evening in nursing my aches
and pains. Physical tendencies, whether toward beauty or deformity, like
gentle dispositions and moral obliquities, are inherited; remember that
you are the coming mothers of the nation."
It is not our intention to dwell upon Mrs. Carr's daily life in
Columbia. Any young lady desiring to attend the University, is asked to
correspond with her. She delivers lectures in the University Chapel; she
contributes to the Missouri University Magazine; she corresponds with
Miss A. M. Longfellow, daughter of the poet, concerning their work--for
Miss Longfellow holds at this time, practically the same position at
Harvard, that Mrs. Carr does at Columbia; she advises with
Representatives concerning the passage of bills at Jefferson City; she
is in frequent consultation with Dr. Laws regarding the perplexing
problems that are always arising in University life.
In presenting the portrait of Dr. Laws to the young ladies of the
Philalethian Society, in 1886, she compares the ladies department with
its status ten years before--the year before Dr. Laws became president.
It was natural for her to attribute the secret of the great development
to the doctor's labors. Whatever may have caused the wonderful growth,
there can be no doubt that much of it was due to Mrs. Carr. She says:
"In the catalogue of 1876, all announcements concerning the young ladies
are restricted to 33 lines. It records 39 lady students, only four of
whom lived outside of Boone County. The catalogue of 1885 records a
special service for young ladies; generous provisions for their physical
education; a Girls Academic Course, equivalent in honor to any other
academic course of the University; a neatly furnished and convenient
study, on the first floor, and another in our elegant library room; a
handsomely furnished society hall, lighted by electricity; and many
other conveniences, and luxuries. We have 73 young ladies now attending
the University. They represent 28 counties of Missouri, and four states.
In 1875, no girl took a degree. In 1885, four received academic degrees,
four, professional degrees, and one read the McAnally English Prize
Essay. On Commencement, 1886, one read the Astronomical Prize Thesis,
and another delivered the valedictory of the Normal graduates."
A large and interesting volume could be filled with the lectures of Mrs.
Carr. For biographical purposes, they need be simply referred to, as an
indication of one form of her activity. The preparation of such
discourses, replete with classical and historical illustrations, must
have consumed many of these late hours snatched from the rightful claims
of repose and relaxation. One might suppose that this woman, always
frail, always wakeful, liable at any time to fall the victim to
headache, would have found the University work with its many-sided life,
much too great for her strength. For her physical strength, it was, no
doubt; but that untiring mind found leisure, after its thousand details,
to turn in another direction. As we have said, she had three separate
sets of interests, during the ten years at the University. We are now to
consider the second--her connection with the women's missionary work of
her church.
We have a threefold purpose in dealing with Mrs. Carr's work for the
Christian Woman's Board of Missions. In the first place, it formed a
large part in her life; in the second, the work in itself is
interesting; and in the third, it proves how erroneous were the
circulated reports that Mrs. Carr was opposed to organized missionary
work. Concerning these reports we shall speak at another time. At
present our difficulty is to select from among the many appeals to Mrs.
Carr to speak at conventions; from reports of her addresses; from
accounts of money sent in by her for the missionary magazine--the
_Tidings_; and from the various conferences held by her with the members
of the board,--lest our narrative be overburdened with a mass of similar
instances. It seems almost incredible that one so absorbed as she in the
University work, could have given not only her vacations, but special
days during the school year, to the labor of organization, and platform
addresses, appeals for money to the missionary cause, and for
subscribers to the _Tidings_.
That strangers to the Christian Woman's Board of Missions may understand
just what it was, and that its friends may know how much it had
accomplished at this time, we present a condensed account of the
organization, delivered by Mrs. Carr at the Annual Convention, at
Carthage, Mo., in 1885; by this means we are not only enabled to
introduce the subject, but to give an adequate conception of Mrs. Carr
as a public speaker:
"I want to talk to you directly about our mission work, giving a
historical sketch of the Christian Woman's Board of Missions from its
incipiency to the present time.
"In July, 1874, Mrs. Cornelia Neville Pearre suggested the desirability
of effecting a missionary organization among the ladies of the Christian
Church. The sisters were exhorted to consecrate monthly little sums of
money from their allowances, or salaries, as individual means to the
spread of the Gospel. The idea at once became popular. A little Aid
Society in Indianapolis seized upon the thought, and discussed it. At
their meeting a stirring letter was read from Mrs. Pearre setting forth
the purposes and basis of the proposed society. At the same meeting, a
brief article of incorporation was drawn up, to which eight names were
signed. A president, secretary and treasurer were elected, and a meeting
appointed.
"The women composing the new society were inexperienced in the work. Not
one of them had ever lifted her voice in a convention; all of them were
wholly unskilled in parliamentary address. They were simply
housekeepers, wives and mothers; but their hearts burned to do more for
the Master, and they had the rare sense to know that organized effort is
the surest and shortest road to success. Not long after, Brother Isaac
Errett espoused their cause, and sounded forth the entreaty, 'Help these
women!'
"This led to a mass meeting of Christian women, held in Cincinnati at
the same time as the General Convention of the Christian church. About
seventy-five composed the meeting, over which Mrs. Pearre presided; in a
most earnest and prayerful manner, she presented the purposes and plans;
and then and there, the Christian Woman's Board of Missions assumed an
organized form, and entered quietly upon its humble yet glorious career.
"Indianapolis was made headquarters for the general officers. Five
States were represented, and a vice president, a secretary and managers,
were elected for each. After a full and free discussion it was resolved
that Jamaica should be the first object of their care. The unanimous
vote for the revival of the Jamaica Mission, which Brother Beardsley had
been forced, in sorrow, to abandon, and whose resumption had long been
postponed, brought delight to many hearts; though some present had hoped
that a field nearer home would be chosen.
"The following December the Executive Committee held its first meeting
at Indianapolis, and determined to make an effort to establish Auxiliary
Societies in every State and Territory of the Union. The following
January $1,500 was in the treasury, and Brother W. H. Williams of Platte
City, Missouri, sailed with his wife and child, for Jamaica.
"The day after his arrival in Kingston, though debilitated from the
rough voyage, he preached to about thirty, in a dilapidated Chapel. His
audiences increased. He established prayer meetings, Sunday-schools,
teachers' meetings, and carried the Gospel from house to house. Through
his instruction, several native young men were soon prepared to render
valuable assistance. When, in 1879, Brother Williams was forced to
resign on account of his wife's ill-health, he was succeeded by Brother
Isaac Tomlinson, under whom the work steadily advanced.
"In 1882, Brother W. K. Azbill was appointed. Through his association
with the Baptist ministers, he soon ascertained that the differences
between their doctrine and his was merely nominal. His proposal that the
name 'Christian' be substituted for 'Baptist' was joyfully accepted by
several of the oldest and most intelligent ministers, who, with their
entire congregations, planted themselves upon the Bible, and the Bible
alone. A building-fund was established looking toward the permanent
establishment of the work in Jamaica.
"We are especially anxious to put our schools upon permanent basis, for
the educational work is, after all, the best and most lasting missionary
work. It is our earnest prayer that we may see, after a few more patient
years, the desire of our heart fulfilled,--the cause of Jamaica, the
oldest born of our love, self-supporting, under the exclusive management
of native talent.
"Brother and Sister DeLauney have, for several years, been supported by
the Foreign Christian Missionary Society, at Paris, France. In the
summer of 1879, the Christian Woman's Board of Missions, with hearts
stirred by their success in Jamaica, determined to contribute to the
French mission. At the Bloomington convention they pledged $500 to the
salary of Sister DeLauney's assistant. Immediately after this, our
beloved Brother Timothy Coop of England, without any knowledge of our
purpose, presented us with L100. God put it into our hearts to promise
$500, and He put it into Brother Coop's heart to pay it, so that the
following year we were able to give $500 more to the French mission.
"In 1881 we enlarged our mission by establishing a mission among the
freedmen of the South. At Jacksonville, Mississippi, Elder R. Faurot is
carrying forward the evangelical and educational work, among a large
colored population.
"In 1882 the Christian Woman's Board of Missions became a happy
stockholder in the India Mission. The Foreign Christian Missionary
Society sent Brother Albert Norton and Brother G. L. Wharton and their
wives; we sent Miss Mary Greybiel, Miss Ada Boyd, Miss Laura Kinsey and
Miss Mary Kingsbury. These offered themselves for that remote corner of
the Lord's vineyard, without any stipulated salary. There is a work
there which only women can do. In Oriental countries, the home must
first be captured for Christ; and in these homes, men cannot give
instruction to the hedged-in women.
"Missouri had the honor to suggest the next field to be occupied--the
far West. In June, 1883, Brother J. Z. Taylor assumed control of this
department, and in a short time Brother M. L. Streator was established
at Helena, and Brother Galen Hood at Deer Lodge. These two congregations
were at that time the only ones in Montana. The Western field is
immense, and the sooner it is occupied, the less the difficulty of
occupation.
"As I spent six years of my life 10,000 miles from home, helping my
husband in his labors for the Master, I will not be thought sectional or
narrow, though I say that I regard the Western mission as our most
important one. Indifferentism, skepticism, Mormonism, and almost the
whole catalogue of _isms_ are growing rank in the busy, rushing,
money-loving Western heart; if the children of God do not eradicate
these poisonous weeds, American civilization must inevitably
deteriorate, for the character of a country's civilization depends upon
the character of its people.
"In the midst of infidelity at home and heathenism abroad, the Christian
Woman's Board of Missions is pushing forward, in a quiet, womanly way,
without the sound of trumpets, or the gleam of arms, its blessed work
for the Master. We are doing something; but a completer organization
will help us to a completer work. The best results can be accomplished
only by a systematic plan, a comprehensive grasp and a disposition of
forces: We must organize ever new auxiliaries; we must strengthen the
weaklings, revive the dying, and, by the power of the living Christ,
bring the dead from their graves of idleness. Let us have more and
better societies. The gifted Mrs. Browning says:
'The world wails
For help, beloved. Let us love so well,
Our work shall be the better for our love.
And still our love be sweeter for our work.'
"Daily, we pass into the likeness of that which we believe. Very soon,
Faith hangs out a label, and the whole woman becomes a confession of its
truth. If you have faith in God to save souls, you will certainly be
transformed into the perfect likeness of the missionary woman. You may
have much to discourage you; it may be better for you, if you do. Those
from whom you have the best right to expect sympathy, may be those who
will misinterpret the truest purposes of your heart. He who engages in
any work worth the doing, must antagonize somebody. But what of that? Is
not woman the best burden-bearer? Can you not weep tears of
bitterness,--yet press on, in the midst of all discouragements, to the
beautiful likeness of the Great Missionary, who left the solemn
injunction, 'Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every
creature?'
"We scatter the seed. But when we are old and feeble, who will gather in
the golden sheaves? Where are the future reapers and sowers? They are in
the Children's Bands. In them you will find the sure prophecy of the
future of the Christian Woman's Board of Missions. Whether that prophesy
be radiant with promise, depends upon how we are educating the girls of
to-day, to be the women of tomorrow. Some time, our brains will grow
dull, our hands helpless. Shall not the daughters receive the torch of
truth from the hands of the mothers?
"In conclusion, let it be felt as inevitable that we should often feel
tired by the way; that we should hunger for human sympathy; that our
best efforts at times prove barren of results, through the indifference
of God's children; that the purest purposes of our hearts be impugned by
those we love best; for a public work, however unobtrusively performed,
and painful criticism, cannot be divorced. It is said that there is a
grape which, transplanted from its native soil, loses its taste; but
possesses the flavor of the soil, when grown upon the banks of the
Rhine. It is only when our lives are planted in the aromatic soil of the
love of humanity, that our lives shall be identified by the richness of
Christianity; and no human hand, however unkindly strong, shall be able
to transplant our affections into an alien soil, or take from our lives
their flavor of piety and devotion."
Having now placed before the reader the object and accomplishments of
the Christian Woman's Board of Missions, in Mrs. Carr's own words, thus
showing her attitude toward it, we come to speak of the third great
purpose that influenced her life during the ten years' work at the
University.
It was none other than the same central idea of her life which we found
developed in the Daughters College days of her girlhood. She realized
that in her present position at Columbia, she had reached the highest
step in her educational career; the highest, because she was thrown
into touch with the greatest number of young lives which it became her
privilege to shape toward lofty aims.
Indeed, her entire history shows advance steps. The tentative experiment
of her first school at Lancaster was fortunately relinquished for her
work among the girls of Australia, with its broadening experiences.
Having acquired that broader view of life that comes with the extended
horizon of foreign lands, it would have been unfortunate, had she not
returned to America to communicate the fruits of her observations.
Hocker College was, accordingly, an advance upon the Melbourne work,
just as Floral Hill, where she was sole authority, hence better able to
carry out her original ideas,--was an advance upon Hocker. Her keen
foresight, and unalterable determination to sacrifice personal feelings
for the development of wider aims, led her to merge Floral Hill into
Christian College, thus losing her identity in swelling the general
good. As we have seen, the promotion from the Christian College to the
State University was one of far-reaching importance.
And yet, Mrs. Carr was not content. She had not reached that ideal
toward which she had directed her gaze when a mere girl; and, in the
elements of her nature, there were traits that refused to be satisfied
by anything but the great object in view. Success did not for an hour
swerve her aside from her fundamental purpose; to establish a college
for girls in which she might develop her original ideas of government
and tuition.
Hence, all during the Columbia days, we find her seeking a promising
opening. Her eyes were turned toward many fields. Her caution and
prudence prevented her from relinquishing a great responsibility for an
uncertain experiment; but her indefatigable mind, while rejecting one
expedient after another, never wearied in the quest. Hence it is that
during those years, we find her absorbed not only in University work,
not only in missionary interests, but always, as well, in the great
object of her life.
It was particularly in the latter that her husband proved of invaluable
assistance. Called to preach in many diverse scenes, it was his
pleasure, and his care, to look about for a suitable opening where a
college for girls might be established; a college whose foundation
stone should be the Word of God, and whose every day's instruction
should be permeated with the love and power of its truth.