To a largely increasing number of young girls college doors are
opening every year. Every year adds to the number of men who feel as a
friend of mine, a successful lawyer in a great city, felt when in talking of
the future of his four little children he said, "For the two boys it is not so
serious, but I lie down at night afraid to die and leave my daughters only a
bank account." Year by year, too, the experiences of life are teaching
mothers that happiness does not necessarily come to their daughters when
accounts are large and banks are sound, but that on the contrary they take
grave risks when they trust everything to accumulated wealth and the
chance of a happy marriage. Our American girls themselves are becoming
aware that they need the stimulus, the discipline, the knowledge, the
interests of the college in addition to the school, if they are to prepare
themselves for the most serviceable lives.
But there are still parents who say, "There is no need that my daughter
should teach; then why should she go to college?" I will not reply that
college training is a life insurance for a girl, a pledge that she possesses
the disciplined ability to earn a living for herself and others in case of need,
for I prefer to insist on the importance of giving every girl, no matter what
her present circumstances, a special training in some one thing by which
she can render society service, not amateur but of an expert sort, and
service too for which it will be willing to pay a price. The number of
families will surely increase who will follow the example of an eminent
banker whose daughters have been given each her specialty. One has
chosen music, and has gone far with the best masters in this country and in
Europe, so far that she now holds a high rank among musicians at home
and abroad. Another has taken art, and has not been content to paint pretty
gifts for her friends, but in the studios of New York, Munich, and Paris,
she has won the right to be called an artist, and in her studio at home to
paint portraits which have a market value. A third has proved that she can
earn her living, if need be, by her exquisite jellies, preserves, and
sweetmeats. Yet the house in the mountains, the house by the sea, and the
friends in the city are not neglected, nor are these young women found less
attractive because of their special accomplishments.
While it is not true that all girls should go to college any more than that all boys should go, it is nevertheless true that they should go in greater
numbers than at present. They fail to go because they, their parents and
their teachers, do not see clearly the personal benefits distinct from the
commercial value of a college training. I wish here to discuss these
benefits, these larger gifts of the college life,--what they may be, and for
whom they are waiting.
opening every year. Every year adds to the number of men who feel as a
friend of mine, a successful lawyer in a great city, felt when in talking of
the future of his four little children he said, "For the two boys it is not so
serious, but I lie down at night afraid to die and leave my daughters only a
bank account." Year by year, too, the experiences of life are teaching
mothers that happiness does not necessarily come to their daughters when
accounts are large and banks are sound, but that on the contrary they take
grave risks when they trust everything to accumulated wealth and the
chance of a happy marriage. Our American girls themselves are becoming
aware that they need the stimulus, the discipline, the knowledge, the
interests of the college in addition to the school, if they are to prepare
themselves for the most serviceable lives.
But there are still parents who say, "There is no need that my daughter
should teach; then why should she go to college?" I will not reply that
college training is a life insurance for a girl, a pledge that she possesses
the disciplined ability to earn a living for herself and others in case of need,
for I prefer to insist on the importance of giving every girl, no matter what
her present circumstances, a special training in some one thing by which
she can render society service, not amateur but of an expert sort, and
service too for which it will be willing to pay a price. The number of
families will surely increase who will follow the example of an eminent
banker whose daughters have been given each her specialty. One has
chosen music, and has gone far with the best masters in this country and in
Europe, so far that she now holds a high rank among musicians at home
and abroad. Another has taken art, and has not been content to paint pretty
gifts for her friends, but in the studios of New York, Munich, and Paris,
she has won the right to be called an artist, and in her studio at home to
paint portraits which have a market value. A third has proved that she can
earn her living, if need be, by her exquisite jellies, preserves, and
sweetmeats. Yet the house in the mountains, the house by the sea, and the
friends in the city are not neglected, nor are these young women found less
attractive because of their special accomplishments.
While it is not true that all girls should go to college any more than that all boys should go, it is nevertheless true that they should go in greater
numbers than at present. They fail to go because they, their parents and
their teachers, do not see clearly the personal benefits distinct from the
commercial value of a college training. I wish here to discuss these
benefits, these larger gifts of the college life,--what they may be, and for
whom they are waiting.