The Girl Who Loved Art More Than Ease
Bats, birds, toads, snakes, and beetles filled the room. Some were stuffed and mounted, and the others were either dissected or preserved in alcohol. This room was neither a museum nor a boy’s den. It was owned by a little girl known as “Happy Hatty,” and she, herself, had collected and prepared every one of its strange ornaments.
At the time that Harriet Hosmer was young, dissecting animals was not considered a proper amusement for a girl. The neighbors thought that Harriet would have been much better employed in sewing a fine seam.
Harriet’s father, an eminent physician, had his own ideas about bringing up his little girl. Dr. Hosmer wanted her to live in the fresh air and sunshine so that she would be strong and healthy. The more Harriet ranged the woods in search of specimens, the better her father was pleased.
Dr. Hosmer gave his little girl a boat, so that she could row on the Charles River, which flowed past her home. He had a Venetian gondola made for her, too, with velvet cushions and a silver prow. In fact, he thought that no gift was too rich for his little girl, so long as it would keep her in the open air.
Harriet enjoyed out-of-door life. She grew tall and strong. Her muscles became firm from much rowing. She could walk miles without being tired, and was a fearless rider. Thus, unknowingly, did this little girl, who later became a distinguished sculptor, lay a strong foundation for her life work.
Harriet Goodhue Hosmer was born in Watertown, Massachusetts, on October 9, 1830. Even as a child she liked to play with clay and mold it into shapes. In one corner of the garden there was a clay-pit. Here the little girl used to go, when she grew tired of books, to fashion dogs and horses from the wet clay.
Harriet went to school in Watertown, and later attended a private school at Lenox, Massachusetts. After three years at Lenox, Harriet returned home. She then began to study drawing and modeling in Boston. Often she walked both to and from her lessons, a distance of fourteen miles. By this time, Harriet Hosmer realized that nothing made her happier than to turn formless bits of clay into beautiful objects. She felt that she would like to go still further in her work; she wanted to see some of her ideas take shape in marble.
Harriet knew that a sculptor cannot fashion life-like figures of people or animals without understanding the position and shape of the bony frame under the flesh. The decorations of her museum-like room, all those specimens that she had dissected or mounted as a child, had given her a fair start in the study of anatomy. She also studied this subject with her father. However, she realized that, if she were to be a real sculptor, she must know more about anatomy. She consequently looked about for a school where she might study.
The Boston Medical School would not accept this eager young student because she was a girl, but Harriet Hosmer was not a person to be daunted by one refusal. She was finally admitted to the St. Louis Medical College where she had a very thorough course in anatomy. After she had completed this course, she returned home and began to work seriously in a studio which her father had fitted up for her in his garden.
A beautiful girl representing Hesper, the evening star, was the subject that Harriet Hosmer chose for her first original statue. From a solid block of marble she had a workman knock off the corners. As he was not accustomed to working for sculptors she did not allow him to go within several inches of the part that she was to cut. All the rest of this difficult work she did with her own small hands.
For eight or ten hours a day she chipped away at the block with chisel and a leaden mallet weighing four pounds and a half. Muscles made strong and flexible by much rowing and other exercises enabled her to keep up this hard work day after day. The block of marble was finally turned into the head of a lovely maiden, her hair entwined with poppies and a star on her forehead.
Beautiful as was this head of Hesper, Harriet Hosmer felt that she must study more. She was very desirous of entering the studio of John Gibson, a noted English sculptor who was then residing in Rome. Now Mr. Gibson, hearing that Miss Hosmer was young and rich, feared that she might be easily discouraged before real difficulties. However, as soon as he saw the daguerreotypes of her “Hesper,” the great sculptor said to her father, “Whatever I can teach her, she shall learn.”
At the very beginning of her work with Mr. Gibson, Harriet Hosmer showed him that she was not the sort of girl who gives up easily. The iron rod in a clay copy of the Venus de Milo which she had modeled in order that her teacher might have an idea of her work snapped, and the figure fell to pieces. However, without stopping to complain, she started at once to make another model.
Harriet Hosmer continued to work steadily with John Gibson. Then one day a message came from her father stating that he had lost his fortune and could no longer send her money. Miss Hosmer sold her fine saddle horse, and took an inexpensive room for herself. Now she was actually to work for her living.
Miss Hosmer became an important figure in the art and literary circles in Rome. She numbered among her friends the Brownings, Hawthorne, the Thackerays, and many other interesting people.
In the years that followed, many a beautiful statue emerged from unshaped marble through the transforming touch of Harriet Hosmer’s hands. Her statue “Puck” shows a merry little elf, sitting cross-legged on a toadstool, his left hand resting upon a lizard, his right, clasping a beetle. Some of her other important statues are “Œnone,” “Beatrice Cenci,” “Sleeping Faun,” and a statue of Thomas H. Benton. “Zenobia in Chains,” which is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is the most famous of all. This is a colossal statue, representing the beautiful Queen of Palmyra taken prisoner by the Roman Emperor Aurelian.
Harriet Goodhue Hosmer so loved to watch beauty grow under her fingers that she was willing to give up the care-free, easy life that she might have had as the child of a rich man. Because she developed her talent through hard, serious work, she won for herself a high place among the sculptors of America.
Whose Battle Hymn Sang Itself Into the Hearts of a Nation
In the days when New York was not the big city that it is now, there was a fashionable section called the Bowling Green. The people who lived there often used to see a great yellow coach roll by. Within, three little girls sat stiffly against the bright blue cushions. These children were dressed in blue coats and yellow satin bonnets to match the chariot and its lining. They were the three little Ward children, one of them, Julia, to be known later throughout the land as Julia Ward Howe. She is the author of the famous patriotic hymn which you sing so often at school, the “Battle Hymn of the Republic.”
Julia Ward, the eldest of the three little girls, was born in New York City, May 27, 1819. Although her father was a rich man and loved his children very dearly, they did not have many of the pleasures which most children to-day enjoy as a matter of course.
The Ward girls had very little chance to romp and play outdoors and get acquainted with the birds and flowers. To be sure, they went to Newport, Rhode Island, in the summer, but poor little Julia had to wear a thick green worsted veil to protect her delicate skin. It was not until she had children of her own that she realized how much she had missed in her youth. She was glad that her children could live close to Nature.
Julia was, however, a happy child in spite of her rather sober life. She was alone much of the time, for her lively brothers were away at school and the two younger sisters played by themselves; but she was never lonely. She read a great deal: Shakespeare, Byron, and as much other poetry as she could find. She enjoyed her music and other lessons.
Julia was particularly fond of study. At first she had lessons at home, but at the age of nine she was sent to a private school nearby. Here this little girl studied a difficult book, Paley’sMoral Philosophy, with girls of sixteen and eighteen years of age.
Once, at this time, she heard a class reciting an Italian lesson. The musical sound of the language delighted her, and she listened whenever she had the chance. She secured a grammar, and studied it by herself. Then, one day, she handed the surprised teacher a letter, written correctly in Italian, asking permission to join the class.
Julia loved to make up poetry, and when she was in her thirteenth year, she copied a number of her poems into a brown blank book as a present for her father. One of them was a poem written about her mother, whom she had lost when she was only six years old. Still another was in French; and in the four stanzas there was only one mistake.
The study of languages was always a delight to her. She spoke and wrote French and German very well. Later in life she studied Spanish, and at the age of fifty she did not feel that she was too old to begin the study of Greek.
At twenty-four years of age Julia Ward married Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe. He was a noble-hearted man whom everyone knew as the first person to teach language to a blind deaf mute, namely, Laura Bridgman.
A happy, busy time began for these two people, who believed that life should be lived for others. Dr. Howe was engaged with his work for the blind and for the freeing of the slaves. Mrs. Howe went on with her studies, and wrote poems, plays, and essays. She helped her husband with his antislavery work, and together they edited a newspaper called theCommonwealth.
Yet no matter how crowded these days were, there was always a time in the afternoon that was set aside for the children. The mother played and sang to the little folks, and there were merry romps, as the father, wrapped in a big fur coat, played bear and growled fiercely. Both mother and father often read aloud to their children.
When the Civil War broke out, Julia Ward Howe longed to help her country and soon a special way came. One day, she was driving back into Washington with friends, after having witnessed a review of some troops. Their carriage was delayed by the returning soldiers. To pass away the time, Mrs. Howe and her companions began to sing war songs. Among them, they sang,
“John Brown’s body lies a-mouldering in the grave.”
“Why do you not write some good words for that stirring tune?” someone asked Mrs. Howe.
“I have often wished to do so!” she answered.
The next morning Mrs. Howe awoke before dawn, and found the words of a song shaping themselves in her mind. As soon as the poem was complete, she rose and, in the early morning light, wrote it down on a sheet of paper. This poem was the famous “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” which soon sang itself into the hearts of the nation.
Mrs. Howe’s writings have been numerous. In addition to her books of poetry she also wrote much in behalf of social reforms. She lectured far and wide, and loved to talk to school children. Because she wanted women to learn how to help themselves, she founded, or helped to found, many clubs and organizations for them. She wanted them to have the vote too.
Mrs. Howe’s children have followed in their mother’s footsteps and written books themselves. One of her daughters, Laura E. Richards, has written delightful stories for children. Her book,Two Noble Lives, tells very beautifully the life stories of her remarkable mother and father. Maud Howe Elliott and Florence Howe Hall are also the authors of many books. The son, Henry Marion Howe, has written books on scientific subjects.
Our country honors Julia Ward Howe as the author of one of its greatest songs, which will ever continue to stir our patriotism. Because as a girl she made the best use of her talents, she was enabled to fill a long life with great service.
The Deaf and Blind Girl Who Found Light and Happiness Through Knowledge
In a beautiful southern garden where birds sang gaily and roses, honeysuckle, and jessamine shed their fragrance, little Helen lay face downward on the ground. She hid her hot cheeks in the cool leaves and grass. The tears flowed fast. Why, why would no one understand what she wanted? Sometimes it seemed as if she could not bear the world of darkness and silence in which she lived. This little girl could not talk like other children. Neither could she see the yellow rose petals, nor hear the songs of the birds.
On June 27, 1880, Helen Keller was born in the little Alabama town of Tuscumbia. For nineteen months she was just like any other happy, healthy baby girl. Then a severe illness took away her sight and hearing, and, because she was unable to hear her baby words, she soon forgot how to talk.
One day when Helen was nearly seven years old, a new doll was put into her arms. Then, in her hand a lady made the lettersd-o-l-lin the deaf alphabet. Helen did not know that things had names, but she was amused with this new game and imitated the letters for her mother. Helen’s new friend and teacher was Miss Anne Sullivan. She had come from the Perkins Institution for the Blind, in Boston, to teach this little girl.
When the finger game had been going on for a month, Miss Sullivan spelled the word,w-a-t-e-r, into Helen’s hand, letting her feel the water from the pump. A light broke over Helen’s face. For the first time she understood that everything had a name. She touched the pump and the trellis, and asked for their names. In a few hours she had learned thirty new words. That night Helen went to bed very happy, looking forward, for the first time in her life, to another day.
A new, joyous life now began for this little girl whose mind had been in the dark. She soon realized that every word that she would learn would provide her with a new and pleasant thought. Miss Sullivan gave Helen slips of cardboard on which words were printed in raised letters. She never tired of playing the game of arranging these words in sentences.
Down by the river Helen built dams of pebbles and dug lakes and bays and was taught how the world is made. In the woods her teacher put a violet or dogwood blossom in her hand and explained about growing things. She learned to know the crickets and katydids by holding them in her hand. Helen played all these games, not realizing that she was learning lessons.
When Helen was eight years old, Miss Sullivan took her to Boston to the Perkins Institution for the Blind. The child was delighted to find there little girls and boys who could talk to her in the language of the hand. She enjoyed, too, the books in the library printed in raised type, and began to read in earnest. It was at this time that she climbed Bunker Hill Monument, counting every step. She had another lesson in history at Plymouth Rock.
It was difficult, of course, for Helen to talk with people who did not know the deaf alphabet. Miss Sullivan had to spell out the conversation into her hand. When Helen heard of a deaf girl who had been taught to speak, she was determined to learn too.
It was the hardest task that she had undertaken, for she could not hear the sound of her own voice nor see the lips of others. She would feel the position of her teacher’s tongue and lips when making a sound, and then imitate the motions. Constant practice and the great desire to achieve always spurred her efforts. It was slow, tedious work, but Helen persevered.
Shedidsucceed in learning to speak. It was a very happy day when Helen actually spoke to her parents and to her little sister Mildred.
At ten years of age Helen had put her whole heart and will into learning to speak. Six years later, after having studied lip-reading, French and German, and other difficult subjects, she determined to undertake what seemed like another impossibility. She made up her mind to go to college!
Many of the books that she needed were not printed in raised type. She could not hear lectures nor take notes. Such were a few of the difficulties that this young girl had to face. Nevertheless, Helen was not to be discouraged. She entered the Cambridge School for Young Ladies and bravely began her preparation for Radcliffe College.
Miss Sullivan went to Helen’s classes with her and spelled into her hand all that the teachers said. Helen wrote her compositions on the typewriter. She used it, too, in answering successfully the examination questions.
Helen was urged to take special work at college, but she preferred to follow the regular course. Once more this blind and deaf girl conquered all the difficulties, and in 1904 was graduated from Radcliffe College. She had completed the same course as had the young women at Radcliffe College and the young men at Harvard University who could see and hear.
As Helen Keller grew older, she realized that knowledge, besides giving pleasure, enables one to be of more help in the world. After her graduation she was eager to be of service. Naturally, she thought of the blind first. Miss Keller was made a member of the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind and served on several boards for the blind and deaf. She has always urged that the blind be given the kind of education that will fit them to support themselves.
Miss Keller has written many magazine articles and several books. When she was only twelve years old she wrote a short account of her life for theYouth’s Companion. HerThe Story of My Lifewas published before her graduation from college.
Instead of being a burden, this blind and deaf girl early became a happy, useful citizen. She has succeeded because she was determined to know more, no matter how much hard work it cost her. Helen Keller says that the worst darkness is ignorance. Her life motto has been: “Knowledge is love and light and vision.”
The Girl Who Studied the Stars
It was an eventful day in the Mitchell home. The parlor window had been taken out and the telescope mounted in front of it. Twelve-year-old Maria, at her father’s side, counted the seconds while he observed a total eclipse of the sun.
Not every twelve-year-old girl could be trusted to use the chronometer, an instrument which measures the time even more accurately than a watch. Maria, however, had been helping her father in his study of the stars ever since she could count. Before many years this little girl beside the telescope became America’s best-known woman astronomer.
On the little three-cornered island of Nantucket, off the coast of Massachusetts, Maria Mitchell was born, August 1, 1818. With its broad sandy beaches, its wide moors, and ocean breezes, the island was a delightful spot in which to grow up.
The Mitchell home was a pleasant place, filled with the laughter and fun of a large family of children. Due to the mother’s careful planning, the wheels of the household machinery ran very smoothly. No one would have guessed, by seeing the cheerful, comfortable home, how far Mrs. Mitchell had to stretch a tiny income.
Work and play were happily mingled. Little Maria, with her sisters, learned to cook and sew. Maria was always ready to do her share of the household work. If she swept a room, she did it thoroughly. When she arranged the furniture it might not be done artistically, but every piece was straight. She could not bear to have things crooked. This exactness about little things was one of the qualities that made it possible for this girl to become a great astronomer.
There were always good books in the Mitchell home. They were read over 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 theAmerican 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.
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.
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.
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 shenotfail 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.