and over, and were very carefully handled. One textbook, an algebra, was
used by eight children, in succession, each child adding his name inside
the cover.
Mr. Mitchell, who was a Quaker, enjoyed quoting to his children from the
Bible and from the poets. He was particularly fond of references to his
beloved stars. He often said that an astronomer could not fail to
believe in God. One of the earliest poems that Maria learned was about
the heavens, beginning, “The spacious firmament on high.” She used to
like to say it over to herself when, in later years she was frightened
or troubled.
The most unusual object in Maria’s home was her father’s telescope. On
pleasant evenings it was set up in the back yard. Ever since boyhood Mr.
Mitchell had been interested in the stars and had made astronomy his
special study. Every clear evening he observed the heavens. Maria was
always glad to help him. Soon she took as keen a delight in watching the
sky as he.
The chronometers of all the whale ships which sailed into Nantucket were
brought to Mr. Mitchell to be “rated,” as it was called. Maria used to
help her father with this; and at a very early age learned how to use a
measuring instrument called the sextant.
There was no school at this time where Maria Mitchell could be taught
astronomy. Even Harvard University had no better telescope than her
father’s. Maria, however, had an excellent teacher in him. Many
scientists sought out Mr. Mitchell in remote Nantucket, and Maria had
the benefit of their conversation.
The years of Maria Mitchell’s girlhood passed quietly but happily. She
went to two schools that her father taught, and then to a private school
where she did very good work in mathematics. At sixteen years of age she
began to teach. She gave up teaching, however, to become librarian of
the Nantucket Athenæum, a position that she held for nearly twenty
years.
The library was open only afternoons and Saturday evenings. In the
afternoons there were few visitors, so Miss Mitchell had plenty of time
for reading and study. She went on with her studies in higher
mathematics and worked out difficult astronomical problems. Whenever
visitors came in and chatted, as they liked to do with this bright,
interesting young woman, her book was dropped for knitting. Maria
Mitchell never wasted a moment.
Every clear evening was spent on the housetop observing the heavens. No
matter how many guests there were in the parlor, Miss Mitchell would
slip out and, lantern in hand, mount to the roof where the telescope was
now kept.
On October 1, 1847, there was a party at the Mitchell home. Maria, as
usual, ran up to the telescope. Presently she hurried back and told her
father that she had seen a new comet. Mr. Mitchell was convinced that
she was right and he wrote to Harvard University, announcing the
discovery. Maria Mitchell received for this discovery a gold medal
offered sixteen years before, by the King of Denmark, to the first
discoverer of a telescopic comet. This won world-wide distinction for
Miss Mitchell.
The next year another great honor came to the Nantucket girl. She was
elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She was the first
woman to be admitted to this important scientific society.
Soon after this Miss Mitchell was asked to put her knowledge of
astronomy to use on a work for navigators called the _American Nautical
Almanac_. She was to watch the course of the planet Venus, and to make
the tables which mariners need to guide them. For nineteen years she
kept up this important work.
It was quite natural that a woman who had watched ships pass her island
home ever since childhood should long to travel. Miss Mitchell was
especially eager to meet the great scientists of Europe. At last the
happy time came for a European trip. Everywhere she was cordially
received, and astronomers not only opened their observatories to her,
but welcomed her in their homes.
Shortly after Vassar College was opened, Maria Mitchell was asked to
become its professor of astronomy and director of the observatory.
Accepting this position meant giving up to a great extent her own
studies and the hopes of making more discoveries in the heavens.
However, Miss Mitchell was very anxious that women should have a chance
for higher education. Therefore, she put her own ambitions aside and
threw herself into the work of teaching.
Hundreds who knew her at Vassar will say that she chose wisely. She was
honored as a remarkable teacher and loved as a friend and adviser.
Miss Mitchell was a prominent member of many important organizations.
Several colleges conferred degrees upon her.
In 1905 Maria Mitchell was elected to the Hall of Fame. This hall, which
is situated on the grounds of New York University, was built to
commemorate the achievements of distinguished citizens of the United
States.
Maria Mitchell lives in the memory of scientists as a great astronomer.
She lives in the hearts of her students as one who taught the beauty of
thorough and accurate work, and of lives free from pretense and sham.
[Illustration]
Alice Freeman Palmer—
The Girl Who Guided College Girls
Mr. Freeman lifted his five-year-old daughter to the platform to speak
her piece. Little Alice had been allowed to go comfortably to sleep
during the earlier part of the village entertainment. However, as soon
as she was on her feet, all traces of drowsiness disappeared. She loved
the bit of poetry that she had taught herself. With rosy cheeks and
sparkling eyes, she declaimed it so enthusiastically that the whole
roomful of people burst into delighted clapping.
Seeing smiling faces all about her, Alice smiled, too, and put her
little hands together and clapped as vigorously as anyone. She did not
realize that it was she herself who had given the audience pleasure.
Because these friends and neighbors were happy, she was happy with them.
When she grew up, Alice Freeman could still forget herself and enter
into the moods of others. She seemed to know exactly how the other
person felt. That was one of the reasons why, when she became the
president of Wellesley College, she was able to help the students make
the very best of their lives.
This first public appearance of Alice Elvira Freeman was in the country
village of Colesville, New York, where she was born, February 21, 1855.
Her father was a young farmer, high-minded and hard working. Her mother
was a farmer’s daughter and had been a school teacher. Both parents were
very deeply religious.
Mrs. Freeman was so busy cooking and churning and washing that
five-year-old Alice helped her all that she could. She washed dishes,
gathered eggs from the barn, and looked after the three younger
children.
Two years later there was even more need of Alice’s help. Mr. Freeman
had decided to become a doctor, and his young wife had bravely
undertaken to carry on the farm alone while he was studying. The two
little sisters and the brother depended on Alice to fasten their buttons
and to amuse them. Thus from a very early age Alice Freeman had to think
for others as well as for herself. Such training was of great value to
her when she had to care for a large family of Wellesley College girls.
When Alice’s father began to practice medicine in the village of
Windsor, New York, Alice loved to drive with him and hold the horse
during his visits to patients. She was interested in hearing about his
cases and she enjoyed the shady roads and wayside flowers. Throughout
her whole life, she rejoiced that she had been a country child.
At ten years of age Alice Freeman became an eager pupil at the Windsor
Academy. One of her teachers, who had taken a great interest in her
throughout her course, inspired Alice to go to college.
When Alice talked the matter over with her father, he said that he could
not afford to send her to college. He felt that, as there was only money
enough for one college education in the family, the boy must have it.
Alice begged very hard to go. She promised to send her brother through
college, and to give to her sisters whatever education they desired. Dr.
Freeman at length consented to her entering the University of Michigan.
As for her promise, she kept it to the letter.
At the University Alice was confronted with her next big problem. She
failed to pass her entrance examinations! The President had already
talked with the earnest, intelligent seventeen-year-old girl. He
realized that her school, though a good one, had not prepared her for
college. Therefore he asked the examiners to allow her to enter on a six
weeks’ trial. At the end of that time, there was no doubt of Alice
Freeman’s ability to lead her classmates.
This frail girl made up all the studies required for entrance, did
excellent work in her classes, and took an active part in the college
clubs. She went to church twice on Sunday and attended a midweek
service. She taught a Sunday-school class and put new life into the
Christian Association. She was never too busy to be friendly, cheerful,
and joyous.
Alice Freeman received her Bachelor’s degree after four years of college
work. Three years later, after having taught successfully in the middle
west, she was asked to become the head of the history department at
Wellesley College. In 1881, when she was only twenty-six years old, Miss
Freeman was made its president.
As college president Miss Freeman led a very busy life. The college was
young and needed to be guided carefully. She worked so lovingly and
enthusiastically for it that more students applied than could be
admitted. Wealthy people gave money for scholarships, and many new
schools were started to prepare students for college.
Miss Freeman was a real mother to the large family of Wellesley College
girls. They were free to go to her with all their problems, and they
never went in vain. She had a way of seeing the best thing in a girl and
of making her feel that she must bring the whole up to this level.
After six years of this devoted service to Wellesley College, Alice
Freeman was married to George Herbert Palmer, then Professor of
Philosophy at Harvard University. Happy years followed for them. Mrs.
Palmer was as successful a home-maker as she had been a college
president. She was a delightful hostess to the many interesting guests
that were welcomed at their home.
Mrs. Palmer still found plenty of work to do for others. She was a
trustee of Wellesley College, a member of the Massachusetts State Board
of Education, and the president of the International Institute for Girls
in Spain. She always could find time for any cause which was to make the
world wiser and better.
From all over the country Mrs. Palmer’s advice was sought on whatever
had to do with education. Many colleges and universities conferred
degrees upon her. In 1920 her name was greatly honored by being selected
for the Hall of Fame.
Alice Freeman Palmer, college president and great educator, never lost
the child Alice’s gift of sympathy. She cared very deeply what people
did with their lives. That was why she could inspire them to be of real
service.
[Illustration]
Maud Powell—
The Girl Whose Violin Spread Afar The Message of Music
The sweet strains of one of Mozart’s violin sonatas filled the room. One
of the players was a bright-eyed little girl. The other, it was easy to
guess from the proud and tender look that she gave her little companion,
was the child’s mother. Both mother and daughter loved these hours
together with their violins.
Music meant much to this mother. She enjoyed composing as well as
playing. She was very happy to know that music gave pleasure to her
little daughter also. The hope was in this mother’s heart that some day
little Maud would be a great musician. It was a hope that was realized,
for, in later years, Maud Powell became known as the foremost American
violinist.
Maud Powell was born in Peru, Illinois, August 22, 1868. When she was
two years old, the family moved to Aurora, Illinois, where, for several
years, her father was head of the public schools. From the time that
little Maud was a baby she loved music. When she was only four years
old, she was taught to play simple pieces on the piano.
At an early age she showed such fondness for the violin that Mr. and
Mrs. Powell decided to have her study in Chicago with Mr. William Lewis.
Twice every week little Maud had to travel on the train, forty miles
each way, to take her lessons. She had to go alone, too, because money
could not be spared to pay the fare of a companion. The little musician
enjoyed these lessons very much. After she grew up she did not forget
this teacher, and often said that he had given her a splendid foundation
for her work.
Before she was ten years old, the little violinist played in public as a
soloist with the Chicago Ladies Vocal Quartet. By the time that she was
twelve years old, it was quite evident that Maud Powell had real talent
for the violin. Then, her parents decided that their little girl must be
given the best possible musical education. They fully realized that this
would be very expensive, and would necessitate a long absence from home.
One day Maud said good-by to her dear father and all her young friends,
and sailed away to Germany with her mother to study music. Mr. Powell
missed his little girl and her mother very much, but he was proud when
he received letters telling of his daughter’s success. The good news
helped him to work harder so as to be able to send them the necessary
money.
After studying at Leipzig, the little American girl passed a brilliant
examination, and was chosen to play at a public concert. Later, Mrs.
Powell was anxious to have her daughter study with a distinguished
French teacher, Charles Dancla, at the Paris Conservatory. Maud learned
that there were only a few new pupils to be admitted and that she would
be one of eighty applicants. The examinations were made especially
severe for foreigners, but Maud Powell was the first to be admitted.
This Frenchman delighted in teaching the eager young American girl. He
took great pains with her, and was always just and fair. After having
had but three lessons on a selection on which a class of eighty-four was
to be examined, Maud Powell passed above everyone else. One of the
pupils had been studying this selection for six months. It was not only
Maud Powell’s greater talent but also her general knowledge of music
that made it possible for her to grasp new work readily.
The lonely father at home was cheered by messages of his young
daughter’s success and popularity in London, where she was playing in
drawing-rooms and at concerts. Joachim, a distinguished German
violinist, was so impressed by Maud Powell’s playing that he wanted her
to join his class in Berlin. He said that she was more than a mere
talented child; that she would, with training, make a great artist. She
passed the examinations for his class, without the usual six months’
preparation, and worked hard with him for a year.
Then came the longed-for return to America and the reuniting of the
family. Maud Powell was eager to show her father that his sacrifices had
not been in vain. Many people thought that the violin was an instrument
for a man only. Nevertheless, at the age of seventeen, this young girl
made her debut as a violin soloist at a concert of the New York
Philharmonic Society, conducted by Theodore Thomas. From that time on
the fame of Maud Powell’s violin grew. It was heard throughout the
United States and in many foreign lands.
Miss Powell did not play merely for a livelihood or for fame. Music had
meant so much to her that she felt that she must bring it into the lives
of others. She was especially eager to give the inspiration of her music
to people who had few opportunities of hearing great artists. That was
why she gave recitals in hundreds of small towns, and was always glad to
play for schools and colleges.
Miss Powell never slighted her programs even though she was playing in
the smallest place. She gave her best, thinking that some one in her
audience might not have another opportunity to hear good music.
In fact, Miss Powell never gave anything but her best at any concert.
She would memorize a long selection perfectly even if she knew it were
to be played only once. She took great pains to have her programs
varied, and delighted in introducing American compositions to her
audiences.
In 1904 Miss Powell married H. Godfrey Turner. He assisted her greatly
by attending to the business arrangements for her concerts.
Great praise and appreciation came to Maud Powell for the marvelous
music that she brought forth from her violin. However, the road from
gifted childhood to finished artist was a long, hard one. She pushed
aside every obstacle by her tireless work. The long hours of practicing
and the years of homelessness and loneliness were endured for the sake
of her beloved music. Maud Powell will always be remembered, not only
because she played the violin remarkably, but because she carried the
message of music to out-of-the-way parts of the world.
[Illustration]
Ellen H. Richards—
A Scientist Who Helped Home-Makers
“A half pound of saleratus, please,” demanded a customer. “I never can
cook with soda.” “Give me baking soda,” another woman insisted. “I
cannot use saleratus.”
The bright-eyed young girl behind the counter of the country store
supplied them both from the same package, rather amused that they should
not know that baking soda and saleratus are as alike as two peas in a
pod.
“I should like to know more about the nature of the things that I am
selling,” thought Ellen Swallow. Little did she dream that her future
years were to be spent in making life easier and happier for women by
enabling them to learn about these very things.
On December 3, 1842, Ellen Henrietta Swallow was born near the village
of Dunstable, Massachusetts. She was an out-of-door girl and loved to
follow her father and uncles about the farm. She drove the cows to
pasture, rode horseback, and often pitched hay. She made a little flower
garden too, and tended it carefully.
Little Ellen was also quick and skillful at indoor tasks. Her mother,
who had a deft hand at any kind of housework, taught her to sew and
cook. Ellen’s doll’s bed had sheets and pillowcases daintily hemstitched
by her own hand. At the country fair, one year, two prizes fell to
thirteen-year-old Ellen Swallow, one for a beautifully embroidered
handkerchief and another for the best loaf of bread.
Ellen’s mother and father were well educated, and had been teachers.
They taught Ellen at home until she was ready for the academy.
Mr. Swallow gave up farming and opened a country store in the village of
Westford, Massachusetts, so that Ellen could attend the academy there.
Ellen enjoyed her studies and mastered them thoroughly. She was such a
fine Latin student that later she was able to earn money for her college
expenses by teaching that subject.
Ellen Swallow was as active and energetic out of school as in school.
She was a capable little business woman. She waited on customers in her
father’s store and kept his accounts. She even made trips to Boston to
buy goods for the store. This early training was very helpful when in
later years she had to handle large sums of money for many philanthropic
and educational purposes.
At home Ellen was often the housekeeper for weeks at a time, during her
frail mother’s illnesses. She not only cooked and washed, but she
cleaned house, papered rooms, and laid carpets, as well. What she
learned of managing a house in her school-girl days was a very valuable
addition to what science taught her later about good home-making. Ellen
Swallow was very quick and capable. In addition to her school, home, and
store duties, she had time for reading and for working in her precious
flower garden.
After her academy days Ellen Swallow’s hours were filled by teaching a
country school, helping in the store and at home, and caring for sick
friends and neighbors; but she was not satisfied. She felt a great
longing to learn and to do more.
There was no college in New England at that time which admitted women.
Ellen Swallow therefore decided to enter Vassar College, at
Poughkeepsie, New York, which had only recently been founded.
College days were very happy ones for this active-minded young woman.
She wrote home to her mother glowing accounts of her new life and told
her all about her school work and the books that she was reading.
Science was her favorite study. One of her teachers was Maria Mitchell,
who took a great interest in the young girl.
After graduating from Vassar College, Ellen Swallow was eager to go on
with the study of chemistry that she had begun there. After some
difficulty she gained admittance to the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, as its first woman student. In fact, she was the first woman
to enter any strictly scientific school in the United States. One of the
teachers thought that this young woman looked rather frail to be taking
such difficult work. The President answered, “Did you notice her eyes?
They are steadfast and they are courageous. She will not fail.”
Not only did she _not_ fail in her studies, but she also supported
herself. She did tutoring, took charge of an office for a friend, and
temporarily ran the boarding house where she lived.
It was feared about this time that the water near many towns and cities
in Massachusetts was becoming unfit for drinking. The newly organized
State Board of Health decided to have samples of the water examined to
see whether it contained impurities.
Miss Swallow had proved herself to be so accurate and dependable that
the chemist chosen to analyze the water handed over most of the work to
her. Often she had to work far into the night when many samples came in
at a time. She analyzed forty thousand samples of water. This careful
work meant the prevention of much disease. For ten years she was
assistant chemist for the State Board of Health, and then chemist for
ten years.
When Ellen Swallow was married to Professor Robert Hallowell Richards,
head of the department of mining engineering in the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, she did not give up her public work. Yet she
maintained a real home in which she carried out her ideas about building
and furnishing, cleanliness and fresh air, and labor-saving devices.
Many guests were welcomed to this busy woman’s home and all found it a
place of restfulness and peace.
Mrs. Richards’ great desire was that girls should have the same
opportunity to receive a scientific training as had boys. Largely
through her efforts a Woman’s Laboratory was opened in connection with
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This Laboratory was
established for the purpose of giving scientific training to women.
Mrs. Richards gave generously to the Laboratory, teaching without
salary, and contributing to its support as well. Soon after women were
admitted to the Institute on the same footing as men, Mrs. Richards was
made Instructor in Sanitary Chemistry in the Institute, a position which
she held for the rest of her life.
Mrs. Richards might have spent her time in scientific research. However,
she preferred instead to put her knowledge of science to practical use.
She tested wall papers and fabrics to see if they contained arsenic, and
staple groceries to detect impurities. She studied oils to discover how
the danger from explosives could be lessened.
Mrs. Richards wrote many helpful books about home-making. She organized
a society of people interested in promoting right living in the home,
the school, and the community. The name of this organization is American
Home Economics Association. Because of her influence home economics is
now taught in schools throughout the land.
To Ellen H. Richards, sanitary chemist, the facts of science were never
just facts, but the means of making people healthier and happier.
[Illustration]
Elizabeth Cady Stanton—
The Girl Who Helped to Draft Woman’s Declaration of Independence
“What a pity it is she’s a girl!”