t K \ \(p c RADCLIFFE COLLEGE PRESIDENT LE BARON R BRIGGS RADCLIFFE COLLEGE Irwin Gate , Radclijfe College *A "BRIEF DESCRIPTION BY President Le BARON R. BRIGGS RADCLIFFE COLLEGE Library , Agassiz House , and Gymnasium Radcliffe College owes its origin to no munificent be- quest, to no gift of money, of buildings, or of land, but to a demand which has sustained it from the beginning, though it began with no money whatsoever and though the pro- portion of its unrestricted income to its annual accomplish- ment has been incredibly small. Half a century ago ambi- tious girls might take in New York examinations to prove that, if Harvard College had been open to women, they might have entered Harvard College ; but Harvard College had no thought of being open to women. In i 878, a young woman, healthy, studious, capable, and well trained, pre- sented herself in Cambridge at the houses of Professor Wil- liam W. Goodwin, Professor James B. Greenough, and Professor Francis J. Child, asking these gentlemen for pri- vate instruction in Greek, Latin, and English. The novelty of the request, the winning eagerness of the young woman, surprised the three professors into consent ; the excellence Page Two RADCLIFFE COLLEGE of her work precluded all regrets for their unprecedented experiment. This young woman, afterward Professor Leach of Vassar College, is known as “the Nucleus” of the the so-called Harvard Annex out of which came Radcliffe College. Miss Leach’s performance suggested to Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Gil- man that, without coeducation, the intellectual and the ma- terial resources of Harvard College might be made available to girls of intellectual promise. A small group of men and women in Cambridge took up the idea ; and President Eliot gave it such support as only he could give. Thus, in 1879, was formed the Society for the Collegiate Instruction of Women. The name was inconvenient, and the new society, a sort of lean-to on Harvard College, became known as the “Harvard Annex.” Its students, designated in the Harvard University catalogue as “persons pursuing courses of study in Cambridge under the direction of the Society for the Collegiate Instruction of Women,” were popularly known as “Annex Girls.” Mrs. Louis Agassiz (Elizabeth Cary Agassiz) was Presi- dent of the Society; Mr. Arthur Gilman, as Secretary, was its business executive. For very small pay a few Harvard teachers repeated parts of their Harvard teaching with small classes of girls. Since the curriculum covered the courses prescribed at Harvard and offered a considerable number of elective courses, a girl who had passed the Harvard exami- nations for admission might in four years do what would have secured for a man the degree of Bachelor of Arts. The Annex, however, was not authorized to give a degree of any kind ; it gave a certificate. Page Three RADCLIFFE COLLEGE With twenty-seven students, regular and special, with no money, with the merest apology for a library, without a single building but with two or three small rooms hired in private houses, the Annex did pioneer work of memorable excellence. The Harvard Library gave to the girls certain privileges ; the Harvard teachers took up their new teaching with keen interest ; the students, in those days when Col- lege education for girls was unfashionable, had come to study, and studied with enthusiasm. It was clear that the work of the Annex must go on. In 1894, the Annex was transformed into Radcliffe Col- lege, taking its name from Ann Radcliffe, afterward Lady Mowlson, who had given to Harvard College in 1643 a hundred pounds for a scholarship, the first scholarship given to Harvard by a woman. The new college received from the Legislature a charter which authorized it to con- Gymnasium RADCLIFFE COLLEGE Whitman Room, Radcliffe College Library fer degrees, with the proviso that every degree conferred must be certified by the President and Fellows of Harvard College as equivalent to the corresponding degree in Har- vard University. When the granting of this charter was opposed by persons who hoped to force Harvard into giv- ing its own degrees to women, Mrs. Agassiz, by the simple directness of her speech and by the transparent beauty of her character, was the college’s best advocate. It must not be inferred that the founders of Radcliffe would have opposed the incorporation of Radcliffe into Harvard as a women’s college giving Harvard degrees. They chose to secure the obvious good rather than lose much and stake all in fighting Page Five RADCLIFFE COLLEGE for the impossible ; they chose to maintain a friendlier and more favorable relation with Harvard than had ever existed, rather than rouse a hostility which would set back indefi- nitely the Harvard education of women. Mrs. Agassiz was the first President of Radcliffe. Miss Agnes Irwin, a great-granddaughter of Benjamin Franklin, came from her school for girls in Philadelphia, as the first Dean. Major Henry Lee Higginson was the first Treasurer. In 1901, Radcliffe built its first dormitory, Bertram Hall, a gift of the late Clara Bertram Kimball (Mrs. David P. Kimball) who later gave to the college its second dormitory, The Gymnasium from the and named it Grace Hop- Steps Of Agassiz. House kinson Eliot Hall, in honor of Mrs. Charles William Eliot. Another dormitory, Sarah Whitman Hall, was built in memory of Mrs. Sarah Wyman Whitman, who had served long in the Council of Radcliffe Col- lege ; and still another, James and Augusta Barnard Hall, was contributed by the Barnard family. In 1898, Mrs. Augustus Hem- enway, following the ex- ample of her husband, who had given a gymnasium to Harvard, gave an admirable gymnasium to Radcliffe. Page Six RADCLIFFE COLLEGE Grace Hopkinson Eliot Hall Through the good offices of Dean Irwin, the college ob- tained from Mr. Carnegie an excellent building for its large and growing library. As an administration building it uses Fay House, a fine old mansion close to the Washington Elm. In Fay House Samuel Gilman wrote “ Fair Harvard/’ When Mrs. Agassiz was eighty years old, her family and friends, led by her son-in-law, the late Henry Lee Higgin- son, celebrated her birthday by giving her Elizabeth Cary Agassiz House, that she might give it to Radcliffe College. Elizabeth Cary Agassiz House is the centre of student activi- ty. It contains a large living room, a theatre, a restaurant, and divers rooms for meetings of small clubs ; and it is espe- cially valuable to the many students who come to the college daily from neighboring towns and spend in this building such of their hours as are not occupied by class work or by physi- cal exercise. The living room serves as a chapel for morning Page Seven RADCLIFFE COLLEGE prayers, as an informal lecture hall for the larger clubs, as a tea room, a reception room, a ballroom, and between times as a place of rest and conversation. The theatre is used for mass meetings, for lectures at which large audiences are ex- pected, and for theatricals — in particular for the plays of Professor Baker’s famous “47 Work-Shop” and the plays of the Idler Club. The Idler Club, to which practically every student in the College belongs, brings Radcliffe girls together with that peculiar intimacy which association in fun that is work and work that is fun inevitably involves. It distributes the respon- sibility of one dramatic entertainment among persons so many and varied, its entertainments come so often, its student audiences are so large, that to it more than to almost anything Living Room , 'James and Augusta Barnard Hall Page Eight RADCLIFFE COLLEGE else may be attributed the wholesomely demo- cratic tone of Radcliffe College. Another large and important club is the Guild, which busies itself with good works of all kinds. The Liberal Club discusses from va- ried and diverse points of view the greater ques- tions of government, eco- nomics, and sociology, remembering that “lib- eral” means, not “rev- olutionary,” but “open- minded.” The Choral Society, trained by Professor Archibald T. Davison, sings Christmas music every year with the Harvard Glee Club, and has sung with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Lack of space forbids more than a mere mention of the Athletic Association, the Radcliffe News, the Catholic Club, the English Club, the Poetry Club, the Glee Club, the Mandolin Club, the Debating Club, and others. Radcliffe students have no lack of social life, and such social life as gives them valuable training. Good training in responsibility is provided, also, by the Student Government Association, whose officers cooperate with the college authorities and command their entire con- fidence. Almost invariably the girls whom their fellow- Fay House Entrance Page Nine RADCLIFFE COLLEGE Radcliffe College Library students honor with the highest offices are girls of whom the college may well be proud ; for the instinct of young people in the choice of leaders is astonishingly sure. In 1920- 2 1 , the presidents of four great clubs were not merely lead- ing citizens, but leading scholars. All four were members of Phi Beta Kappa; and two were in the “ First Five,” who are chosen in the junior year. From the beginning Radcliffe teaching has been Harvard teaching. In the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences is a Committee on Instruction and Degrees in Radcliffe College. This committee, with the addition of the President and the Dean of Radcliffe, forms the Academic Board of Radcliffe College. No person may vote on a question of a Radcliffe degree unless he may vote on a question of a Harvard degree. Page Ten RADCLIFFE COLLEGE The Harvard Committee on Instruction and Degrees in Rad- cliffe College guarantees to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences the equivalence of Radcliffe degrees to Harvard degrees; the Faculty guarantees it to the President and Fellows of Har- vard College; and the President of Harvard College guaran- tees it on every Radcliffe diploma. In everything but name, a Radcliffe degree is a Harvard degree. Radcliffe exists to give women a Harvard education by opening to them, with out coeducation except in small advanced classes, as much as possible of what is best in Harvard. In Harvard a candidate for the degree of A. B. must have an elementary knowledge in . 7 _ . TT J ° Elizabeth. Lary Agassi % House several departments of learn- ing and much more than an elementary knowledge in some one department. In the subjects of concentration many departments require a general examination at the end of the Senior year. Thus the student is saved from measuring his knowledge by isolated elective courses ; he must connect the subjects of those courses with each other, must “ fill-in ” by reading and study under the super- vision of a tutor or, in some subjects, a professor or other instructor. So far as Harvard Page Eleven RADCLIFFE COLLEGE has adopted the tutorial system and the system of general examinations, Radcliffe has adopted them, not merely as improvements, but as essential to the equivalence of the Radcliffe and Harvard degrees. Radcliffe courses of study are conducted by none but Harvard teachers. Among these teachers offering courses at Radcliffe for the year 1921-22 are ciglil^ stf full professors in Harvard University. Certain other full professors, not offering courses, stand ready to guide promising students in research. Of the six hundred and fifty-four students regis- tered at Radcliffe in 1920-21, one hundred and forty-one were graduate students from all parts of the world. Such students are drawn to Radcliffe by the reputation of certain professors and by the priceless opportunity for research in the library of Harvard University, where advanced students may secure the privileges of the stack. Besides the degrees of A. B., A. A., and A. M. Radcliffe confers every year the degree of Ph. D. Thus, from the beginning, Radcliffe has been a woman’s Harvard. It is still a separate institution with its own cor- poration, receiving from Harvard no direct financial aid. A Harvard Endowment Fund is not a Radcliffe Endow- ment Fund; and all that makes education more costly at Harvard makes it more costly at Radcliffe. Whatever the ultimate relation of Radcliffe and Harvard may be, neither institution desires undergraduate coeduca- tion. Yet Radcliffe College is not a college of isolated girls. Its students enjoy the advantages of life in Cambridge and near Boston, mingle freely and naturally with the outside world, and are under no special temptation either to over- Page Twelve RADCLIFFE COLLEGE value or to undervalue the society of men. Radcliffe has, also, a character of its own, which, though originating in Harvard, is not Harvard’s. Its light is not all borrowed light; its individuality is as plainly marked as that of Vassar, or Smith, or Mount Holyoke, or Bryn Mawr. Yet out of the tradition of Harvard comes Radcliffe’s abiding strength, and the inspiration of that work which has brought distinction to so many of its graduates. Our oldest university is in spirit one of the youngest. The tradition of Harvard, though by no means the only great educational tradition of America, is certainly one of the greatest. This tradition Radcliffe shares, giving to its students something that means more and more to them with increasing years — the love of learning and of wisdom, of courage and of truth. Le Baron Russell Briggs, President of Radcliffe College Page Thirteen RADCLIFFE COLLEGE Beginning in 1879 with no endowment or other funds, with no buildings or property of any kind, Radcliffe College has to-day restricted and unrestricted funds, scholarship funds, building and other funds amounting in all to over $3,228,000, of which $1,083,000 has been invested in land and buildings for college uses and the balance in secur- ities or real estate. The total income for the last fiscal year, from all sources, was $250,700, of which $110,500 came from tuition fees. The total expenses were $275,000, of which $109,000 went to pay the salaries of instructors, $27,000, to pay the salaries of the administrative and office force, $14,500, to pay scholarships and prizes: the deficit was $24,300. The amount paid for instruction under the present arrangement with Harvard gives to Radcliffe the services of more pro- fessors, assistant professors, and others than if Radcliffe were dependent upon its own full-time Faculty. The College needs at once an endowment of at least $3,000,000 — $1,000,000 to be expended for new build- ings; $1,000,000 to be invested, the income to be used to increase the salaries of the teaching force; $1,000,000 to be invested, the income to be used for the general needs of the College. The new buildings needed are : Two dormitories each costing at least $150,000 . $300,000 One new recitation hall 200,000 Laboratories for physics and chemistry . . . 200,000 Central Heating Plant 200,000 Improvements to Fay House 50,000 Infirmary 50,000 $1,000,000 Page Fourteen RADCLIFFE COLLEGE To develop and encourage a proper college life two ad- ditional dormitories are needed at once : at present the col- lege can house only 175 of its 600 students. The income of $1,000,000, or say $55,000 annually, will barely suffice to increase the salaries of the teaching staff at the same rate fixed by Harvard and will leave little for the probable increased expense of the tutorial system. For the general purposes of the College, including a needed increase in the salaries of its adminstrative force, long-postponed improvements of the present buildings and their furnishings, the income from $1,000,000 will be nec- essary. These are the pressing needs of Radcliffe, in which are included no luxuries or extravagances. Will you help us to raise the $3,000,000 ? Ezra H. Baker, Treasurer of Radcliffe College Make checks payable to Ezra H. Baker , Treasurer Radcliffe College , 6oj Boylston St Boston. Mass. Page Fifteen RADCLIFFE COLLEGE RADCLIFFE COLLEGE ENDOWMENT FUND JA CATION AL HEADQUARTERS 603 BOYLSTON ST., BOSTON. MASS. Qentral Qommittee Miss Emilie H. Everett, Director President Le Baron R. Briggs Dean Marion Edwards Park Mrs. George P. Baker Mrs. Hans W. Miller Judge Frederick P. Cabot Mr. Ezra H. Baker Mrs. Richard C. Cabot Miss Marion Churchill Mrs. Augustus M. Lord Miss Frederica H. Gilbert Mr. Frederick P. Fish Mrs. S. Bruce Elwell Miss Elizabeth B. Piper Miss Annette L. Crocker Miss Ethel B. du Pont Miss Cora Droppers Miss Marguerite Kimball tN^ational ^Advisory Qommittee Mrs. George R. Agassiz Mrs. Larz Anderson Mr. George Arliss President Wallace W. Atwood Hon. Robert P. Bass Mr. Albert F. Bemis Dr. Philip King Brown Mr. James Byrne Mr. Charles L. Chandler Mr. Neils Christensen Mr. Herbert Lincoln Clark Mr. J. Randolph Coolidge, Jr. Miss Frances G. Curtis Mr. Ernest B. Dane Mr. Henry S. Dennison Senator T. Coleman du Pont President Emeritus Charles W. Eliot Mr. David A. Ellis Mrs. Kellogg Fairbank Mrs. William G. Farlow Mr. Allan Forbes Miss Dorothy Forbes Mrs. Frederick M. French Mrs. Louis A. Frothingham Mr. Horace Howard Furness Dr. Homer Gage Miss Julia H. George Mrs. Arthur Gilman Rev. George A. Gordon Mr. Jerome D. Greene Mr. John W. Hallowell Dean Charles H. Haskins Mrs. Thomas C. Howe Mr. Henry James Mr. David P. Kimball Mr. Hugh Landon Mr. Joseph Lee Mr. Russell H. Loines Miss Alice M. Longfellow President A. Lawrence Lowell Judge Julian W. Mack Mr. George D. Markham Miss Ellen F. Mason Mr. John F. Moors Mr. G. A. Morison Mr. Murry Nelson Mrs. Charles P. Noyes. Dr. Archer O’Reilly Hon. Wm. Church Osborn Mrs. Maud Wood Park Mrs. Henry Parkman Mrs. Charles Peabody Mrs. Charles B. Perkins Mr. John Prentiss Mr. Francis Rawle Dean James H. Ropes Dean James E. Russell Mrs. Robert Shaw Russell Mrs. Richard M. Saltonstall Mr. George F. Steedman Mr. Philip Stockton Mr. Charles A. Stone Mr. James J. Storrow Mr. Charles H. Strong Mr. John E. Thayer Dr. William S. Thayer Rev. Floyd W. Tomkins Mr. Eliot Wadsworth Mr. William H. Wellington Mr. George Wigglesworth Mr. Robert Winsor Page Sixteen Vv>1^ N