USA > Wisconsin > Centennial records of the women of Wisconsin > Part 2
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tions, among them a two story addition to the college building, 50 by 25 feet, for gymnasium, studio and music rooms.
In 1868, by the active exertion of Miss MORTIMER, three ladies, Mrs. W. DE L. LOVE, Mrs. W. P. LYNDE and Mrs. JOHN NAZRO were elected members of the board of trustees, and the next year the number of lady trustees was increased to five.
During the six years for which Miss M. held the lease of the college premises, other improvements were made, and the small library, sent in the early days by the association, was much in- creased, and the school was prosperous and gave general satis- faction.
In 1872, the lease expired and Miss MORTIMER was invited to consent to its renewal for five years. She, in return, renewed arguments and entreaties before made, against leasing the col- lege to any one, and urged the board to resume the responsible charge of it. Failing in this, she urged the ladies in the board to at least share this charge with her. They also declined and, very unwillingly, Miss M. consented to the renewal of the lease, on condition that the rent, hitherto $500 per annum, should be remitted, and that either party should be released at the close of any year by giving six months' notice. The conditions were ac- cepted, and Miss M. and her associates went on with their work. But still failing to relieve herself of the variety of responsibil- ities which rested upon her, Miss MORTIMER gave notice at the close of the year, that she should retire after one more year's service. She labored with the trustees to make timely arrange-
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ments for the future prosperity of the school, and when, after much delay, they chose Prof. C. S. FARRAR, of Vassar College, to be her successor, she labored faithfully to make all ready for him.
He required, and the friends of the institution felt it necessa- ry, that a fund should be raised to pay off the old debt of $3,000 and to renovate the buildings. Miss M. was one of the most active and successful agents in securing pledges for $1,000, and in July, 1874, she left, and Prof. FARRAR took charge of the in- stitution.
This period seems to form such a crisis in the progress of the Milwaukee College as makes it fitting to gather up what has been valuable in its past, beside, the Woman's Centennial Com- mittee demand it.
During the quarter of a century this institution has been struggling through many, and, often very depressing difficulties, to elevate the standard of female education, at the same time to aid in the work of educating the girls of Milwaukee and Wis- consin, it has had under its instruction, not less, it is confidently believed, than 1,500 pupils, of whom 120 completed its course of study. It has been a civilizing influence of no mean import- ance in this city and state.
In closing this sketch, it is desired to call attention to the fea- tures more or less peculiar and original in the work accom- plished :
1. Though the men of Milwaukee, especially Hon. O. H. 2
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WALDO, who deserves, above all others, honorable mention for thoughtful, faithful and persistent effort, did much, the enter- prise has been eminently designed and carried on by and for wo- man.
2. It has sought to develop the broadest and best education for its pupils. Its course of study recognized the three fold na- ture of the human mind - scientific, æsthetic and moral, and, from the first, made earnest endeavors for a symmetrical devel- opment of all the bodily and mental powers. That some suc- cess has been attained in physical culture is evidenced in the fact that, up to the time of the close of this sketch, only two of its graduates, the first of whom completed their course in 1850, so far as known, had died, and for the remaining 118, the writer feels safe in claiming more than the average health of women. Many of these are now filling positions of great influence and importance to the best interests of this and other states.
3. This institution, through all its history, has maintained its unsectarian character, no religious denominations, as such, hav- ing had any control over it, yet it has been decidedly Christian. The bible, as a book of history, morals and religion, has been carefully and systematically taught, and an original course of lessons, including the history of the other principal religions of the world and closing with the moral and historical evidences of Christianity, has been given to the senior classes.
4. Careful regard has been had to the life before the pupil after leaving school. For this, even at the sacrifice of some
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higher mathematics and Latin for those whose time in school was limited, a fuller and more carefully arranged course in His- tory and Literature than was or is usual in American schools of any grade, has been tanght, and the effort has been persistently made to bridge over the chasm between the sciences studied in school and their application in life. Weekly classes have been arranged for all the school, in which life. its duties, its trials, and the qualifications necessary to meet these were considered and discussed, and the dignity of labor and the obligations of all to be industrious, economical, and sincere were urged. Domes- tic economy as a science and art, was in some small degree taught, the tyranny of fashion was resisted, and excellence, rather than popularity or material reward, was tanght.
5. Earnest efforts were made to extend the educating influence of the institution beyond its immediate pupils. For this, the mothers of these and other ladies were gathered together to con- sider questions pertaining to education in general, and especially to discuss questions relating to the interests of the college, classes in history and æsthetics were formed which these ladies were invited to join, and many availed themselves of the oppor- tunity.
MILWAUKEE, March 15, 1876.
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LOUISE MANNING HODGKINS,
Preceptress and Instructress in French and History in Lawrence University.
THIS LADY, one of the most successful and efficient teachers which Wisconsin has ever had, was born in the town of Ipswich, Mass., August 5, 1846. Her home training was of the very best, and after a few years in the public schools, she became a pupil in the Ipswich Female Seminary, then as now under the management of MRS. COWLES, and then as now among the prom- inent schools of New England. She subsequently spent some time at the seminary in Pennington, N. J., pursuing some special studies, and finally entered the Wesleyan Academy at Wilbraham, Mass. There she graduated in 1870, being one of the very best scholars in her class. In addition to the usual curriculum, she had given much extra attention to the French language, and had become proficient in music.
Immediately after her gradnation she accepted the position of second lady teacher in Lawrence University. She began her labor in the fall term of 1870, giving instruction in English branches in addition to French and Botany. She early evinced remarkable aptitude and skill as an instructor by readiness of invention, the freshness imparted to whatever subject she might have in hand, and the constant enthusiasm inspired in her pu- pils in respect to their studies. Teaching with her is clearly a matter of agreeable choice, and not merely the necessity of hav- ing nothing to do.
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After four years in this position, she was, in 1874, on the res- ignation of Miss EVANS, elected Preceptress. With a somewhat higher range of work and large responsibilities in the way of government, she gave evidence of increasing competence and skill. Few teachers have ever been connected with the institu- tion who have made a reputation so brilliant, or achieved a suc- cess so complete. As a governess, both in her classes and over the ladies in general, she has few superiors. It is that sort of government in which obedience and respect are almost sponta- neously exercised without being felt as unpleasantly obligatory. There is in it both the natural familiarity which elicits the con- fidence and affection of the pupils, and the equally natural dig- nity which makes all rudeness and unseemliness of behavior nearly impossible.
MISS HODGKINS' scholarship is varied, thorough, and some- what extensive, and it is kept fresh by constant culture and ac- quisition. A woman of excellent and sensible tastes, of great refinement, of a vivacious temperament and ready conversational powers, she is fitted to be a valuable member of society. Her religions character is decided and clear, rational, and at the same time spiritual, involving a conscientious regard for duty, seek- ing and using opportunities for good, and recognizing her re- sponsibility in respect to any influence she may be able to exert, her action and example are most salutary and effective, both in the institution and in the community.
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ST. CLARA FEMALE ACADEMY, Founded at Benton, Wis., in 1846.
LOCATION AND BUILDINGS.
TINIS ACADEMY is situated on the side of Sinsinawa Mound, Grant county, Wisconsin, in the extreme southwestern corner of the state, within the angle formed by the Mississippi river and the Illinois boundary line. Sinsinawa. in the Sioux dialect, is translated " Home of the Young Eagle," according to the testi- mony of one of their aged chiefs who wandered to this spot some years ago to gaze sadly upon the former happy hunting grounds of his tribe. The eminence called the " Mound," according to the usual western phraseology, is a conical hill, rising about six hundred feet above the surrounding country, whose entire base has a radius of about six miles, and which forms a striking feature in the otherwise dead level of the prairie country; the slope is so gentle that the ascent is hardly perceptible until within about three hundred feet from the summit, when it rises quite suddenly in the form of a truncated cone, whose sides, swelling and sinking in long extended shallow valleys, and clothed with a magnificent growth of patriarchal oaks, make Sinsinawa Mound a landmark of which Wisconsin may well be proud.
The building is upon the southern slope of the hill, and is thus sheltered from the sweeping north winds, which are the
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severest trial of a prairie winter; it is about 129 feet below the summit, yet above the reach of the miasma from the river, and enjoys a remarkable degree of healthfulness. Since the erection of the present building in 1844, not one ease of epidemic sick- ness has occurred therein, a remarkable faet in consideration of the constantly changing household of an educational institution. This marked healthfulness of site is largely taken advantage of during the hot season by invalids from the neighboring cities. At the base of the Mound flows the Sinsinawa river, a pretty little stream with many windings. The sunnit of the Mound is capped by an outlying mass of Niagara limestone, a peculiar geological feature that has exeited much interest among the savants of the northwest, as this group exists in but one other small space within the area of many hundred square miles, in fact within the entire limit of the lead region. It gives a pecu- liar castellated appearance to the flat top, as the character of the rock, split as it is into parallel beds, irresistibly impresses one at first sight as colossal masonry. At the base of the Mound out- side the limits of the estate owned by the academical body, there have been discovered within the past two years, several exceed- ingly rich deposits of galena; no explorations for ore have been made within the inclosure, as the owners hesitate to sacrifice the beauty of situation of which they are so justly proud, by risking an attempt which might only end in disappointment.
The grounds in front of the building are filled with an exten- sive growth of Norway pine, cedar and arbor vitae, the finest and
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oldest growth of such trees in the state, set out about twenty years ago, they are now in the prime of their slow maturity; elsewhere in the grounds, nature has been left to herself, except- ing in opening several smooth, wide lawns, as art would only mar the perfect beauty of the landscape. The entire estate comprises three hundred and sixty acres; the inclosure immediately sur- rounding the academy, composing ornamental and recreation grounds, contains fifty acres.
The academy was originally located at Benton, twelve miles further to the northeast, and a splendid sandstone structure was erected there for boarding school purposes, built in the form of a hollow quadrangle, after a plan in the European style by the founder, who was architect as well as superintendent of all the public buildings with which he was connected. In 1867, the present place was bought, as the position and rare healthfulness offered inducements superior even to the costly new structure. The present building is of sandstone from a quarry on the estate built in 1845; it is four stories in height, with an observatory of three additional stories, which, from the elevated position of the building, offers a fine view of smiling plains and the broad Mis- sissippi. Adjoining the main building is another, erected as a hall for commencement day assemblies, concerts, lectures, etc., and capable of seating two thousand five hundred persons. A new and much larger building is loudly called for by the rapidly increasing needs of the school, but the general depression in money matters has caused its indefinite postponement. An ex-
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tensive cabinet of philosophical and astronomical apparatus is connected with the house, a large share of which was donated from the private resources of the founder; this collection is being annually increased as discoveries in science require. The entire range of buildings is heated by steam, the machinery having been in constant use for the past nine years, eight months at least of the year, yet needing no repairs, except the occasional insertion of a section of pipe; water is transmitted through the building by the same engine.
HISTORY OF ACADEMY.
St. Clara Academy was founded in 1846 by Rev. SAMUEL MAZZUCHELLI, a native of Milan, Italy, where he was born in 1806. Only son of a wealthy family, bankers for many genera- tions in that city, he forsook all that wealth and influence could offer, and came to this country at the age of twenty-two, one of the early pioneers of the wilderness. With a great mind, bril- liant talents and vast learning, he carried out his early boyish dream of evangelizing the savage. This darling object of his heart he followed for many years, till the crying needs of his own race, then almost as destitute of Christian training in that part of the country, as his Indian neophytes, drew him to their assistance, and thenceforth, as sole pastor of all the tract now comprising Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota, able jurisconsult, to whose legal knowledge government authorities were glad to have recourse, scientific lecturer, architect of the whole north-
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west, as nearly all the church and court house buildings erected previously to the past ten years bear witness, he utilized the splendid gifts of his many-sided genius where, surely, there was vast need of it. The closing acts of his life, filled with more good works, with more steady and varied mental and physical labor than it would seem possible for one man to accomplish, was the foundation of a college in this state, and a female academy endowed with funds falling to his share as heir of a large Italian property. The latter institution, incorporated in 1852, he placed under the charge of Dominican Sisters, imbibing the enterprising character of their founder, who foresaw and longed to provide for the needs of his adopted country, with a zeal and depth of comprehension which many of her native born sons seem unable either to possess or understand. Since his death in 1865, the institution has founded different branches in Chicago, Madison, Faribault and various other cities of the several adjoining states, where, in regularly graded schools are taught both sexes of all ages and classes. The experiment of teaching boys of fourteen and upwards was considered a hazard- ous one by those who knew that in schools presided over by these ladies, there is no opportunity of a resort to masculine strength and authority in extreme cases, as in other large schools superintended by a male principal, but the oft-repeated and disputed assertion, that physical coercion in necessary in the government of boys seems to be refuted in this case at least, of a surety. The number of scholars taught in the several depart-
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ments lies between four and five thousand, fully half of whom are boys, of the various ages and types that frequent the public schools of large cities. There has been no rejection of any one case, for previous troublesome reputation or any cause; yet, in no case have these teachers failed to secure perfect obedience, respect and the certainty of mental improvement.
AIM OF THE INSTITUTION AND COURSE OF STUDY.
The academy proper, at Sinsinawa Mound, is of course, a boarding school. The regular academic course of study extends through four years; for entering upon this, in the English department, a thorough knowledge of the elementry branches is required; a different department is devoted to those who are not able to meet these requirements, yet another, to children under twelve years of age.
The following is the regular course of study at present:
First Year. - Arithmetic, English Grammar, Composition, United States His- tory, Elements of Natural Philosophy, Latin and French at option.
Second Year. - Arithmetic, Algebra, Modern History, Rhetoric, Philosophy, Physiology, Bookkeeping, Latin and French continued.
Third Year. - Arithmetic, Algebra, Rhetoric, Philosophy, Astronomy, Physi- ology, Geometry, Latin and French.
Fourth Year. - Chemistry (rudiments), Geology, Physiology, Geometry, Plane Trigonometry, Intellectual Philosophy. Taking copious notes of Historical Read- ings is obligatory.
TEXT BOOKS.
Quackenbos' Series-Grammar, Rhetoric, Philosophy and United States History. Ray's Mathematical Series, with exception of Geometry, in which Davies' Legen- dre is found preferable. Cutler's Physiology, Gray's Botany, Hitchcock's Geology, Youman's Chemistry, Abercrombie's Intellectual Philosophy.
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Latin. Harkness' Grammar and Reader, Andrews' Cæsar, Cooper's Virgil. French. Fasquelle's Course; Readers: Sauveur's Causeries, Telemaque, Racine. German. Ahn's and Woodbury's Methods, Woodbury's Readers, Goethe's Letters.
Italian. Ahn's and Ollendorf's Methods, Fonesti, Current Literature.
The various branches in the above course, with the exception of Latin and French are obligatory for the English course, for the satisfactory fulfillment of which, an English diploma is bestowed by the faculty. A satisfactory knowledge of the Æneid of Virgil is necessary for receiving a Latin diploma. The annual number of graduates has never exceeded seven, as the peculiar social feature of a comparatively new country renders the course laid down above, and the thorough completion, too arduous, necessitates a longer time for the fulfillment of its requirements than accords with the impatient spirit of this sec- tion of country. The majority remain only long enough to be thoroughly drilled in the various branches of a common school education. Music is of course one of the special features of the school, but all candidates are speedily disabused of the still too commonly received notion, that the highest achievement of a female student is a musical triumph or a marvel of embroidery.
Were the aim of this Institution a pecuniary one, it would greatly promote its interests by lowering and narrowing its standard; a course which would directly conflict with the pur- pose for which it was founded, that is teaching the young Chris- tian that she becomes a better Christian by improving to the ut- most her God-given faculties.
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The Academy is a Roman Catholic Institution, its corps of teachers a body of religious women of the order of St. Dominic, founded for the sole purpose of teaching, whose whole training is to that end, who are taught from the first that all truth is di- vine and that mind is man's best earthly endowment, and that no false reasoning, no foolish fear of woman's stepping down from her sphere should interfere with woman's highest intellectual development, for they know that those who have left their own sphere have not sought honestly the great aim they pretended to follow - who teach that wide knowledge of the resources of this beautiful world cannot endanger a soul rightly guided and strengthened, but will lead her more surely to Him who gave us both the universe and the faculties wherewith to explore it. Many of the pupils enter with the intention of becoming teach- ers elsewhere, therefore the course of instruction is in the main directed to that end; and yet more is it directed to fixing firmly in those young hearts, the full realization of the heavy responsi- bility that will rest upon them, as wives and mothers, educators of the future citizens of this republic.
This sketch of the St. Clara Female Academy is furnished by one of its Sisterhood, but as it would be incomplete, without honorable mention of one at least, of the noble women who de- vote their lives to its interests, this brief history of its young Mother, EMILY POWER, is added without her knowledge.
She was chosen to fill this office in 1865, at the age of twenty
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years, and the choice by ballot, recurring every two years, has resulted each time, in retaining this gifted woman in the place.
It will be remembered that the SINSINAWA property was origi- nally, by the endowment of the Rev. SAMUEL MAZZUCCHELLI, a Dominican College. After a lapse of years, this brotherhood found itself deeply involved in debt, and sold the estate to a busi- ness firm in Dubuque. In 1867, the Sisters of St. Clara, then in a flourishing condition at Benton, conceived the idea of re- deeming the SINSINAWA estate, over which desolation and ruin brooded, that they might reconsecrate this fair spot to the ser- vice of the church.
Their funds for effecting this purchase had accumulated from teaching in the Academy, and in both parish and public schools.
Ten thousand dollars were expended on the buildings to make them habitable, and while the Benton place was retained as a novitiate, St. Clara Academy found a new home on Sinsinawa Mound. All the business negotiations and arrangements con- nected with this transfer were effected by the Mother EMILY POWER. Branch schools in various places have been the out- growth of Sinsinawa, and in every case the Mother has made the purchases of real estate necessary, examining deeds and securing titles with the acuteness and accuracy of a skilled lawyer. She has the oversight and control of all these schools. traveling from station to station, and so wisely conducting the finances of each, that all are prosperous and unincumbered by debt.
We often deem it a laborious task for a man, to keep in har-
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monions action one literary institution; what then shall be said of this young woman of thirty years, small in stature and of del- icate organization, with her many fields of labor, carefully and wisely governed and guarded?
We leave this question to be answered by those who deny to woman the highest intellectual capacity, if any such ean be found, in an age which bears on its esentcheon the names of MARIA MITCHELL and MARY SOMERVILLE.
MILWAUKEE INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL.
THE NECESSITY of establishing an Industrial School, which should have for its aim and objeet the reformation of vagrant children, and children who were permitted to wander in the streets as beggars, and those whose condition would naturally lead to vice and erime, had been a matter of much thought to the benevolent ladies of the city of Milwaukee for many months, and various plans had been proposed and discussed for the accomplishment of that object when the winter of 1874 set in. The unusual severity of that winter and the depression of all kinds of business whereby so many men and women were thrown out of employment, had the effeet to increase largely the number of vagrant children in our streets, and proved to be the occasion for adopting active and decisive measures.
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In February, 1875, a meeting of the ladies of Milwaukee was called to discuss the feasibility of establishing an Industrial School similar to others in operation in this and other countries.
An organization was perfected at that time, but was soon found to be of little practical benefit, owing to the want of co- operative legislatve action on the subject.
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