A Name for Herself Read online

  In the new world, too, many girl students have made for themselves a brilliant record. Here, every opportunity and aid is offered to the girl who longs for the best education the age can yield her. There are splendidly equipped colleges for women, equal in every respect to those for men; or, if a girl prefers coeducation and

  WISHES TO MATCH HER INTELLECT WITH MAN’S ON A COMMON FOOTING,

  the doors of many universities are open to her. Canada is well to the front in this respect and Dalhousie college, Halifax, claims, I believe, to have been the second college in the Dominion to admit girl students, if we can use the word “admit” of an institution which was never barred to them. Girls, had they so elected, might have paced, with note-book and lexicon, Dalhousie’s classic halls from the time of its founding. When the first application for the admission of a girl to the college was received, the powers that were met together in solemn conclave to deliberate thereon, and it was found that there was nothing in the charter of the college to prevent the admission of a girl.

  Accordingly, in 1881 two girls, Miss Newcombe and Miss Calkin,15 were enrolled as students at Dalhousie. Miss Calkin did not complete her course, but Miss Newcombe did and graduated in 1885 with honors in English and English history, – the first of a goodly number who have followed in her footsteps. Miss Newcombe afterwards became Mrs. Trueman and is now on the staff of the Halifax ladies’ college.16 In 1882 Miss Stewart entered, took the science course and graduated in 1886 as B.Sc. with honors in mathematics and mathematical physics.

  In 1887 three girls graduated. Miss Forbes and Miss MacNeill each took their degree of B.A., the latter with high honors in English and English history. The third, Miss Ritchie,

  THE MOST BRILLIANT OF DALHOUSIE’S GIRL GRADUATES

  took her B.L.,17 she then took her Ph.D., at Cornell university and is now associate professor of philosophy in Wellesley college.18 Then occurs a hiatus in the list, for we find no girls graduating till 1891 when there were four who received their degrees, Miss Goodwin, Miss McNaughton and Miss Baxter in arts; Miss Muir took her degree of B.L.

  In 1892 Miss Baxter, who had graduated with high honors in mathematics and mathematical physics, took her degree of M.A., after which she went to Cornell and there gained a Ph.D.

  Miss Muir took her M.L.,19 in 1893 and has since been studying for a Ph.D., at Cornell. In 1892 three girls, Miss Weaton, Miss Archibald and Miss Harrington, obtained their B.A. degree. Miss Archibald graduated with great distinction and took her M.A. in 1894. Afterwards she went to Bryn Mawr college,20 winning a scholarship at her entrance. Miss Harrington graduated with high honors in English and English literature and became M.A. in 1894. She also won a scholarship at Bryn Mawr, where she is at present studying.

  In 1893 the two girl graduates were Miss McDonald and Miss Murray, the latter of whom took high honors in philosophy and is now on the staff of the Ladies college. The graduates of 1894 were Miss Hebb, B.A., Miss Hobrecker, B.A., Miss Jamieson, B.A., and Miss Ross, B.A. Miss Hobrecker took honors in English and German. Miss Jamieson and Miss McKenzie each took their M.A. in 1895. Miss Ross graduated with high honors in mathematics and mathematical physics.

  IN 1895 THREE GIRLS GRADUATED B.A.

  Miss McDonald took honors in mathematics and mathematical physics; Miss Ross was the second Dalhousie girl to graduate with “great distinction,” and takes her M.A. this year. Miss Bent is at present studying for M.A.

  It will be seen, from these statements, that, out of the twenty-five girls who have graduated from Dalhousie, nearly all have done remarkably well in their studies, and attained to striking success in their examinations. This, in itself, testifies to their ability to compete with masculine minds on a common level. This year there is a larger number of girls in attendance at Dalhousie than there has been in any previous year. In all, there are about fifty-eight, including the lady medical students. Of course, out of these fifty-eight a large proportion are not undergraduates. They are merely general students taking classes in some favorite subject, usually languages and history.

  In all, there are about twenty-nine undergraduate girls in attendance this session. The number of girls in the freshman class is the largest that has yet been seen at Dalhousie. Out of the twenty-six girls, at whom

  DISDAINFUL SOPHS ARE PRIVILEGED TO HURL ALL THE OLD JOKES

  that have been dedicated to freshmen since time immemorial, there are nine undergraduates. In the second year are eleven girls, eight of whom are undergraduates; and in the third year six out of the nine girls are also undergraduates.

  There are also nine girls in the fourth year, seven of whom graduate this session. This is the largest class of girls which has yet graduated from Dalhousie. Several of these are taking honors and will, it is expected, amply sustain the reputation which girl students have won for themselves at the university. No girl has as yet attempted to take a full course in law at Dalhousie. Not that any one doubts or disputes the ability of a girl to master the mysteries of “contracts” or even the intricacies of “equity jurisprudence;” but the Barristers’ act, we believe, stands ruthlessly in the way of any enterprising maiden who might wish to choose law for a profession.

  However, we did hear a different reason advanced not long ago by one who had thought the subject over – he was a lawyer himself, by the way, so no one need bring an action against us for libel. “Oh, girls,” he said,

  “GIRLS WERE NEVER CUT OUT FOR LAWYERS.

  They’ve got too much conscience.” We have been trying ever since to find out if he were speaking sarcastically or in good faith.

  But, if shut out from the bar, they are admitted to the study and practise of medicine and two girls have graduated from the Halifax medical college as full fledged M.D.’s. One of these, Miss Hamilton, obtained her degree in 1894 and has since been practising in Halifax.21 In 1895 Miss McKay graduated and is now, we understand, practising in New Glasgow. There are at present three girl students at the medical college. One will graduate this year; of the other two one is in the third, and one in the first year.

  Dalhousie is strictly co-educational. The girls enter on exactly the same footing as the men and are admitted to an equal share in all the privileges of the institution. The only places from which they are barred are the gymnasium and reading room. They are really excluded from the former, but there is nothing to keep them out of the reading room save custom and tradition. It is

  THE DOMAIN SACRED TO MASCULINE

  SCRIMMAGES AND GOSSIPS

  and the girls religiously avoid it, never doing more than cast speculative glances at its door as they scurry past into the library. We have not been able to discover what the penalty would be if a girl should venture into the reading room.22 It may be death or it may be only banishment for life.

  The library, however is free to all. The girls can prowl around there in peace, bury themselves in encyclopedias, pore over biographies and excercise their wits on logic, or else they can get into a group and carry on whispered discussions which may have reference to their work or may not.

  They take prominent part in some of the college societies. In the Y.M.C.A. their assistance is limited to preparing papers on subjects connected with missions and reading them on the public nights; in the Philomathic society they are more actively engaged. The object of this society is to stimulate interest and inquiry in literature, science and philosophy. Girls are elected on the executive committee and papers on literary subjects are prepared and read by them throughout the session.

  They are also

  INITIATED INTO THE RITES AND CEREMONIES OF THE PHILOSOPHICAL CLUB

  and are very much in demand in the Glee club. Once in a while, too, a girl is found on the editorial staff of the Dalhousie Gazette, and what the jokes column would do, if stripped of allusions to them, is beyond our comprehension.

  The athletic club, however, numbers no girls among its devotees and it does not seem probable that will change – certainly not in this generation, at least.23 Th
e question of the higher education of girls involves a great many interesting problems which are frequently discussed but which time alone can solve satisfactorily.24 Woman has asserted her claim to an equal educational standing with man and that claim has been conceded to her. What use then, will she make of her privileges? Will she take full advantage of them or will she merely play with them until, tired of the novelty, she drops them for some mere fad? Every year since girls first entered Dalhousie, has witnessed a steady increase in the number of them in attendance; and it is to be expected that, in the years to come, the number will be very much larger. But beyond a certain point we do not think it will go. It is not likely that the day will ever come when the number of girl students at Dalhousie, or at any other co-educational university, will be equal to the number of men. There will

  ALWAYS BE A CERTAIN NUMBER OF CLEVER, AMBITIOUS GIRLS

  who, feeling that their best life work can be accomplished only when backed up by a broad and thorough education, will take a university course, will work conscientiously and earnestly and will share all the honors and successes of their brothers. There will, however, always be a limit to the number of such girls.

  Again, we have frequently heard this question asked: “Is it, in the end worth while for a girl to take a university course with all its attendant expenses, hard work, and risk of health? How many girls, out of those who graduate from the universities, are ever heard of prominently again, many of them marrying or teaching school? Would not an ordinarily good education have benefited them quite as much? Is it then worth while, from this standpoint, for any girl who is not exceptionally brilliant, to take a university course?”

  The individual question of “worth while” or “not worth while” is one which every girl must settle for herself. It is only in its general aspect that we must look at the subject. In the first place,

  AS FAR AS DISTINGUISHING THEMSELVES IN AFTER LIFE GOES,

  take the number of girls who have graduated from Dalhousie – say thirty, most of whom are yet in their twenties and have their whole lives before them. Out of that thirty, eight or nine at the very least have not stood still but have gone forward successfully and are known to the public as brilliant, efficient workers. Out of any thirty men who graduate, how many in the same time do better or even as well? This, however, is looking at the question from the standpoint that the main object of a girl in taking a university course is to keep herself before the public as a distinguished worker. But is it? No! At least it should not be. Such an ambition is not the end and all of a true education.

  A girl does not – or, at least, should not – go to a university merely to shine as a clever student, take honors, “get through,” and then do something very brilliant. Nay; she goes – or should go – to prepare herself for living, not alone in the finite but in the infinite.

  SHE GOES TO HAVE HER MIND BROADENED

  and her powers of observation cultivated. She goes to study her own race in all the bewildering perplexities of its being. In short, she goes to find out the best, easiest and most effective way of living the life that God and nature planned out for her to live.

  If a girl gets this out of her college course, it is of little consequence whether her after “career” be brilliant, as the world defines brilliancy, or not. She has obtained that from her studies which will stand by her all her life, and future generations will rise up and call her blessed,25 who handed down to them the clear insight, the broad sympathy with their fellow creatures, the energy of purpose and the self-control that such a woman must transmit to those who come after her.

  (1896)

  To the Editor

  In this letter published in The Editor: A Journal of Information for Literary Workers in March 1899, Montgomery made a request for a copy of her short story “A Little Accident,” about a group of schoolboys who regret their ill treatment of a new classmate after they are all involved in a sledding accident. A copy of the story appears in Montgomery’s Scrapbook 2, suggesting that her request was answered.

  TO THE EDITOR:–

  I wonder if any reader of the highly prized Editor pages can help me out of a little predicament of a sort I do not often get into. In November I had a short story entitled “A Little Accident,” accepted by the Youth’s Advocate – now the Youth and Age – of Nashville, Tennessee. It was published in their issue of December 1st., but as I was not a subscriber to the paper I did not know of this until late in January. I at once sent for the paper but was informed that the issue of December 1st. was completely exhausted. There is no other way I can get the paper here. Now, like most writers I suppose I like to see my scribblings in print, as well as preserve them, and if any of the readers of The Editor happens to possess a copy of Youth and Age, of December 1st., 1898, which he or she does not need, I should be exceedingly grateful to said reader if he or she would send it to me, and will return the favor in any way or at any time possible.

  L.M. MONTGOMERY, Cavendish, P.E. Island, Canada.

  (1899)

  PART 2

  Maud Montgomery, Newspaper Woman

  FIGURE 3 The office of the Halifax Daily Echo and the Morning Chronicle, at 10 and 12 Prince St., Halifax. Undated photograph. (Courtesy of the L.M. Montgomery Collection, Archival and Special Collections, University of Guelph Library.)

  A Half-Hour in an Old Cemetery

  M.M.

  In September 1901, after living again with her widowed grandmother in Cavendish for three years, Montgomery accepted the position of proofreader for the Halifax Daily Echo, in spite of its salary of five dollars a week, which, as Carole Gerson notes, was “considerably less than the wages of most contemporary Ontario women journalists.” Still, “it was not so much money I was after as experience and a start in journalism,” Montgomery declared in an extract from her journal not included in her account of her Daily Echo experience in “The Alpine Path.”1 Initially, the only writing assignments she was expecting to be given would involve fake society letters, but ten days after her start at the paper, an essay appeared under the byline “M.M.” It describes a “ramble” in the cemetery of St. Paul’s Anglican Church (better known as the Old Burying Ground) in downtown Halifax, founded in 1749 and closed in 1844; it is now considered a National Historic Site of Canada. Montgomery would draw on parts of this essay to describe Anne’s impressions of a Kingsport cemetery in chapter 4 of Anne of the Island. This essay appeared mere days before the launch of her weekly column, “Around the Table,” included later in this volume.

  AS A GENERAL THING, A GRAVEYARD IS NOT CONSIDERED a cheerful spot for a ramble! Yet there is a certain kind of pleasure in it for some minds and moods; and when the place in question is garbed in the glamor of history and “unhappy, far-off things”2 the pleasure is increased.

  Nothing could be fuller of interest than a half-hour spent in old St. Paul’s graveyard, that city of the dead set in the heart of the busy town, while the waves of life surge unceasingly around it, and its dwellers lie in the dreamless slumber that never wakens to recurring dawns of labor. Here, in the very domain of the strenuous present, is the realm of the past!

  For the most part no great art or skill was lavished on the old tombstones here. The larger number are of roughly-chiseled gray or brown stone, with here and there a white marble striking an almost jarring note in this subdued harmony of funereal tints. In few cases is there any attempt at ornamentation. Some are adorned with skull and crossbones and this grisly decoration is frequently coupled with a winged cherub head. Many are prostrate or in ruins. In almost all Time’s tooth has been gnawing into the inscriptions until some are completely effaced and others can only be deciphered with difficulty. The tombstones vary little in design or sentiment, yet one and all voice two of the most deeply-rooted instincts of humanity – the hope of immortality and the dread of oblivion. These monuments were erected to perpetuate the memory of men and women wholly forgotten a generation ago!

  What unconscious pathos there is in some of them! He
re, is one “erected to the memory” of one who is buried elsewhere, far from the graves of his kindred. There, is another marking the burial place of a “favorite child.” Yonder is a cluster of gray slabs where a whole family rest – father, mother, sisters, brothers, together in death as in life.

  Here we find a tombstone inscribed thus:

  “To the memory of George Reeves, who died on the 22nd of September, 1840, aged 43 years. This is raised as a tribute of affection by one whom he served so faithfully for 27 years that he was regarded as a friend, deserving the fullest confidence and attachment.”

  A very good epitaph! Who of us deserves or desires a better? We are all servants of some sort and surely if the fact that we were faithful might be truthfully inscribed on our tombstones nothing more need be added.

  One would scarcely look for irony in a graveyard; yet that selfsame epitaph is really an ironical commentary on the contrast between the present and the past. The “servant question” could not have been a burning one in those days.

  On one gray slab is a condensed biography of the pulseless clay it covers:

  “Here lieth the body of John Morden, Esq., for many years storekeeper of His Majesty’s Ordnance at Halifax. He served in the army until the peace of 1763, when he retired from bad health. He was a brave officer, the best of husbands, the best of fathers, the best of friends. He died October 29th, 1792, aged 84 years.”3