Agnes Scott Alumnae Quarterly [1941-1942]

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FALL 196 2

ALUMNAE QUARTERLY

A RIBTICKLrNG

HISTORY \0i^ .'Education

See page 7

ALUMNAE MEETING QUESTION TIME

W^hy is tuition higher than it uas in 1934? Is it true that 85% of the members
of the faculty are Communists? Why ivon^t you accept my daughter?

THE

cott

FALL 1962 VoL 41, INo. 1

ALUMNAE QUARTERLY

Ann Worthy Johnson '38, Editor
Dorothy Weakley '56, Managing Editor

CONTENTS

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! V

4 ScoTTiES Become Schoolmarms
Elizabeth Cole Stack

7 A Short History of Education
Richard Armour

12 Sink or Swim
Susan Coltrane

15 The French: Are They Individualists?
Koenraad W. Swart

19 Class News

Hendrica Baart Schepman

31 Worthy Notes

FRONT COVER

FRONTISPIECE :

(Opposite page)

Cartoon of an alumnae meeting, vintage contemporary, by John Stuart
McKenzie. See p. 7. Photographs on pp. 3, 4, 5, 6, 21, 22, 24, 26. and 29 by
Ken Patterson.

The space where the new dormitory is being built is where Mr. Tart's house
and Cunningham Cottage once stood, next door to Dr. Alston's house on one
side and to Miss McKinney's on the other. Each frontispiece this year will
give you a progress report on the building.

The Agnes Scott Alumnae Quarterly is published jour times a year (November,
February, April and July) by the Alumnae Association of Agnes Scott College
at Decatur, Georgia. Yearly subscription, $2.00. Single copy 50 cents. Entered
as second-clnss matter at the Post Office of Decatur, Georgia, under Art of
August 24, 1912. MEMBER OF AMERICAN ALUMNI COUNCIL

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A Beginning

FALL 1962

A great yawning mudhole,

full of Georgia red clay, with

a fence around it, is tlie current

status of what will be, by August 1963,

a wondrous new dormitory.

/ OS^^O

Scotties Becoir.

Dr. Elizabeth S

Throughout the country, Agnes
Scott graduates are teaching in
the secondary school, that peculiar
institution known as the American
high school. Their high school may
be on Central Avenue with trucks rush-
ing by, rattling the window panes of
a three-storied building with class-
rooms like the squares of a checker
board. Their school may be a four-
teacher high school on the sands of
Ocracoke. Their school may be one
of the new consolidated edifices that
dot the countryside with their fleets
of buses. Their school may look like
a new country club with its low.
rambling structure made of glass,
steel, brick, and stone. Their school
may be an imitation of the college
campus with ivy-covered buildings
where the appropriately dressed stu-
dent clad in the latest copy of Ivv
League clothes prepares for college.
What they have in common, what all
of America's 28,000 high schools
have in common is one course, prep-
aration for college entrance. And it
is this one course that Agnes Scott
graduates are teaching.

It is to this college preparatory
program in the secondary school that
Agnes Scott College, one of the coun-
try's outstanding liberal arts colleges,
has made a distinguished contribu-
tion. Graduating with a strong aca-
demic background, young women
have found rewarding professional
careers teaching their first academic
concern, their major subject, to the

Jane Nabors '62, as a teacher trainee, teaches high
school students to "parlez-vous."

THE AGNES SCOTT

choolmarms

s about Teacher Education

adolescents in the American hiiih
school.

Rampant in writing and discussion
regarding high school education to-
day is the question, how shall the
secondary school teacher be pre-
pared? It is answered at Agnes Scott
by the conviction that teacher educa-
tion should be a college-wide enter-
prise involving both the major de-
partments, such as. English, history,
or the foreign languages and the
education department which is con-
cerned with professional courses. In
order to provide the strongest
teacher-education faculty and to en-
rich course offerings. Agnes Scott
College instigated jointly with Emorv
University in 1948. the .Agnes Scott-
Emory Teacher Education Program.

The future teacher's curriculum in
various teaching fields is planned by
a Committee on Teacher Education
representing both institutions. There
is. therefore, no major in education
per se. The future teacher selects her
major in one of the liberal arts.

Although certification for teaching
is given for elementary and second-
ary levels, the majorit\ of Agnes
Scott students preparing to teach
choose to do so at the secondary level
in one of five fields: English, foreign
language, mathematics, science, and
the social sciences. The Agnes Scott
program is limited to forty students,
and not every would-be teacher is
encouraged to enter the colleges pro-
gram. Careful screening of her scho-
lastic aptitude, personality traits, and

Language lab equipment is demonstrated
by Ann Wood '62.

teaching potential is done by the
Committee on Teacher Education
which is composed of members of
many academic departments. The
evaluation of the student by her
major professors and by instructors
in prerequisite courses weigh heavily
in selection.

The profile, therefore, of the Agnes
Scott graduate in the secondary
school emphasizes first a teacher with
knowledge of her subject matter. It is
desired and most often true that she
possess as well a deep, abiding
curiosity and interest in her area of
specialization. Yet, knowledge of a
subject area such as English or
mathematics is not enough for sur-
vi\al in America's high school class-
rooms. Many educators graduated
from Agnes Scott in the past four
decades know this only too well, with
a know ledge derived from experience,
from painful hours of worry about
students and from mornings, eve-
nings, afternoons, when it seemed
that never was so much expected from
so few who teach so many.

Of course, the reason that so much
is expected from the American high
school teacher is unquestionabK the

Carol Cowan '62 and future outer spacers explore
scientific machines.

Schoolmarms

(Continued)

Ancient Latin gets modern liveliness from
student teacher Cynthia Craig Rester '62.

extension of universal education.
Americans are dedicated to education
for all the children of all the people.
The boys and girls who travel to
school from various types of homes
representing many types of vocations
and infinite degrees of social and
economic levels. Since she must cope
w ith all the children of all the people.

Dr. Elizabeth Cole Stack

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Elizabeth Cole Stock holds the B.A. degree
from Greensboro College and the M.Ed,
and Ph.D. degrees from the University of
North Carolina. As an associate professor
of education, she is on appointment at
Agnes Scott for instruction at Agnes Scott
and Emory University in their joint pro-
gram.

the teacher prepared at Agnes Scott
studies the nature of the adolescent,
how he learns, and how he may be
led to want to learn that subject
matter she loves so well. Further,
the teacher is introduced to the school
as part of the social order and learns
of its historical development, present
philosophy, organization, and prac-
tice.

Finally, in one quarter of the senior
year at Agnes Scott, the preparation
involves student teaching as an assist-
ant teacher in a public school in the
Atlanta area. It is during this period
that the beginning teacher is intro-
duced to many curricular innova-
tions that are taking place in the
American high school. Mathematics
teachers teach the new math curricu-
lum with materials prepared by the
School Mathematics Study Group at
Yale University. A science curriculum,
developed at Massachusetts Institute
of Technology, is presented to future
physicists. Curricular innovations in
biology, such as the Biological
Science Curriculum Study, sponsored
by the American Institute of Biologi-
cal Scientists, are analyzed, de-
veloped, and taught. The foreign
language major speaks with students

in language laboratories equipped
with individual recording booths.
The English and history teachers in-
troduce the inexpensive paper back
editions of classics and current litera-
ture, which their students can not
only read but also own. The begin-
ning history teacher uses historical
documents as well as current ma-
terials. Other curricular innovations,
such as the Advanced Placement Pro-
gram, the teaching machine, the flexi-
ble school day, and team teaching are
part of the study of a teacher pre-
pared at Agnes Scott. New and ex-
citing ideas going on in the materials
and methodology of the high school
curriculum are quickly integrated in-
to the courses that prepare teachers
for the classrooms.

The Agnes Scott student who
chooses a career in secondary edu-
cation takes her knowledge of the
liberal arts and her love of learning
to schools all over the country. Indeed,
she is a teacher who is not so much
concerned with acquisition of "skills"
to be used toward the attainment of
short-term goals as she is concerned
with the maturation of her students
toward the full, imaginative, and re-
sourceful life.

THE AGNES SCOTT

"TTET

mattovi

By RICHARD ARMOUR

ITTLE IS KNOWN about higher educa-
tion during the Stone Age, which is
perhaps just as well.

Because of a weakness in the lib-
eral arts, the B.A. was not offered, and there was
only the B.S., or Bachelor of Stones. Laboratory
facilities were meager, owing to a lack of govern-
ment contracts and support from private industry,
but tlie stars were readily available, on clear nights,
for those interested in astronomy. (Scholars, who
went around without much on, looked at the stars
with the naked eye.)

Prehistoric students, being before history, failed
to comprehend the fundamentals of the subject,
such as its being divided into Ancient, Medieval,
and Modem.

There were no College Boards. This was for-
tunate, because without saw or plane, boards were
rough.

Nor were there any fraternities. The only clubs

on the campus were those carried by the students
or, in self-defense, by members of the faculty.

Alunuii organizations were in their infancy,
where some of them have remained. The alumni
secretary occupied a small cave, left behind when
the director of development moved to a larger one.
Wliile waiting for contributions to come in, he idly
doodled on the wall, completely unaware that art
critics would someday mistake his drawings of cer-
tain members of the board of trustees for dinosaurs
and saber-toothed tigers.

The Alumni Quarterly came out every quarter
of a century, and was as eagerly awaited as it is
today.

The Classical Period

In ancient Athens everyone knew Greek, and in
ancient Rome everyone knew Latin, even small
children which those who have taken Elementary

(continued)

Editor's Note: Richard Armour, professor of English and dean of the faculty
at Scripps College, is the author of 22 books of humor and satire. He has
written this article (spoofing much that is often taken too seriously) for
exclusive publications in alumni magazines. Readers who like it will also
enjoy /f Ait Started With Eve, Twisted Tales from Shakespeare, The
Classics Reclassified, and his newest book. Golf Is a Four-letter Word.

ALUMNAE QUARTERLY / FALL 1962

John Stuart McKenzle, who illustrated the article, is the man behind the
Agnes Scoit Alumnae Quarterly and behind the Emory Alumnus and the
Georgia Tech Alumnus. A graduate of Emory, he is a nationally recognized
designer of printing; he is responsible for the refreshing layouts in our
magazine. Also, and perhaps as important, he is the husband of Virginia
Lee Brown McKenzie '47 and the father of Carol, Craig, Nancy, and Heather.

History of Education (continued)

CLASSICAL PERIOD ... "a spirited chariot race
between the chairman of the funds drive end the
tax collector, each trying to get to a good pros-
pect first."

DARK AGES . . . "Damsels, who were invariably
in distress, wrought havoc on a young man's
grade-point average."

Greek or Elementary Latin will find hard to be-
lieve. Universities wishing to teach a language
which had little practical use but was good for
mental discipline could have offered English if they
had thought of it.

Buildings were all in the classical style, and
what looked like genuine marble was genuine
marble. However, philosophy classes were some-
times held on the steps, the students being so eager
to learn that they couldn't wait to get inside.

The Peripatetic School was a college where the
professors kept moving from town to town, closely
followed by students and creditors. Sometimes lec-
tures were held in the Groves of Academe, where
students could munch apples and olives and oc-
casionally cast an anxious eye at birds in the
branches overhead.

Under the Caesars, taxation became so burden-
some that Romans in the upper brackets found they
might as well give money to their Alma Mater in-
stead of letting the State have it. Thus it was that
crowds often gathered along the Appian Way to
applaud a spirited chariot race between the chair-
man of the funds drive and the tax collector, each
trying to get to a good prospect first.

The word "donor" comes from the Latin donare,
to give, and is not to be confused with dunare, to
dun, though it frequently is.

When a prominent alumnus was thrown to the
lions, customary procedure in the alumni office
was to observe a moment of silence, broken only
by the sound of munching. Then the secretary,
wrapping his toga a little more tightly around him,
solemnly declared, "Well, we might as well take
him off the cultivation list."

The Middle Ages

In the period known as the Dark Ages, or night-
hood, everyone was in the dark. Higher education
survived only because of illuminated manuscripts,
which were discovered during a routine burning of
a library. It is interesting to reconstruct a typical
classroom scene: a group of dedicated students
clustered around a glowing piece of parchment,
listening to a lecture in Advanced Monasticism, a

THE AGNES SCOTT

tmr.

ten-year course. If some found it hard to concen-
trate, it was because they were dreaming about
quitting before exams and going off on a crusade.

Some left even sooner, before the end of the
lecture, having spied a beautiful damsel being pur-
sued by a dragon who had designs on her. Damsels,
who were invariably in distress, wrought havoc on
a young man's grade-point average.

Members of the faculty were better off than
previously, because they wore coats of armor. Fully
accoutered, and with their visors down, they could
summon up enough courage to go into the presi-
dent's office and ask for a promotion even thougli
they had not published a thing.

At this time the alumni council became more
aggressive in its fund drives, using such persuasive
devices as the thumbscrew, the knout, the rack, and
the wheel. A wealthy alumnus would usually do-
nate generously if a sufficient number of alumni,
armed with pikestaffs and halberds, could cross his
moat and storm his castle walls. A few could be
counted on to survive the rain of stones, arrows,
and molten lead. Such a group of alumni, known
as "the committee," was customarily conducted to
the castle by a troubador, who led in the singing
of the Alma Mater Song the while.

The Renaissance

During the Renaissance, universities sprang up
all over Europe. You could go to bed at night, with
not a university around, and the next morning there
would be two universities right down the street,
each with a faculty, student body, campanile, and
need for additional endowment.

The first universities were in Italy, where Dante
was required reading. Some students said his
"Paradise" and "Purgatory" were as hard as
"Hell." Boccaccio was not required but was read
anyhow, and in the original Italian, so much being
lost in translation. Other institutions soon followed,
such as Heidelb:rg, where a popular elective was
Duelling 103a, b, usually taken concurrently with
First Aid, and the Sorbonne, which never seemed
to catch on with tourists as much as the Eiffel
Tower, the Folies Bergere, and Napoleon's Tomb.

(continued)

VD

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RENAISSANCE . . . "You could go to bed ot
night, with not a university around, and the next
morning there would be two universities right
down the street."

ALUMNAE QUARTERLY / FALL 1962

History of Education (continued)

In England there was Oxford, where, by curious
coincidence, all of the young instructors were
named Don. There was also Cambridge.

The important thing about the Renaissance,
which was a time of awakening (even in the class-
room), was education of the Whele Man. Previ-
ously such vital parts as the elbows and ear lobes
had been neglected. The graduate of a university
was supposed, above all, to be a Gentleman. This
meant that he should know such things as archery,
falconry, and fencing (subjects now largely rele-
gated to Physical Education and given only one-
half credit per semester), as well as, in the senior
year, how to use a knife and fork.

During the Renaissance, the works of Homer,
Virgil, and other classical writers were rediscov-
ered, much to the disappointment of students.

Alumni officials concentrated their efforts on
securing a patron, someone rich like Lorenzo de'
Medici, someone clever like Machiavelli, or (if
they wished to get rid of a troublesome member
of the administration) someone really useful like
Lucrezia Borgia.

COLONIAL AMERICA . . . "The first universities in
America were founded by the Puritans. This explains
the strict regulations about Late Hours . , ."

Colonial America

The first universities in America were founded
by the Puritans. This explains the strict regiilations
about Late Hours, Compulsory Chapel, No Liquor
on the Campus, and Off -Limits to Underclassmen
which still exist at many institutions.

Some crafts were taught, but witchcraft was an
extracurricular activity. Witch-burning, on the
other hand, was the seventeenth century equivalent
of hanging a football coach in effigy at the end of
a bad season. Though deplored, it was passed off
by the authorities as attributable to "youthful ex-
uberance."

Harvard set the example for naming colleges
after donors. William and Mary, though making a
good try, failed to start a trend for using first
names. It was more successful, however, in starting
Phi Beta Kappa, a fraternity which permitted no
rough stuff in its initiations. At first the Phi Beta
Kappa key was worn on the key ring, but the prac-
tice went out with the discovery of the watch chain
and vest.

During the Colonial Period, alumni officials
limited their fund-raising activities to those times
when an alumnus was securely fastened, hands and
legs, in the stocks. In this position he was com-
pletely helpless and gave generously, or could be
frisked.

Revolutionary America

Higher education came to a virtual standstill
during the Revolution every able-bodied male
having enlisted for the duration. Since the ROTC
was not yet established, college men were forced
to have other qualifications for a commission, such
as money.

General George Washington was given an hon-
orary degree by Harvard, and this helped see him
through the difficult winter at Valley Forge. Since
he gave no commencement address, it is assured
that he made a substantial contribution to the build-
ing fund. Then again, mindful of the reputation he
had gained through Parson Weems's spreading of
the cherry tree story, he may have established a
chair in Ethics.

Unlike the situation during World War I, when
colleges and universities abandoned the teaching of
German in order to humiliate the Kaiser, the Colon-
ists waged the Revolutionary War successfully
without prohibiting the teaching of English. They
did, however, force students to substitute such good
old American words as "suspenders" for "braces,"

10

THE AGNES SCOTT

'.LM...i '-'m*'

and themes were marked down when the spelling
"tyre" was used for "tire" and "colour" for
"color."

The alumni publication, variously called the
Alumni Bulletin, the Alumni Quarterly, and die
Alunmi Newsletter, was probably invented at this
time by Benjamin Franklin, who invented almost
everything else, including bifocals and kites. The
first such publication was probably Poor Alumnus"
Almanac, full of such homely sayings as "Early
to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy,
wealthy, and wise enough to write his Alma Mater
into his will."

Contemporary America

In the nineteenth century, denominational col-
leges were founded in all parts of the country,
especially Ohio. In the smaller of these colleges,
money was mostly given in small denominations.
A few colleges were not named after John Wesley.

State universities came into being at about the
same time, and were tax supported. Every taxpayer
was therefore a donor, but without getting his name
on a building or being invited to dinner by the
president. The taxpayer, in short, was in the same
class as the Anonymous Giver, but not because he
asked that his name be withheld.

About the middle of the nineteenth century,
women were admitted to college. This was done
( 1 ) to relieve men of having to take women's parts
in dramatic productions, (2) to provide cheer-
leaders with shapelier legs, and (3) to recruit
members for the Women's Glee Club, which was
not prospering. Women students came to be known
as co-eds, meaning that they went along with a
man's education, and he could study and date
simultaneously. It was not realized, when they were
admitted, that women would get most of the high
marks, especially from professors who graded on
curves.

In the twentieth century, important strides were
made, such as the distinction which developed be-
tween education and Education. Teachers came to
be trained in what were at first called Normal
Schools. With the detection of certain abnomiali-
ties, the name was changed to Teachers Colleges.

John Dewey introduced Progressive Education,
whereby students quickly knew more than teachers
and told them so. Robert Hutchins tunied the Uni-
versity of Chicago upside down, thereby necessi-
tating a new building program. At St. John's Col-
lege everyone studied the Great Books, which were
more economical because they did not come out
each year in a revised edition. Educational televi-
sion gave college professors an excuse for owning
a television set, which they had previously main-
tained would destroy the reading habit. This made
it possible for them to watch Westerns and o\A
movies without losing status.

Of recent years, an increasing number of stu-
dents spend their junior year abroad. This enables
them to get a glimpse of professors who have been
away for several years on Fulbrights and Guggen-
heims.

Student government has grown apace, students
now not only governing Uiemselves but giving
valuable suggestions, in the form of ultimatums, to
the presidents and deans. In wide use is the Honor
System, which makes the professor leave the room
during an examination because he is not to be
trusted.

Along widi these improvements in education has
come a subtle change in the American alumnus.
No longer interested only in the record of his col-
lege's football team, he is likely to appear at his
class reunion full of such penetrating questions as
"Why is the tuition higher than it was in 1934?"
"Is it true that 85 ',c of the members of the faculty
are Communists?" and "How can I get my son (or
daughter) in?"

Alunuii magazines have kept pace with such ad-
vancements. The writing has improved, thanks to
schools of journalism, until there is excitement and
suspense even in the obituary column. Expression
has reached such a high point of originality that a
request for funds may appear, at first reading, to
be a gift offer.

However, if pictorial content continues to in-
crease, it will not be necessaiy for alunmi to know
how to read.

This cannot come too soon.

^Copyright 1962 by Editorial Projects for Education, Inc. All
rights reserved.

ALUMNAE QUARTERLY / FALL 1962

11

SINK OR SWIM

A recent graduate delineates what her years at

Agnes Scott have meant in certain value

judgments, as she carves her career.

4 4r>ink or Swim" was the subject
O assigned ( rather unusual, I
thought I to me by the Atlanta Agnes
Scott Alumnae Club for one of their
programs last spring. I underesti-
mated the appropriateness of the title.
When I arrived at the meeting, looked
around the room, and saw the faces
of women whose intelligence and
achievements I had long admired. I
knew that I was, surely, in water way
over my head.

Far wiser people than I had spoken
to the club at earlier programs of the
"Sink or Swim" series last year. Ac-
tually, having graduated from Agnes
Scott in 1955. I have not been out of
college long enough to know whether
I have sunk or am still swimming,
but if I am still swimming. I attribute
this largely to the years I spent at
Scott.

When I was a student, it was
President Alston's custom to conduct
brief chapel programs prior to the
exams held at the end of each quarter.
I remember him saying that we should
be grateful for the opportunity to
take exams, of all things. He said
that exams provided an occasion for
us to review and tie together all the
facts we had learned in a course, thus

12

enabling us to see the relationship of
a whole body of information. And
we had to do this by a given time.
This, he said, was a necessary step
prior to forming conclusions and
opinions. He advised us that this
process should remain with us for
all our lives and reminded us that
only by completing one unit of work
would we be ready to go on to
another.

It is now my turn to be grateful
for the opportunity to take an exam
on myself, to attempt to put down in
words how my Agnes Scott years have
been meaningful to me both person-
ally and professionally. I can now
reflect on the value of these years and
can conclude what they taught me, so
that I can determine why I'm still
swimming. And, I should add. I am
convinced that the things that have
kept me swimming so far will keep
me swimming in the future.

What are these things? I made a
list. You probably could add to it
extensively : nevertheless, let me share
with you the things that seem to have
been most important to me so far.
Each item is. of course, an outgrowth
or a by-product of the liberal arts
education which we all received.

Adaptability is probably the most
useful by-product of my education.
A liberal arts education provides us
with a wide background of various
information and experience. It is a
broadening process rather than a
specializing one. We are introduced
to a wide range of subjects touching
almost every field of knowledge. This
means that when we come in contact
with a new situation now. although
we may not be experts on it, we at
least are not floored by the mystery
of it. We are able to adapt ourselves
to its demands in a constructive way.
As one example, in my job as assist-
ant advertising manager of a bank.
I was asked to make a speech to some
high school students on the subject of
the Federal Reserve System. I had
never studied about this in school,
nor had I ever made a speech outside
of the college community. But I was
able to rise to the occasion in some
fashion because I had been taught
how to do research on a subject, how
to organize facts in an intelligible
sequence, and how to deliver a
speech. Although I was no expert, I
knew where to turn to get the job
done. Every housewife could give you
hundreds of examples of how she is

THE AGNES SCOTT

mmmm

By SUSAN COLTRANE '55

Since her graduation Susan has done graduate work,
is serving on the Alumnae Association Board,
and has been assistant advertising
manager for an Atlanta hank.

called upon daily to adapt to new
demands.

Curiosity is another by-product.
You get into the habit of asking
"why" as a student, and you cannot
shake the habit after you graduate.
We were taught to think, and once
this process was set in motion, it
could not be stilled. This gives me a
freedom I did not anticipate. Because
I can reason independently. I can
respond to and accept new ideas; I
can reject opinions and prejudices
not based on fact. Living in the Deep
South as I do, facing integration,
public education, voting rights and
other crucial issues so tied up with
emotions, I am equipped to discern
the proper position to take. I do
not have to accept unquestioningly
the opinions of others as I would
have to do were I uneducated.

Resourcefulness is also an out-
growth of the liberal arts education.
When we do not actually have the
experience needed to do a job, we
know how to get the job done. This
resourcefulness enables us to be
adaptable and flexible, and thus we
can contriute to many different
kinds of situations. So often men
are specialists because their jobs call

for it. But as women, we are expected
to rise to any occasion often on five
minutes notice. Women are house-
keepers, financial managers, religious
leaders, tutors, and social secretaries,
all at the same time. We must possess
understanding and patience in order
to be the confidants and shock ab-
sorbers of those around us. We are
masters of the miscellaneous.

Because Agnes Scott has a strong
religious influence on its students, we
as students developed a sense of the
right ivay of life. This takes the form
of a sense of the whole, a sense of
direction and an optimistic outlook.
These, needless to say, are invaluable
in moments of decision as well as in
long periods of endurance with the
minutiae of everyday living.

While a student at Agnes Scott is
being exposed to a wide variety of
subjects, she also is coming in contact
with all sorts of people of all ages.
She is learning how to lead and to
work with her contemporaries as
well as to work constructively with
and to build friendships with her
professors. The most immediate
limitation on the recent graduate is
her lack of experience. However, this
acquaintance with a variety of people

and subject matter sustains her
temporarily until experience is ac-
quired. Her liberal arts background
has given her the basic tools for
understanding. Harper Lee, in her
novel. To Kill a Mockingbird, has her
character. Atticus Finch, tell his
young daughter that you have to get
into someone else's skin in order to
know why they do things the wav
they do. Our liberal arts education,
that is, our broad background of
knowledge and personal relation-
ships, enables us to get into someone
else's skin fairly effectively until we
gain some experience.

A special gift to me from Agnes
Scott was an obligation to care. I
transferred to Scott from a large coed
university where individual attention
was necessarily rare. During my first
quarter at Scott. I was amazed at the
way I was taken by the hand and
led into the life and study of the
campus. It never ceased to startle me
that people who were neither related
to me nor knew me personally would
take such an interest in me. At first I
felt that they were almost looking
over my shoulder and then, slowly I
became aware of striving for their
approval, trying to come up to what

ALUMNAE QUARTERLY / FALL 1962

13

Sink or Swim

(Continued from page 13)

they seemed to think I could achieve.
As a result, I found myself producing
a quality of work much better than I
had ever produced before. With these
people caring so much about how I
got along, I was obligated to get
along better than I thought I could.
And since then, I have noticed that I
try to produce what is expected of me
by those who care. My boss, today,
for example, frequently gives me
assignments which I know I am not
prepared to carry out. But since he
seems to be oblivious to my lack of
ability, and since there is no one else
on his staff to whom he can turn, I
plunge in and carry out these assign-
ments as best I can. Somehow I
rise to the occasion more frequently
than I thought I could. And, in the
few instances when I have been on
the assigning end of a job, I have
found that others, too, produce better
work when much is expected of them,
and if I let them know that I care.

Intangible Products

Adaptability, curiosity, resource-
fulness, a sense of the right way of
life, understanding, and obligation
to care these are the most meaning-
ful products of my years at Agnes
Scott. After looking over this list, I
saw that each item was an intangible
thing. On the surface it seems that
I have reinforced every argument
against a liberal arts education for
women by indicating that 1 did not
learn how to do anything with my
education, for I have not listed one
skill that could help me earn a living.
And, unfortunately, there are still too
many people who think that women's
colleges should be trade schools
where the student learns one special
skill which she uses eventually to
make herself economically self-suf-
ficient.

Once I thought these critics had a
point. When I graduated with my
B.A. degree in History and English,
I could not think of a thing I could
actually do except teach, and at the
moment, I did not want to teach. I
preferred to do something interesting

and useful in the business world
the great hub of doing for which I
was not prepared, I thought. But the
desire to be one of those glamorous
career women drove me to explore
this world.

Initial Job Interviews

The first job I applied for was
the one I have now, and my Agnes
Scott education got it for me. I got
the job, also, because of the right
attitude of the man who hired me.
(Too, I just happened to apply for
the job at the right time!) He is an
intelligent, open-minded person with
the opinion rarely found in business
men, that women should not only be
educated but also should use their
education actively. He is the vice
president in charge of advertising and
public relations for Atlanta's largest
bank. He needed an assistant with a
broad background of knowledge and
the willingness to put it to use. He
said that with this good grounding,
the specific details of the job would
then take care of themselves.

During the initial interview he re-
quested that I submit to him some of
the essays and short stories I had
written as a student. And I, in turn,
asked him if he could give me an
assignment which I could carry out
in an evening, so that he could see
how 1 would handle it. He therefore
asked me to write a series of letters
that would promote Uie purchase of
a special series of savings bonds. This
I did and was subsequently hired.
Looking back now, I see that he did
not hire me because of the quality of
the letters (which actually was rather
amateurish), but because of the
initiative I had demonstrated. But for
me to have reacted to my interview
in any other way would have been
unnatural. After all, such action was
expected of me daily at Scott.

Since that time, the aspects of my
job have been changing constantly.
I have done hundreds of different
kinds of things, among them: helping
produce ads; writing news releases;
conducting tours of the bank; mak-
ing talks on banking to high school
students; promoting the opening of
new branch offices; coordinating

trade-show exhibits; working on a
history of the bank; researching mar
kets for new business; appearing on
television to talk about budgeting
(and living in fear that the credit
man in charge of the "C" section for
a local department store was watch-
ing he would have had me appre-
hended as a charlatan) ; and, teach-
ing English grammar to business ad-
ministration graduates in the bank's
executive training program.

For none of these jobs was 1
specifically trained at Agnes Scott,
but I was able to do them because of
the liberal arts background that en-
ables me to be flexible, adaptable, and
resourceful. But isn't this the very
position in which most women find
themselves so frequently? We are
called on to do so many different
things, none of which we were specif-
ically trained to do. We are able to
function constructively and creatively
in many capacities and this cannot
be said of a person with only one
skill.

The Maturing Process

Another thing has happened to me.
too. After learning how to do one job.
I find myself yearning to move on to
something else, something more de-
manding of me, something more
meaningful. I want to do fewer things
because they are for fun, and more
things because they actually contrib-
ute to making life better. This is
probably just the maturing process
taking effect in me, but I do honestly
believe that the things I learned at
Agnes Scott started me in this direc-
tion.

We all alumnae are very much
like the pet cats with which our
children play. Have you ever noticed
how a child sits on the cat, pulls at
him, and throws him up in the air?
And, have you also noticed how the
cat always lands on its feet? The
cat has some mysterious balancing
quality that enables it to spring into
an upright position. That balancing
quality in us is, I believe, our Agnes
Scott liberal arts education. We oc-
casionally fall on our faces, but when
the score is tallied, we have more feet
landings than face falls.

14

THE AGNES SCOTT

W^

The French: Are They Individuahsts?

DR. KOENRAAD W. SWART

Associate Professor of History

No other European nation has enjoyed such a firm-
ly established reputation for individualism as
modem France. Indeed, there exists almost a con-
sensus on this point. The view has been presented by
professional historians and men of letters, by political
scientists and journalists alike. It has become a cliche as
generally accepted as the older stereotypes describing the
French as pre-eminently frivolous, fickle, sociable, and
gay. The late novelist Elliot Paul, for example, character-
ized the French nation as one of 43,000,000 individual-
ists. The Swiss historian Herbert Luethy called France
the most highly individualistic of all nations. According
to C.B.S. correspondent David Schoenbrun, "France is the
last bastion of the rugged individualist."

Many Frenchmen have expressed themselves in a
similar vein. Andre Siegfried, the late dean of French
political scientists, came to the conclusion that "individu-
alism seems to be one of the permanent qualities of the
French," a trait which was "originally inherited from
the Gauls and which is now innate in our character."
Charles Seignobos, one of the most respected masters of
French historical science at the beginning of this century,
counted individualism among the lasting tendencies of
the French mind. Like Siegfried, he traced its origin
back to the Celts, and held that the French south of the
Loire, among whom this Celtic element was predominant,
were the most individualistic of all Frenchmen and, for
this reason, almost impossible to rule. An Academician,
the Due de Levis Mirepoix, is now engaged in an exten-
sive study of the grandeur and misery of French indi-
vidualism, dealing in the thus far published volumes in
great detail with French individualism in the Middle
Ages, the Renaissance, and the old regime.

The widespread opinion that the French are individual,
ists, like the word itself, is of relatively recent origin.
The term "individualism" like so many other political
"-isms" first appeared in the various European languages
in the nineteenth century. It was brought into currency
by the socialist disciples of the Comte de Saint-Simon
in the 1820's and was gradually accepted into other
languages under the influence of French political and
social literature. The first users of the term gave it a
pronouncedly unfavorable meaning. As has been the case
with the introduction of so many words, "individualism"
was coined by its critics, and has only slowly and re-
luctantly been adopted by its supporters. The original
meaning of the word was the self-assured pursuit of one's
own interest and a callous lack of social responsibility,
an attitude which, according to the authors of the time,
liad triumphed at the end of the eighteenth century and
which had foimd its main exponents among the bourge-
oisie. It was generally associated with materialism in
philosophy, laissez faire in economics. Protestantism in
religion, and Romanticism in literature.

Copyright 1962 by the Duke University Press. Reprinted from
the South Atlantic Quarterly, Winter, 1962.

After 1830 the term was also used by conservatives,
who condemned the mentality designated as individual-
ism in even stronger terms than socialist writers. Where-
as the latter considered it as a necessary phase in the
evolution of society toward a higher form of organiza-
tion and were therefore not completely unsympathetic
toward all of its manifestations, the conservatives merely
viewed it as a symptom of social disintegration. The two
different interpretations are well represented by the
views of two authors who have been highly influential
in popularizing the term inside as well as outside France :
the socialist Louis Blanc, and the liberal conservative
De TocqueviUe. For Louis Blanc, individualism served
as a central concept in his optimistic philosophy of
history. This mentality, according to him, had its origin
in the Reformation and had resulted in great progress.
Although he condemned its contemporary manifestations
and held that the era of individualism would soon be
replaced by one of fraternity, Louis Blanc felt that in-
dividualism had not been without its greatness and should
be considered with respect. De TocqueviUe, on the other
hand, saw individualism purely as a recent phenomenon
and condemned it as the most pernicious accompaniment
of the democratic trend of his time, breeding anarchy as
well as despotism. "Individualism," he said, "at first
only saps the virtues of public life; but in the long run,
it attacks and destroys all others and is at length absorbed
in downright selfishness."

At this time the term was hardly used to indicate any
specificaUy French national characteristics. According to
the socialists, the mentality was rather highly developed
among Teutonic peoples, as it had originated in Germany
with the Protestant Reformation and had fully triumphed
in England during their own time. Supposedly, therefore,
the English nation was either approaching its downfall
or heading for a catastrophic revolution, whereas the
French were eminently socially minded and therefore
called to play a leading role in the coming era of fra-
ternity. Even De TocqueviUe, who acknowledged the
strength of individualism in France, nevertheless con-
sidered it a phenomenon of very recent origin, entirely
unknown to his nation prior to the Revolution.

In the 1830's, "individualism" was still considered a
neologism. A French attorney general of this time called
it a new word necessary to characterize "an evil which
has hitherto been unknown; a word," he added, "which
will pass away, together with the accidental evil to which
it owes its origin." This was only a few years before the
term was introduced into English and German and
started its brilliant career in the vocabulary of political
and social scientists. Publicists of other countries who
adopted the term gave it new meanings. As a result, the
term lost its pronouncedly unfavorable connotation and
instead came to represent a political, social, or cultural
ideal.

The first radical departure from the meaning of the
term individualism current among the French is found
in an American publication. In an article appearing in

ALUMNAE QUARTERLY / FALL 1962

15

The French (Continued)

the United States Magazine and Democratic Review of
1839, a highly optimistic and nationalistic philosophy of
history was outlined somewhat in the manner of the
French socialist doctrines of that time, but with the
diiference that in its American counterpart the realiza-
tion of individualism is seen as the ultimate goal of all
social and political development. It is surprising that at
this early date the term was handled with a remarkable
sureness of touch. "The course of civilization," wrote
the anonymous author, "is the progress of man from a
state of savage individualism to that of an individualism
more elevated, moral, and refined."

The meaning given the term in this article was com-
pletely different from the one conveyed in the second
volume of De Tocqeville's Democracy in America, pub-
lished one year later. In contrast to the French political
analyst, the American writer identified individualism
with respect for human rights and the sovereignty of
the individual and felt that these ideals were best guaran-
teed in a democracy. De Tocqueville, though also cherish-
ing these ideals, held that they were better safeguarded
in a less equalitarian form of government and never in-
cluded them in his definition of individualism. Whereas
to De Tocqueville indivdualism primarily meant equality
and antisocial behavior, to the American publicist it
signified freedom and equal opportunity for all. Individu-
alism in this new and favorable interpretation came to
be one of the key words representing deeply rooted
opinions about the nature and future of American
society: the myth of the rugged pioneer, the cult of
self-reliance, the distrust of governmental interference,
and the glorification of the competitive spirit; ideals
which had been partly formulated before the term made
its appearance were now, as it were, summed up in a
new slogan.

In England the reaction toward the term individualism
was much more reserved than in America. For a long
time the neologism was used only occasionally and then
almost without exception in the French, unfavorable
meaning. Until the end of the nineteenth century, few
English authors associated the term with their well-
established national tradition of political, economic, and
religious freedom. It was avoided by all those writers
whom later generations are wont to consider as the
incarnation of British individualism. It did not appear in
any of the publications of the Manchester school of
economy; it is not found in John Stuart Mill's famous
essay On Liberty, the so-called Bible of political individu-
alism; and it is likewise not mentioned in Herbert
Spencer's classical statement on the rights of man versus
the state.

During the nineteenth century, French rather than
English writers used the term individualism in describ-
ing the English nation. In the first half of the century,
when strong anti-English sentiments were prevalent
among the French, this trait was seen as a definite symp-
tom of English decadence; during the latter half, when
pro-English sentiments became widespread, individualism
(held at this time even more than before to be typical
of English society) shared in the more positive evaluation
of everything English. The height of these enthusiastic
interpretations of the Anglo-Saxon mind was reached
at the end of the nineteenth century, when in works like

16

The Superiority of the Anglo-Saxon Race, by Edmond
Demolins, The Psychology of Socialism, by Gustave Le
Bon, the constructive energetic, and enterprising in-
dividualism of the English-speaking nations was con-
trasted with the oppressive collectivism and centraliza-
tion of the Latin races. Because of these characteristics,
these French authors held, the former were predestined
to rule the world, whereas the latter were doomed to
decline. It required a bold mind at that time to state that
the French were individualists. A reviewer of Demolins'
book who intimated that individualism manifested itself
much more strongly on the banks of the Seine than on
the banks of the Thames felt obliged to present his opin-
ion as an extravagant paradox.

It was at this time (1890's) , when the British tradition
of individualism in the sense of political and economic
liberalism was actually losing strength, that the term
individualism became commonly accepted by English
writers speculating on the national characteristics of the
English people. In the twentieth century, English authors
have frequently commented on the individualistic temper
of their nation, sometimes contrasting it to the mentality
of the French, who, as Harold Nicholson observed, might
have personality, but lacked individualism. The same
contrast is implied in a remark by William Inge: ". . . we
are so individualistic that a Frenchman has said that
the best handbook and guide to the English character is
Robinson Crusoe."

The general acceptance of the term individualism in
England as well as in the United States was partly due to
a new and more favorable meaning which the term had
acquired under German influence. It might seem surpris-
ing that this positive meaning of the term originated in
Germany. In our century, it has become customary to
consider German mentality hostile to any form of in-
dividual freedom. Yet this view was exceptional until
the end of the nineteenth century, especially among the
Germans themselves. Actually, even in the twentieth
century a large number of German publicists were firmly
convinced that the Germans were highly individualistic,
and the only difference between their opinion and that
of earlier German writers was that they increasingly
critized this national trait which their predecessors had
glorified. As late as 1927 a prominent German historian
called the Germans more individualistic than either the
French or the English. In some of the statements con-
cerning the (Jerman national character we are reminded
of similar remarks more recently made about the French.
"Individualism," wrote a German philosopher, Mueller-
Freienfels, in 1921, "is the source of German greatness
as well as of German misery; it is the mainspring of her
brilliant civilization, but it is also responsible for the
vehemence of political passion and lack of unity un-
paralleled in any other civilized nation."

The evidence brought forward in support of German
individualism has been various : the German origin of the
Protestant Reformation inaugurating a period of religious
individualism, the belated unification due to internal
division and political apathy, even the legendary origin
of all modem political freedom in the forests of old
Germany. The most substantial claim for German indi-
vidualism is based on a tendency prevalent among the
Germans to cultivate an ideal of individual development.
This historical tradition, which individualism could claim
in Germany, was, of course, entirely different from that in

THE AGNES SCOTT

England or the United States. German individualism
was not an outward attitude manifesting itself in active
opposition to authority, but an inward freedom favoring
the cultivation of cultural values and aiming at the
formation of a well-rounded, fully developed personality.
This ideal of personal development or individuality found
its purest expression in the German works of Schiller,
Goethe, and Wilhehn von Humboldt. It profoundly in-
fluenced the German mind and also inspired English and
American champions of strong and original personalities,
such as Carlyle, John Stuart Mill, and Emerson.

In the German language, the word individualism was
not used to designate this ideal until some fifty years
after the latter had been formulated. The most important
step in fusing the new term individualism taken from
the French and first used in German in 1837 and the
older ideal of individuality was taken by the great Swiss
historian, Jacob Burckhardt, in 1860, when he published
his classic work on the Italian Renaissance. Individualism
meant to him in the first place the full development of
human potentialities; it also included the less favorable
meanings which were prevalent in French literature at
that time and which Burckhardt, a great admirer of
French culture, had found in the works of De Tocque-
ville and Louis Blanc. The Swiss historian, calling indi-
vidualism the fundamental vice as well as the condition
of the greatness of the Italian Renaissance, was not, like
many later European men of letters, an unqualified
admirer of this new mentality which, according to him,
characterized the entire modem European civilization.

Burckhardt has been extremely influential in giving the
term individualism increased prestige, and his work has
been the starting point of innumerable controversies on
the meaning and origin of the idea. German and French
historians have claimed for their nations the honor of
having developed individualism long before the Italians.
Catholics have argued that the Middle Ages were at least
as individualistic as the Renaissance. Other historians
and philosophers, while accepting the facts as presented
by Burckhardt, have interpreted the rise of individualism
as the most important cause of a decline of Western
civilization.

It can be concluded that in the nineteenth century in-
dividualism was frequently held to be characteristic of
the Americans, the English, and the Germans, but not of
the French, who were on the contrary known for their
sociable and gregarious temperament, supposedly having
a predilection for coUectivistic doctrines and expecting
all improvement from increased state intervention. It was
not until the tiventieth century that the French came to
be considered the most highly individualistic people,
probably not so much because the French people radically
changed their national characteristics, but rather because
the other so-called individualistic nations turned their
backs on their individualistic traditions.

This point can in the first place be illustrated by the
new way in which the French and German peoples were
contrasted. Struck by the greater discipline displayed by
the Germans in their political and economic organization,
publicists were inclined to attribute the opposite charac-
teristics to the French people. In the course of the nine-
teenth century, France and Germany actually exchanged
positions as to the opinions formulated on their national
characteristics. The Germans, who, at the beginning of
the century, had been portrayed as a nation of poets and

philosophers, eternally divided among themselves and
without any talent for politics, came, at its end, to be
known as a people of blood and iron readily accepting
authority and discipline, without much respect for indi-
vidual freedom. This was in many ways the same reputa-
tion which France had enjoyed in the period of the
French Revolution and Napoleon, and even until the
middle of the nineteenth century. Contrary to their
modem reputation, the French "those modem Romans"
as Frederick the Great called them were until recently
respected for their co-operative efforts rather than for
their individual accomplishments. In 1830, Coleridge de-
fined the French as "gunpowder, smutty and contemptible
each taken by itself, but terrible indeed when massed
together." As late as 1850, in his Confession, Bakunin
(and his attentive reader, Tsar Nicholas I, fully agreed)
contrasted the discipline usually displayed by the French
working classes with the anarchistic mentality which he
considered typical of the German people. At the beginning
of the twentieth century a radical revision had taken
place: France came to be known as an intellectual's
paradise, the Mecca of all artists, peace loving, exces-
sively individualistic, hopelessly divided politically, and
lacking any gift for organization in short, possessing
many of the characteristics which had been attributed
to Germany fifty years earlier.

In a similar way, French and Anglo-Saxon character-
istics seemed, to many observers, to develop in opposite
directions. The lack of social responsibility among the
French people and the tendency of French politicians to
vote according to their individual interests and convic-
tions were contrasted with the greater amount of social
discipline and political co-operation prevailing in Eng-
land and the United States. The weakness of the executive
power, the vehemence of party strife, and the frequency
of political scandals were seen as manifestations of an
individualistic mentality undermining the strength of the
nation. "The essential cause of France's troubles," said
Francois Mauriac a few years ago, "is the extreme
individualism of the French people." The same idea is
implied in the well-known characterization of the French :
"One Frenchman, an intelligent person; two Frenchmen,
a brilliant conversation; three Frenchmen, a political
mess."

The persistence of precapitalistic forms of economy
was probably an even more important reason why France
came to be portrayed as a stronghold of individualism.
The slow pace of French industrialization after 1870
was blamed on the French entrepreneurs, who preferred
to keep their firms small family enterprises, and on the
French workers, who were averse to impersonal work
on the assembly line. Another sign of the individualism
prevalent among the French working classes was seen in
their reluctance to join labor unions, which, in France,
remained poorly organized and small in membership
compared to those in Germany and England. Finally, the
French peasant was portrayed as clinging tenaciously to
his small individual holdings, stubbornly opposing any
consolidation of lots or formation of co-operatives, and
therefore as the most individualistic of all French indi-
vidualists. To sum up, France lost its long-established
reputation of being a dynamic, revolutionary nation and
instead came to be considered as ultraconservative,
esteeming individual control higher than collective effort
even if this meant lower returns; it became known as a

ALUMNAE QUARTERLY / FALL 1962

17

The French

(Continued)

country without trusts, large department stores, or
mechanized agriculture, but with a passion for smallness,
a place where people tried to make a living by serving
ten meals at noon or selling five shirts a day and dreamed
about leaving all their possessions to their single son.

There exists undoubtedly strong evidence for the
alleged intense individualism of the modem French. Not
all French peasants, businessmen, workers, or politicians,
of course, act according to the same individualistic pat-
tern, but this is readily conceded by the authorities men-
tioned in the beginning of this article, and so is the fact
that at the present time French individualism is under
strong attack from various directions. My objection to
the many current statements about French individualism
is, in the first place, that France has not sharply distin-
guished itself from any other nation in this respect until
very recently and that actually one can say that France,
unlike the United States, England, or Germany, has no
tradition of individualism. French individualism can
therefore hardly be called innate.

The first period in which the French nation manifested
pronounced characteristics of its own was in the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries, and at this time the anti-
individualistic tendencies seem to have been predominant.
France was ruled under a highly centralized form of
government suppressing most forms of individual freedom
and local autonomy. Other essential aspects of the
French anti-individualistic tradition were the strong op-
position to Protestantism and its right of private judg-
ment, and the standardization of cultural life, especially
in the fields of language and literature, in which the
expression of personal sentiments or the deviation from
classical rules were disparaged. The strict regulation of
French economy, finding its classic expression in Colbert-
ism, and the extreme sociability of the French, who in
contrast to the English, the Germans, and the Italians,
felt miserable if deprived of the company of their fellow
men, are also indicative of the weakness of French indi-
vidualism under the old regime.

It is, moreover, far from true that this anti-individual-
istic tradition has exhausted its strength in present-day
France. The ease with which the regime of General de
Gaulle has established itself seems to indicate that the
willingness to accept authority for which the French were
known in the days of the Bourbons and the Bonapartes
is still a characteristic of the French people today. In
Republican France, the Parisian bureaucracy has con-
tinued to control some of the most minute details of the
private lives of citizens in the faraway comers of the
country; individual rights, as has been pointed out by
many French liberals, have not always been much better
safeguarded under the Republican regime than under the
arbitrary rule of the Sun King; private enterprise has
never become one of the mainsprings of French economy.
In short, individualism as far as it stands for economic
and political liberalism has remained weak in France.
Standardization of cultural life likewise continues to be
characteristic of France rather than of the United States,
England, or Germany. It is only in France that a minister
of education enjoys almost dictatorial power in deciding
on the curricula and standards of the nation's education
system.

18

Finally, the complexity of modem industrial organiza-
tion has not in every respect limited the freedom of the
individual; although creating a new form of regimenta-
tion, it has also contributed to the emancipation of the
individual from former restraints. It has specifically
loosened family ties and old social loyalties. The French,
to the degree that they are still clinging to a past form of
economic organization, have not fully participated in this
liberation. It is well known that the French have not been
pioneers in establishing woman suffrage or a liberal code
of divorce. No one denies that parental authority is less
strong in Northern Europe than in France, where a
father, for example, decides upon the profession, if not
the marriage, of his son to a degree unknown in the
allegedly less individualistic countries. The persistent
strength of this form of anti-individualism in modem
France was revealed in 1940, when Marshal Petain's
program of proclaiming the family and the corporation
as the cornerstone of a new social order met with a warm
response by the nation.

The question as to whether the French are individualists
or not is more than anything else a matter of semantics.
The term has been given a large number of heterogeneous
meanings. The cautious mentality of the French bour-
geoisie has little in common with the rugged self-reliance
of the American pioneer; the English liberal tradition is
once again quite different from the German cult of indi-
viduality. Many other nationalities besides the ones men-
tioned the Spanish, the Italians, the Dutch, the Nor-
wegians have, for a number of reasons, enjoyed a repu-
tation of individualism. Some of the meanings used are
actually contradictory. The same political theory can,
for example, be declared individualistic or anti-indi-
vidualistic depending on the meaning given to these terms.
At the end of the nineteenth century, French liberals
claimed De Tocqueville as a great advocate of individu-
alism, whereas he himself completely rejected everything
the idea stood for in his time.

Accepting all the meanings the term has been given,
it becomes a difiicult task to discover societies in which
individualistic tendencies have not manifested themselves
in some form. Even in the most disciplined authoritarian
societies, individualism of some form or other will assert
itself. It can therefore be said that the French are innate
individualists as far as individualism is innate in human
nature. Individualism, of course, does not necessarily
express itself always and everywhere in equal strength. '
Individualism, for example, might have been particularly
pronounced in Western civilization. But even this has
been questioned. Individualism has been considered a
distinguishing trait of Bedouin nomads and Ukrainian
peasants, of Montenegrin mountaineers and Argentine
Gauchos.

It is safe to say that the term has lost most of its use-
fulness. Individualism is, to quote the leading French
dictionary of philosophy, "a bad term, highly ambiguous,
the use of which leads to continual sophistries." Social
scientists, if it were within their power, might like to
expunge such equivocal terms from their vocabulary. At
least they should be fully aware of their relative value and
make it always clear from the context what type of in^
dividualism they have in mind. Statements such as "the
French are a nation of 43,000,000 individualists" or
"France is the last bastion of the rugged Individualist"
are, to say no more, highly misleading.

THE AGNES SCOH

Capacity to Change Determines Capacity to Gro^v

Jever would I DARE, or want to,
'rench about whether or not they
read Dr. Swart s article elsewhere

quibble with the
are individualists
in this issue and

lake up your own mind.) 1 will quibble a bit with their
dage. Plus ca change, plus cest la meme chose.

1 aint necessarily so. True, a room may be redec-
rated and remain the same room. This has happened
wice recently at Agnes Scott, when the Treasurer's office
las transformed with brilliant blue walls, open space,
ew inhabitants, and when the bookstore began to
urgeon with bright lighting, fresh paint and mainly
resh books, paper-backs galore, new publications in
arious fields, as well as the necessary testbooks. ( See
icture on p. 29 wish it were in color. )

In another sense, these are not really the same rooms,
^ou've probably had the experience of redecorating a
oom. letting all your response to color and line and
[rape and form burst forth and praying and declaring
1 one breath that the children won't mess it up. But
le children eventually do mess it up, and. I trust, you
ventually relax and let the room be lived in, in a real
ense. It actually can become a truly different room only
y being accepted, by the change becoming normal,
ood, and fun.

Nor will I venture into the realm of psychic change,
eing an amateur in the academic discipline of psy-
hology. I can only say that in my own experience of
iving, I am not the same person that I was. Learning to
Lve with the "new" me will be, always, a continuously
xciting process. I have changed, and I don't feel that

am just "more of the same thing."

Changes have occurred this fall in both physical and
sychological areas, at Agnes Scott. There are three new
arking lots on campus, one behind Presser Hall, one
ust beyond Inman. and the third on the east side of
!. Candler St. A great, yawning mudhole is the current
tatus of what will be, by August 1963, a wondrous new
ormitory. It stands where Mr. Tart's house and Cun-
ingham Cottage once were. (See frontispiece photo.)

Another kind of change, psychological this time, has
nade me realize that we, as alumnae, need to do a turn-
round in our attitude toward the College's fund-raising

programs. It was necessary to revise plans for the annual-
giving program, called the Agnes Scott Fund. This fund
is now open to all alumnae, whether or not they are still
making payments on their pledges to the College's other
fund-raising program, the 75th Anniversary Develop-
ment Campaign.

I heartily regret that misunderstanding about this has
occurred it is, I believe, a case of faulty communica-
tion between college and alumnae. Faculty salaries must
be increased, through annual-giving, and endownment
must be increased and new buildings built through cap-
ital-giving. The quickest analogy I can think of is that
we give money to our church to pay the preacher's sal-
ary while we also may be making payments on a pledge
for the church's new building.

A change of attitude on the College's part has been
its sweep from reluctance to enthusiasm for a continuing
education program for alumnae. This fall, a pilot series
of lectures are being given on campus by faculty mem-
bers for alumnae and their husbands. I will report on
this in the Winter Quarterly.

There is a reflection on campus of the major change
in the South's social structure today. I quote part of a
letter written by Agnes Scott students addressed to the
"Ole Miss" Student Body:

'As students of a southern college we write you. We
understand but deplore the events of the past days at
Ole Miss ....

'We appeal to you to stand firmly and openh within
the strength of your convictions. We ask that the sound
of your protest to this violence be heard above the shouts
of those who seek to be your voice.

"And when the violence is quelled by your insistence,
let us, as citizens of the United States, stand together
through the infant years of the New South.

"MAY OUR SUPPORT, UNSEEN BUT FELT, SUR-
ROUND YOU IN THE CRUCIAL HOURS TO COME."

-5 '

A.

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Architect's drawing of proposed new dormitory which will he completed by August, 1963.

WINTER 1963

ALUMNAE QUARTERLY

MOVEMENT
IS MEANING

See page 11

7^*

i - H

THE

COtt

WINTER 1963 Vol. 41, No. 2

ALUMNAE QUARTERLY

Ann Worthy Johnson '38, Editor
Dorothy Weakley '56, Managing Editor

CONTENTS

4 The Three Faces of Honor

Mary Virginia Allen

7 'Agnes Scott's Old Beau'

8 'They Want to Be Like Us'

Mariane Wurst

11 Movement Is Meaning

15 Mothers, Sons and Daughters
Miriam Koontz Drucker

19 Class News

Hendrica Baart Schepman

31 Worthy Notes

FRONT COVER

FRONTISPIECE

(Opposite page)

A scene from an annual Christmas program presented by The Agnes Scott Con-
temporary Dance Group. (See page 11) Cover photo and photographs on pp.
3, 7, 8, 11-14, and 23 by Ken Patterson.

A winter quarter progress report on Agnes Scott's sixth dormitory.

The Agnes Scott Alumnae Quarterly is published four times a year (November,
February, April and July) by the Alumnae Association of Agnes Scott College
at Decatur, Georgia. Yearly subscription, $2.00. Single copy 50 cents. Entered
as second-class matter at the Post Office of Decatur, Georgia, under Act of
August 24, 1912. MEMBER OF AMERICAN ALUMNI COUNCIL

Progress

^VINTER 1963

Time seems telescoped for
the erection of the new dormitory
a few short days, and here has shot up
a mammoth steel structure.

By MARY VIRGINIA ALLEN 35

THE

IT IS SUPERFLUOUS today to ma
case for honor. The panels,
and informal discussions of
week have pointed up the futilit
trying to live without honor.

As we attempt to live honorabh
gether on this campus, however.'
may find that our concepts of hu
integrity vary from person to
son or from day to day as W'idel
they have done in the history of
Western civilization. Our notior
honor may be irrationally indr
ualistic and self-centered, seekin;
public acclaim the reflected imag
its own greatness. Again honor's
may be essentially social, turned
votedly towards the society or c;
for which it is willing to abdicatfi
own individualism. Or the face
honor may look searchingly inw-
concerned primarily with its ini
moral rectitude.

The first concept of honor has t
characteristic of the early perioc
every culture. It was desire for gl
and fame, the rewards of exceptic

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mary Virginia Allen, associate professo
French, graduated from Agnes Scott ii
She holds the M.A. degree from Middle
College; Diplome pour /'ense/gnement
francais a I'etranger I'Universite de Toulc
and the Ph.D. degree from the Universit"

THE AGNES SCOTT

BRACES

HONOR

Our concepts of huniatt integrity iHiry from person to person as
widely as they have done in the history of Western civilization.

physical prowess displayed on the
battlefield, which spurred the heroes
I of the ancient and medieval epics on
I to superhuman deeds. This primitive
I understanding of honor included
pride, ambition, vanity, and vain-
glory. It is this type of honor which
constitutes the tragic flaw in the hero
' of the twelfth century French epic.
The Song of Roland. Roland, the
1 nephew and right arm of Charle-
imagne, has been put in command of
I the rearguard as the great army of
: French knights returns through the
[ Pyrenees to '"Sweet France"' after
fighting for Christianity against the
Saracens in Spain. Oliver, Roland's
closest friend, spies from a high spot
in the pass an enormous army of one
hundred thousand pagans advancing
towards the rearguard. Wisely he
warns Roland of the grave danger,
not only to the rearguard, but to the
entire French army and to the cause
of Christianity as well. He urges
Roland to sound his horn to call back
the emperor and the knights who

la, where she was elected to Phi Beta
3. This article is adaptecJ from an address
lade to the college community during
Emphasis Week last October. Miss Allen
her home with Dr. Virginia Tuggle '44,
Hamilton Rood, Decatur.

have already gone through the pass,
for it is evident that the battle will
be a fierce one. Roland refuses ob-
stinately to do so. He is exultant be-
cause he will have an opportunity to
prove his valor bv opposing his
twenty thousand knights to the one
hundred thousand Saracens. He has
asked for this difficult position, the
command of the rearguard. He will
make it more difficult in order not to
lose his reputation among his peers
and his relatives. Honor is of more
immediate concern to him than the
safety of his fellow knights or the
cause of Christianity. "May it never
be said by a living man that I sound
my horn because of pagans."' he cries.
When Oliver points out that there is
no shame in calling for reinforce-
ments, Roland responds proudly that
'"Death is preferable to shame." The
rearguard meets the innumerable
legions of Saracens and the flower of
Charlemagne's army is slain. Oliver
accuses Roland : '"Wise valor and
mad presumptiousness are not one
and the same. The French are dead
because of your unreasonableness.
Nevermore will Charles be able to
count on your senice. . . . You will
die and France will be dishonored.""
Too late Roland realizes that the
tragic defeat of the army is the re-
sult of his false pride, his lack of
moderation in his desire for fame
and personal honor. It is not the
glory of his cause nor the service he
might render to others that motivates
his action. Rather, it is the fear of
having his own reputation besmirched
with the accusation of dishonor.

To modern readers Roland seems
selfish, egotistical, arrogant, and un-

believably stubborn. This idea of
honor yvas, however, the usual one,
not only in the classical and medieval
epics but even as late as the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries. The Re-
naissance aristocrat considered honor
and glory to be the epitome of all
virtues. Shakespeare's heroes find it
morally intolerable to be held in low
esteem. Cassio, incited treacherously
by lago to become drunk and to
quarrel with Roderigo. is abruptly
dismissed from the service of Othello.
He laments that he is ""hurt beyond all
surgery"" ""Reputation, reputation,
reputation! 0, I have lost my reputa-
tion ! I have lost the immortal part of
myself and what remains is bestial.
My reputation, lago, my reputation!"

Honor for reward

Honor which contemplates its re-
flected image delights not so much in
victory as in the laurel wreath which
is its reward, not so much in learn-
ing, perhaps, as in the honor roll.
Saint Thomas condemned as irration-
al this appetite for honor itself. '"Now
the desire of honour may be inordi-
nate in three ways," he said. "'First,
when a man desires recognition of an
excellence which he has not; this is
to desire more than his share of
honour. Secondly, when a man de-
sires honour for himself without re-
ferring it to God. Thirdly, when a
man's appetite rests in honour itself,
without referring it to the profit of
others." Montaigne terms vain and
worthless these marks of honor: "the
garlands of myrtle, the form of a cer-
tain peculiar garment; the privilege
to ride in a coach through the city;

(Continued on page 6)

MUMNAE QUARTERLY / WINTER 1963

3 FACES OF HONOR (Continued)

The faces of honor in the Agnes Scott community

or by night to have a torch carried
before one; some particular place to
sit in common assemblies, the pre-
rogatives of certain surnames and
titles and proper additions in arms."
Albert Camus puts the same idea into
a contemporary context when he
says: "Above all, I recognize my kin-
ship with the average man. Tomor-
row the world may be blown to
pieces. In this threat that hangs over
us there is a lesson of truth. Con-
fronted with this future, hierarchy,
titles, honors become again what they
have always been : smoke that blows
away."

It is normal, of course, that men
should desire the esteem of society.
The proverb. "There is honor among
thieves" suggests that even dishonor-
able men desire the respect of those
who share their life. William James
describes fame and honor as man's
"image in the eyes of his own set."
"Thus," he says, "a layman may
abandon a city infected with cholera ;
but a priest or a doctor would think
such an act incompatible with his
honor." But to say that this desire
for esteem is natural is not to say
that it is the noblest face of honor.

Concept of loyalty

The second concept of honor is
that of loyalty or general trust-
worthiness. To the feudal mind,
loyalty meant the observance of
inutual obligations which bound to-
gether the members of the society.
Together with prowess it constituted
the basic chivalric code. Feudal so-
ciety was preseiTed from anarchy
only by the mutual contracts which
existed between the lords and vassals.
It was rare that a knight violated
his solemn pledge. If he did, he was
an object of contempt and an outlaw.
Ganelon, chosen ambassador to the
pagan king in The Song of Roland,
betrays the emperor's trust in him
by lying and by giving military
secrets to the enemy. After the sub-

sequent annihilation of the French
army Ganelon is tried and condemned
to die a horrible death. The poet com-
ments: "When a man betrays another,
it is not right that he should be able
to boast of it." Another medieval
knight, Tristan, betrays the faith
which be had sworn to his uncle and
king. Escorting Iseult of the golden
hair to become the bridge of King
Mark, Tristan drinks the magic or
symbolic potion of desire, later loves
his king's wife, takes here from the
court to live in the forest, suffers the
ignoble life of a hunted outlaw and
dies in wretched loneliness.

The Agnes Scott face

At Agnes Scott we recognize easily
this face of honor for we live by it
under our honor system, which is
simply our code of obligations to
others. In spite of the cost to self, we
expect to do our duty in order to
prevent our life together from be-
coming dishonorable and chaotic. The
student who says "On my word of
honor" may not be an honest person,
but if she is she is pledging herself
to live up to certain expectations
which are not peculiar to her. She is
saying that she will honor academic
and social obligations, not because of
threat or force, but because she is
loyal to the group, because she can
be trusted to insure the continuity of
Agnes Scott as an institution of
honorable people. Beyond the cam-
pus, too, we recognize this familiar
notion of honor. We are trusted to
preserve the purity of our family life.
We have obligations to obey the laws
of our land, even when obedience is
inconvenient or irritating.

This devotion to duty and to one's
honor does not find its commendation
in glory; it is not rewarded by
triumphal arches and processions. It
is expected of all reasonable men,
who prefer an honorable discharge
to a dishonorable one.

The third face of honor does not

fix its eyes on some heroic accom-
plishment beyond the call of duty, nor
on a noble cause to which it is wil
ing to sacrific personal desires in the
call of duty. Rather, it looks within
where, as Montaigne says, "no eye
can pierce but our own." "A man is
not always upon the top of the
breach." wrote this sixteenth century
French philosopher, "nor in the front
of an army in the sight of his general,
as upon a stage. A man may be sur-
prised between the hedge and a
ditch." This honor, which is "not for
any profit, but for the honor of
honesty itself" is a priceless posses-
sion of which no one can deprive us.
It is of this honor that Camus sayS'
"In the conflicts of this century, 1 1
have felt close to all obstinate men.
particularly to those who have never:
been able to abandon their faith in
honor. I have shared and I continue
to share many contemporary hys-
terias. But I have never been able to
make up my mind to spit, as so many
have done, on the world 'honor' no
doubt because I was, and continue to
be, aware of my human weaknesses :
and the injustices I have committed,
and because I knew and continue to
know instinctively that honor, like
pity, is the irrational virtue that car-
ries on after justice and reason have
become powerless."' In speaking of
his own life Camus said "There was
sunlight and poverty. And then sport,
which gave me my only true lessons
in morality. Then the war and thei
Resistance. It was then that there
came the temptation to hatred. To
see those you love being killed doesn't
teach you generosity. That tempta-
tion had to be overcome. I overcame'
it. It was an important experience.'

Hnnian beings or hollow men

In this concept of honor greati
courage springs from sincerity and
humility; obedience to duty has its
origin in love, respect, and charity.
Saint Thomas put this idea of honor
in Christian terms when he said, "If
a man keeps in mind the fact that
whatever good he has he has from
God, he must, if he is rational, recog-
nize that it is God rather than him-
self who deserves the honor. . . This
is what Christ was advocating when
He said, 'So let your light shine be-
fore men, that they may see your
good works and glorify your Father

vho

heav

THE AGNES SCOTT

In a recent article in Saturday Re-
view (October 20, 1962), Lillian
Smith probes the inner recesses of
our honor when she asks disturbingly
what this traditional, segregated way
of life in the South has done to us all.
"Have we whites . . . changed from
human beings into hollow men?" she
asks. "Where is our virtue? our ex-
cellence? Did we trade it for white
superiority? Have we in this cultural
I nightmare turned into the stereotype
1 we made of the Negro's soul? Is it we
' who are satisfied with things as thev
are? Where is the hollowness we
I thought we had made when, in stero-
I typing 'The Negro' we scooped out
I his love of freedom, his spiritual
dignity, his hope: Did we think we
could dehumanize the Negro without

del

lumanizina our

selves?" Lil

' Smith is not concerned chieflv here
1 with the granting of civil rights to
! the Negro. She is disturbed about
1 what has happened to the white man's
personal judgment of his own actions.
' Where is his integrity? Why does he
not act honorably before he is
threatened by legal decisions, tear
1 gas and guns? Where is the glory
I which Saint Paul calls the "testimony
of our conscience?" Why do we not
t follow a straight path for the sake of
its straightness? Why are we not like
the ancient sailor who said to Nep-
tune in a great storm, "Oh. God.
Thou shall save me if Thou please,
if not. Thou shall lose me: yet will 1
keep my helm alwavs fast?"

The penetrating face

This third face of honor is cer-
tainly the most trying to contem-
plate. Its gaze is piercing and eternal-
ly present like the eye of God in
Hugo's poem "The Conscience." It
distorts in a disarming manner the
image of ourselves we think we see
reflected from our admiring friends.
SYet it is honor's finest face.

These three concepts, and perhaps
others, co-exist to a greater or lesser
degree in each of us. Our concern is
to recognize each for what it is, to
curb our self-centered desire for
glory, to develop our willingness to
sacrifice personal desire for noble
institutions and causes, to deepen our
quiet, personal honesty, remembering
with Montaigne that "the virtue of
the soul does not consist in flying
high but in walking in an orderly
fashion."

ALUMNAE QUARTERLY / WINTER 1963

'AGNES SCOTT'S OLD BEAU'

Agnes Scott's campus was a favorite place for poet Robert
_ Frost to fulfill his life-long penchant for roaming out-
doors. With Edna Hanley Byers and Margaret W. Pepperdene,
he is shown here strolling dowTi Buttrick Drive during his last
visit in 1962. We will all miss him sorely.

^^W~m^

They Want to Be Like Us'

By MARIANE WURST '63

IT WAS ONLY natural that the class
of 1966 would be different from
those that had preceded it at

Agnes Scott. But few of us expected
1 it to be so different, as we anticipated
I the arrival of the new students last
' September.

The first tiling that set the class of

'66 apart was its physical appearance.

"What has happened to the typical
I freshman wardrobe? " we wondered.

watching freshmen registration lines
, pass by. Gone were the pastel, ruffled.

crinolined dresses, the little black
' flats, the bright pink raincoats, the
t fuzzy blue sweaters which we had
; come to associate with freshmen ever

since we had hurriedly discarded our

own freshman wardrobe in favor of

the styles set by our older school

mates.

Fashion knowledge

We looked at the fashionable
square, pointed, and "snipped" toe
shoes on the feet of the freshman
class and blushed to think what they
must think of our now three-year-old
rounded toes. This class was from the
first what we call "Iv)'-sharp," and
we felt just a little disappointed
knowing that they would not look to
us as paragons of collegiate style.

We were not totally dismayed, how-
ever, and soon decided that what the
freshman class had in fashion knowl-
edge, it must certainly lack in social
poise. How condescendingly we ex-
plained the "rush party' to our naive
freshmen hall-mates; how mysterious
we were as we hinted at the advan-
tages which were ours in having Tech
and Emory so nearby; how embar-
rassed we were a few days later when
we tried to get into the Dean's Office
to sign a group of girls out for the

Friday night movie and found the
office packed with Tech and Emor\
men waiting for their freshmen dates.

We were losing the battle, but we
would never admit that we had lost
the war. Classes started, and we wise
seniors immediatelv seized the ojjpor-
tunity to show off our superior in-
tellectual powers. We gracioush
apologized to the two freshmen whose
desks we had unwittingly taken iti
the first class meeting of English 211
( a course we had so cowardlv de-
ferred from our sophomore year) .
We found ourselves drawing fresh-
men lab partners in advanced chem-
istry; we timidly asked them to help
us with our math assignments; we
bought a subscription to the Atlanta
Journal after one dinner table con-
versation with several of the unin-
formed, unenlightened, members of
the freshman class.

After the first week of school had
passed, we unanimously decided not
to be so hard on these poor little
freshmen. We offered them peace and
friendship. They accepted. We were
relieved.

Now we could really talk to our
freshman friends. We sat at their feet
and timorously asked them questions.
The answers differed: they were
sometimes startling, often amusing,
always thoughtful.

Alice Lindsey from Griffin, Ga.,
whose mother, Edith Dale Lindsey
graduated from Agnes Scott in 1942.
said of what she expected to gain
from her years here. "The education
we get at Scott is a foundation that
we all need before we go into 'the out-
side world.' I know I'll have to pre-
pare for a job afterwards and learn
how to cook and keep house, but we
need to study here simply for the sake
of learning;."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

An English major from Bay Minette, Alabama,
Mariane is Managing Editor of The Agnes Scott
News. She is participating in the Independent
Study Program and is doing her research in
Russian fiction under the direction of Dr. George
P. Hayes. Last summer she was employed by
The Presbyterian Survey, and this summer she
will be working in the Alumnae Office.

We asked them if they were study-
ing more or less than they thought
they would be. and if their grades
were better or worse than they had
expected. Louise Smith from Dunn,
N. C.. answered quickly. "Studving
less making worse grades. That's
logical, isn't it?" Usually the fresh-
men replied that they were doing
more work than they had expected
to be doing, and that their grades
were not quite so good as thev had ex-
pected them to be. All of them opti-
mistically said that they believed that
it would not be long at all before

(Continued on page 10)

ALUMNAE QUARTERLY / WINTER 1963

They Y^ant to Be

(Continued from page 9)

they were producing better work in
less time.

About the differences between high
school and college life they were very
explicit. Anne Morse (mother, Gene
Slack Morse, '41) is from Decatur,
but she is boarding at Agnes Scott.
She said, "The main difference I
found between high school and col-
lege is time. There is so much more
free time here. All my clases are over
by 1:00 every day. Then I really
realized what the time was for . . .''

Mary Hopper Brown (mother,
Mardia Hopper Brown, '43) came
from Kwangju, Korea, where her
parents are missionaries. Her answer
is perhaps as revealing about her
previous way of life as it is about
Agnes Scott: "I find myself much
more enclosed. Although students
study, they do not take their learning
seriously and think about the world
outside themselves. I find myself sud-
denly surrounded by 600 girls who
all seem so much alike if they are
different it is carefuly concealed in
words, Villagers, and Wee-juns. I
believe that there is too much pre-
occupation with Agnes Scott and little
interest in tlie rest of the world."

This brought us to a discussion of
the academic or intellectual atmos-
phere at the College. Mary said, "I
think there is a real desire to learn,
and that most of the students study
because they are interested in further-
ing their education. But from here
the intellectual atmosphere disap-
pears. Interest in books, discussions
in class, and theories of life end in
class. I have seen very few examples
of people trying to apply to life what
they learn in class."

Alice Boyd, Memphis, Tennessee
(mother, Alice Reins Boyd, '38) dis-
agreed. She commented, "To me it is
a stimulating atmosphere. I've been
so impressed with the thought that
we are not here to learn for grades
or just to accumulate facts, but that
we are here to learn to use our minds
more intelligently, and we are here
because we want to learn and not be-
cause we have to." And Anne Morse
added, "There is a definite intellec-
tual atmosphere. Nearly everyone
seems genuinely interested in learn-
ing, and there are so many lectures.

art exhibits, concerts, and plays to go
to."

The problem of balancing one's
social and academic life is a very real
one to the class of '66. Alice Lindsey
said, "I had thought that being at a
woman's college would make it easier
to concentrate on studying during the
week end, with the supply of boys at
Tech, to date on week ends. I've
found we get so excited every time
the phone rings on week nights that
our studying is interrupted very
often." (In evidence we submit the
case of one freshman who allegedly
received 26 phone calls from 26 dif-
ferent boys on one night. However, a
careful check shows that this par-
ticular student has one of the higher
grade averages in her class. )

There has not been any marked
difference from past years in the
number of cases of homesickness
among this freshman class. A typical
answer to the question. "Have you
been homesick while at Agnes Scott?"
was Betsy Westfall's (Athens, Ga.).
"I haven't been homesick really,
though when I went to dinner at a
friend's home I realized how much I
missed a house.'

Religious atmosphere

The response of this class to ques-
tions about the religious atmosphere
of the campus was in many ways sur-
prising to us. Mary Hopper Brown
said, "The first two days or so I felt
that Agnes Scott was really a center
of Christian atmosphere. But since
then I have realized that this, to a
certain extent, is an illusion. There
are outstanding Christian leaders, the
faculty is composed of inspiring ex-
amples, and the general feeling is
that Agnes Scott is a real Christian
college. But for so many of the stu-
dents this is only superficial they
participate in some activities because
it is expected or required. And this
constitutes a real danger that We
think we are religious, but we really
are not."

One freshman who asked that we
not use her name continued, "The
administration here sets the religious
atmosphere. As far as the student
leadership goes, we had this much in
high school. The part that goes be-
yond the merely perfunctory is done
by Dr. Alston."

Betsy Westfall said, "There is a
definite religious atmosphere here

that people cannot escape, even if
they try. However, many people do
not get as much benefit from it as
they could because they are not try-
ing or do not care."

And Susan Ledford of Charlotte,
N. C. admitted, "The atmosphere is
not so religious as I had thought it
would be. I realize that there are
more religious activities in which I
could take part. It may be my own
lack of effort."

However, the majority of freshmen
we questioned about this issue were
of the opinion expressed by Alice
Boyd, "It is rich and genuine and an
integral part of the College. Scott
wouldn't be Scott without it."

Honor system

Of the honor system, Alice had this
to say, "I don't fully understand it
yet, but I am wholeheartedly for it.
The whole atmosphere is one of com-
plete trust and mature ideals." None
of the freshmen we talked to would
make any changes in the honor sys-
tem (rules, yes, but honor system,
no).

We asked them what they would i
change about Agnes Scott if they
could, and for the most part their
answers concerned rules having to do i
with signing out, or chaperonage, or
chapel attendance. The most amusing
answer came from Mary Hopper'
Brown who said without hesitation, ,
"Make it into a co-ed school!"

Their ideas about Agnes Scott were
often quite diverse, but on one point i
nearly everyone agreed. We asked I
these freshmen why they chose Agnes
Scott as their college, and all their
reasons may be summed up in the one
given by Anne Morse, "I've always
had a very idealistic picture of what i
a Scott girl was like, and I wanted to
be like it."

Battle worn, thoroughly intimi-
dated and questioned out, we seniors
on the brink of becoming alumnae re-
ceived new moral strength from that
reply. The real reason these freshmen
are at Agnes Scott and the real rea-
son for their opinions about the i
school is simply that they want to be '
like us ... as un-Ivy-shai-p, as un-
dated and as un-intellectual as they
often make us appear to be. And
considering the quality of the class
that wants to be like us, perhaps we
are not really such hopeless cases
after all.

10

THE AGNES SCOTT

MOVEMENT

IS MEANING

^m

^-m-^

ms^

A,

.uiies Scott's Contempoiai) Dance Group,
directed by Miss Kay Osborne (above) has for
two years presented wondrous intei-pretations of the
Christmas story. Contemporary dance reflects us
today our religious instincts, our psychological
problems. Its key is simplicity. Motivation, feeling
and technique combine so that movement itself
has meaning.

I Continued )

11

MOVEMENT IS MEANING (Continued)

T

_A.he dance is a special way of
communicating. The dancers are the
hostesses; the audience are guests
this is a gift to them.

THE AGNES SCOTT

f " ^ii

i^:^^^,^ , p ^.,.i^'mc1Ka^^,:i:.4i^.y.f.

R,

-eligious dance is the hardest to
show, ahhou;h the motivation may be
deep. Getting in the mood is diiEcuU,
and the dancers must forget
inhibitions.

E.

iach face shows inner feeling.
Each is worshipping in a different
way. and the movement is the same.

ALUMNAE QUARTERLY / WINTER 1963

Continued

MOVEMENT
IS MEANING

Continued

T.

.he range of movement is unlimited in contemporary dance, however
the movement is natural running, jumping, skipping, walking with
technique and feeling combined. The feeling of freedom comes from
spontaneity, and both hostesses and guests rejoice!

Mothers, Sons and Dangliters

By DR. MIRIAM KOONTZ DRUCKER

Associate Professor of Psychology

EVERY SO OFTEN within a field of
knowledge there develops a
trend in speculations and find-
ings that rings so true you find your-
self spontaneously reaching out to-
ward it for more. Such a trend exists
today, at least for me, in the field of
psychology. The speculations concern
normal, wholesome people and the
findings reveal life patterns typical
of them. The trend is toward the un-
derstanding of health, not illness, a
relatively neglected and tremendously
exciting area of investigation. As
mothers, you will not be surprised
to learn that investigators are turning
to the cradle of humanity, the home,
for much of their research. Nor do I
think you will be surprised that the
mother-child relationship is provid-
ing a rich source of information. Be-
cause I have assumed that you have
vested interests in what we know
about relationships between normal
mothers and normal sons and daugh-
ters this is what I want us to think
about together.

A good beginning point is that a
child's normality is intimately re-
lated to the kind of woman his
mother is (1, 4, 5, 6). What do we
know about the nature of a normal
mother? First, she is a woman , or
more accurately stated, many kinds
of women are normal mothers. To me
the most intriguing aspect of all the
studies on normality is the immense
and complex variety in behavior, all
of which is healthy. So there is no
one type of normal mother. We must
then speak of normal mothers, and
remember that this plural concept will
be reflected in the differences of the
specific acts of mothers.

In spite of the external and specific
differences in normal mothers, they
do have some internal characteristics
which they share. These internal
characteristics we might call "feel-
ing-tones" (4). For instance, normal
mothers share the characteristic feel-
ing-tone of "motherliness," that is,
they gratify the child's needs "for
body care and pleasurable stimula-
tion in ways that also provide the
mother herself with satisfaction" (3,
p. 15). This definition takes for
granted that a child does have a
need for being nurtured and pro-
tected; what it does not take for

granted is that these needs must be
met permissively or rigidly, terms
thrown around so often in popular
literature. The definition also points
out that the specific ways in which
the mother meets the needs of her
child have been selected by her, con-
sciously or unconsciously, because
they satisfy something for HER as a
human being and NOT just because
they do something for the child. The
essence of motherliness is the genui-
nely mutual, two-way interaction des-
cribed in the definition: both mother
and child experience personel grati-
fication from the interaction between
them. The pleasurableness of this re-
lationship does more than protect the
child from pain or neglect; protec-
tion by itself leaves the child in a
void. Motherliness helps the child to
find pleasure in the mere ( ? ) process
of living,

A second internal and shared
characteristic is the feeling of "warm
dependability" (4, p. 30) which al-
lows a mother to satisfy her child's
iieed to be dependent on her. To
satisfy a dependency need "warmly"
a mother allows a child to lean with-
out being a burden, to receive sup-
port without feeling weak. The
mother's interest and reliability are
constant in times of fun and in times
of stress. It seems as though the
mother's reliability in stress may go
a little further toward allowing the
child to trust the world than her
reliability in fun. Perhaps we will
learn in future research that the
child is more aware of mother's con-
stancy when the child is under stress.

Another feeling-tone for normal
mothers is a feeling of "individual-
ness." By individualness is meant
an understanding of each person's
need for individuality in his own
right, for independence without
guilt, for self direction without self
doubt (4, p. 30) . This feeling must
reach out both in the direction of the
child and also in the direction of the
mother herself. Mother's individual-
ness allows the child to satisfy his
need to be independent, as her de-
pendability allows the child to satisfy
his need to be dependent. This is not
a contradiction nor a case of either
one situation or the other. Both the
needs in the child and the feeling-

tones in the mother exist simultane-
ously. The mother's recognition of
the child as a person who needs to
separate himself from HER, of all
people, conveys to the child mother's
deep sensitivity to him, even when
he is rejecting, and also her trust in
his use of himself. The same indivi-
dualness in the mother allows her to
have a sense of herself. She too has
identity separate from the mother-
child relationship. She is free not to
submerge her personality in her child,
but to exist uniquely in the world.
By separating mother from child
this feeling of individualness helps
the mother clarify what she wants
for her child and what she wants from
her child. Such a separation protects
the mother from the trap of per-
mitting the child to make his own
decisions and at the same time ex-
pecting the decisions to please
mother (1).

Of all the feeling-tones of normal
mothers which our studies have ex-
plored so far, the feeling of "maternal
adequacy" based on clinically
measurable, external signs of ade-
quacy seems more crucial to a child's
good adjustment than almost any
other (4, p. 43). While motherli-
ness. dependability and individual-
ness are vital, maternal adequacy is
more than the presence of these feel-
ings. It represents a culmination of
the mother's own growth, her own
personal achievement. Adequacv both
achieved and felt in a mother rep-
resents the selection of a good
mother-model, the drive to develop
in oneself the virtues of the model
and the successful achievement of
the virtues. The kind of maternal
adequacy reflected in the research
studies implies, if nothing more, that
the normal mother has an active
capacity for growth of her own dur-
ing the growth years of her children.
As a matter of fact one of our major
studies states outright that the child's
growth potential is eternally locked
to the mother's capacity for growth.
"The ability to grow," says Irving
Harris, the psychiatrist from whose
study much of this material has come,
"when there is a necessity to grow.
the ability to learn new things and
attitudes, when the old learned things
and attitudes no longer suESce for an

ALUMNAE QUARTERLY / WINTER 1963

15

adaptive mastery of a situation
these abilities arise from an internal
essence as mysterious as life itself
(4, p. 44)."

This quotation is partly an answer
to the question I think you must be
formulating at this point, "How does
a normal mother get that way? From
where do the feeling-tones come?"
While you may know the answer
from the best source in the world,
your own experience, we will go back
to the research to see what it says
about the source of motherliness,
warm dependability, individualness,
maternal capacity and other internal
characteristics of normal mothers.

Unless you have forgotten every-
thing you learned in Child Psychol-
ogy, you are already anticipating the
first research conclusions. Normal
mothers are the way they are because
of their own mothers, and it so hap-
pens, their own fathers (4) . A
woman's own mothering and her
reactions to it have the greatest in-
fluence on the way she mothers her
children. Apparently each mother
either continues or resolves some
aspect of her own growing up with
her child's growing up. Mothers differ
in their awareness of this "genera-
tional continuity" in their behavior:
some seem totally unconscious of it.
while other normal mothers say. "I
am doing this because my mother
did it for me and I like it." Among
normal mothers are some who choose
to reject disappointing or frustrat-
ing patterns of their own mothers.
Here especially is exhibited the force
of the will to grow in human nature,
for the mother must reject her most
convenient mother-model and undo
the unconscious learning of her own
childhood so that the generational
continuity she passes on to her sons
and daughters will lack the pain she
is able to resolve from it. Where a
mother has a flexible continuity with
her past, when she is not bound to
hand it down without change, or
bound to hand it down completely
changed, there are fewer and less
serious growth problems for mothers
and children. Incidentally, the as-
sumption, or rather the finding is
that even normal mothers and normal
sons and daughters have growth
problems!

One of the most interesting re-
sults of our present studies is the
influence of mother's feelings to-
ward her father on tfie adjustment of
her children (4. p. 84) . A positive,
affectionate feeling of the mother
for her father seems to furnish the
ground work for a good adjustment
of the child especially as the child

leaves babyhood and moves toward
puberty. The implication of the re-
search is that the mother learns
from the relationship to her father
the core of her attitudes about adult
sexuality. When the relationship is
one of affection, the mother as a child
can experience, accept and control
her own erotic and aggressive im-
pulses. Such childhood learning en-
ables the mother to continue accept-
ing her own sexuality and eventually
to accept the maturation, sexual and
otherwise, of her child. You will
recognize the psychoanalytic theory
behind this research finding, and you
would be impressed, I believe, at the
statistical stability of the finding.

Mother's relationship to her
father contributes in another way to
the mother's normality. The kind of
relationship experienced with the
father tends to be repeated in mar-
riage. A fondness for father leads to
a fondness for husband. More con-
cretely, when love of father allows
the growing woman to accept her
own sexual growth, it establishes the
probability that the woman will later
enjoy her sexual experiences with
her husband. The relationship be-
tween a woman's fulfillment in her
marriage and the normality of her
children while not fully understood
exf>erimentallv has been demonstrated
repeatedly (4, 5, 6). Surely further
research will support the notion that
the marriage relationship contributes
vitally and dynamically to mother's
individualness and therefore, as we
have established, to her continuing
growth. If your experience in your
marriage has been what I would
hof>e for you. You know that love
(you will let me equate love with
marriage in normal people, won't
you?) that love necessarily enriches
the lover (2. p. 69) . I hope you are
familiar with Vjktor Frankl's idea
that it is infatuation which makes
us blind: love enables us to see.
"Love." Frankl says, "permits us to
see the spiritual core of the other
person, the reality of the other's
essential nature and his potential
worth. Love allows us to experience
another's personality as a world in
itself, and so extends our own world
. . . Love helps the beloved to be-
come as the lover sees him . . . While,
therefore, even 'unrequited' love en-
riches us and brings happiness, 're-
quited' love is distinctly creative. In
mutual love, in which each wishes to
be worthy of the other, to become
like the other's vision of him. a kind
of dialectical process takes place in
which each outbids the other and so
elevates the other" (2, p. 169-170).

In the light of such a notion of love
it is not difficult to see how the ex-
periences of marriage, all of them,
are used normally in the best de-
velopment of the mother as a person.
It is of value to remember that not
only is the mother a "lover" of her
husband, but also of her children. As
the "beloved," as the receiver of
mother's love, the child too partici-
pates in a dialectical process of lov-
ing and so is enriched and so en-
riches the other, an idea touched on
earlier as we discussed motherliness.
In the romantic and in the practical
sense of loving, it is the lover who
provides the beloved the extra ges-
tures of giving without counting a
cost that makes life something so
much more than a process of survival.
Mother's mother, mother's father,
mother's husband, and now what
else contributes to the nature of a
normal mother? The final variable
I want us to think about I do not
have a word for because, I suppose,
there are really two factors, and I
want to put them together into one
variable. The first factor is that
normally mothers fluctuate in the
characteristics the research attributes
to them. The second factor is that
normal mothers accept the fluctua-
tion and its results without undo
feelings of self doubt or self punish-
ment. The fluctuation in the mother-
liness, the dependability, the indivi-
dualness, and the maternal capacity
occurs when mothers move into
changing situations and stages of
development. When the fluctuation is
down, so that less of these character-
istics are felt and demonstrated, the
mother is in a situation which drains
her energy resources. At least one
study indicates that the typical
energy draining situation occurs
when mother does not know what to
do and therefore cannot chose de-
cisively which course to take (4) .
Two kinds of situations apparently
create indecision for mother. The
mother is faced with something un-
familiar, e.g. a first baby, or she is
faced with something about which
she is in conflict, e.g. a crying child.
Not knowing what to do is wearing
by itself, but not knowing what to
do with an infant when you have
never before held an infant of your
own or anybody's else's is even
worse. Not knowing exactly what to
do about a crying baby makes you
tired, but it is worse to be torn
between feeling you should let the
baby "cry it out" as your book sug-
gests and your own desire to com-
fort the little thing even if nothing
is wrong with him. "Battle fatigue"

16

THE AGNES SCOn

is the term Bruno Bettelheim uses
to describe what mother feels. And
now for the first time in his own
right we come to the one person who
is left out of the title, "Mothers,
Sons, and Daughters." At this point
a "normal husband" provides sup-
port for mother as she deals both
with the fatigue and also with the
fluctuating of her mothering charac-
teristics. His stability, his compan-
ionship, his side of their mutual love
enable mother to survive the battle
without going into the battle shock
of feeling inadequate, guilty, or re-
morseful. Bettelheim, a man more
likely to swing into action than to sit
and ponder an experimental hypo-
thesis, says that normal parents are
interested in living at ease with the
children in their care, and at ease
with each other and at ease with
themselves. To do this, normal
parents must be free to believe that
behavior makes sense when you
analyze and understand it. In the
light of this, together the parents
try to analyze a stressful situation.
"If I were a child, why would I do
this? Why does he do it?" The ana-
lysis goes a step beyond the descrip-
tion of the situation, you see, to the
understanding of the situation. In
his new book. Dialogues with
Mothers, Bettelheim iDustrates what
he means a good many times. For
instance at one point he is trying to
help a mother who feels completely
dominated by the demands of her
four year old son. To her he says in
part," . . . what counts is the attitude
of the parents. The same child's be-
havior can be described as 'He's
happy by himself,' or. 'He ignores
me,' or 'He has no use for me,' or
'He rejects me.' But it can also be
described as 'He really needs me
now,' or 'I can be of real use to him,
and have a chance to teach him,' or
'He doesn't give my any peace,'
Now, it's up to you how you inter-
pret the child's behavior to your-
self" f 1, p. 201) . If you are familiar
with BetteUieim's writings or work,
you already know his great faith in
humanity would lead him to expect
parents to come to a realistic analy-
sis of behavior, their own and their
children's. Perhaps the word I could
not find to describe this aspect of
what helps a mother to be normal is
"understanding," or perhaps there is
no one word to cover both the
fluctuations of the mother's ability
to mother and her acceptance of the
fluctuation.

Although we have not exhausted
the research findings about normal
women who are mothers, I would

like for us to move on to the sons
and daughters. We will start from
the same point with which we began
our study of normal mothers. There
are many kinds of children who are
normal and they vary widely in
their specific acts of behavior. As
the mothers do, the children also
share some things in common and it
is at those we can look most profit-
ably.

Normal children all exhibit "prob-
lem behavior" at some time. There
are times when what a psychologist
discovers experimentally is so well
known that his experiment seems
superfluous. I believe this is one of
those times, so I am not going to
provide you with illustrations or the
compiling of evidence to support this
first characteristic of normal children.
However, I do think that you will
be interested in the implications
from the research that the particular
problems of a specific child crucially
influence the mother's growth in
mothering (3, p. 16). No matter
how much she wants to, a mother
who is thrown into conflicting feel-
ings of concern and repulsion toward
a child who throws up often cannot
show the same amount of "warm
dependability" as the mother who
feels only concern. And almost any
normal child can dent the individual-
ness of almost any normal mother by
wiggling out of her reach and
screaching for the neighbors to hear.
"I hate you; go away!" The tie that
binds, according to the research,
binds both ways!

Although I have deliberately em-
phasized for you the variability of
normal behavior in adults and
children, I would like to pick up
from the research one specific bit
of behavior which often concerns
parents. Night dreams which frighten
the child in popular literature are
considered signs of anxiety in the
child and therefore "bad." Harris
(4, p. 150-152) on the other side of
the fence suggests that occasional
sleep disturbances occur in normal
children and are not necessarily bad.
His research indicates that stress.
among other things, stimulates the
child to grow. "Wholesome stress."
as he refers to it, undoubtedly has a
limit built into it, but a moderate
dosage of anxiety, he found, motiv
ates the child to a mastery of his
growth problems. The occasional
sleep disturbances of the normal
child are the child's way of "sleep-
ing on a problem" or more formally
and psychoanalytically, dreams are
a way of "integrating the excitations
from his waking life," a kind of

problem solving with dreams. Growth
is a twofold process. In the first
part of the process new things are
taken in by the child. The second
part of the process is a matter of
digesting what has been taken in,
discarding what is valueless, and
transforming into a part of oneself
what is of value. The taking-in part
of growth makes for change; the
digesting part makes for permanence.
At any point in the complete process
stress may occur. Dealing with the
stress, even with dreams, allows the
process to continue and therefore the
child to grow.

Since a look at problem behavior
in children has directed our attention
to growth, it might be well to con-
tinue talking about it, because in
connection with growth we find some
other characteristics normal children
share. For instance, at any one
growth stage, a normal child will
demonstrate three different elements
of growth in an integrated pattern
(4, p. 22). One is that the child will
show the elements of the stage at
which he is presently. He will be do-
ing in part what you think he ought
to do. He will also demonstrate "left
over" aspects of the previous stage;
that is the second element. This
means that in some way a child
may always be considered a baby,
since his behavior will normally
show some characteristics of the next
younger stage. The third element of
the child's behavior will be found in
embryonic signs of the next growth
stage. In this way he will always
surprise you with how advanced he
is for his age. In other words a child
normally is too young, too old and
just right for his age! Each stage of
development connects it predecessor
and its successor to provide continu-
ity for the child's eventual matura-
tion. It would surprise me if our
further research did not find this idea
constant throughout all of life, even
at mv own advanced age!

There is another research finding
related to growth which should be
fitted in here. A moment ago growth
was divided into two parts change
by taking-in and permanence by
digesting. Normally in children there
is a balance between the change fac-
tors and the permanence factors (4,
p. 28). Managing change well allows
the child to experience the need for,
and to enjoy variety, challenge,
spice. It contributes to the fact that
normal children are zestful, happy,
adaptable, willing to take a chance.
Uncontrolled, the change factor in
the child could make him perpetually
restless, nonadaptive, shifting with

AlUMNAE QUARTERLY / WINTER 1963

17

i

the wind. The permanence factors in
the child contribute to his self regula-
tion, his conservatism; they "ground
him" so to speak. These two aspects
taken together in the child largely
determine his "adjustability, i.e., his
capacity for psychic growth." Harris
offers a most intriguing definition
of psychic growth. It is the capacity
to learn age-appropriate functions
and to enjoy the performance of
them (4, p. 152). Incidentally he
goes on to add that with age, the
appropriate functions are decreasing-
ly egocentric and self-preservative
and increasingly altruistic and race-
preservative. This constitutes an
awesome definition of maturation!

Normal children have problems
which contribute to mother's growth
as well as their own ; normal children
exhibit a range of developmental be-
havior; normal children balance ef-
fectively their ability to change and
their ability to remain permanent.
At least one more characteristic needs
to be added to the list: normal
children identify with a mother
whom they consider nurturing.
Children look to mother, even though
there are times when her mothering
fluctuates, as a source of nourish-
ment and pleasure (4. p. 25). This
appears to be the major factor which
allows the child to look on "other
and later humans as gratifiers," to
expect to establish other "warmly
dependent" relationships in his
world with his teacher, his neigh-
bor, his friend, his own child. The
child's identification with mother
can be understood most simply on
purely practical grounds; it is ad-
vantageous for the child to be on
good terms with his mother. She
hands out the food, the comfort, the
punishment, and the reward. You do
not have to be very smart or very old
to figure out that mother has a pretty
tight hold on things. To take this
just one step further and see just
one aspect of the consequences of lin-
ing up with mother, consider what is
set in motion as the child takes on
his mother's attitude toward her hus-
band, the child's father. The influence
of the father-child relationship has
already been touched upon for the
growing daughter; it is found to be
of equal influence on the growing
son. Whether mother is pro-husband
or anti-husband locks in place the
generational continuity within the
family; the identity of the child with
mother sets in motion the establish-
ment within the child of the mother's
attitudes.

So far, we have considered a de-
scription of normal mother and

normal children; indirectly we have
also looked at the connections be-
tween the two. There are three very
specific points of interaction in
normal families which follow the re-
search findings but may not be ob-
vious just at first (4, p. 174-177). I
want you to know these points; I
hope they sound familiar. Normal
families are family centered families;
the energy of each family member
goes into the family organization. In
any well functioning, high-morale
organization the leadership is as-
sumed by the more experienced and
mature members. In the case of fami-
lies parents are the more experienced
and the more mature members, and
parents are the leaders. Normal
parents have avoided the scourge of
our time: the fear of doing wrong by
the children, a fear which keeps some
parents from ever doing right by
their children.

The second relationship between
parents and child goes back to the
growth problems of the children.
Popular literature has so concen-
trated on the problems, that we easily
overlook this fact: mature, that is,
normal parents solve the problems
with their children in such a way
that the problems are temporary and
nondisabling. This finding is so rare-
ly a part of the voluminous discus-
sion of children's problems that 1
hope you will remember it, if you for-
get all the rest of this discussion.
Parents do solve growth problems
creatively, constructively, and with-
out maiming the child for life.

The third point of interaction be-
tween parent and child substantiated
so far by research is that normal
parents set a reasonable standard of
normality for the child to reach. A
reasonable standard of normality is
always in terms of a particular child
or type of child ; this means that par-
ents recognize the great variability
possible within the limits of normal
behavior and allow each child to find
his own place within that area. The
parents' definition is not too narrow
consequently. A reasonable standard
of normality for a child recognizes
the child's potential for growth, but
also takes into account that each
child is limited in his self actualiza-
tion. Consequently the parents' defini-
tion of normality is not too high. A
reasonable standard for a child recog-
nizes that through self understanding
the growing child can more "wisely,
benignly and effectively handle his in-
evitable" potential for abnormality,
rather than viewing the child as one
who is free of the potential of ab-
normality, or one who has to deny

this side of himself. The parents'
definition of normality consequently
is not too rigid for the child.

This concludes what I have to say
to you about "Mothers, Sons and
Daughters," but before I stop, I
would like to point out to you that
you have been hoaxed just a bit. You
have been patient readers of many
words about normal behavior, but at
no place have you been given a
definition of normality to guide your
thinking. Even with the research evi-
dence concerning the characteristics
and behavior of normal mothers and
children there has been no general
discussion of normality per se.
Webster defines it as "the normal
state or quality," which does not
really help us very much. Erikson
(4, p. 19) defines normality as the
". . . accrued confidence that one's
ability to maintain inner sameness
and continuity (one's ego in the
psychological sense) is matched by
the sameness and continuity of one's
meaning for others." This doesn't
really help us much either. Many
other Freudians state simply that
normality is the absence of inner con-
flict which distinguishes the emotion-
ally healthy from the emotionally un-
healthy. Gardner Murphy's (4, p. 19)
definition emphasizes the subjective
feeling of the individual achieved by
the unity of the personality which
gives him a sense of identity, con-
tinuity, and distinctiveness. But the
definition which means the most to
me comes from Ernest Jones, the
famous biographer of Freud. Jones
(4, p. 18) sets up two criteria for
normality; the criterion of happiness
and the criterion of adaptability to
reality. He concludes his definition
in this way: "The psychological prob-
lems of normality reside in the capac-
ity to endure and the ability to hold
wishes in suspension without either
renouncing them or reacting to them
in a defensive way. Thus fearlessness
is the nearest criterion of normality"
(4, p. 19).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Bettelehim, Bruno. (1962) Dialogues
ivith Mothers. New York: The Free
Press of Glenoe, Inc.

2. Frankl, Viktor E. (1910) The Doctor
and the Sold. New York: Knopf.

3. Gamer, Ann M., and Wenar, Charles.
(1959) The Mother-Child Interaction in
Psychosomatic Disorders. Urbana: Uni-
versity of Illinois Press.

4. Harris, Irvin D. (1959) Normal Chil-
dren and Mothers. Glencoe: The Free
Press.

5. Levy, David M. (1943) Maternal Over-
protection. New York; (!^lumbia Uni-
versity Press.

6. Sears, Robert R., Maccoby, Eleanor E..
and Levin, Harrv. (1957) Patterns of
Child Rearing. Evanston: Row, Peter-
son and Company.

18

THE AGNES SCOTT

l3,

I LotiA.

The College Helps Us to Continue Education

The thermometer in Atlanta plunged to zero as the
College plunged from Christmas festivities and the rest
into an all too short and crowded winter quarter. As
tempo quickens, so do tempers, and the college com-
munity, as do alumnae anywhere, longs for spring.

This community is, as I write this column, saddened by
the news of our own Robert Frost's death at the time he
made his annual visit to Agnes Scott. Dr. Alston will
speak in Convocation about Mr. Frost and Agnes Scott,
and we hope to publish this in the spring issue of the
Quarterly.

One thing that lifts our hearts in the bleakness of win-
ter is reflecting on the success of our pilot program last
fall in continuing education for alumnae and their hus-
bands in the Greater Atlanta area. After more than a year
of exploration, study, and planning by the Education
Committee of the Alumnae Association and the Faculty
Committee on Alumnae Affairs, we offered two courses,
held on five successive Tuesday nights.

One course was on "Life in Latin America Today."
Four lectures were given: one on the history of the people,
by Dr. John Tumblin, Jr.. Associate Professor of Soci-
ology and Anthropology; one on contemporary literature
by Dr. Florine Dunstan. Associate Professor of Spanish:
one on democracy in I^tin America, by Dr. William G.
Cornelius. Associate Professor of Political Science: and
one on contemporary art by Dr. Marie Huper, Associate
Professor of Art. The last night these faculty members
held a symposium on current problems.

The other course was titled "The Nature of the Self."
Five lectures were given in religion and philosophy. Dr.
Mary L. Boney, Associate Professor of Bible, began the
series with a discussion of the Biblical concept of the self.
Dr. Kwai Sing Chang. Associate Professor of Bible and
Philosophy, spoke on the self in oriental religions. Dr.
Miriam Koontz Drucker. Associate Professor of Psy-
chology (see her article on p. 15). lectured on the self in
contemporary psychology. Dr. Ellen Douglass Leyburn.
Professor of English, discussed the self in contemporary
drama, and President Alston delivered the last lecture in
the series on the concept of the self in contemporary
theology.

All of this superb intellectual fare was digested and
thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated by 92 alumnae and

their husbands. They were sent reading lists as they pre-
registered for the courses, and many of these books were
available for purchase in the college bookstore. We
charged a registration fee of $5.00 (or $7.50 for a
couple ) . and from these funds were able to give the par-
ticipating faculty members an honorarium not adequate
compensation for their excellent efforts, but at least a way
of saying hearty thanks to them.

We planned to tape record each lecture, but because of
the hoary excuse "due to circumstances beyond our con-
trol" (faulty recording equipment) all are not on tapes.
Some are. and if an alumna, or an alumnae group, would
like to hear one of these, please write me and Fll send it
to you. We plan another series, perhaps with a different
format, for the fall.

Alumnae Clubs are having faculty speakers, too. Dean
of the Faculty C. Benton Kline met with the New York
area alumnae clubs on a cold January night. Nine faculty
members will go out on the "Founder's Day Circuit":
Dr. Alston will address a joint Agnes Scott-Emory dinner
in Columbus. Ga.: Dr. Calder goes to Columbia. S. C:
Miss Gaylord to Shreveport. La.: Dr. Huper to Tampa.
Fla.: I to Louisville. Ky. : President-Emeritus McCain to
Charlotte. N.C.; Dr. McNair to Greenville. S. C; Dr.
Posev to Washington. D. C. : Dr. Tumblin to Jacksonville.
Fla: and Dr. Winter to Birmingham. Ala.

Where we cannot send a speaker, we can sometimes
send spoken words on tape recordings or records for
Founder's Day meetings. Some are going this year to Los
Angeles. Calif., and to Memphis. Tenn. The Hampton-
Newport News. Va. Club will see and hear the movie
made in 1960 for the 75th Anniversary Development
Campaign. "Quest for Greatness."

Other alumnae clubs. Nashville. Tenn.. for example, are
planning their own Founder's Day programs. We send
kudos and a special salute to the Westchester-Fairfield
Alumnae Club as it celebrates its tenth anniversary in the
home of its founder. Ethel Farmer Hunter. Inst.

After Founder's Day. we look fonvard with delight to
spring and Alumnae Week End at the end of April.

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Contemporary religious dance can be a form of rejoicing as is music
in the church. Range of movement is uninhibited technique, moti-
vation, and feeling combine to ask response from our deepest sources.

H E

SPRING 1963

Ties

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All Affectionate Tribute to
Agnes Scott's "Old Beau"

ALUMNAE QUARTERLY See page 4

_ff

THE

SPRING 1963 Vol. 41, No. 3
ALUMNAE QUARTERLY

Ann Worthy Johnson '38, Editor
Dorothy Weakley '56, Managing Editor

CONTENTS

4 Agnes Scott's Friendship with Robert Frost
Wallace M. Alston

13 On Not Being a Bearer of the Plague
Ellen Douglass Leyburn

15 What Right Has This Man ...

Editorial Projects for Education: Special Feature

31 Class News

Hendrica Baart Schepman

42 Alumnae Association Annual Meeting

43 Worthy Notes

FRONT COVER

FRONTISPIECE

(Opposite page)

Poet Robert Frost caught in a typically quixotic expression during his last
visit to Agnes Scott in January, 1962 (see page 4). Cover photo and photo-
graphs on pp. 3-12 by Ken Patterson; on p. 34 by Dwight Ross: on pp. 33.
36, 37 courtesy Silhouette.

A spring quarter progress report on Agnes Scott's sixth dormitory.

The Agnes Scott Alumnae Quarterly is published jour times a year (November,
February, April and July) by the Alumnae Association of Agnes Scott College
at Decatur, Georgia. Yearly subscription, $2.00. Single copy 50 cents. Entered
as second-class matter at the Post Office of Decatur, Georgia, under Art of
August 24, 1912. MEMBER OF AMERICAN ALUMNI COUNCIL

Ne^T Profile

SPRING 1963

Young spring leaves make a nice
pattern against brick rising daily to
make the facade of tlie new dormitory
and several fine old trees have been saved.

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AGNES SCOrrS FRIENDSHIP WITH

erlr frostr

Editor's Note: A week after Robert Frost had gone to
explore his last "further range," President Alston spoke in
Convocation, February 6, 1963, about the poet's relation-
ships with Agnes Scott. This article is edited from Dr. Alston's
speech.

THIS PAST WEEK (the last week of January) had
been designated and held inviolate on the college
calendar as the time for Robert Frost's twentv-
first visit to Agnes Scott. We had come gradually to ac-
cept the fact that, even if he became well enough to
leave Boston's Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, he would
probably not be able to be with us in the foreseeable
future. Even so. we were scarcely prepared to receive
the news that Robert Frost, having traveled his last mile
and kept his last promise with us, had gone to sleep in
the early morning of Tuesday (January 29) of "his
week."

In a brief release to the press requested early last
Tuesday, we said simply that we have lost a great friend
whom we have valued for his poetry, for his wisdom
and wit. but most of all for himself; that through more
than twenty years Robert Frost has built himself into
the structure of things at Agnes Scott; that our affection
for our friend was deep and sincere; and that we who
have known him in this unusual relationship will miss
him in a very unique and special sense.

The friendship between Agnes Scott and Robert Frost
began in November. 193.5, when he came to the campus
for the first time upon the invitation of Miss Emma Mav
Laney. then Associate Professor of English and Lecture
Association chairman. Miss Laney had heard Mr. Frost
lecture at Columbia University and had written that
she was "impressed with his stalwart integrity, his cour-
age, and his humor." She continued:

^tcn/

/ was especially struck by his reading oj "The
Code'' and his comment that college students are
like the hired man in the poem: You can tell them
what to do but not how or how much. I felt that
we must have him jor a lecture at Agnes Scott.

Frost's first public lecture here on November 7, 1935,
was highly succesful. He arrived in the early morning
and left after the lecture that night. One of the students
who met him at the railroad station was Sarah Catherine
Wood who later became Mrs. Peter Marshall I now Mrs.
Leonard LeSourd. a valued member of our Board of
Trustees I .

Robert Frost visited Agnes Scott for the second time
in May of 1940. Since 1945 he has come each year,
usually in late January, for visits varying in length
from three days to a week.

In the course of his last engagement on our campus
in January. 1962, Robert Frost made the statement that.
so far as he knew, our Agnes Scott collection of Frost-
iana is second only to that in the Jones Library at Am-
herst. Beginning in 1944. Miss Laney and Mrs. Edna
Hanley Byers. our librarian, initiated and developed
plans for the Frost collection in the library. Mr. Frost,
from the first, was interested in the project and con-
tributed generously to it. Miss Laney gave to the libraiy
the first editions that Mr. Frost had sent to her, as
well as complete sets of Christmas cards and other
valuable additions to the Agnes Scott collection. Since

(continued)

Robert Frost (continued)

Miss Laneys retirement, Mrs. Byers has continued ag-
gressively to build the Frost collection. His own ap-
preciation for her is shown in an inscription that he
wrote in 1960:

For Edna Byers, my faithjul jriend and inde-
fatigable collector.

When Miss Laney retired from the Agnes Scott faculty
in 1956. the Emma May Laney Lihrar\ Fund was es-
tablished in her honor by alumnae, faculty, and friends.
One of the stipulated uses of the income from this fund
is to enlarge and preserve the Robert Frost collection.

We have our own portrait of Robert Frost here on this
campus. Mr. Frost gladly consented to "sit ' for the
portrait, pained bv our own Ferdinand Warren, in the
course of his visit in 19.58. Mr. Warren is one of the
people at Agnes Scott whom Mr. Frost particularly
liked. While posing, he wrote from memorv the little
poem. "Questioning Faces." inscribed it and presented
it to Mr. Warren. The portrait was unveiled on the oc-
casion of Mr. Frost's lecture in Januar\. 1959. while

Mr. Warren and Mr. Frost stood together beside it on
the platform.

When the college entered upon the intensive phase of
the Seventy-fifth Anniversary Development Program in
the winter of 1960. Robert Frost was asked to serve as
Honorary National Chairman. He accepted without a
moment's hesitation, saying that he was honored to as-
sociate himself with the plans and purposes of this col-
lege. This brief note came on February- 16. 1960:

Thank you for the opportunity to take any part
you will permit me in the campaign to make your
great college greater. As you know 1 have had a
growing affection for you through the years. My
heart's with you.

Always yours,
Robert Frost

It is proper. 1 have no doubt, to call your attention to
a little volume of some eighty pages that Mrs. Bvers
has for a long time dreamed of issuing and that she
has carefully edited. It is titled Robert Frost at Agnes

President Alston and Betsy Fancher, Agnes Scott's News Director, listen to the poet at a press conference in the Alstons' home.

I , ,

THE AGNES SCOTT

Edna Hanley Byers, Librarian, and Mr. Frost confer.

Scott and is now in the printer's hands. This little book,
which will be dedicated to Miss Laney. is really a com-
plete catalogue of the primary material in Agnes Scott's
Frost collection, listing first editions, holograph (or
manuscript) copies of poems written especially for
Agnes Scott, letters, periodicals containing first printings
of Frost's poems, anthologists containing the first print-
ings of poems in book form, translations of poems into
foreign languages, Christmas cards, records, tape re-
cordings, pictures, and many other interesting items.
Robert Frost at Agnes Scott is being printed in limited
quantity: in all probability it will become a collectors'
item within a relatively brief time. Mr. Frost knew of
the development of this Agnes Scott volume. He wrote
Mrs. Byers, giving her a blanket permission to use any-
thing that she wants in making the book as complete
and attractive as possible.

Mav I be permitted now to share with you some per-
sonal impressions of Robert Frost and to cite some in-
cidents that illustrate these impressions? I have been
on hand for fourteen of the twenty visits that he has
made to Agnes Scott. He has been our house guest ten
times. Mrs. Alston and I have spent many hours with

ALUMNAE QUARTERLY / SPRING 1963

Photographs by Ken Patterson

him and have had the privilege of hearing him express
himself on nearly every imaginable topic and of obsen'-
ing him in many different situations.

Well built, big chested, rugged looking, with white
tousled hair and blue eyes, our friend would arrive wear-
ing blue canvas rubber-soled shoes, a suit that he didn't
bother to press (and who cared!), an overcoat much
too heavy for Georgia on ordinary winter days, and a
soft hat that usually sat puckishly on the side or back
of his head. With a friendly greeting to each of us, he
got acquainted again with our dog and settled in for
his visit.

Robert Frost was at his social best in a small group
of people with whom he was at ease. He was a remark-
able conversationalist. Of course, he did most of the
talking. His interests were diverse, his memory inex-
haustible, his allusions and analogies both pertinent and
puzzling, his phrasing homely and often cryptic, and
his wit sometimes sly, often subtle, sometimes de-
lightfully "corny." We have sat together for hour upon
hour, talking about evervthing under heaven! The later
(or earlier) the hour, the more relaxed and enjoyable
Robert Frost became as a conversationalist (really, a
monologist) .

H you took this man for a kindly, lovable old New
England poet whose chann lay in his simplicity, you
were in for a shock. His mind was subtle, nimble, and
resilient, and his personality as complex as any I have

Emma May Loney, professor emeritus of English, first brought Robert
Frost to the Agnes Scott campus in November, 1935.

"His conversation was often quixotic, paradoxi-
cal, and enigmatic."

Robert Frost (continued)

ever known. Lydia Lyon Roberts, who knew Frost
well during the time that she was on the staff in the
Poetry Room of the Harvard College Library said: "His
very simplicity is complex, his clarity deep." You could
not pin him down against his will, try as you might. If
he wanted to take a position, he made the fact known
openly. H he preferred to tease, to toy with you, to be
tentative and noncommittal, you had as well let him
have his way. He would, at any rate. His conversation
was often quixotic, paradoxical, and enigmatic. He was
independent in his judgments, quick in repartee, and
impatient with questions that he regarded as silly or
impertinent.

There was one question that Robert Frost consistently
refused to answer a question that I have heard people
put to him scores of times in the years that I have known
him: "What did you mean in this poem?" His usual
answer was to freeze up (as, believe me, he could do)
and to say, "You don't want me to tell you in other and
worse language, do you?" His real reason for respond-
ing to this type of question was found in a preface that
he wrote to Aforesaid, a published selection of poems
distributed to his guests at his eightieth birthday dinner:

The heart, sinks when robbed of the chance to see
for itself nhat a poem is all about .... Being taught
poems reduces them to the rank of mere informa-
tion.

No one ever doubted that Robert Frost's art was the
central passion of his life. He liked to say that literature

8

is "a performance in words." For him, poetry was a
performance in words without footnotes and without
quoted authorities to back him up. I have heard him
turn the full impact of his satirical capacitv upon T. S.
Eliot because of the numerous quotations in such works
as "The Waste Land." One of Robert Frost's favorite
jjhrases in describing his art was "the renewal of words."
I have heard him say more than once that in a laboratory
we sometimes see a crucible of quicksilver upon which
gathers a leaden scum: we notice that when it is shaken
it crackles like lightning. This is what happens, he would
add, when the words in a poem come alive. They crackle
like lightning. Frost lingered lovingly over words, poured
over them, dug at them, cared about them.

How many times I have heard Robert Forst toss off
a definition, or, more accurately, a description of what
a poem is. Here are a few:

A poem is "an arrest of disorder."

A poem is "n momentary stay against confusion."

Every poem is "an epitome of the great predica-
ment; a figure of the ivill braving alien entangle-
ments."

A poem is "a thought-felt thing."

"Like a piece of ice on a hot stove, the poem must
ride on its own melting."

[Referring to the way a poet takes a thought and
releases it in form, he used a familiar figure)
"Like a napkin we fold the thought, squeeze it
through the ring, and it expands once more."

THE AGNES SCOTT

^^

He referred to the beauty of ivord and sentence
that one gets in the great poets, when every line
"pops like popcorn; turns white on you."

"Poetry provides the one permissible way of say-
ing one thing and meani/ig another."

When asked on one occasion whether he would
define poetry as ''escape," Frost replied, ''No.
Poetry is a way of taking life by the throat."

Robert Frost at Agnes Scott! Al\va\s this meant tele-
phone calls begging for tickets to the lecture in Gaines
Chapel: an overflow crowd for the lecture, with many
disappointed alumnae and friends turned away; the late
dinner at the Dieckmanns" following the lecture: re-
porters to be scheduled, radio and television interviews
to be arranged: faculty members in our home to wel-

come Robert Frost back to Agnes Scott and to listen
while he talked on and on of poets and their poetry,
politics, trips that he had made since his last visit,
funny little incidents or anecdotes that seemed worth
telling. Each year some one interest seemed to over-
shadow the rest and to color the monologue. One year
it was the trip to South America for the State Depart-
ment: another year it was Ezra Pound's release in which
Robert Frost shared significantly; again it was the in-
auguration of Mr. Kennedy: last January the trend in
international affiairs. particularly as seen in the United
Nations, seemed to us to concern our friend unduly.

Wlien Miss Laney was at Agnes Scott. Robert Frost
received extraordinary attention and care beyond the
call of duty. Bless her heart, she seemed to feel per-
sonally responsible for his health and welfare. Miss Laney
was always the first to come by our home to welcome
Mr. Frost. She would check and double check meticu-
lously on every detail of his visit. She did not hesitate
to make suggestions about his schedule, his diet, his
need for rest between engagements, and the importance
of wearing his overshoes and scarf if the weather was
bad. "She trys to mother me," he would say as soon as
she had left. Then, with that wonderful twinkle in his
eyes, he would add. "But she's a nice girl. I like her."

One of the unforgettable recollections of Robert
Frost's visits to our home was his habit of going alone
for night walks. When the conversation in the library
had run its course, the members of the family had re-
tired, the late show on television completed, several
glasses of "Seven-Up" consumed, our friend would put
on his coat and hat and start out into the dark alone. We

(continued )

Robert Frost (continued)

discovered years ago that he wanted it that way; he
asked only for a key and to be let alone. His little poem,
"Acquainted with the Night," written in 1928, is based
on the habit of a lifetime (and, I confess, I find in it
more than meets the eye or the ear) :

/ have been one acquainted with the night.
I have walked out in rain and back in rain.
I have outwalked the furthest city light.

I have looked doivn the saddest city lane.
1 have passed by the tvatchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes, umvilling to explain.

I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet
When far away an interrupted cry
Came over houses from another street.

But not to call me back or say good-by;
And further still at an earthly height.
One luminary clock against the sky

Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.
I have been one acquainted with the night.

Let me offer an example of the poet's remarkable
capacity for observation which he knew how to use in
his art. In 19.57 Robert Frost was requested to write
the introduction to an anthology of The New Poets of
England and America, poets under forty who show
promise. The title that he gave his introduction was
"Maturity No Object." He made the point that young
poets have their place and should not be too much in-
timidated by their lack of maturity. Then he wrote this
interesting paragraph:

Maturity will come. We mature. But the point is
that it is at best irrelevant. Young poetry is the
breath of parted lips. For the spirit to survive, the
mouth must find how to firm and not harden. I saw
it in two faces in the same drawing room one
youth in Greek sculpture, the other manhood in
modern painting. They were both noble. The man
ivas no better than the boy nor worse because he
was older. The poets of this group, many of them
my friends and already known to many of us, need
live to write no better, need only ivait to be better
knoivn for what they have written.

The drawing room to which Frost referred is in our
home. The man whose portrait hangs over the fireplace is
my great, great grandfather. The sculptured head of the
youth is one that has been in our family for some years.
Robert Frost observed the two representations when he
visited us in January of 1957: the contrast between the

firm lips of maturity and the parted lips of youth be-
came the recurring theme of his days with us during
that visit.

Frost's sense of humor was one of the personal qualities
that gave charm and effectiveness to his public ap-
pearances and heightened pleasure to personal conversa-
tion with him. I have watched him on the platform as
he would tinker with the reading lamp and the loud-
speaker equipment. I soon learned that this was a little
device of his that helped him get started. After a few
asides, he would get his hold on the audience with a
mellow, droll humor, often brought about through the
inflection of his voice. He could feel the pulse of an
audience as readily as any person I have ever known.
He knew how to set up the laughs. As one observer put
it, "He doubles as his ovra straight man." Sometimes
he was hilariously funny. Many times we have seen him
josh an audience, say some rather odd things, talk
flippantly about education, politics, or religion, pun a
little, perhaps, and then break in suddenly with this:

It takes all kinds of in and outdoor schooling
To get adapted to my kind of fooling.

Let me recount one amusing anecdote that Robert Frost
told us in January, 1958, after returning from his trip
to England where he received the honorary degrees from
Oxford. Cambridge, and other universities. Prior to re-
ceiving the Cambridge degree, Frost gave a public lecture
at the university, holding a vast British audience spell-
bound. He began by saying:

rd rather receive an honorary degree from your
university than be educated here.

Then he discussed poetry. When he came to free verse,
he told the audience that writing free verse is like play-
ing tennis with the net down. Then he said:

It's like this (counting the fingers of one hand)
one, two, three, four, five. And then you play a tune
on top of that, see?

With laughter that crackled, he completed his story by
quoting the report of his lecture that appeared in the
Cambridge press:

Mr. Frost discussed the manner in ivhich speech
rhythms could be superimposed contropuntally upon
a basic metrical pattern.

What of Robert Frost's religion? Was he a theist?
Was he a churchman? What of his view of Christ? I do
not pretend to have any information that is withheld
from others. I will simply tell you what I know.

(continued)

10

In the McCain library: The Doet, the portrait, and part of our Pros

Robert Frost (continued)

For one thing, this man carried his Bible around in
his suitcase and read it. More than once, 1 have seen
him throw open his big suitcase that he had lifted to
his bed upon arrival, to have a well-worn Bible tumble
out ahead of shirts, socks, and shaving paraphernalia.
Frost knew his Bible; he quoted it and obviously felt at
home in its language and its ideas.

My second observation is that Robert Frost, in public
discussion and in private conversation, was much con-
cerned, I would say almost obsessed, with matters of
religion the ways of God with men, the place of faith
in life, and especially the conflict of spirit and matter.
We have talked of these things late into the night. He
was always guarded, did not want to be labeled, made
many off-the-cuff statements about the Church and as-
pects of religious living but it seems to me that religious
concern was always close to the center of his being.

Another conclusion is that Robert Frost believed firm-
ly in God. I have never had serious reason to doubt it.
I agree with Reginald Cook's statement about Frosts
belief in God:

There is genuine humility in his attitude, which
consists in respecting God's purposes and in being
worthy of His respect. . . . Frost keeps well on this
side of humility in identifying God's purposes.

So far as the Church is concerned, obviously Frost
had little place for it in his life. He often poked a bit of
fun at churches and preachers, but it was harmless
enough. He said last January:

Eliot is more churchy than 1 am, but 1 am more
religious than Eliot.

The late Edwin Mims said in one of his books that
Robert Frost wrote as if no Christ had ever lived. This
shocks me, but I have some difficulty answering it. Frost
has few references to Christ in his poems. He did, ]
think, exemplify and reflect many qualities derived from
Christ, though he probably would not have thought it
important or proper to give Christ credit for them. In
his preoccupation with the spirit-matter conflict, Frost
said this in 1958 when presented with a metal by the
Poetry Society:

We have to duff into the material at the risk of
the spirit. . . . Our religion, our country, God him-
self by descending into the flesh shoived this duffing
into the material. . . .

I wager that you have never heard anybody in your
whole life describe the Incarnation as God "duffing into
the material"!

12

At his eighty-eighth birthday party in Washington last
March, Frost recited the poem that is used as the pre-
face of his new volume. In the Clearing. The first lines
of the poem constitute a great affirmation of this ''duff-
ing into the material:

But God's own descent
Into flesh was meant
As a demonstration
That the supreme merit
Lay in risking spirit
In substantiation.

My conclusion is that Frost was a deeply religious man
who thought constantly about God and the deep things
in human experience but who was by no means an
adequate or competent Christian theologian.

When I shook hands with Robert Frost on his eighty-
eighth birthday, he said to me that he had been so ill
in Miami after leaving Agnes Scott that he had peeped
in to see what it looks like in the "great Beyond." Then
he added in characteristic fashion, "I like it better here;
I turned around and decided to come back." In the
early morning of Tuesday, January 29, I think Someone
very important to Robert Frost took him by the arm, told
him authentically that his lover's quarrel with the world
had gone long enough, and led him through a door into
a place where, for all his protesting, "it is likely to go
better."

Mrs. Byers and Mrs. Pepperdene, associafe professor of English, stroll the
campus with Mr. Frost.

%ail.3r.^r..

Miss Leyburn

THE DEATH OF Canius in
January. 1960 in the ap-
parently senseless automobile
accident which seemed almost an
image of the meaningless suffering of
man about which he often wrote, left
a gap in the spiritual resources of
our century which cannot be filled.
The succession of deaths of distin-
guished writers which has followed
and the impression we have since the
loss of Heming-\vay and Faulkner
within a few months of each other,
of the virtual wiping out of an
American literary generation does
nothing to mitigate the feeling of
shock with which the ivhole reading
ivorld received the news of Camus'
ieath. Boswell quotes William Hamil-
ton as saying after Johnson's death:
'He has made a chasm, which not
Duly nothing can fill up, but which
nothing has a tendency to fill up.
Johnson is dead. Let us go to the
next best: there is nobody; no
nan can be said to put you in mind
of Johnson." Hamilton's comment
ibout Johnson, which voiced the
feeling of many of his generation, ex-
jreses also the way many people felt
ibout the death of Camus. And the
sense of irreparable loss left by both
nen come, I think, from the same
source. Both were major writers of
Jieir day; but what made countless
aeople who had never seen them
nourn them with intensely personal
jrief was not their specifically liter-
iry gifts. It was rather the immense
power each had to fortify the spirit

On Not Being A Bearer
Of the Plague

By ELLEN DOUGLASS LEYBURN '27

Editor's Note: Honor Emphasis Week at Agnes Scott this year was marked
by particularly pertinent talks in chapel. Dr. Ellen Douglass Leyburn, professor
of English and alumna, Class of 1927, spoke in Convocation that week. Here
are her observations on the integrity of the human being.

and to communicate in times of the
disintegration of established stand-
ards and of dislocation of attitudes
on which people had depended, the
feeling that the dignity of man en-
dures and that it consists in his in-
tegrity. Both gave to distraught
generations of men the challenge of
tlie high calling of being fully human,
of living honorably in the midst of
dishonor.

Of all Camus' books, the one which
I think most jjowerfully distills his
sense of life is The Plague. As tliose
of you who have read it are aware,
it is an allegorical novel, the surface
level of which is an almost unbear-
ably realistic rendering of the details
of a visitation of bubonic plague
upon the specific city of Oran. But
for the Frenchmen who read it when
it appeared in the forties, tlie plague
which isolated the city was the Ger-
man occupation, and Oran was
France. For readers of all times and
places, Oran is the world; and the
plague is evil itself. In depicting the
physical plague of the surface story,
Camus spares us none of the horrors
of the death staggers of the first in-
fected rats and then the agonies of
the human victims. But the impres-
sion which the book leaves is not
that of a grisly horror story. There
would have been no point in a mere
detailing of the ravages of disease for
an age which had witnessed the man-
made horrors of Buchenwald. The
focus of Camus' novel is on the com-
pletely unspectacular work of the

doctor Rieux and his unassuming
friend Tarrou, and indeed all the
major characters, as they go quietly
about combating the plague. They
know that all of their intense exer-
tion, which exhausts the doctor and
finally kills Tarrou, will not stop the
plague ujitil it has run its course.
.And yet people of all walks of life
from the simple clerk. Grand, to the
magistrate, Orthon, work with all
their strength against the pervasive
and mysteriously powerful force
which they know that they cannot
conquer. They spend themselves with
no sense of heroism. Rieux speaks
of the joint effort which he organizes
as superhuman; but of what he does
himself, simply as his duty, or his
task. And Tarrou, in one of the rare
moments when he speaks of himself
and his motives, says, "I know only
tliat it is necessary to do what is
necessary not to be a pestifere a
bearer of the plague.'" "What interests
me is to be a man." It is with no
idea of being saints or heroes that
they engage in the unequal contest.
The struggle is simply what they
must undertake becaus of their in-
tegrity as human beings. It is tlieir
honor as men which motivates them.
\ ou may wonder why I speak at
such length about a novel when I
have been asked to speak about
honor at Agnes Scott. Perhaps you
feel like exclaiming as Chaucer's
friar does after the Wife of Bath's
recital of her life story. "This is a
long preamble of a tale." But if you

MUMNAE QUARTERLY / SPRING 1963

13

On Not Being A Bearer Of the Plague

continued from p. 13

will consider the import of Camus'
novel, you wiU see that I have given
you the tale itself.

Our honor is not, I think, a mat-
ter of the honor system, which our
college rightly cherishes, but of our
whole affirmation of our highest
integrity against the dishonor which
besets us on every side; the dishonor
which lurks within ourselves when
we are tempted to judge our own
failings more lightly than those of
others, when it seems easy to evade
the responsibility of thinking clearly
or of behaving magnanimously with
the lame and false excuse that our
defection hurts no one but ourselves;
the dishonor which springs up
around us on the campus when lack
of time or the desire of popularity
or sheer unconcern makes us yield
to pressures which we recognize as
unworthy and keeps us from speak-
ing when we could clarify issues or
propels us into speaking in ways of
which we are aftenvard ashamed;
the dishonor which pervades the
larger world, where we are con-
stantly exposed to the philosophy that
whatever a person can get away with
is all right, where pride in honest
workmanship is a rarity, and political
chicanery is the order of the day
and we grow used to hearing the
words that belonged to the old decen-
cies and high commitments so twisted
as to have lost all meaning. In a
community like ours, I should hope
that we could take for granted a
common feeling that our names are
the sign of ourselves and that when
we attach them to work, we intend
to signify that it is our own; and
that when we agree to abide by cer-
tain rules which make community
life possible, we are giving a promise
without some secret reservation which
makes it meaningless. But we are all
subject to a thousand much subtler
temptations tlian those of cheating
or breaking rules. The sinister
forces working against our real in-
tegrity are as powerful and as per-
vasive and as sly in attack as the

bacillus of the plague and are present
in every false assumption and pre-
judiced conclusion which we let go
unexamined.

I think Camus was right in as-
suming that life as we know it on
this earth will always be subject to
outbreaks of plague. One small con-
solation for his death was that he did
not live to see the final bitterness of
the fighting in his deeply cherished
Oran, the plague of hatred and mis-
representation which he had struggled
against for years in both French and
Algerians with as passionate a devo-
tion as Rieux brought to his task,
his duty, of fighting the bacillus
brought by the rats. Perhaps there
will always be an Algeria, an Ole
Miss, a Berlin Wall, a Cuba, to cloud
the honesty of our thought and to
act as the plague upon our integrity
as human beings. But integrity is
one of the old great words which we
can still use with a feeling of the
richness of its meaning. It retains
the sense of wholeness which is in
its L^atin origin; and when we speak
of a man's integrity, we assert some-
thing about his entire character which
means that we trust him to think
without self-interest and to act
honorably and with regard to the
common good in any situation large
or small which tests his private
thought. It is a matter of the com-
plete code by which he lives.

For four years at Agnes Scott,
which as a college is committed to
integrity and to the object of per-
mitting you to be your best selves,
you have what Howard Lowry calls
in the essay some of you have re-
cently studied, "the human privi-
lege": the chance to make "deliber-
ate choice of the values you will
honor and serve," the chance to
develop "the holy gift of discrimina-
tion" on which resistance to shod-
diness of mind and flabbiness of
character depends. In the age of the
atomic bomb, and in this immediate
moment of peculiar peril, we may
feel that we cannot do much about

the physical survival of the human
race; but each of us can do some-
thing about the small orbit of in-
fluence of which we are the center
whether we wish to be or not. And
we can be very sure that if our
bodies survive, the survival of
humanness itself, of all that gives
meaning to the word humanity, of the
chance to live as self-respecting
human beings not just for our-
selves, but for our fellows depends
on us and on people like us who
have the capacity for thought and
the opportunity to think honestly. We
may never be able to wipe out the
plague; but in the clarity of thought
and the moral courage we bring to
bear in combating it, consists our
very identity, our integrity as human
beings and the opportunity to make
such identity possible for others. I
should like to leave with you for
pondering in relation to your own
goals, Tarrou's quiet statement that
it is necessary not to be a bearer of
the plague.

Academic freedom, full of pros
for professors and cons for mis-
informed or uninformed laymen,
is a cornerstone of the integrity
of institutions of higher educa-
tion. Agnes Scott's Board of Trus-
tees approved this statement on
this subject May 11, 1956: "We
ore proud of a tradition that as-
sumes and safeguards the free-
dom of faculty members to think,
to speak, to write, and to act. It
is expected that faculty members
will exercise this freedom with
due regard for the purposes and
ideals of the College, with com-
mon sense, and with a maturity
that discriminates between the
irresponsibility of license and the
responsibility of true liberty."
The insert, opposite, on academic
freedom was written for exclu-
sive publication in alumni maga-
zines.

14

THE AGNES SCOTTi

WHAT
RIGHT

HAS
THIS

MAN...

HE HOLDS a position of power equaled by few occu-
pations in our society.

His influence upon the rest of us and upon our
children is enormous.

His place in society is so critical that no totali-
tarian state would (or does) trust him fully. Yet in
our country his fellow citizens grant him a greater
degree of freedom than they grant even to them-
selves.

He is a college teacher. It would be difficult to
exaggerate the power that he holds.

He originates a large part of our society's new
ideas and knowledge.

He is the interpreter and disseminator of the
knowledge we have inherited from the past.

He makes discoveries in science that can both
kill us and heal us.

He develops theories that can change our eco-
nomics, our poUtics, our social structures.

As the custodian, discoverer, challenger, tester,
and interpreter of knowledge he then enters a class-
room and tells our young people what he knows or
what he thinks he knows and thus influences the
thinking of millions.

What right has this man to such power and in-
fluence?

Who supervises him, to whom we entrust so
much?

Do we the people? Do we, the parents whose
children he instructs, the regents or trustees whose
institutions he staffs, the taxpayers and philan-
thropists by whose money he is sustained?

On the contrary: We arm him with safeguards
against our doing so.

What can we be thinking of, to permit such a
system as this?

Copyright 1963 by Editorial Projects for Education

HdVinO id63S ^^*^ disseminating them, is a

risky business. It has always

been so and therein lies a strange paradox. The msirch

of civilization has been quick or slow in direct ratio to

the production, testing, and acceptance of ideas; yet
virtually all great ideas were opposed when they were
introduced. Their authors and teachers have been cen-
sured, ostracized, exiled, martyred, and crucified

usually because the ideas clashed with an accepted set
of beUefs or prejudices or with the interests of a ruler
or privileged class.

Are we wiser and more receptive to ideas today?

Even in the Western world, although methods of pun-
ishment have been refined, the propagator of a new
idea may find himself risking his social status, his politi-
cal acceptability, his job, and hence his very livelihood.

For the teacher: special
risks, special rights

NORMALLY, in our society, we are wary of per-
sons whose positions give them an oppor-
tunity to exert unusual power and influence.

But we grant the college teacher a degree of
freedom far greater than most of the rest of us
enjoy.

Our reasoning comes from a basic fact about our
civilization:

Its vitality flows from, and is sustained by, ideas.

Ideas in science, ideas in medicine, ideas in poli-
tics. Ideas that sometimes rub people the wrong
way. Ideas that at times seem pointless. Ideas that
may alarm, when first broached. Ideas that may be
so novel or revolutionary that some persons may
propose that they be suppressed. Ideas all sorts
that provide the sinews of our civilization.

They will be disturbing. Often they will irritate.

But the more freely they are produced and the
more rigorously they are tested the more surely
wiU our civihzation stay alive.

THIS IS THE THEORY. Applying it, man has de-
veloped institutions for the specific purpose of
incubating, nourishing, evaluating, and spread-
ing ideas. They are our colleges and universities. As
their function is unique, so is the responsibility with
which we charge the man or woman who staffs them.

We give the college teacher the professional duty
of pursuing knowledge and of conveying it to oth-
ers with complete honesty and open-mindedness.
We tell him to find errors in what we now know.
We tell him to plug the gaps in it. We tell him to
add new material to it.

We tell him to do these things without fear of the
consequences and without favor to any interest save
the pursuit of truth.

We know and he knows that to meet this re-
sponsibility may entail risk for the college teacher.
The knowledge that he develops and then teaches to
others wiU frequently produce ground-shaking re-
sults.

It will lead at times to weapons that at the press
of a button can erase human Hves. Conversely, it
will lead at other times to medical miracles that
win save human lives. It may unsettle theology, as

did Darwinian biology in the late 1800's, and as did
countless other discoveries in earlier centuries. Con-
versely, it may confirm or strengthen the elements
of one's faith. It will produce intensely personal
results: the loss of a job to automation or, con-
versely, the creation of a job in a new industry.

Dealing in ideas, the teacher may be subjected to
strong, and at times bitter, criticism. It may come
from unexpected quarters: even the man or woman
who is well aware that free research and education
are essential to the common good may become
understandably upset when free research and edu-
cation affect his own hvelihood, his own customs,
his own beliefs.

And, under stress, the critics may attempt to
coerce the teacher. The twentieth century has its
own versions of past centuries' persecutions: social
ostracism for the scholar, the withdrawal of finan-
cial support, the threat of political sanctions, an
attempt to deprive the teacher of his job.

Wherever coercion has been widely applied in
Nazi Germany, in the Soviet Union the develop-
ment of ideas has been seriously curtailed. Were

such coercion to succeed here, the very sinews of our
civilization would be weakened, leaving us without
strength.

WE RECOGNIZE these facts. So we have de-
veloped special safeguards for ideas, by
developing special safeguards for him who
fosters ideas: the college teacher.

We have developed these safeguards in the calm
(and civilized) realization that they are safeguards
against our own impetuousness in times of stress.
They are a declaration of our wiUingness to risk the
consequences of the scholar's quest for truth. They
are, in short, an expression of our behef that we
should seek the truth because the truth, in time,
shall make us free.

What the teacher's
special rights consist of

THE SPECIAL FREEDOM that We grant to a
college teacher goes beyond anything guaran-
teed by law or constitution.

As a citizen like the rest of us, he has the right
to speak critically or unpopularly without fear of
governmental reprisal or restraint.

As a teacher enjoying a special freedom, however,
he has the right to speak without restraint not only
from government but from almost any other source,
including his own employer.

Thus although he draws his salary from a col-
lege or university, holds his title in a college or
university, and does his work at a college or uni-
versity he has an independence from his employer
which in most other occupations would be denied
to him.

Here are some of the rights he enjoys:

He may, if his honest thinking dictates, expound
views that clash with those held by the vast ma-
jority of his fellow countrymen. He will not be
restrained from doing so.

He may, if his honest thinking dictates, pub-
licly challenge the findings of his closest colleagues,
even if they outrank him. He will not be restrained
from doing so.

He may, if his honest thinking dictates, make
statements that oppose the views of the president
of his college, or of a prominent trustee, or of a
generous benefactor, or of the leaders of the state
legislature. No matter how much pain he may bring
to such persons, or to the college administrators
entrusted with maintaining good relations with
them, he will not be restrained from doing so.

Such freedom is not written into law. It exists
on the college campus because (1) the teacher claims

and enforces it and (2) the public, although wincing
on occasion, grants the validity of the teacher's
claim.

WE GRANT the teacher this special freedom
for our own benefit.
Although "orthodox" critics of educa-
tion frequently protest, there is a strong experi-
mental emphasis in coUege teaching in this country.
This emphasis owes its existence to several in-
fluences, including the utilitarian nature of our
society; it is one of the ways in which our institu-

mmmm

tions of higher education differ from many in
Europe.

Hence we often measure the effectiveness of our
colleges and universities by a pragmatic yardstick:
Does our society derive a practical benefit from
their practices?

The teacher's special freedom meets this test.
The unfettered mind, searching for truth in science,
in philosophy, in social sciences, in engineering, in
professional areas and then teaching the findings
to miUions has produced impressive practical re-
sults, whether or not these were the original ob-
jectives of its search:

The technology that produced instruments of
victory in World War II. The sciences that have
produced, in a matter of decades, incredible gains
in man's struggle against disease. The science and
engineering that have taken us across the threshold
of outer space. The dazzling progress in agricultural
productivity. The damping, to an unprecedented
degree, of wild fluctuations in the business cycle.
The appearance and application of a new architec-
ture. The development of a "scientific approach" in
the management of business and of labor unions.
The ever-increasing maturity and power of our
historians, literary critics, and poets. The gradua-
tion of hundreds of thousands of college-trained
men and women with the wit and skill to learn and
broaden and apply these things.

Would similar results have been possible without
campus freedom? In moments of national panic (as
when the Russians appear to be outdistancing us in
the space race), there are voices that suggest that
less freedom and more centralized direction of our
educational and research resources would be more
"eflScient." Disregard, for a moment, the fact that
such contentions display an appalling ignorance
and indifference about the fimdamental philosophies
of freedom, and answer them on their own ground.

Weighed carefully, the evidence seems generally to
support the contrary view. Freedom does work
quite practically.

Many point out that there are even more im-
portant reasons for supporting the teacher's special
freedom than its practical benefits. Says one such
person, the conservative writer RusseU Kirk:

"I do not beheve that academic freedom deserves
preservation chiefly because it 'serves the commu-
nity,' although this incidental function is important.
I think, rather, that the principal importance of
academic freedom is the opportunity it affords for
the highest development of private reason and im-
agination, the improvement of mind and heart by
the apprehension of Truth, whether or not that de-
velopment is of any immediate use to 'democratic
society'."

The conclusion, however, is the same, whether the
reasoning is conducted on practical, philosophical,
or religious grounds or on all three: The unusual
freedom claimed by (and accorded to) the college
teacher is strongly justified.

"This freedom is immediately apphcable only to a
limited number of individuals," says the statement
of principles of a professors' organization, "but it is
profoundly important for the public at large. It safe-
guards the methods by which we explore the un-
known and test the accepted. It may afford a key to
open the way to remedies for bodily or social His, or
it may confirm our faith in the familiar. Its preser-
vation is necessary if there is to be scholarship in
any true sense of the word. The advantages accrue
as much to the pubKc as to the scholars themselves."

Hence we give teachers an extension of freedom
academic freedom that we give to no other group
in our society: a special set of guarantees designed to
encourage and insure their boldness, their forth-
rightness, their objectivity, and (if necessary) their
criticism of us who maintain them.

The idea works most
of the time, but . . .

IKE MANY good theories, this one works for
I most of the time at most colleges and uni-
L" versities. But it is subject to continual
stresses. And it suffers occasional, and sometimes
spectacular, breakdowns.

If past experience can be taken as a guide, at this
very moment:

An alunmus is composing a letter threatening to
strike his alma mater from his will unless the insti-
tution removes a professor whose views on some
controversial issue in economics? in genetics? in
politics? the alumnus finds objectionable.

The president of a college or university, or one
of his aides, is composing a letter to an alumnus in
which he tries to explain why the institution cannot
remove a professor whose views on some controver-
sial issue the alumnus finds objectionable.

A group of liberal legislators, aroused by reports
from the campus of their state university that a
professor of economics is preaching fiscal conserva-
tism, is debating whether it should knock some
sense into the university by cutting its appropria-
tion for next year.

A group of conservative legislators is aroused by
reports that another professor of economics is
preaching fiscal hberaUsm. This group, too, is con-
sidering an appropriation cut.

The president of a college, faced with a budget-
ary crisis in his biology department, is pondering
whether or not he should have a heart-to-heart chat
with a teacher whose views on fallout, set forth in a
letter to the local newspaper, appear to be scaring
away the potential donor of at least one million
dollars.

The chairman of an academic department, still
smarting from the criticism that two colleagues lev-
eled at the learned paper he delivered at the de-
partmental seminar last week, is making up the new
class schedules and wondering why the two up-
starts wouldn't be just the right persons for those
7 a.m. classes which increased enrollments will ne-
cessitate next year.

The educational board of a reHgious denomina-
tion is wondering why it should continue to permit
the employment, at one of the colleges under its

I

iT^^fA

control, of a teacher of religion who is openly ques-
tioning a doctrinal pronouncement made recently
by the denomination's leadership.
The managers of an industrial complex, worried
by university research that reportedly is linking
their product with a major health problem, are won-
dering how much it might cost to sponsor university
research to show that their product is not the cause
of a major health problem.

Pressures, inducements, threats: scores of exam-
ples, most of them never pubHcized, could be cited
each year by our colleges and universities.

In addition there is philosophical opposition to
the present concept of academic freedom by a few
who sincerely believe it is wrong. ("In the last
analysis," one such critic, William F. Buckley, Jr.,
once wrote, "academic freedom must mean the
freedom of men and women to supervise the educa-
tional activities and aims of the schools they oversee
and support.") And, considerably less important
and more frequent, there is opposition by emotion-
ahsts and crackpots.

Since criticism and coercion do exist, and since
academic freedom has virtually no basis in law, how
can the college teacher enforce his claim to it?

In the face of pressures,
how the professor stays free

IN THE mid-lSOO's, many professors lost their jobs
over their views on slavery and secession. In the
1870's and '80's, many were dismissed for their
views on evolution. Near the turn of the century, a
number lost their jobs for speaking out on the issue
of Free Silver.

The trend alarmed many college teachers. Until
late in the last centiu-y, most teachers on this side
of the Atlantic had been mere purveyors of the
knowledge that others had accumulated and written
down. But, beginning around 1870, many began to
perform a dual function: not only did they teach, but
they themselves began to investigate the world
about them.

Assumption of the latter role, previously per-
formed almost exclusively in European universi-
ties, brought a new vitality to our campuses. It also
brought perils that were previously unknown. As
long as they had dealt only in ideas that were clas-
sical, generally accepted, and therefore safe, teach-
ers and the institutions of higher learning did Uttle
that might offend their governing boards, their
alumni, the parents of their students, the pubKc,
and the state. But when they began to act as in-
vestigators in new areas of knowledge, they found
themselves affecting the status quo and the inter-
ests of those who enjoyed and supported it.

And, as in the secession, evolution, and silver con-
troversies, retahation was sometimes swift.

In 1915, spurred by their growing concern over
such infringements of their freedom, a group of
teachers formed the American Association of Uni-
versity Professors. It now has 52,000 members, in
the United States and Canada. For nearly half a
century an AAUP committee, designated as "Com-
mittee A," has been academic freedom's most active
and most effective defender.

THE AAUP's defense of academic freedom is
based on a set of principles that its members
have developed and refined throughout the or-
ganization's history. Its current statement of these
principles, composed in collaboration with the As-
sociation of American Colleges, says in part:
"Institutions of higher education are conducted

for the common good and not to further the interest
of either the individual teacher or the institution as
a whole. The common good depends upon the free
search for truth and its free exposition."

The statement spells out both the teacher's rights
and his duties:

"The teacher is entitled to full freedom in re-
search and in the publication of the results, subject
to the adequate performance of his other academic
duties . . .

"The teacher is entitled to freedom in the class-
room in discussing his subject, but he should be
careful not to introduce . . . controversial matter
which has no relation to his subject . . .

"The college or university teacher is a citizen, a
member of a learned profession, and an officer of an
educational institution. When he speaks or writes as
a citizen, he should be free from institutional censor-
ship or discipline, but his special position in the
community imposes special obhgations. As a man of
learning and an educational officer, he should re-
member that the public may judge his profession
and his institution by his utterances. Hence he
should at aU times be accurate, should exercise ap-
propriate restraint, should show respect for the
opinions of others, and should make every effort to
indicate that he is not an institutional spokesman.

How CAN such claims to academic freedom be
enforced? How can a teacher be protected
against retahation if the truth, as he finds it
and teaches it, is unpalatable to those who employ
him ?

The American Association of University Profes-

....

sors and the Association of American Colleges have
formulated this answer: permanent job security, or
tenure. After a probationary period of not more than
seven years, agree the AAUP and the AAC, the
teacher's services should be terminated "only for
adequate cause."

If a teacher were dismissed or forced to resign
simply because his teaching or research offended
someone, the cause, in AAUP and AAC terms,
clearly would not be adequate.

The teacher's recourse? He may appeal to the
AAUP, which first tries to mediate the dispute with-
out publicity. Failing such settlement, the AAUP
conducts a full investigation, resulting in a full re-
port to Committee A. If a violation of academic
freedom and tenure is found to have occurred, the
committee publishes its findings in the association's
Bulletin, takes the case to the AAUP membership,
and often asks that the offending college or univer-
sity administration be censured.

So effective is an AAUP vote of censure that most
coUege administrators will go to great lengths to
avoid it. Although the AAUP does not engage in
boycotts, many of its members, as well as others in
the academic profession, will not accept jobs in cen-
sured institutions. Donors of funds, including many
philanthropic foundations, undoubtedly are infiu-
enced; so are many parents, students, alumni, and
present faculty members. Other organizations, such
as the American Association of University Women,
will not recognize a college on the AAUP's censure
list.

As the present academic year began, eleven insti-
tutions were on the AAUP's list of censured admin-
istrations. Charges of infringements of academic
freedom or tenure were being investigated on four-
teen other campuses. In the past three years, seven
institutions, having corrected the situations which
had led to AAUP action, have been removed from
the censure category.

Has the teacher's freedom
no limitations?

How SWEEPING is the freedom that the college
teacher claims?
Does it, for example, entitle a member of the
faculty of a church-supported college or university
openly to question the existence of God?

Does it, for example, entitle a professor of botany
to use his classroom for the promulgation of political
behefs?

Does it, for example, apply to a Communist?
There are those who would answer some, or all,
such questions with an unqualified Yes. They would

^^^

argue that academic freedom is absolute. They
would say that any restriction, however it may be
rationalized, effectively negates the entire academic-
freedom concept. "You are either free or not free,"
says one. "There are no halfway freedoms."

There are others the American Association of
University Professors among them who say that
freedom can he Hmited in some instances and, by
definition, is limited in others, without fatal damage
being done.

Restrictions at church-supported
colleges and universities

The AAUP-AAC statement of principles of aca-
demic freedom implicitly allows religious restric-
tions:

"Limitations of academic freedom because of re-
ligious or other aims of the institution should be
clearly stated in writing at the time of [the teacher's]
appointment ..."

Here is how one church-related university (Prot-

estant) states such a "limitation" to its faculty
members:

"Since X University is a Christian institution
supported by a religious denomination, a member of
its faculty is expected to be in sympathy with the
university's primary objective to educate its stu-
dents within the framework of a Christian culture.
The rights and privileges of the instructor should,
therefore, be exercised with discretion and a sense of
loyalty to the supporting institution . . . The right of
dissent is a correlative of the right of assent. Any
undue restriction upon an instructor in the exercise
of this function would foster a suspicion of intoler-
ance, degrade the university, and set the supporting
denomination in a false light before the world."

Another church-related institution (Roman Cath-
ohc) tells its teachers:

"While Y College is operated under Cathohc aus-
pices, there is no regulation which requires all mem-
bers of the faculty to be members of the Catholic
faith. A faculty member is expected to maintain a
standard of life and conduct consistent with the phi-
losophy and objectives of the college. Accordingly,
the integrity of the college requires that all faculty
members shall maintain a sympathetic attitude to-
ward Catholic beliefs and practices, and shall make
a sincere effort to appreciate these beliefs and prac-
tices. Members of the faculty who are Catholic are
expected to set a good example by the regular prac-
tice of Catholic duties."

A teacher's "competence"

By most definitions of academic freedom, a teach-
er's rights in the classroom apply only to the field in
which he is professionally an expert, as determined
by the credentials he possesses. They do not extend
to subjects that are foreign to his specialty.

". . . He should be careful," says the American
Association of University Professors and the Asso-
ciation of American Colleges, "not to introduce into
his teaching controversial matter which has no re-
lation to his subject."

Hence a professor of botany enjoys an undoubted
freedom to expound his botanical knowledge, how-
ever controversial it might be. (He might discover,
and teach, that some widely consumed cereal grain,
known for its energy-giving properties, actually is of
little value to man and animals, thus causing con-
sternation and angry outcries in Battle Creek. No
one on the campus is likely to challenge his right to
do so.) He probably enjoys the right to comment,
from a botanist's standpoint, upon a conservation
bill pending in Congress. But the principles of aca-
demic freedom might not entitle the botanist to take

a classroom stand on, say, a biU dealing with traflBc
laws in his state.

As a private citizen, of course, off the college cam-
pus, he is as free as any other citizen to speak on
whatever topic he chooses and as liable to criti-
cism of what he says. He has no special privileges i
when he acts outside his academic role. Indeed, the
AAUP-AAC statement of principles suggests that
he take special pains, when he speaks privately, not
to be identified as a spokesman for his institution.

HENCE, at least in the view of the most influen-
tial of teachers' organizations, the freedom of
the college teacher is less than absolute. But
the limitations are established for strictly defined
purposes: (1) to recognize the rehgious auspices of
many colleges and universities and (2) to lay down
certain ground rules for scholarly procedure and con-
duct.

In recent decades, a new question has arisen to
haunt those who would define and protect academic
freedom: the problem of the Communist. When it
began to be apparent that the Communist was not
simply a member of a political party, willing (hke
other political partisans) to submit to established
democratic processes, the question of his eligibility
to the rights of a free college teacher was seriously
posed.

So pressing and so worrisome to our colleges
and universities has this question become that a
separate section of this report is devoted to it.

The Communist:
a special case?

SHOULD A Communist Party member enjoy the
privileges of academic freedom? Should he be
permitted to hold a position on a college or
aniversity faculty?

On few questions, however "obvious" the answer
may be to some persons, can complete agreement
oe found in a free society. In a group as conditioned
to controversy and as insistent upon hard proof as
ire college teachers, a consensus is even more rare.

It would thus be a miracle if there were agree-
ment on the rights of a Communist Party member
to enjoy academic privileges. Indeed, the miracle
has not yet come to pass. The question is still
warmly debated on many campuses, even where
there is not a Communist in sight. The American
Association of University Professors is stiU in the
process of defining its stand.

The difficulty, for some, lies in determining
whether or not a communist teacher actually propa-
gates his beliefs among students. The question is
asked. Should a communist gym instructor, whose
utterances to his students are confined largely to
the hup-two-three-four that he chants when he
leads the caKsthenics drill, be summarily dismissed?
Should a chemist, who confines his campus activities
solely to chemistry? Until he overtly preaches com-
munism, or permits it to taint his research, his
writings, or his teaching (some say) , the Communist
should enjoy the same rights as all other faculty
members.

Others and they appear to be a growing num-
ber have concluded that proof of Communist
Party membership is in itself sufficient grounds for
dismissal from a college faculty.

To support the argument of this group, Professor
Arthur O. Lovejoy, who in 1913 began the move-
ment that led to the estabhshment of the AAUP,
has quoted a statement that he wrote in 1920, long
before communism on the campus became a lively
issue:

"Society ... is not getting from the scholar the
particular service which is the principal raison
d'etre of his calling, unless it gets from him his
honest report of what he finds, or believes, to be
true, after careful study of the problems with which

he deals. Insofar, then, as faculties are made up of
men whose teachings express, not the results of their
own research and reflection and that of their fellow-
speciaUsts, but rather the opinions of other men
whether holders of public office or private persons
from whom endowments are received just so far
are colleges and universities perverted from their
proper function ..."

(His statement is the more pertinent. Professor
Lovejoy notes, because it was originally the basis
of "a criticism of an American college for accepting
from a 'capitalist' an endowment for a special pro-
fessorship to be devoted to showing 'the fallacies of
socialism and kindred theories and practices.' I
have now added only the words 'holders of public
office.' ")

Let us quote Professor Lovejoy at some length,
as he looks at the communist teacher today:

"It is a very simple argument; it can best be put,
in the logician's fashion, in a series of nimabered
theorems:

"1. Freedom of inquiry, of opinion, and of teach-
ing in universities is a prerequisite, if the academic
scholar is to perform the proper function of his
profession.

"2. The Communist Party in the United States
is an organization whose aim is to bring about the
establishment in this country of a poUtical as well
as an economic system essentially similar to that
which now exists in the Soviet Union.

"3. That system does not permit freedom of in-
quiry, of opinion, and of teaching, either in or
outside of universities; in it the poHtical govern-
ment claims and exercises the right to dictate to
scholars what conclusions they must accept, or at
least profess to accept, even on questions lying
within their own specialties for example, in philos-
ophy, in history, in aesthetics and literary criticism,
in economics, in biology.

"4. A member of the Communist Party is there-
fore engaged in a movement which has already ex-
tinguished academic freedom in many countries and
would if it were successful here result in the
abohtion of such freedom in American universities.

"5. No one, therefore, who desires to maintain

m

academic freedom in America can consistently favor
that movement, or give indirect assistance to it by
accepting as fit members of the faculties of uni-
versities, persons who have voluntarily adhered to
an organization one of whose aims is to abolish
academic freedom.

"Of these five propositions, the first is one of
principle. For those who do not accept it, the con-
clusion does not follow. The argument is addressed
only to those who do accept that premise. The
second, third, and fourth propositions are state-
ments of fact. I submit that they cannot be honestly
gainsaid by any who are acquainted with the
relevant facts . . .

"It will perhaps be objected that the exclusion of
communist teachers would itself be a restriction
upon freedom of opinion and of teaching viz., of
the opinion and teaching that intellectual freedom
should be abohshed in and outside of universities;
and that it is self-contradictory to argue for the
restriction of freedom in the name of freedom. The
argument has a specious air of logicality, but it is
in fact an absurdity. The believer in the indis-
pensability of freedom, whether academic or politi-

cal, is not thereby committed to the conclusion that
it is his duty to faciUtate its destruction, by placing ;
its enemies in strategic positions of power, prestige,
or influence . . . The conception of freedom is not
one which implies the legitimacy and inevitabiUty
of its own suicide. It is, on the contrary, a concep-
tion which, so to say, defines the limit of its own i
apphcability; what it impUes is that there is one
kind of freedom which is inadmissible the freedom
to destroy freedom. The defender of liberty of
thought and speech is not morally bound to enter
the fight with both hands tied behind his back. And
those who would deny such freedom to others, if
they could, have no moral or logical basis for the
claim to enjoy the freedom which they would deny . .

"In the professional code of the scholar, the man
of science, the teacher, the first commandment is:
Thou shalt not knowingly misrepresent facts, nor
tell lies to students or to the public. Those who not
merely sometimes break this commandment, but
repudiate any obligation to respect it, are obviously
disqualified for membership in any body of investi-
gators and teachers which maintains the elementary
requirements of professional integrity.

"To say these things is not to say that the eco-
aomic and even the poHtical doctrines of commu-
lism should not be presented and freely discussed
within academic walls. To treat them simply as
dangerous thought,' with which students should
lot be permitted to have any contact, would give
ise to a plausible suspicion that they are taboo
oecause they would, if presented, be all too con-
iTincing; and out of that suspicion young Commu-
lists are bred. These doctrines, moreover, are his-
torical facts; for better or worse, they play an
mmense part in the intellectual and political con-
troversies of the present age. To deny to students
neans of learning accurately what they are, and of
eaching informed judgments about them, would
oe to fail in one of the major pedagogic obligations
of a university to enable students to understand
;he world in which they will live, and to take an
ntelligent part in its affairs . . ."

IF EVERY COMMUNIST admitted he belonged to the
party or if the public, including college teachers
and administrators, somehow had access to party
nembership lists such a poHcy might not be diffi-
cult to apply. In practice, of course, such is not the
case. A two-pronged danger may result: (1) we may
lot "spot" all Communists, and (2) unless we are
/ery careful, we may do serious injustice to persons
who are not Communists at all.

What, for example, constitutes proof of Commu-
list Party membership? Does refusal to take a
oyalty oath? ( Many now-Communists, as a matter
)f principle, have declined to subscribe to "dis-
criminatory" oaths oaths required of one group
in society, e.g., teachers, but not of others.) Does

invoking the Fifth Amendment? Of some 200 dis-
missals from college and university faculties in the
past fifteen years, where communism was an issue,
according to AAUP records, most were on grounds
such as these. Only a handful of teachers were in-
con trover tibly proved, either by their own admission
or by other hard evidence, to be Communist Party
members.

Instead of relying on less-than-conclusive evi-
dence of party membership, say some observers,
we would be wiser and the results would be surer
if we were to decide each case by determining
whether the teacher has in fact violated his trust.
Has he been intellectually dishonest? Has he mis-
stated facts? Has he published a distorted bibH-
ography? Has he preached a party hne in his class-
room? By such a determination we would be able
to bar the practicing Communist from our campuses,
along with all others guilty of academic dishonesty
or charlatanry.

How can the facts be established?

As one who holds a position of unusual trust, say
most educators (including the teachers' own or-
ganization, the AAUP), the teacher has a special
obligation: if responsible persons make serious
charges against his professional integrity or his in-
tellectual honesty, he should be willing to submit
to examination by his colleagues. If his answers to
the charges are unsatisfactory evasive, or not in
accord with evidence formal charges should be
brought against him and an academic hearing, con-
ducted according to due process, should be held.
Thus, say many close observers of the academic
scene, society can be sure that justice is done
both to itself and to the accused.

Is the college teacher's freedom
in any real jeopardy?

How FREE is the college teacher today? What
are his prospects for tomorrow? Either here
or on the horizon, are there any serious
:hreats to his freedom, besides those threats to the
reedom of us all?

Any reader of history knows that it is wise to
idopt the view that freedom is always in jeopardy.
With such a view, one is likely to maintain safe-

guards. Without safeguards, freedom is sure to be
eroded and soon lost.

So it is with the special freedom of the coUege
teacher the freedom of ideas on which our civiHza-
tion banks so much.

Periodically, this freedom is buffeted heavily. In
part of the past decade, the weather was particular-
ly stormy. CoUege teachers were singled out for

Are matters of academic freedom eas]

Try handling some of ttiesi

You are

a college president.

Your college is your Ufa. You have
thrown every talent you possess into
its development. No use being mod-
est about it: your achievements
have been great.

The faculty has been strength-
ened immeasurably. The student
body has grown not only in size but
in academic quality and aptitude.
The campus itself dormitories, lab-
oratories, classroom buildings
would hardly be recognized by any-
one who hasn't seen it since before
you took over.

Your greatest ambition is yet to
be realized: the construction of a
new library. But at last it seems to
be in sight. Its principal donor, a
wealthy man whom you have culti-
vated for years, has only the techni-
calities but what important tech-
nicalities! to complete: assigning
to the college a large block of secur-
ities which, when sold, wiU provide
the necessary $3,000,000.

This afternoon, a newspaper re-
porter stopped you as you crossed
the campus. "Is it true," he asked,
"that John X, of your economics
department, is about to appear on
coast-to-coast television advocating
deficit spending as a cornerstone of
federal fiscal policy? I'd like to do
an advance story about it, with your
comments."

You were not sidestepping the
question when you told the reporter
you did not know. To tell the truth,
you had never met John X, unless
it had been for a moment or two of
small-talk at a faculty tea. On a
faculty numbering several hundred,
there are bound to be many whom
you know so slightly that you might
not recognize them if they passed
you on the street.

Deficit spending! Only last night.

yoin* wealthy Ubrary-donor held
forth for two hours at the dinner
table on the immorality of it. By
the end of the evening, his words
were almost choleric. He phoned this
morning to apologize. "It's the one
subject I get rabid about," he said.
"Thank heavens you're not teaching
that sort of thing on your campus."

You had your secretary discreetly
check: John X's telecast is sched-
uled for next week. It wiU be at
least two months before you get
those library funds. There is John
X's extension number, and there is
the telephone. And there are your
lifetime's dreams.

Should you . . .?

You are

a university scientist.

You are deeply involved in highly
complex research. Not only the
equipment you use, but also the
laboratory assistance you require,
is expensive. The cost is far more
than the budget of your university
department could afford to pay.

So, like many of your colleagues,
you depend upon a governmental
agency for most of your financial
support. Its research grants and
contracts make your work possible.

But now, as a result of your
studies and experiments, you have
come to a conclusion that is dia-
metrically opposite to that which
forms the official policy of the
agency that finances you a policy
that potentially affects the welfare
of every citizen.

You have outlined, and docu-
mented, your conclusion forcefully,
in confidential memoranda. Re-
sponsible ofiicials believe you are
mistaken; you are certain you are
not. The disagreement is profound.
Clearly the government will not
accept your view. Yet you are con-

vinced that it is so vital to your
country's welfare that you should
not keep it to yourself.

You are a man of more than one
heavy responsibility, and you feel
them keenly. You are, of course, re-
sponsible to your university. You
have a responsibility to your col-
leagues, many of whose work is
financed similarly to yours. You are,
naturally, responsible to your coun-
try. You bear the responsibiUty of a
teacher, who is expected to hold
back no knowledge from his stu-
dents. You have a responsibUity to
your own career. And you feel a
responsibUity to the people you see
on the street, whom you know your
knowledge affects.

Loyalties, conscience, Hfetime fi-
nancial considerations: your di-
lemma has many horns.

Should you . . .?

You are

a business man.

You make toothpaste. It is good
toothpaste. You maintain a research
department, at considerable ex-
pense, to keep it that way.

A disturbing rumor reached you
this morning. Actually, it's more
than a rumor; you could class it as
a well-founded report. The dental
school of a famous university is
about to publish the results of a
study of toothpastes. And, if your
informant had the facts straight, it
can do nothing but harm to your
current selling campaign.

You know the dean of the dental
school quite well. Your company,
as part of its pohcy of supporting
good works in dental science, has
been a regular and substantial con-
tributor to the school's development
fund.

It's not as if you were thinking of
suppressing anything; your record

o solve?
problems.

of turning out a good product the
best you know is ample proof of
that. But if that report were to
come out now, in the midst of your
campaign, it could be ruinous. A
few months from now, and no harm
would be done.

Would there be anything wrong
if you . . .?

Your daughter
is at State.

You're proud of her; first in her
class at high school; pretty girl;
popular; extraordinarily sensible,
in spite of having lots of things to
turn her head.

It was hard to send her off to the
university last fall. She had never
been away from the family for more
than a day or two at a time. But
you had to cut the apron-strings.
And no experience is a better teacher
than going away to college.

You got a letter from her this
morning. Chatty, breezy, a bit sassy
in a delightful way. You smiled as
you read her youthful Ju-gon. She
delights in using it on you, because
she remembers how you grimaced
in mock horror whenever you heard
it around the house.

Even so, you turned cold when
you came to the paragraph about
the sociology class. The so-called
scientific survey that the professor
had made of the sexual behavior of
teen-agers. This is the sort of thing
Margie is being taught at State?
You're no prude, but . . . You know
a member of the education com-
mittee of the state legislature.
Should you . . .? And on the coffee
table is the letter that came yester-
day from the fund-raising oflSce at
State; you were planning to write a
modest check tonight. To support
more sociology professors and their
scientific surveys? Should you . . .?

I

special criticism if they did not conform to popular
patterns of thought. They, and often they alone,
were required to take oaths of loyalty as if teach-
ers, somehow, were uniquely suspect.

There was widespread misunderstanding of the
teacher's role, as defined by one university presi-
dent:

"It is inconceivable . . . that there can exist a true
community of scholars without a diversity of views
and an atmosphere conducive to their expression
. . . To have a diversity of views, it is essential that
we as individuals be willing to extend to our col-
leagues, to our students, and to members of the com-
munity the privilege of presenting opinions which
may, in fact, be in sharp conflict with those which
we espouse. To have an atmosphere of freedom, it is
essential that we accord to such diverse views the
same respect, the same attentive consideration, that
we grant to those who express opinions with which
we are in basic agreement."

THE STORM of the '50's was nationwide. It was
felt on every campus. Today's storms are
local; some campuses measure the threat to
their teachers' freedom at hurricane force, while
others feel hardly a breeze.

Hence, the present relatively calm is a good
time for assessing the values of academic freedom,
and for appreciating them. The future is certain to
bring more threats, and the understanding that we
can build today may stand us in good stead, then.

What is the likely nature of tomorrow's threats?

"It is my sincere impression that the faculties of
our universities have never enjoyed a greater lati-
tude of intellectual freedom than they do today,"
says the president of an institution noted for its
high standards of scholarship and freedom. "But
this is a judgment relative only to the past.

"The search for truth has no ending. The need to
seek truth for its own sake must constantly be de-
fended. Again and again we shall have to insist
upon the right to express unorthodox views reached
through honest and competent study.

"Today the physical sciences offer safe ground for
speculation. We appear to have made our peace
with biology, even with the rather appalling im-
plications of modern genetics.

"Now it is the social sciences that have entered
the arena. These are young sciences, and they are
difficult. But the issues involved the positions
taken with respect to such matters as economic
growth, the tax structure, deficit financing, the laws

affecting labor and management, automation, social
welfare, or foreign aid are of enormous conse-
quence to all the people of this country. If the critics
of our universities feel strongly on these questions,
it is because rightly or wrongly they have identi-
fied particular solutions uniquely with the future
prosperity of our democracy. All else must then be
heresy."

Opposition to such "heresy" and hence to aca-
demic freedom is certain to come.

IN THE FUTURE, as at present, the concept of aca-
demic freedom will be far from uncomplicated.
Applying its principles in specific cases rarely
will be easy. Almost never will the facts be all white
or all black; rather, the picture that they form is
more Hkely to be painted in tones of gray.

To forget this, in one's haste to judge the right-
ness or wrongness of a case, will be to expose oneself

to the danger of acting injudiciously and of com-
mitting injustice.

The subtleties and complexities found in the gray
areas will be endless. Even the scope of academic
freedom wiU be involved. Should its privileges, for
example, apply only to faculty members? Or should
they extend to students, as well? Should students,
as well as faculty members, be free to invite con-
troversial outsiders to the campus to address them?
And so on and on.

The educated alumnus and alumna, faced with
specific issues involving academic freedom, may
well ponder these and other questions in years to
come. Legislators, regents, trustees, coUege ad-
ministrators, students, and faculty members will be
pondering them, also. They will look to the alumnus
and alumna for understanding and if the cause be
just for support. Let no reader underestimate the
difficulty or the importance of his role.

Illustrations by Robert Ross

"What Right

The report on this and the preceding 15 pages is the product of a cooperative endeavor in which

scores of schools, colleges, and universities are taking part. It was prepared under the direction

LJ j Q Th i C IWI a M *? " ^ ^^^ gi'oup listed below, who form EDITORIAL PROJECTS for education, a non-profit organization

ildO I IIIO IVIan . associated with the American Alumni Council. Copyright 1963 by Editorial Projects for

Education, Inc. AH rights reserved; no part of this report may be reproduced without express permission of the editors. Printed in U.S.A.

JAMES E. ARMSTRONG

The University of Notre Dame

MARALYN O. GILLESPIE

Swarthmore College

JEAN D. LINEHAN

DAVID A. BURR

The University of Oklahoma

DENTON BEAL

Carnegie Institute of Technology

L. FRANKLIN HEALD CHARLES M. HELMKEN

The University of New Hampshire American Alumni Council

JOHN I. MATTILL JOHN W. PATON

Massachusetts Institute of Technology Wesleyan University

DAN ENDSLEY

Stanford University

KEN METZLER

The University of Oregon

ROBERT L. PAYTON

Washington University

FRANCES PROVENCE

Baylor University

FRANK J. TATE

The Ohio State University

RONALD A. WOLK

The Johns Hopkins University

ROBERT M. RHODES

The University of Pennsylvania

CHARLES E. WIDMAYER

Dartmouth College

STANLEY SAPLIN VERNE A. STADTMAN

New York University The University of California

REBA WILCOXON DOROTHY F. WILLIAMS

The University of Arkansas Simmons College

ELIZABETH BOND WOOD

Sweet Briar College

CHESLEY WORTHINGTON

Brown University

CORBIN GWALTNEY

Executive Editor

Annual Meeting of the Agnes Scott Alumnae Association

April 27, 1963

Program

9:45-10:45 a.m.

Class Council Meeting

(All class presidents, secretaries, and fund agents)

Alumnae House

11:00-12:00 noon

Faculty Lectures for Alumnae

12:30-2:30 p.m.

Alumnae Luncheon and Annual Meeting
Letitia Pate Evans Dining Hall
"What Do You Want To Ask About The College?"
Panel moderated by President Alston

2:30-3:30 p.m.

Faculty Lectures for Alumnae

3 : 30-m idn igh t !

Class Reunion Functions

8:00 p.m.

Blackfriars presents Lope de Vega's

"The Gardener's Dog" Presser Hall (Friday night also I

Reunion Classes

1905
1906
1907
1908

D

ix Plan

1924

1925

1926

1927

Milestone

1913

Fiftieth

1938

Twenty-fifth

1953

Tenth

1958

Fifth

1962

First

1943
1944
1945
1946

Faculty Lectures for Alumnae

11 :00 a.m.

THE FUTURE OF SOUTHERN POLITICS

What will the two-party South be like? How influen-
tial will the new political South be in national party
politics?

Mr. William G. Cornelius

Associate Professor of Political Science

THE ORGAN AND CHURCH MUSIC

A demonstrated lecture by members of the College
Organ Guild Student Group.
Mr. Raymond 1. Martin
Associate Professor of Music

THE TRAGEDY OF OTHELLO,
THE MOOR OF VENICE

A discussion of Shakespeare's play see below for
another interpretation of the tragedy.

Mr. George P. Hayes

Professor of English

EVERYDAY ATMOSPHERE ON CAMPUS

A panel discussion by college seniors of the existing
academic, social and religious moods which they
encounter, moderated by,

Miss Eleanor Hutchens '40

Associate Professor of English

2:30 p.m.

WHAT IS ART?

The basic elements of design make up the language
of vision. It is an international language from ancient
to modern time.

Miss Marie Huper
Associate Professor of Art

THE WORLD OF MARCEL PROUST

A study of Remembrance Of Things Past.
Miss Chloe Steel
Associate Professor of French

VERDI'S OPERA OTELLO

The Atlanta Metropolitan Opera season will include
a performance of this opera. Here is an opportunity
to learn about Verdi's treatment of the tragedy.

Mr. Michael McDowell

Professor of Music

THE NEW MATH

Your children can understand it-
Miss Sara Ripy
Associate Professor of Math

-can you :

42

THE AGNES SCOTT

\ LcrGA. . . .

Let's All Rejoice in the Coming of Spring!

Spring is just beginning to stir at m\ present vantage
point a mountain ridge, 3100 feet above sea level, in
the northeast tip of Rabun Countv. Ga. 1 am staring at
a dogwood tree, not three feet auav. which has oid\ little
popcorn buds as yet. I left the campus three hours ago.
where dogwood blossoms are bursting forth almost
hourly.

These first signs of spring always make me. and prob-
ablv you. too, want to burst forth. So. I ran to my
house in my beloved mountains for twenty-four hours,
well aware that the Alumnae Office would not disappear
over the weekend, but that I could face its problems as
well as its joys on Monday morn, April 1, having re-
newed myself through being in nature's myriad ways of
renewing life.

In my small library here I found my copy of Robert

\ Frost's A Boy's Will. He autographed this for me at
Agnes Scott in 1939, and under his name and the date

i wrote the five places of which he was a part: "Decatur.
Ga., Amherst, Mass., S. Shaftsbury, Vt.. Franconia.

' N. H., San Francisco, Calif."

During his many springs after 1939 he became a part
of many more places and. through his poetry of many
more people. Perhaps those of us who are familiar with
spring in the South, which creeps easily along, turns
over and suns itself, sort of ambles to meet us. can never
fully know what spring means to a New Englander like
Robert Frost it is, just suddenly, there. He cherished
the immediacy of it and wanted us to enjoy each small
part of it. just for itself. I quote the first and last verses
of a poem he published in A Boy's Will (p. 21 I which
he called "A Prayer in Spring" ( it follows, by the way,
"'To the Thawing Wind" which celebrates the violence of
nature I :

Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers today:
And give us not to think so far away
As the uncertain harvest; keep us here
All simply in the springing of the year.

For this is love and nothing else is love.
The which it is reserved for God above
To sanctify to what far ends He will.
But which it only needs that we fulfill.

Now, let's see if we can make a quick, if rather wrench-
ing, transition, from Frost's poetry to another kind of
celebration of spring by students at Agnes Scott. For
several years, near the end of the winter (juarter I maybe
to lessen the winter's doldrums'? I the students have
held a formal dance known as '"Spring Fling." This was
first held on campus, but for the last few years it has
been held at an Atlanta hotel for some strange reason,
this is much more glamorous. As part of the promotion
of Spring Fling this year ( i.e.. buy a ticket, quickly,
lor )ou and date I. two students read, in Convocation,
a bit of free \ erse composed by Marilyn Little "65. Diane
Pulignano '65. and Nancy Yontz '65. I only wish that
I could make the printed word do what their presenta-
tion did anyway, through the words alumnae can
catch a feeling of the delightful human beings whd are
Agnes Scott students today:

Happiness is March 2.

Happiness is a date.

Happiness is four dollars and a car.

Happiness is your roommate's dress.

Happiness is finding someone you like in the D.O.

Happiness is late permission.

Happiness is red. white, and yellow flowers but no

green flowers.
Happiness is seeing all the seniors with dates.
Happiness is seeing yourself with a date.
Happiness is seeing faculty members' faces when they

see the Del Vikings.
Happiness is dancing at the Biltmore instead of in

Rebekah Reception Room.
Happiness is a root beer.
Happiness is being cut in on.
Happiness is English Leather in the air.
Happiness is one thing to one person, another thing

to another person, and Spring Fling to all of us!

Spring to me as Director of Alumnae Affairs means
Alumnae Week End. Hope to see many of you then !

TURN POSTAGE GUARANTEED B\] ALUMNAE QUARTERLY. AGNES SCOTT COLLEGE. DECATUR. GEORGLA

6

jJSS

_ MtM4U .

IINDEUVERABL^ SECOND-CLASS MATTER

Moved Left no address G Unknown

No such number D Refused

No such street D Unclaimed
MOVED TO THE FOLLOWING NEW ADDR|

(Street and uumber) -3B

' (PosUdfflceandMM)

"POD Form 3579 (State) /le 26336-7 opo

Aug. 1U60

fl' f

President Alston has just introduced poet Robert Frost who spoke always to literally packed audiences

in Gaines Chapel.

H E

SUMMER 196 3

I I

ALUMNAE QUARTERLY

Marcel Proust
Beyond Disillusion

See p. 10

THE

^^^ijL SUMMER 1963 Vo
vVl/l ALUMNAE QUAR

Vol. 41, No. 4
TERLY

Ann Worthy Johnson '38, Editor
Dorothy Weakley '56, Managing Editor

FRONT COVER

FRONTISPIECE :

(Opposite page)

CONTENTS

4 Miracles "63
John G. Johnson

7 Turnabout

Sarah Frances McDonald

10 Translation
Chloe Steel

13 50th Reunion

Class News

Hendrica Baart Schepman

27 Worthy Notes

Georgia Governor Carl Sanders congratulates two "granddaughters" at the
74th commencement. Sarah Gumming (left) is the daughter of Shannon Pres-
ton '30: and Nancy Rose is the daughter of Anne Glaiborne Thompson "38.
Governor Sanders was speaker at the commencement exercises on June 10.

Winship Hall is almost read)- for occupancy the last in a series of photo-
graphs showing the progress of the new dormitory.

The Agnes Scott Alumnae Quarterly is published four times a year (November,
February, April and July) by the Alumnae Association of Agnes Scott College
at Decatur, Georgia. Yearly subscription, $2.00. Single copy 50 cents. Entered
as second-class matter at the Post Office of Decatur, Georgia, under Act of
August 24, 1912. MEMBER OF AMERICAN ALUMNI COUNCIL

FINIS

SUMMER, 1963

Nestling easily among other

campus buildings, the new dormitory

is ready for its first occupants.

This is the George Winship Hall, named

in honor of the late chairman of the

Board of Trustees.

Editor's Note

The American Alumni Council is the national organization
for professional alumni workers, and through its district and
national conferences we can keep abreast of the best pro-
grams and procedures in alumni work in the United States
and Canada. The 1963 Southeastern District meeting was held
in Atlanta in January, and Agnes Scott was one of the
co-hosts. Alumni volunteers were invited to attend and par-
ticipate in these workshop meetings (see p. 7 ff). This article
is the address given to the conference by Jack Johnson,
Executive Director of the Council.

MOST OF US THINK that all the miracles
recorded in man's history took place be-
lore Fontius Pilate presided over the most infamous
trial of all time. This is 1963, after all, and where
does one find a modem Lazarus, a burning bush,
a flaming mountain, or a stone rolled from the face
of a toinb?

Our problem, my friends, is that we are using
the wrong eyepieces to search for miracles. If they
are not 3-D on a wide screen with casts of thou-
sands, we just don't sense them. But all around us
there are miracles in many sizes which don't occur
to us because of our haste and sophistication.

Another obstacle to miracle recognition is our
hesitancy to regard highly miracles which are man-
made. Man-made miracles are all the more mar-
velous because they are performed by men in times
and circumstances which tend to make human
fallibility stand out in bold relief.

Always, during the past 175 years, the constant
miracle has been the very existence of this great
nation of ours. The miracle, it seems to me, is
distilled in the forces which somehow manage to
hold the nation together. Almost as tliough they
are responding to a physical law, the forces which
are tending always to rend us are overcome, if ever
so slightly, by the counteracting strengths of the
greatest nation in the history of the world.

Our racial and religious differences, beset as
they are with heartache and trial, will ultimately
be ovei-powered by love of freedom and growing

THE AGNES SCOH

racles y

By JOHN G. JOHNSON

63

regard for the dignity of the individual. Our polit-
ical and economic differences are counteracted by
concern for the ideology which at this moment
seems best suited to free men's minds for pursuit
and recognition of truth. Our geographic differ-
ences are overcome by the forces which make the
parts, inherently weak when standing alone, inter-
dependent with balanced strength when taken as a
whole. These positive and precious fibers which
bind us together seem at times to be drawn pre-
cariously close to the breaking point. But they have
prevailed and that fact is miracle enough for the
people of this nation to cherish, nurture, and
protect.

Within the framework of our nation, there are
the institutions which give it life the church, the
home, the various governments, the educational
community. It is abundantly clear that these are
interdependent, each drawing breath from the
other and perhaps unable to survive if any of the
others perish. Among tliese institutions, the little
islands of freedom which are our colleges and
universities play a fundamental role. Teaching and
adding to the world's store of knowledge through
research have provided encouraging evidence that
our educational system is gradually freeing men's
minds to inquire more fully into the world, its
people and its environment. Our freedom is yet
imperfect but we move tenaciously toward the goal.
That some men's minds are indeed free is a miracle
formed partly by our educational endeavor.

ALUMNAE QUARTERLY / SUMMER 1963

Aiid where else in the world can one find a
system of private and public assisted institutions
which, together, are striving mightily to bring the
nation's youth to its full potential? Nowhere!
What upstarts we are to reject the old world con-
cept of an educated elite.

On the cutting edge of our college and university
families we find the volunteer alumnus. Too often
we malign the members who don't voluntarily sup-
port alma mater, but consider this several million
alumni do support their alma mater demonstrably.
No other culture in the history of the world has
dared think of such a relationship between insti-
tutions of higher learning and former students.
Here is a miracle endowed with great power to
provide ideas, intei-pretation, students and volun-
tary gifts to advance these marvelous man-con-
ceived institutions for service to present and future
generations.

And then, there is the miracle called you, the
professional alumni worker. Your daily challenges
may try you. Chances are, at least some of the
following will greet you every day: Your secretary'
will be off with a villus. There will be a memo from
your president expressing displeasure with an in-
crease in your operating budget. A member of the
faculty will call to say how unhappy he is about
the treatment of his article in the recent issue of
the alumni magazine. An important alumnus will
have written to say that he's withdrawing support
because he's offended by some foolish ideas being

MIRACLE '63 Continued

proposed by an economics professor. One of your
club presidents will be raising the very devil be-
cause the basketball team is losing or his football
tickets were way down on the 40-yard line. The
final touch may be a petition presented by your
staff asking for longer coffee breaks.

Why, oh why, do you do it? You could earn
more money on another job. There's most certainly
a more peaceful profession somewhere. Hardly any
of you were trained for your job. Who even under-
stands what your job is?

A third dimension

Perhaps you do it because you care. And, hap-
pily, some other experiences compensate for your
daily tasks. A knowledgeable alummis will write
to say he's delighted to learn of the educational
progress in the sciences. An assistant professor
from the English department will drop by to com-
mend you for the improved quality of writing
in the alumni publication. You'll get a phone call
telling you that a strong alumnus will accept the
chairmanship of your capital campaign in Dallas,
or Cleveland, or Richmond. And your record clerk
will find three long-lost members of the family.
The miracle is that no matter how much you err,
you can't make enough mistakes to drive all your
friends away.

Among you, there are those who do more than
merely keep records. At least some are caught up
in the excitement of gathering a small history of
an educated adult who has a unique relationship
with your institution. For you, no longer is the
3 X .5 card or the computer tape or punched card
a flat, two dimensional thing. Rather, it has a third
dimension: the faint trace of a man.

In the alumni programs that matter, perception
has moved your concern beyond name tags, menus,
head table arrangements, travel plans and mailing
lists. There has emerged a spirit which will pene-
trate to the core of the alumni program the
meaningful involvement of alumni in the main
current of the university's objectives. From this

will grow increased understanding of the institu-
tion's educational mission.

Designers of editorial miracles bring forth pub-
lications which reflect the dignity, restraint, and
love of people that conveys the essence of alma
mater and the alumni program. In their hands,
the written word keystone of communication with
scattered alunuii reaches its fullest potential with
sensitivity to the reader.

As directors of annual giving and development
officers, you are finding ways to provide oppor-
tunities for sen'ice through considered giving.
Contrast this with tlie attitude which motivates
some to "get more from our alumni and friends."
In the positive atmosphere for giving created by
so many of you, a gift to the aimual fund becomes
a heart warming investment rather than a reply
to a dun; a bequest becomes a thoughtful gift to
provide educational service rather than a token
to satisfy the seeker of the gift; a library or edu-
cational building becomes an uplifting experience
for the donors rather than just a new thing for the
university. In such a climate, established by you
and the allies around you on all sides, total alumni
support will surely rise from $200 million each
year to $.500 million by 1970.

Interacting network

We have, then, a regenerative interacting net-
work of miracles. First, and foremost, there is the
miracle of this nation, with its separate parts mag-
netically attracted to each other by our democratic
ideology. There is the miracle of the institutions
which give substance to the nation, notably for us
the varied and marvelous educational institutions,
striving mightily to free men's minds. Miraculously,
there are the volunteers several million of them
who don't have to, but do.

And there is die miracle called you. Perhaps
you've never thought of yourself as a doer of
miracles. You're one little human being among
185 million in the United States and among three
billion in this world of ours.

There's a miracle here because among those
myriad numbers, you make a difference.

THE AGNES SCOTT

The President of the Alumnae Association
reported to the Board of Trustees on what
the College does for alumnae instead of
vice versa.

Editor's Note

Since Sarah Frances McDonald received
her law degree, with highest honors, in
1951 she has been one of Decatur, Geor-
gia's leading attorneys we hear that male
attorneys sometimes shudder when they
know that they must face her in court. She
has received many honors for participation
in community affairs. As president of the
Alumnae Association she is leading the
way toward better communication within
the Agnes Scott family.

TURNABOUT

By SARAH FRANCES McDONALD '36

THE Executive Board of the
Agnes Scott Alumnae Associa-
tion has directed its attention
to a matter which has been of vital
concern to the Board and to alumnae
for some time, that is, the lack of
communication between alumnae and
the other groups composing the col-
lege community. I wish to report to
you that much progress has been
made in bridging this gap during the
year 1962-1963. I will outline briefly
a few achievements to support this
statement.

A perennial criticism of the col-
lege by alumnae has been that the
college has no interest in her alumnae
except to ask for financial support.
The following significant innovations
should do much to answer this com-
plaint. These are some of the specific
things the college is doing for alum-
nae:

1. On the day of the Annual Meet-
ing of the Alumnae Association in
1962, those attending were offered a
program of faculty lectures, a choice
of six in the morning and the same
number in the afternoon, ranging
from Existentialism to The Effects of
Radiation in Genetics. From the en-
thusiastic response of over 400 alum-
nae who attended these sessions, it
was apparent that we received the in-
tellectual stimulation for which such
a need had been voiced. Most gener-
ously the faculty presented another
similar series of lectures at our recent
Annual Meeting on April 27, 1963,
when more than 500 alumnae regis-
tered for them. The faculty lectures
were such a resounding success that
they proved to the administration a
point which the Alumnae Association
had presented that there was a de-
sire for continuing education and that

the college had at least some degree
of obligation to supply it.

2. In the Fall of 1962. for the first
time in historv a pilot project in con-
tinuing education for alumnae and
their husbands was presented on five
consecutive Tuesday evenings. A
choice of two courses was offered.
"The Nature of the Self'' and "Latin
America Today." The attendance was
excellent and the interest so keen that
plans are to make the program per-
manent.

In addition to the intellectual stimu-
lation derived by alumnae from the
faculty lectures and continuing edu-
cation courses, it is our sincere belief
that another fine purpose was served
thereby to bring alumnae and fac-
ulty into a closer relationship.

3. On Founder's Day in February
alumnae in the Atlanta area were in-

(continued)

ALUMNAE QUARTERLY / SUMMER 1963

.i?

"m *!* ^4-' **i- *i- ^-' '

fURNABOUT

(Continued)

ited to attend chapel where an inter-
sting and delightful address was
iven by Dr. Ellen Douglass Leyburn.
"ollowing this, again our lines of
oinmunication were enlarged, this
nie between alumnae and students,
ive seniors who were doing Inde-
lendent Study presented a panel dis-
ussion centered around their own
ields of work. It was an exciting
)rivilege to hear and see the product
)f today's brand of Agnes Scott edu-
ation. These students were highly
ntelligent, most charming, and de-
ightfully articulate.

In this same area of student, alum-
lae, faculty contacts, we were pleased
o be invited to greet the student body
It Opening Convocation ; to attend as
i Board a panel discussion in chapel
Detween faculty and students on the
ntellectual atmosphere at Agnes
Scott; and to participate in one of the
student chapel programs during
Honor Emphasis Week.

Alunuiae House

4. The college answered the call of
many alumnae clubs over the coun-
try, and twelve members of the fac-
ulty and administration traveled to
various states to bring the alumnae
addresses and information on Foun-
Ider's Day,

.5, The next contribution of the
college to alumnae work which I will
mention is in the field of tangibles,
specifically, financing, I am sure that
most of you are aware that the Asso-
ciation is now supported by the col-
lege because all contributions of
alumnae are made to the college and
not to the Association, The operation
of the Alumnae House is the only ex-
ception. We still run the house inde-
pendently. The Self-Study report
pointed up the fact that this, too.
should be changed. A proposal is
being made to the college to take over
the fiscal operation of the Alumnae
House through the college Treasurer,
and the maintenance of the House by
the college Business Manager, just as
all other buildings owned by the col-
lege are maintained. The House is

operated for the college guests, pri-
marily parents and friends of stu-
dents, official college guests, such as
visiting professors and prospective
faculty members, plus a few alumnae.
The college owns the House, built in
1922, and the Alumnae Association
owns the furnishings. The Associa-
tion is currently having the furniture
appraised so that we may give this,
plus current funds, to the college to
become a part of the college's perma-
nent assets. In our opinion this plan,
if approved, will make for more sen-
sible, coordinated operation.

Publications

6. For three years the college has
supplied funds for publication of the
alumnae magazine which have been
adequate to send the magazine to all
alumnae. The magazine has won na-
tional awards for excellence: its arti-
cles provide another kind of intellec-
tual stimulation for alumnae: and its
class news notes keep alumnae in
touch with each other.

7. We take this opportunity to
thank the college for the recent news-
letter mailed to alumnae. We recom-
mend more frequent publication of
such newsletters since thev are much
less expensive to publish than the
magazine and serve an entirely dif-
ferent purpose. They keep the alum-
nae informed as to what is ha]jpening
at Agnes Scott, and I think you will
agree that only informed alumnae are
interested alumnae.

Volunteer Participation

Turning now to other activities. I
want to speak briefly about the South-
eastern District meeting of the Ameri-
can Alumni Council which was held
in Atlanta in January, 1963. Until
this year these meetings were work-
shops solely for the professional staffs
of alumni and alumnae associations.
This year volunteer alumni and alum-
nae leaders were invited to attend and
to participate. Dr. Alston was the
speaker at the opening general ses-
sion, and his outstanding address set
the atmosphere for the entire meeting.
His discussion of the responsibility of
leadership in our world today by the
graduates of our institutions of higher

education and his description of this
group as the "Aristocracy of Compe-
tency" was the keynote spark for all
subsequent sessions. We, from Agnes
Scott, were tremendously proud to
claim him as "ours,"

I learned that this conference is a
fine arena for the exchange of practi-
cal ideas for fund raising and annual
giving; of new ways for alumnae to
serve their colleges and vice versa;
for learning better organizational and
program techniques: for improving
alumnae magazines and other publi-
cations, I feel that the college receives
full value for sending representatives
to these meetings. The President and
three other members of the Executive
Board of the Agnes Scott Alumnae
Association served on panels during
the conference. Our able and charm-
ing Director, Ann Worthy Johnson,
was hostess of the 1963 conference,
with W. Roane Beard of Georgia
Tech, and she sened on a fund-
raising panel. Dorothy Weakley. As-
sistant Director, was chairman of a
pre-conference workshop on alumni
magazine publishing, and reports were
that this was a great success,

Agnes Scott Fund

The Alumnae Association Self-
Study, made in conjunction with that
of the college, is complete, and the
recommendations are being consid-
ered by the Executive Board, Those
which are found desirable will be im-
plemented where possible.

The Alumnae Division of the Agnes
Scott Fund is being handled by a
Class Agents system. Their letters are
follow-ups to brochures mailed from
the Alumnae Office. This year the em-
phasis has been to secure fmids to
increase faculty salaries. As of May 1,
1963, 500 alumnae have made annual
gifts totaling $9,056.94. This is in ad-
dition to campaign pledge payments.

There have been a number of staff
changes, including a new House Man-
ager. In comparison with Randolph
Macon, for example, the office con-
tinues to be under-staffed. For the fu-
ture some study should be given to
this area. Our versatile Director, Ann
Worthy Johnson, reports that we could
not operate the alumnae office with-
out the help of good student aid.

rah Frances McDonald '36 presiding at annual meeting of Alumnae Association,

TRANSLATION

By DR. CHLOE STEEL, associate professor of French

ONE OF THE MOST significant literary
productions of the 20th century is the se-
ries of seven novels which forms one work entitled
A la Recherche du temps perdu by the French
author Marcel Proust. The English translator Scott
Moncrief renders the title Remembrance of Things
Past. If Proust himself approved tliis English ver-
sion of his title as well he may have done in point
of time he did so, I am sure, with mingled feel-
ings. He would have been pleased by the choice of
a Shakespearean phrase to name his work, for it
was in the exalted company to which Shakespeare
belongs that Proust yearned to take his place. At
the same time he would have been aware of the
loss of meaning which the transfer from one lan-
guage to anotlier thus occasioned, and with his keen
appreciation for the value of names he would have
regretted tlie limited significance of the Shake-
spearean phrase when compared to the richness of
the French expression. While the English title
rightly emphasizes the importance of memory in
tlie work, the meaning of the French title, which
literally translated is In Search of Lost Time, goes,
as does the work itself, far beyond a session of
sweet silent thought in which the author summons
up remembrance of things past.

The novel of Proust is, as its French title indi-
cates, the story of a search. The casual reader may
lose sight of this fact, for the narrator himself
seems to forget it as he follows his hero through
scenes of provincial, seashore, and Parisian life,
lingers long with him in conversation and obser-
vation in fashionable drawing rooms, stops to dis-
cuss military campaigns, to expound art criticism,
to describe hawthorns in bloom, and to point up
with extraordinary psychological perception his
fellow man's weaknesses. But the careful reader
soon realizes that however far afield his meander-
ings may appear to go, the narrator never loses
sight of his goal; he is never unconscious of the

quest on which his protagonist has embarked.

What is the protagonist seeking? First of all he
is looking for a subject on which to write, for he
seems to have known from the beginning that he
wants to be a writer. As a child he hopes that his
father, in whose power he has great confidence,
can arrange it, but even in his more realistic mo-
ments of childhood and certainly as he grows to
manhood, he realizes that it is something he will
liave to do for himself. Occasionally he finds the
force to follow through an impression or an expe-
rience, to put it in words; more often he yields
to his lack of will power and wastes his time,
accomplishing notliing. His search is also one for
truth, for reality, for the absolute, for the eternal
as opposed to the ephemeral. As a child he believes
that this reality has a concrete form, is something
exterieur. He thinks that if he can meet a great
writer, if he can watch a great actress perform,
he will make long strides in the conquest of truth,
for he will understand the reality of literary genius,
he will comprehend the essence of dramatic art.
He meets the writer, he sees the actress perform,
and he is disillusioned to find them not at all as
he had imagined but instead quite like other per-
sons he has known. And he is no wiser than he was
before as to what constitutes literary genius and
dramatic art. His search continues; his ideas
change. Gradually he realizes that truth is frag-
mentary, that revelations are partial only; and bit
by bit he stores in his heart the fragments that are
revealed to him. At times he has, as one critic puts
it in Wordsworth's phrase, "intimations of immor-
tality" when a sensation in the present identical
with a sensation in the past transports him, as it
were, out of the bounds of time and space into
bygone years, which relive momentarily with sin-
gular vividness for him. These moments, however,
are rare and with his usual procrastination the
protagonist does not profit from them. Years pass.

10

THE AGNES SCOTT

One illusion after another is surrendered as the
protagonist fails to find in social life, in love, in
friendship the truth for which he is searching.
Finally even literature, his great passion, seems
meaningless to him when he considers it in its
realistic form, in those works which try to give a
photographic representation of this world as we
know it. This search on which the protagonist is
embarked is at the same time, of course, a search
for self, for something which will give meaning to
his life, for something which will allow him to
realize his own particular talents. He knows tliat
he has wasted his time; he understands his faults
and his own weakness in giving in to them. He
finds the world empty, his own life pointless.

A calling

It is when his despair is blackest that his moment
of truth comes, for suddenly his quest is ended:
he finds the subject of the book which he wants to
write. Experiencing in swift succession a series of
privileged moments when his past comes alive with
unusual force, he understands tliat the subject on

1 which he must write is his own past with all the
truth which he has discovered consciously and un-

- consciously. He realizes that his task is not to

; invent a story but to translate, in terms which all
can understand, his vision of reality. When this

i revelation comes, he weighs the task before him,
understanding that if he is to complete the work
which the illuminated moments have made pos-
sible, he will have to sacrifice everything to that end.
And courageously he sets himself to the task. "All
my life," he remarks, "could be summed up in the
expression a Calling," for he has the strong convic-
tion that he has been called in the religious sense
of the word to create a literary work of art. So
his life, which until that moment had been lost
or wasted, finds at last its raison d'etre, its meaning,
and the protagonist becomes the narrator who
writes the novel, seeking through the magic of
language to translate reality as he has seen it.

But the story cannot be left there, for it is much
more than a story. Wliile it is a mistake to look
for the details of the author's biography in Remem-
brance of Things Past, which is a work of fiction.

it is impossible not to see in the search upon which
the protagonist of the novel embarked the essence
of Marcel Proust's own search.

His life, like that of the hero of his novel, had
indeed been wasted. Spoiled by his parents because
of his physical weakness, pampered by friends
who found in him a fascinating conversationalist
and an incomparable mimic, he had frequented
social gatherings in fashionable drawing rooms and
restaurants, dispensing flattery and tips with equal
lavishness. He had dabbled in this and that trying
unsuccessfully to lead the kind of life his parents
wanted him to lead. With plenty of money to satisfy
his whims he had frittered his time away, indulging
his fancies and his vices. By the time he was
thirty-seven years old one might have thought his
life was nearly spent. He had already been in a
sanatorium for nervous disorders. Illness on occa-
sion kept him confined for a period of months. In
fact the protagonist of the novel is only a weak
replica of the author as far as a wasted life is
concerned.

Early literary contributions

Like the hero of his novel, Proust also had a
passionate interest in literature. As a youth he had
formed with his friends a literary magazine. Later
he had contributed articles to newspapers and re-
views. In his early twenties he had published a vol-
ume of short stories and sketches, a deluxe edition
with illustrations by a popular artist and an intro-
duction by the leading literaiy figure of the period,
Anatole France. Later in an effort to do something
worthwhile he liad translated into French two of
John Ruskin's works The Bible of Ajjiiens and
Sesame and Lilies. While it is easy today to see
in all that he had produced the prelude to great-
ness, this fact was by no means evident to his con-
temporaries. With what he had published Proust
had succeeded in achieving only amateur standing.
His reputation, such as it was, was that of a writer
who lover over-refinement in language. He was
regarded in literary circles as something of a dilet-
tante and not taken veiy seriously.

And like his hero or even more than his hero.
Marcel Proust needed to find himself, to make use

ALUMNAE QUARTERLY / SUMMER 1963

11

TRANSLATION

(continued)

of his own particular gifts, to prove his worth.
His writings tell us, though only indirectly, some-
thing of the suffering which life liad brought him.
He must have been deeply hurt by the realization
that he was different from his younger brother, that
he could not hope like him to lead a normal life,
pursue an honorable career. There was anguish for
him too in his partial Jewish heritage, for it made
him different from his friends, at least some of
them, at a time when such a difference was sharply
pointed up by die famous Dreyfus case. And his
feelings about this heritage were furtlier com-
plicated by the fact tliat it was through his mother,
to whom he had been veiy close, that it came to
him. There was deep and tormented remorse for
the heartache he had caused his parents, respected
bourgeois of high principles, who had had not only
to surrender dieir ambitions for their son but even
to leani to live with that son's weakness and vice.
Yes, Marcel Proust desperately needed to prove
himself, for at the age of thirty-seven he seemed a
misfit, one of life's failures.

Through all his wasted years, however. Marcel
Proust had cherished a dream. He wanted to create
a work of art. He longed to take his place among
the masters, to join the giants of literary tradition
in the field of the novel Stendhal, Balzac, and
Flaubert. Nor did he stop with dreaming; he
worked constantly toward that end. Notebooks,
which have been acquired recently by the French
National Library, attest to the fact that he kept on
writing, working without finding the subject or the
plan which would enable him to produce a work
of value. His standards were high. Like his hero
he too was seeking the absolute and he was willing
to spend himself in the pursuit of it. During these
barren years he continued to study the work of the
great novelists of the past, for with that humility
which so becomes genius he believed that they
could teach him much about his art.

Like his hero, Proust must have had a moment
of revelation, for the time came, probably in his
thirty-eighth year, when he found the subject, or in

his case, I think, the plan of the work which he
wanted to write. With the clarity which marked his
perceptions in general he understood diat to realize
his dream he would have to summon to his aid
the very characteristics in which he had been sin-
gularly lacking will power and discipline. The
spirit in which he makes the hero of his novel
contemplate his task must certainly have been his
own. In Time Regained the narrator recalls his
thoughts about the work which he wanted to write:

How happy would be the man who could write such a
book, I thought, and what labor he would have before him!
for that writer [. . .] would have to prepare his book with
minute care, constantly regrouping his forces as for a mili-
tary offensive, to endure it like a fatigue, to accept it like
a rule, to construct it like a church, to follow it like a diet,
to overcome it like an obstacle, to win it like a friendship,
to nourish it like a child, to create it like a world.

Such was the spirit in which Proust entered upon
his task. And if the man Proust was weak, the
artist was strong. Giving up everything else, he
devoted the rest of his life to the creation of his-
novel, spending all his strength in his effort to
achieve that standard of perfection which had al-
ways been his ideal. He did not live to complete
the work, for the several volumes published after
his deadi had not been finally revised. Enough liad
been done, however, to make of his novel a unique
work of art which recounts with singular force
and courage the spiritual quest of the author.

Potential into performance

Astrologers would undoubtedly say that the stars ^
were in strange conjunction on the night of July
10, 1871, when a first child was born to Dr. and :
Mrs. Adrien Proust in a suburb of Paris, for no
one could deny that this child was endowed with
unusual gifts. But if tlie world has heard the name
of Marcel Proust, and if the world is richer be-
cause he lived, it is not merely that he was born
with extraordinary potential. It is because he had
the determination and the endurance to translate
that potential into performance. It is because he
held on to a dream, pursuing it beyond disillusion,
plodding on in the face of repeated defeat and
failure until he finally won through to a triumphant
victory. Persistence, perseverance this is what it
takes to translate dreams into reality whether it be
in the life of a Marcel Proust or in yours and mine.

12

THE AGNES COTT

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Allie Candler Guy, chairman of the 50th reunion of the class of 1913, plants the two ozoleo bushes given to the college by Grace Anderson Bowers.

m umm

By Lily Joiner Williams '13

ALUMNAE QUARTERLY / SUMMER 1963

WHAT A WONDERFUL reunion !
Our fiftieth! \ine of the
thirteen now living came
back to the College, and three of the
ex-thirteens joined us. From the time
of our arrivals on Friday, April 26.
until the departures on Mondav. the
29th, there was a round of delightful
affairs. Each of the girls who live
near the College entertained: Allie
Candler Guy with a supper at an At-
lanta country club: Janie McGaughey
and '"Pope"' (Emma Pope Moss
Dieckmann I with suppers in their
homes: and Grace Anderson Bowers
(Continued on 14)

13

1Q3Z50

50tti umm

(Continued from page 13)

with a tea at her country home. We
had Sunday dinner at Yohannan's in
Lenox Square.

The highlight of the reunion was
the Alumnae Luncheon on Saturday,
when special reCognitio^i was given to
those of 1913.' Aftf.r the cfeticieus
luncheon, we were called ty rfame to
the front of the; din;ing hall near ,liie
speaker's table, where Sai'ah, Frjipces
McDonald '36, preiiyent pi the Alum-
nae Association, gaye li? ^greetings.
She presented each with a beiautiful
gold replica of the Agnes Scott seal
with an engraving of the fiftieth re-
union on the back.

Later in the afternoon President

and Mrs. Alston entertained the class
with a delightful tea in their home.
On Sunday we attended services at
Trinity Presbyterian Church where
Adele Dieckmann '48, "Pope's"
daughter, is organist and choir direc-
tor. In the evening we were in the
Dieckmann home. Mr. Dieckmann
and Adele gave us beautiful music
on the two pianos.

Grace Anderson Bowers presented
the College with two large azaleas,
which were planted by the front steps
of the Alumnae House. The class
shared in the planting ceremony.
Some of us attended the drama pres-
entation, '"The Gardener's Dog," by
the Blackfriars on Saturday evening
and the special lectures for alumnae
given by faculty members Saturday
morning and afternoon.

As we came to this notable fif-
tieth anniversary occasion, the years
seemed to drop into the background,
and we were again in the college halls
among faculty and friends of our
days there. Our gratitude continues
for the influence the College has had
upon our lives.

The following members were pres-
ent: Allie Candler Guy, Margaret
Roberts Graham, Frances Dukes
Wynne, Grace Anderson Bowers,
Emma Pope Moss Dieckmann, Kate
Clark, Janie McGaughey, Mary Enzor
Bynum, Elizabeth Joiner Williams,
Rebie Hanvell Hill, Elizabeth Dun-
woody Hall, and Ruth Brown Moore.
Those who could not come were Flor-
ence Smith Sims, Olivia Bogacki Hill,
Helen Smith Taylor, and Lavalette
Sloan Tucker.

The class of 1913 receive gold medallions in honor of their fifty years as alumnae from Sarah Frances McDonald '36, president of the Alumnae Association.

14

THE AGNES SCOTT

ALl

ALUMNAE QUARTERLY

SOUTH AMERICA:
TWO WORLDS

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FRONT COVER

FRONTISPIECE :

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FALL 19 63 Vol. 42, No

ALUMNAE QUARTERL

Aim Worthy Johnson '38, Editor
Dorothy Weakley '56, Managing Editor

CONTENTS

4 One Continent Two Worlds
John Tumblin

9 The New Winship Hall

13 Class News

Hendrica Baart Schepman

23 Worthy Notes

The cover photograph was made by Dr. John Tumblin. He was born and reari
in Brazil where his parents were missionaries, and he taught in Brazil befoi
joining the Agnes Scott faculty in January, 1%1. For Mr. Tumblin this tree
particularly meaningful, because its silhouette corresponds to the shape
Brazil the country in which it grows.

Frontispiece: Sophomores Susie Gebhardt (left) and Anne Rogers were caug'
by Ken Patterson's camera as they met to begin another academic year.

The Agnes Scott Alumnae Quarterly is published four times a year (November,
February, April and July) by the Alumnae Association of Agnes Scott College
at Decatur, Georgia. Yearly subscription, $2.00. Single copy 50 cents. Entered
as second-class matter at the Post Office of Decatur, Georgia, under Act of
August 24, 1912. MEMBER OF AMERICAN ALUMNI COUNCIL

HAPPINESS

FALL 1963

A long summer vacation, a
loaded car. September 16,
reunion of friends and
the camera captures "the
spontaneous overflow of
powerful emotion."

Gmtmenlr-Tv

Dr. John Tumblin, Associate Professor of Sociology
writes about the past and present of South America.

A Brazilian boy demonstrates his own version of the wheelbarrow and reflects the tension between the creative spirit and primitive resources

trw "T" Them a citizen of any of the
i \/\/ republics to the south of us
' visits the United States he is
jlikely to be questioned frequently con-
Icerning The South American View-
point on nearly any issue. It will be
taken for granted that he speaks Span-
ish fluently. And men will keep a
weather eye on him when their wives
and daughters are nearbv. for everv-
one "knows" that every Latin is Don
Juan incarnate.

Most of us think of South America
as if it were a single, homogeneous
unit. Because we note more similari-
ties between a Brazilian and a Colom-
bian than we recognize between our-
selves and either one. we place them
in a single category and attach the
obvious label. It is an understandable
mistake, perhaps, but in making it we
forget that although there mav be onlv
one continent, there are at least two
worlds to the south of us. The boun-
dary between these worlds is the line
of demarcation between Brazil and
the nations which surround it. That
line divides the continent into ap-
proximately equal amounts of land
area, roughly equal numbers of peo-
ple (seventy millions on each side,
give or take a few hundred thousand) ,

two languages which are related but
distinct, and socio-cultural character-
istics which set Brazil quite apart from
the remainder of South America.

There are four major factors which
contributed to the growth of the two
traditions in South America. The
basic factor, of course, was the early
emergence on the Iberian peninsula
of two distinct cultures. The second
was the fact that Spain and Portugal
operated quite differentlv in their
colonial endeavors. In the third place,
relations between colonists and native
peoples, and later the \egroes who
were brought as slaves, were quite dif-
ferent in Brazil from those in Spanish
America. Finally. Brazil and the
Spanish-speaking countries emerged
into nationhood through independ-
ence movements which were distinct.

As an aid in getting a perspective
of the development of these cultures,
one can conceive of time as a cvlinder
extending down into the past from a
platform on which we presently stand.
Let us then imagine that we can cross-
section this cvlinder wherever we like
and examine what occurred in earlv
culture at four levels of the past: 1100
B.C.. 1100 A.D.. 1.500 A.D.. and
1800 A.D.

1100 B.C. Primitives All

In 1100 B.C. Homer was writing
the Iliad. Egvpt was on the decline.
Samuel would soon appoint Saul to
rule over the Israelites, the Assyrian
kingdom was vigorous, but the Iberian
Peninsula was sparselv inhabited bv
roving bands of rather primitive peo-
ples from whom the jieninsula gets its
name. It presented a broad, inviting
gateway between Europe and the
Mediterranean, however, and soon the
burgeoning movement in the Medi-
terranean was to subject it to many
invasions bv people who wanted to
grow foodstuffs on its soil, extract
gold, silver and copper from its mines,
and sail from its harbors. By the be-
ginning of the Christian Era. it had
been possessed, in parts, b . Phoenici-
ans. Greeks. Cathagenians. Celts, and
was to continue in Roman hands for
the balance of seven hundred years.
Later Goths, then Moors, and with
the latter many Jews, were to come.
All of these, as people always do.

mixed, and married, and left their
many-charactered genes in a popula-
tion in which [here was yet to develop
a consciousness of national identity.
\^Tiat was the picture in South
America at 1100 B.C.? Precise evi-
dence is still scarce, though we will be
learning much more through archaeo-
logical explorations now under wav.
But we can safely say that in South
America there were cultures at this
time which were no more primitive
than some we would have found con-
currently in Iberia and Northern Eu-
rope. Man had lived throughout South
America for a long time; he had
reached Patagonia as early as eight to
nine thousand years before Christ. Bv
1100 B.C. the continent was inhabited
by hundreds of tribes with mutually
unintelligible languages. On the West
Coast corn-growing, pottery and weav-
ing were being practiced, and a num-
ber of tribes already were settled
around permanent villages.

1100 A.D. Iberia Divided

\^Tien we slice our cylinder of time
two thousand years later at the level
(if eleven centuries after Christ, we
see that the Crusaders were concerned
with capturing Jerusalem. King Har-
old had recently won the Battle of
Hastings. France was united under a
kingdom, and on the Iberian Penin-
sula little Portugal was emerging as a
national state under the leadership of
Aflonso Henriques. King Affonso I
began to expand what was initially a
feudal state, and within two hundred
years more Portugal became a sover-
eign power, allied with England, and
living in the midst of a true Renais-
sance. Its ports had served as way-
stations for the ships of the Crusaders,
and it was outstripping England in its
kno'.vledge of ships and the sea. lender
the aggressive leadership of Henry the
Navigator Portugal soon began a dar-
ing program of research and experi-
mentation. Two experiments were of
special significance. The first was a
foray into overseas mercantilism in
West Africa, where the government
accumulated wealth by selling licenses
to trade in gold, ivory and. later,
slaves to individuals and corpora-
tions. The second was a program of
(Continued on next page)

ALUMNAE QUARTERLY / FALL 1963

ONE CONTINENT

(Continued)

long-term settlement and agricultural
exploitation in the Canary and Ma-
deira Islands. These two techniques
for exploiting resources overseas, in
both of which Portugal pioneered,
were to become bases of the mod-
ern colonial expansion from Western
Europe.

Meanwhile, what was happening in
Spain in 1100' A.D.? Whereas Portu-
gal united as a national state soon
after 1100. Spain continued in a con-
dition of political turmoil and disunity
for another two hundred years. In
fact, not until the middle of the Fif-
teenth Century when the two great
states of Aragon and Castile became
one through the marriage of Isabella
and Ferdinand was Spain ready for
consolidation and the beginning of an
era of progress and expansion. Until
then there were several Spains inde-
pendent and hostile kingdoms.

In South America at this time there
was as much diversity as Europe had
seen two thousand years before.
Wliereas the Onas and Yahgans ex-
emplified tribes as primitive as we
can find in the history of man, on
the West Coast the great civilizations
of Tiahuanaco, Nazca, and Chimu
were paving the way for the highh'
developed Inca Empire.

1500 A.D. Settlement
vs. Conquest

As we again slice our pillar of time,
in this instance at 1500 A.D.. we find
that Martin Luther was reacting to
Roman authority, the Ottoman Turks
had been expelled from Poland, the
Mongolians were encountering the in-
fluences of Europe, and in the Ameri-
cas the Aztecs and the Incas had
reached the high point of their civi-
lizations. This was the golden age of
Portugal, which had a head start, and
the very beginning of Spain's days
of glory.

Portugal's colonial enterprise was
two-pronged. Under close government
control, a trading venture was under
way in the East, off the coasts of India
and China. As the first Europeans to
establish direct, large-scale and pro-
longed contact with the East, they

The Senate and House buildings in the ultra-modern city of Brasilia.

had had to pioneer not only in the
skills of ocean transportation but also
in such things as techniques of trade,
political administration, and estab-
lishing financial underpinnings for
overseas commerce. Thev built a com-
mercial empire based on trade in the
East, and in this was their golden
hope for the future. The whole enter-
prise depended, however, on the su-
premacy of the Portuguese fleet
security was theirs only until some
rival to their sea power should appear.
Such competition did appear in the
fleets of the Spanish, later the Dutch,
and still later the English. Before long
their Eastern Empire collapsed under
the pressure of vigorous competition.
But while their trading venture went
sour, their settlement program in
Brazil, initially a clearly subordinate
enterprise, succeeded beyond their
wildest expectations and grew steadily
in importance as time passed. ^\ hat
began as small-scale settlements to
trade in brazil-wood with Indians be-
came large-scale coastal settlements
where first sugar, then cotton, and
then coffee were produced for an eager
world market through a plantation
system of agriculture. Thus Brazil
was not actually conquered but was
gradually settled by the Portuguese.
Having had their great adventure,
their now-gone day of glory in the
Orient, thev expected no glamorous

and sudden return in riches. The
Portuguese colonists in Brazil were a
practical and matter-of-fact people
who settled down to make a slow but
steady profit through agriculture.

For Spain in 1,500 the colonial ad-
\ enture in South America had quite a
different character. For them it was-
to be. indeed, a conquest. For the most!
part, the succession of conquests were
organized and financed as profitable
ventures, and the Crown received one-
fifth of the gross profits while seldom
contributing to the original capital
with which each expedition was
financed. As entrepreneurs succeeded,
capital for this purpose increased
with each successive wave of con-
quest, which provided a revolving
fund for subsequent advances. Agents
of the Spanish Crown were sent along,
and in each case the land was claimed
as the property of Spain, based on the
deed of this section of the New World
to the King of Spain by the Pope.

After the work of conquest came
that of colonization and many for-
mer conquerors, their energies ex-
pended and the excitement of battle
gone, settled down to make a living
and populate the land. But the Spanish
colonists, a minority supplemented by
new immigrants from the Peninsula,
generally maintained a separate iden-
tity, considered themselves a rulinjj
class, and for a long time identified

THE AGNES SCOH

Iiemselves not with the land and the
eople among whom they lived but
ith the Europe they had left. The
panish-Americans regarded them-
elves as Spanish lords. In contrast,
le Portuguese colonists in Brazil de-
eloped steadily a sense of belonging
Brazil, and without the aloofness
vhich has produced in most South
American countries a bi-cultural pat-
ern. a sense of being one people
merged.

In time the colonies of both nations
ook on the special characters which
he present republics of Latin ,A.m-
rica still retain. The combination of
he native, the newcomer, and the
nixed-blood populations they pro-
luced. pooled their energies and their
knowledge in solving the problems of
he local scene. Usually, however, a
Spanish minority, supplemented by
new immigrants from the Peninsula,
maintained a separate identity as a
ruling class in the Spanish-speaking
countries.

Tlie Century of Independence:
Evolutionary and Revolutionary

Let us look at Brazil and Portugal
dn 1800 A.D. By this time Portugal
ihad declined to lowly stature in the
world competition for power and pres-
tige. It had ser\ed a tenure as a sub-
ject of Spain from 1580 to 1640. Its
.government, not having kept abreast
of world change, was weak and ill-
organized bv the standards of leading
European nations of the day.

Meanwhile Brazil, the colony, had
grown richer and more important
than the mother country. In the
1700's it had become the world cen-
ter for the mining of diamonds: its
sugar was in great demand: coffee,
beginning in 1727. was much sought
after; still later rubber was to be-
come a valuable commodity in the
world market. Its native-bom politi-
cal leaders were demanding in-
creasingly a voice in ruling their own
internal affairs. The colony had
come of age.

In 1800 Portugal was one of the
few outlets to the sea in the portion
of Europe which was not vet con-
trolled by Napoleon Bonaparte, and
he decided to move into it. Just
ahead of him, in 1808. the entire

Portuguese court boarded ship and
moved out to set up the kingdom
in Brazil. While still officially a
colony Brazil thus bcame in fact the
seat of the Portuguese empire. This
event was to give the colony ex-
perience in centralized administra-
tion and a degree of stability which
later helped to prevent it from
fragmenting, as did the Spanish
colonies, when independence came.
In 1815 Brazil was raised to the
status of co-kingdom with Portugal.
When Napoleon was exiled, there
came a clamor from the Portuguese
back home for the King to return to
Portugal and in 1821 King Joao did
return, leaving his son Pedro in the
co-kingdom of Brazil. Pedro was
liberal, sympathetic with Brazil and
Brazilians, and soon led them in a
bloodless movement of independence
which separated them from Portugal
in 1823. Two years later Portugal
recognized that independence, and
Brazil was officially free, without
long, bloody, hate-building, divisive,
and expensive wars. There was
relatively little economic and social
disturbance either; independence had
been won in the field of diplomacy
rather than on the field of battle.

The Bloody Struggle

The same administrative machin-
ery which had been functioning in
Brazil since 1808 continued after
1822. Brazilians were not driven to
create new and untried political sys-
tems out of the imaginations of
idealists who had only half-digested
the principles of the French Revolu-
tion and the Constitution of the
United States, as so often happened
in the rest of South America. For
many years their government was a
replica of Portugal's highly cen-
tralized: archaic, but tried, seasoned,
matured, and a going concern.

In contrast to Brazil, no single,
gradual movement toward peaceful
independence took place in Spanish-
speaking South America. Each re-
gion, having developed something
of a culture of its own, conducted its
own campaign, and a great deal of
blood was spilled. Toward the end
of the revolutionary period the most

able of their leaders were strongly
im]5ressed with recognition that
theirs was a common effort which
should be carried on by a common
strategy. Bolivar and San Martin
contributed to this, but by the move-
ment was hopelessly fractured. A
series of independence movements,
and a series of qualified successes oc-
curred, as contrasted with the ex-
perience of the U.S. and Brazil. In
this climate began the struggle, which
has lasted on into the present, to
establish permanent governments,
along democratic lines. There have
been failures along the way.

Today: Mid-Twentieth Century

Now. let's take a long leap from
a brief historical re\ iew to a brief
glimpse of the situation today.

How can one characterize the
peoples of the two traditions at the
present time? The careful student
avoids generalizations of this sort.
Only when he keeps in mind a state-
ment like Kluckhohn and Murray's
does he even dare to begin: "Every
man is in certain respects ( a I like
all other men. (bl like some other
men, (c) like no other man."

We have stressed two lines of in-
fluence, akin but different, stretching
down into the past for over two
thousand years and operating to
produce what have become two cul-
ture worlds in South America: the
Portuguese-speaking one of Brazil
and the Spanish-speaking one of the
remainder of South America. Seen
together, they may appear to be a
unit as compared with other portions
of the world. If one looks at them
closely they wall be seen to be quite
different from each other.

To say that there are two worlds
in South America is an under-state-
ment still, if one but looks more
carefully, for there are many worlds
within the two traditions now. One
would never try to characterize them
all in an article of this sort. One
would hardly try it even for Brazil.

Brazil is often referred to by its

citizens as os Brasis the Brazils.

There are at least five of them. There

is the Northeast, the old Brazil of

(Continued on next page)

AlUMNAE QUARTERLY / FALL 1963

ONE CONTINENT

(Continued)

slavery and sugar. Inland it is
a semi-arid land where periodic
droughts send thousands starving to
the coast. On the coast of the North-
east the fertile and well-watered land
is owned by a few scores of families,
rich and conservative, who would
rather have it lie fallow than to let
any of it go to others. 1'his is the
region where a Communist-inspired
movement, the peasant leagues of
Francisco Juliao, threatens to rock
the country with a Castro-like revolt.
A second world is that of Minas
Gerais, mining and cattle-growing
territory and birthplace of the
vigorous ex-president Juscelino Kubit-
schek. builder of Brazilian and pres-
ent federal senator. Minas long has
been a political balance wheel, and
during much of Brazil's historv as a
republic the state has sent a president
to office on alternate elections, or at
least has made known its approval
of the successful candidate. Rio de
Janeiro is a culture world in itself.
Formerly the seat of the federal
government, its citizens are charac-
terized throughout the country as the
urbane, quick-witted, sharp-tongued,
ironical, and sophisticated "cariocas."

The State of Sao Paulo

A fourth subculture in Brazil is
that of the state of Sao Paulo, popu-
lated by relatively recent immigrants
and coffee growers, now the in-
dustrial center of a growing pro-
ductive complex. Dvnamic. purpose-
ful, acquisitive and self-assured
people they are, as indicated by their
self-characterization, when compared
with the rest of the states, as "a
railway engine pulling twenty-one
empty cars." The state has revolted
twice against the federal government.
and still there is occasional talk of
secession. Finally, to know the worlds
of the Brazils one would have to
understand something of the Gauchos
of Rio Grande do Sul and the
southernmost state of Brazil. Out-
doorsmen who have been rapidly
turning to industry, led by a bright

group of young politicians who are
impatient with the democratic process
and the capitalistic system of eco-
nomic organization, they have teamed
up with elements of the political left
in the Northeast to cause concern
both to American investors in Brazil
and to their more conservative fel-
low countrymen.

One wonders about the future of
the whole world and about the place
therein of the two great worlds in
the continent to the South of us.
Those of us who love Brazil not only
wonder; we worry. Since I have
spent a good manv years there, I
would like to conclude this quick,
birds-eye view with some personal
impressions of Brazil today. Such
likable, lovable people they are!
Thev can be characterized bv pride
in the national trait of sensibilidade,
a mixture of sensitivitv and senti-
mentalism which expects that a man
choose first with the heart, and onlv
after that with the head. In Brazil
codes of friendship and personal de-
votions are the bases of every sort of
social intercourse, from relations
with neighbors to politics and eco-
nomics. People are either simpatico or
antipatico, liked or disliked, friends
or enemies. Bondade, fundamental
goodness, is the verv best trait that
one may possess. Problems may be
postponed with upraised palms, a
shrug of the shoulders, a sigh, then
the smiling "leave it as it is, and
we'll see how it turns out." Like
Spanish Americans, thev are likely
to do o que Ihe der na g,ana
whatever comes into the head. Act-
ing on impulse, and in response to
what one feels in his innermost self,
is more laudable than evaluations
and calculations.

The Five Brazils

This does not imply that intel-
ligence and quick wittedness are not
highly valued among Brazilians,
however. Conversation still is an art
to be cultivated, sometimes at the
price of prosperity. The best inter-
preters of the art, their wits counter-
pointing and blending and opposing
like the strands of a fugue, spend
multiplied minutes on a single

sentence, thrusting and toying and
savoring the variations on every
word. They are inventive, as the
painter, Portinari, and the architect,
Oscar Niemeier, have shown the
world.

In South America they are known
for a remarkable ability to make
jjolitical compromises that repeatedly
have forestalled revolution. In art
they have also shown themselves
able to adapt the distinctive con-
tributions of others into new creative
efforts, such as Heitor Villa-Lobos'
blend of the patterns of Bach, folk
melodies of the hinterland, and the
familiar sound of a child humming
a tune through a tissue-paper covered
comb into the spine-tingling wordless
solo of Bachianas Brasileiras. Uni-
versities and scientific institutions
dot the heavily populated coastline,
and efficient public-health services
are successfully combating yellow
fever, malaria, and Chagas' disease.

The Future

Words alone cannot conjure up
for you Brazil in the nineteen-sixties,
but here are a few: shouts of glee'
and shouts of insult. Blaring music.
Syncopation. Honest hisses and
stolen kisses. Green and yellow. Auto
horns at every corner, and twice'
more before the next one. Shrieking
jets by singing ox-wheels. Boys with;
sugar cane at the station. Vendors'
cries and hot blue skies. All these i
evoke Brazil today, but so does gal-
loping inflation and birth rate that
far out-strips sporadic successes in
providing for some needs. There are
skyrocketing expectations which will
go unrealized during the lifetime of
most of the people. There is sym-
pathy for Castro and promises of
revolution. World competition exists
with materially successful countries,
once described as having a head
start, but now increasing the gap at
such a rate that it long since stopped
being a race. How would you react
to the confusing promises of Moscow
and Washington and Japan?

What will these people be like
tomorrow? I wish I knew. Some-
times I wish there were only one
world.

8

THE AGNES SCOTT

Come Inside

The New WINSHIP HALL

Miss lone Murphy, senior resident, entertains a student in her apartment.

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The senior resident's suite is decorated with attractive Danish modern furniture. Miss Murphy is Assistant Dean of Students.

WINSHIP
HALL

continued

Wash day is not "Blue Monday" in Winship's bright, well-equipped laundry room.

PHOTOS BY KEN PATTERSON

Stu tie Jits call the new
and luxurious dormitory
"the Winship-Hilton.''

Maria ne Wurst '63, secretary in the Alumnae
Office, is also a senior resident in Winship. She
enjoys preparing Sunday breakfast in Miss
Murphy's kitchen.

The cheerful study-smoker on the terrace level mokes studying pleasant. The Van Gogh print is one of many contemporary paintings in the dorm.

M7-INSHIP HALL continued

The terrace lounge, complete with fireplace, piano, and conver-
sation nooks, is decorated in shades of orange, yellow, and
green.

Facing South Candler Street, the patio provides a delightful area
for study and recreation.

J ,

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\ LotiA.

New Relationships are Being Established Among
Alumnae, Faculty and Students

Many new doors as well as many old ones opened as
Agnes Scott began what will be its seventv-fifib anniver-
sary academic year. The new ones belong to Winship Hall
(see pages 9-12 ) where 146 upper class students and two
senior residents are happily settled. (Old doors can some-
times function surprisingly well. Those alumnae who were
' "cottage livers" as students will be pleased to know that
( not Winship Hall but Hardeman Cottage won the annual
"Dek-It" contest in which the way students decorate their
own rooms is judged. I There was a brief dedicatory"
service for Winship Hall on October 26.

Another kind of door will be opened in the Alumnae
Quarterly this year. This fall issue is a small one. contain-
ing as much class news as we could possiblv squeeze into
these printed pages. H you need a magnifying glass to
read it, the reason is that we reduced the type size from
the one we normally use. The winter issue of the maga-
zine will have no class news section, but will contain many
articles and will be the Seventy-fifth Anniversary Issue.
The spring issue will contain the class news section again.

The major concern of the Alumnae Association for the
last two years has been opening still another sort of
door or perhaps opening windows would be a better
term. We have wanted a fresh breeze to blow throughout
the whole area of alumnae relationships: with each other,
with facultv members, and with students.

A kind of fringe benefit of the forty-five area cam-
paigns, which I found as I traveled to many of the meet-
ings, was that we discovered each other within our own
communities. Once I sat at a meeting in an alumna's
home and watched with delight a real sort of rapport
develop between an alumna who attended Agnes Scott
when it was Agnes Scott Institute and a graduate of the
Class of 1956.

Faculty-alumnae relationships have and are becoming
closer. There is a standing committee of faculty members
which works with the Alumnae Association, and indi-
vidual faculty members share themselves so willingly to
speak to alumnae groups, to write articles for the Quar-
terly, and to keep, through many years, friendships estab-
lished originally with you as students. Nine of them are

offering three courses this fall in our second Continuing
Education Program for alumnae and their husbands.

The untouched area, and possiblv the one in which the
need is more urgent, has been alumnae-students relation-
ships. For numberless rears, the Executive Board of the
Alumnae Association has entertained freshmen, at the end
of [heir orientation period, with a tea in the Alumnae
House. We have realized that this has become utterly with-
out meaning to both new students and alumnae. One of
the recommendations from students in the College's recent
"Self-Study" was that the tea be discontinued, and the
Executive Board heartily endorsed this.

As I write these words, we are launching something
new for new students, called "The Alumnae Sponsors Pro-
gram." We have asked some alumnae in the Greater
Atlanta area to act as sponsors for freshmen, assigning
roommates to the alumna. The alumna sponsor is free to
work with her freshmen as the alumna wishes: she might
invite them to her home for a meal, she might take them
to an event in Atlanta. Or she might simply say to them
(after they get their first six-weeks grades, for example) :
"I'll come pick you up and take you to my house for a
cup of coffee, a good talk (or a good cry!), or just to
relax."

1 hasten to sav that the alumnae sponsor idea was not
an original one of mine. It was borrowed straight from
Mrs. John Marshall Ribble. executive secretary of the
Randolph-Macon Woman's College Alumnae Association.
Anne Ribble has had a similar program in Lynchburg,
Va., for several years and reports splendid results from it.

Carrie Scandrett '24. Dean of Students, and her staff
have been of invaluable service to us as we have "matched'"
freshmen and their alumnae sponsors. As I assured the
freshmen, when I talked to them about the program, they
ivill graduate we've been doing it for 75 years and
here is their opportunity to get to know the kinds of per-
sons .Agnes Scott alumnae are persons whom they will
eventually become.

sCOTT e,

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The College has planned to observe our Seventy-fifth Anniversary Year from Founder's
Day, February 22, 1964, through Commencement, June 8, 1964. As a part of the celebra-
tion, we will bring to the campus outstanding lecturers who will interpret the various areas
of the liberal arts in the contemporary world.

February 22
February 26

February
or April

March 6

April 1

April 16

April 24-25

May

(date undetermined)

May 5-6
June 7
June 8

Convocation, Thanksgiving Service, President Wallace M. Alston

Dr. Viktor Frankl. Author and Psychiatrist, University of Vienna
Medical School

Dr. Wernher von Braun, Director, Space Flight Center

Budapest String Quartet

Dr. Margaret Mead, Anthropologist, Columbia University

Charles P. Taft, Statesman, Lawyer, and Churchman

Alumnae Week End, Alice Jernigan Dowling (Mrs. Walter C),
Class of 1930

Sir Charles P. Snow, Writer, Lecturer, Scientist

Dr. Mark Van Doren, Writer, Professor Emeritus,
Columbia University

Baccalaureate Service, Dr. George M. Docherty, New York Avenue
Presbyterian Church, Washington, D. C.

Seventy-fifth Commencement, The Honorable LeRoy Collins,
Former Governor of Florida; President, National Association
of Broadcasters

Ys'.-J

ALUMNAE QUARTERLY WINTER 1964

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75

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President Wallace M. Alston

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THE ALUMNAE QUARTERLY VOL. 42, No. 2

:ONTENirs

4 Victory Crowns Campaign
Wallace M. Alston

6 The Early Years

8 One Great Society

Ellen Douglass Leybum

13 Philippine Perspective
Eve Purdom Ingle

18 I Chose Politics

Zena Harris Temkin

21 "The Road iNot Taken"
James Ross McCain

26 Wear Your Education Becomingly
Jean Bailey Owen

29 Where There's a Will, There's a Way
Sarah Fraflces McDonald

34 Atlanta and Agnes Scott Advance Apace
Ivan Allen, Jr.

36 Worthy Notes

COVER DESIGN: Ferdinand Warren, Chairman,
Art Department

Aj\n Worthy Johnsom '38, Editor
Dorothy Weakley '56, Managing Editor

STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT AND CIR-
CULATION filed in accordance with Act of October 23, 1962;
Section 4369, Title 39, United States Code. The Agnes Scott
Alumnae Quarterly is published quarterly by the Agnes Scott
Alumnae Association and owned by Agnes Scott College, Deca-
tur, Georgia 30030. Ann Worthy Johnson, editor. Circulation:
8,000 copies. Member of .\nierican .Mumni Council

Victory Crowns Campaign

HIS is tlie moment that I have

T anticipated for more tlian a

decade. I am in a position to
announce officially that Agnes
Scott has achieved her great
seventy-fifth anniversary de-
velopment objective. The success of the recent mail
appeal and the January campus campaign put die
capstone on a venture of faith and dedication diat
began in July, 1953, when our Board of Trustees
launched us upon an eleven-year effort to add
$10,500,000 to the capital assets of the College
by the spring of tliis year, 1964, when Agnes Scott
celebrates her seventy-fifth birthday. The original
goal was augmented by several conditional grants
and by the opportunity to match, dollar for dollar,
a trust fund. The challenge grants, already claimed
successfully by Agnes Scott, have amounted to
more than $2,000,000. In other words, the un-
paralleled challenge that has faced the College has
been to come to the period of the observance of
our seventy-fifth anniversary with cash and pledges
of more than $12,500,000 for capital purposes,
realized since the program began in July. 195.3.

At the Founder's Day Convocation on Saturday.
February 22, 1964, we had the satisfaction of an-
nouncing the successful completion of our Seventy-
fifth Anniversary Development Program. Agnes
Scott has exceeded her over-all objective of $12.-
500,000. This accomplishment represents a mag-
nificent achievement on the part of more than 6,000
individuals, groups, business firms, and founda-
tions who have participated generouslv and loyally.

During his lifetime, poet Robert Frost served as
honorary chainnan of this campaign. Honorary
co-chairmen have been Catherine Marshall Le-
Sourd, Class of 1936, of Chappaqua, New York,
and John A. Sibley of Atlanta, both Trustees of
the College. The active chairman of the effort has
been Hal L. Smith of Atlanta, who is also chairman i
of the Agnes Scott Board of Tmstees. Assisting;
these leaders have been the area chairmen, all but I
one of whom are alumnae, in the forty-five cam-
paign centers located over the United States -
wherever groups of Agnes Scott alumnae and I
friends are to be found. Then, there have been i
hundreds of workers, primarily alumnae, who '
have made the vitally important contacts which ;
have meant success in this effort.

We can never adequately thank the thousands of t
people who have had a part in this great forward I
step for Agnes Scott. I would like to be able to '
express personally the College's appreciation to i
each one of them. Particularly would I single out i
our students, faculty, and staff who responded so
generously in our two campus campaigns the one '
in 1960 and die one just concluded this year. In i
these two efforts, our small campus community
contributed or pledged in excess of $200,000 to-
ward our anniversary goal. This same loyalty and I
devotion to Agnes Scott has been the rule, not the
exception, with our people everywhere.

The major portion of the financial assets re-
ceived through our Seventy-fifth Anniversary De-
velopment Campaign has gone into endowment to
strengthen Agnes Scott's educational program.

THE AGNES SCOTT

PRESIDENT WALLACE M. ALSTON

Also, three dormitories (Hopkins, Walters, and Win-
ship) have been constructed, additional property
has been purchased, and capital improvements
have been made in a number of our older build-
ings. Just now construction has begun on the
Charles A. Dana Fine Arts Building where our
departments of art anil of speecli and drama will
be located. It is expected that this structure will be
put into full use not later than the fall of 1965.

Now with substantially increased capital assets,
the College is in an improved position to meet the
opportunities of the present and prepare for the
challenges of tlie future. It is, therefore, with high
hopes that Agnes Scott enters the last quarter of
her first century as an educational institution. The
academic life of the College has never been at a
higher level than it is at this time. Our faculty is
exceedingly able, and our students, a carefully
chosen group, are competent and responsive.
Tliose of us here at Agnes Scott now are building
on a strong foundation laid by our predecessors
and strengthened by those who have participated in
the recent effort to increase substantially the Col-
lege's capital assets. We are determined to be
worthy of the confidence which so many have
placed in us. It is our firm purpose to enhance the
excellence which has always characterized the
College so that Agnes Scott, because of her aca-
demic stature, because of her Christian commit-
ment, and because of her concern for young people,
will continue in the company of the truly great
colleges of our nation.

ALUMNAE QUARTERLY / WINTER 1964

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THE HEMSTITCHING CLUB poses prettily In front of Main.

FIRE BRIGADE appears ready to deal with disaster

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VESTAL VIRGINS were a
part of an early May Day.

FOUNDER'S DAY featured seniors dressed as
colonial dames and gentlemen.

VARSITY TEAM WEARS UNIFORMS and monogrammed cardigans.

Turning' tack the pages . . .

To So Lewis

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ART CLUB of 1897 set for an outing in an open wagon.

One Grea

For seventy-five years people plus princi

EDITOR'S NOTE: This article is taken from on address which Miss
Leyburn made on Founder's Day, 1963, to the campus community
and members of the four Atlanta area alumnae clubs. Ellen
Douglass, eminent alumna and beloved professor of English, has
here caught the essence of Agnes Scott's history.

IN the letter asking me to make
this Founder's Day talk, I
thought I detected something
of the implication that I was
asked because my own history-
goes back so far into the his-
tory of the College. I have grown used of late to
having mature colleagues say ""ma'am" to me; and
I am no longer disconcerted to be asked about the
origins of Black Cat, which was a fluorishing insti-
tution when I came and did devastating things to
ray studies in the fall of my freshman year, or
what went on in the Mnemosynean and Propelyan
Literary Societies, which had vanished long before
my day. I find it, indeed, rather heartwarming to
be linked with the beginnings of Agnes Scott; and
since Miss McKinney [now in her ninety-seventh
year], who was one of my teachers and is now one
of my dear friends, is a part of those beginnings,
they do perhaps touch me in a special way. But
what I want to suggest to you this Founder's Day
is that they touch us all and are alive in us.

I have no intention of preaching a sermon this
morning; but I should like to give you a text from
St. Paul: "We are every one members one of
anotiier." Like the church of which he spoke, the
college is an entity, a living being, a composite
life containing something of all who have ever been
associated with it. but greater than the sum of its
parts, a distinct essence, whose life flows into the
separate lives which compose it and in turn create
its life. This constantly renewed being, always
changing, yet always retaining its identity, is a
mystery, like the growth of individual personality,
and just as much a recognizable fact, though our
relation to it is more inscrutable. We are bound

THE AGNES SCOTT

society

By ELLEN DOUGLASS LEYBURN '27

produced the character of the College.

to feel it as a part of all of us who make it up;
and we are part of it, whether we will or not and
whether we are worthy or not. We can no more
escape the heritage of our alma mater tlian we can
that of our natural mothers, even if we resist it.
This college family affects all of us, even tlie black
sheep in it; and we as inevitalily affect it. Not one
of us can be here without leaving a mark upon the
common life, even if it is only in the form of wear
and tear on the physical plant and more grey hairs

j for tlie faculty.

A Founder's Day occasion is a birdiday cele-
bration; and as in our families, we like to think
on birthdays of the traits which make us love those
who are near to us, it seems fitting that we should

I think on Founder's Day of some of the best traits
which belong to the college because they were
wrought into its essential being by the founders
and have continued to characterize it and to belong
to die corporate life which sustains and nourishes
us all.

When I think of that little gathering in Dr.
Gaines's study where the conception of die college
was formed, I think first of the quality of vision.
Let me read to you again the words they set down
in stating the purpose of the institution they were
creating:

1. A liberal curriculum, fully abreast of the best in-
stitutions in this country.

2. The Bible a textbook.

3. Thoroughly qualified and consecrated teachers.

4. A high standard of scholarship.

5. All the influences of the College conducive to the
formation and development of Christian character.

6. The glory of God the chief end of all.

When you consider that those words were written
at a time when Agnes Scott was a grammar school

with no endowment, no buildings, and only two
faculty members, and when there was little formal
education for women anywhere, they seem to em-
body an almost incredibly long view, a dream dial
would have been visionary in the pejorative sense,
even foolhardy, if it had not been accompanied
by faith and by indomitable courage. And those
who have led the college ever since have been both
a part of the fulfillment of that vision and die seers
of the future. Indeed, there is something awesome
to me in the realization that we are part of the
fulfillment of that early dream. 1 sometimes wonder
what the little group who sat in Dr. Gaines's study
would think if they could visit us now: how they
would marvel at this chapel in which we are gath-
ered, at the laboratories in tlie science building
and the telescope in the observatory, at the library
with its wealth of books, at the luxury of the new
dormitories and the modernization of Main Build-
ing, which they all lived to see built through the
generosity of Colonel Scott and to hear loudly
acclaimed as the most modem and best equipped
educational building in the South. Dr. Gaines's
account reads: "This building was beautiful in
architecture, was lighted with electricity from its
own plant, was heated by steam, and had hot and
cold water and sanitary plumbing." To remember
that all of these comforts were unique in the neigh-
borhood little boys from all over Decatur would
gather each evening so see the lights come on
is to understand their pride in it and their gratitude
to Colonel Scott for providing it.

But neither Colonel Scott nor his associates
thought of the building as central; nor would it
be our plant which would chiefly interest the
founders now. I am sure that what would most

ALUMNAE QUARTERLY / WINTER 1964

ONE GREAT SOCIETY

(Continued)

concern them would be the people they would find
here. \ ou remember that there is nothing in their
statement about buildings. It is all directed toward
the development of human beings toward us, in
short. It is of us that they were thinking when they
wrote those words. There is something uncanny
about the power this gives us that I always find
almost overwhelming, just as I do reading words
like Milton's "a good book is the precious life
blood of a master spirit embalmed and treasured
up on purpose to a life beyond life," and knowing
that the life beyond life depends on us as readers
or reading Shakespeare's proud proclamations
that his sonnets will give undying life to his love
and realizing that I, along with others readers, con-
trol that immortality. We are the immortality of
the founders of Agnes Scott in an even more crucial
way. If they could see us as the people they were
planning for in their statement, I am sure that
they would be startled at tlie way we look, with
legs exposed and hair in strange shapes, and at
the informality with which we act and speak; but
I hope that they would not find us as people incon-
gruous with their dream of us, would find us still
pursuing the human ends they had in mind and
dreaming the right dreams for the future.

But they did more than dream, or we should nol
be here. They worked with ardor and with un-
swerving loyalty to bring to birth what they had
conceived, and what was harder, to keep it alive
Once born. You remember Dr. McCain's telling you
last fall how Colonel Scott year after year made
up out of his own modest fortune the deficit for
running expenses. Indeed, it was not until Dr.
McCain himself began to impress the Foundations
with our academic integrity and to conduct a series
of campaigns for funds that we paid off our in-
debtedness and began the endowment which has:
steadily grown and must continue to grow if wei
are to survive and to progress into an expanding
vision. Besides contributing to the support of thci
institution in which they had faith, the founders^
were willing to do the most humjjle services to keep.
it alive and enable it to justify tlieir faith. The
elder Mr. Murphey Candler, for instance, who was
for years the board chairman of buildings and
grounds, checked all the luggage himself and used
to say that he knew the girls by their trunks. When
there were performances of plays in Atlanta, it was
he who bought tickets for Agnes Scott faculty and
students and saw that they got to the theatre on the
train or the little dummy line street car that ran
through what is now Evans Drive. And this is
typical of the kind of familiar care and energy^
which those early trustees lavished on the institu-
tion they had brought into being.

First Faculty

To tlieir willingness to work for the college they,
were creating, the founders added the still more
important qualities of wisdom and good judgment.
The first object of their attention was bringing to
the institute the best possible faculty, for on this
they knew that its value depended. Dr. Gaines, who
was an uncommonly shrewd judge of people, was
able to find and to attract to the struggling little
institute a group of able and devoted teachers.
Miss Nanette Hopkins, who came as a teacher of 1
madi, was made principal and was dean for many '
years after Agnes Scott became a college, guiding'
the destinies of hundreds of students with quiet i
firmness. I should like to read you two paragraphs!

10

THE AGNES SCOH

"roin the faculty resolutions at the time of her
leath in 1938:

Farseeing and dedicated, she made unmeasured con-
tributions to the growth of the college. She was
closest and most valued fellow worker of the only
two presidents that the institution has had. Having
come in 1889 to the newly founded Decatur Female
Seminary as one of its two teachers, she was in 1897
made lady principal of the Agnes Scott Institute; in
1906 she became dean of Agnes Scott College and in
1927 was elected to membership on its Board of
Trustees. In her administrative capacity, she was,
during all these years, a leader of steadfast vision,
of sound judgment, and of selfless devotion to duty.
To both Dr. Gaines, the founder and first president
of Agnes Scott, and to Dr. McCain, his successor,
she gave counsel and courage when perplexing prob-
lems academic, financial, social beset the rapidly
growing college.

Nor did its growth outdistance her own. She had a
remarkable capacity for adjustment to changing
times and new conditions. A woman who had taken
the minute personal supervision of the sheltered lives
of girls within school walls in 1897 might well have
found it impossible to adapt herself to the social
freedom and self-government of students today.
Keeping an intimate sense of the family, Miss Hopkins
could yet rejoice that her family had become suffi-
ciently adult to govern itself. For generation after
generation of students she blended the past and the
present, preserving tradition that enriched the life
on the campus and yet welcoming innovation that
stimulated it. And so the college at every stage of its
development during the past fifty years has been in-
separable from this woman who loved it.

In 1891, Miss Hopkins was joined by Miss
^cKinney, who taught English for forty-six years,
naking us feel not only her dedication as a teacher
)ut her warmth as a friend, chiding us when she
"elt we needed it in the caustic way which is the
ough side of her lively temperament, but giving
)nly the kind of wounds which we recognized as
he faithful wounds of a friend. I never saw the
)thers who came with Miss McKinney in 1891,
)ut I have a vivid sense of them from her: Miss
ilcGee, who taught science and was famous for
ler forthrightness, and Miss Massey, the history
eacher and the beauty of the faculty, whose win-
omeness left a gracious impression long after
llness made her retire. She was succeeded by one
)f the most colorful of the early teachers, Miss

Cady, who was also gone before my day, but who
seems very real to me. Her individuality was shown
in her animated lectures on history as well as in
her striking appearance, her huge frame always
encased in a straight serge suit, sturdy brogans on
her large feet, and a cloche hat with an incongruous
red rose bobbing over her nose as she spoke with
more and more vigor or shook with one of her deep
laughs. I have never heart! her mentioned without
some smiling reference to her appearance and then
a glowing account of her power as a teacher. There
is always a suggestion of Dr. Joluison in the im-
pression I get of her strange appearance which
somehow accentuated her wit and her intellectual
force.

Real Personalities

And I like to think that there is some idiosyn-
crasy to give flavor to this character of a college
which was formed in those early days. It gives me
pleasure to reflect that it was one of die most indi-
vidual teachers of my own day who declared, witli
a beguiling lack of awareness of how much she
delighted us by her own oddities, "Of course, there
are no freaks on the Agnes Scott faculty." I always
remember her remark when I see students smiling
indulgently at some unrecognized foible of my own.
These early teachers were all real personalities;
and they were as ardently committed to Agnes Scott
and its future as were the founders. The stand they
made for academic excellence in the days when
standards in the region as a whole were vague,
their creating a sound curriculum and steadily
adding grades at the top and eliminating them at
the bottom, shows not only their intellectual con-
cern, but their moral courage. And Miss McKinney
says that in spite of the financial plight of the insti-
tute and the need of students, there was never an
occasion when Dr. Gaines did not uphold the fac-
ulty in the struggle for excellence. There is a refer-
ence to his passionate integrity in the faculty reso-
lutions at the time of his death in 1923:

It was his faith in God that enabled him to hold
steadfastly to the admission standard as stated in the
catalogue, year after year in those trying days of a
decade and more ago when the very life of colleges
appeared to depend on their ability to attract large

aUMNAE QUARTERLY / V/INTER 1964

11

ONE GREAT SOCIETY

(Continued)

numbers of students. Knowing full well that adher-
ence to the standard of admission would probably
mean a deficit to be reported to the Board of Trus-
tees at the end of the year, he yet never let himself
be turned a hair's breadth from his purpose to main-
tain an honest standard, despite the mental worry
that would inevitably result from his action, and the
ease with which he might have doubled the student
body by making concessions which most institutions
similarly situated were making freely. No one who
did not live through those years with him can fully
appreciate the greatness and steadfastness of the
man in these trj'ing years.

Such integrity required self sacrifice; and this
was a quality which the faculty shared with the
founders. I did not know when I was a student
in die late twenties what low salaries die faculty
received; but I was acutely aware when I came
back to teach of their real heroism. There was none
on my part. I assure you, for I had quite literally
nowhere else to go. I hope you will not mind if
I speak about myself on this intimate occasion,
for I diink diat my experience reveals somediing
of the spirit of the college. I finished graduate
school in 1934, when the depression had reached
its very bottom and new openings for teachers were
non-existent. The only offers of jobs I had were
at a boarding school in New England, where one
of the cliief duties of die English mistress seemed
to be to censor the letters which the students were
required to write home each week and at a so-
called college for whose work I had no respect.
So I came and simply asked Dr. McCain to let me
teach at Agnes Scott. It was a case of Frost's defi-
nition of home as a place where when you have
to go there, they have to take you in; and it shows
something about the college that a place was made
for me in the English department.

Personal Experience

What I leanied when I became a part of the
faculty was that they were all working for reduced
pay and that they had chosen to accept the reduc-
tion in salaries on which they were already unable
to make ends meet rather than lower the standards

of the college in order to attract more students
In these days of prosperity, I think it is han
for you to conceive of the real poverty of thosi
times and how few families were able to managi
the total of $700.00 for board and tuition. Indeed
it is hard for any of us really to sense again wha
it was like to be anxious for more students whei
we are in the midst of the pressure for admissioi
of the long waiting lists which now beset us. Bu
the action of the faculty in the time of die de
pression required the kind of integrity and heroi(
commitment to excellence which is part of ou:
heritage and of the basic character of the college

Character of College

This character has always, I think, attracted stu
dents of a corresponding calibre who have become
a part of the whole ethos of the college. Each gen
eration of students receives much from earlier ones
and leaves much for those to come. The richness oi
friendships with fellow students formed during oui
own generation at the college is for most of us
simply immeasurable; and many of these friend-'
ships endure and grow after college and are dis-
tinguished by the special bond of a common inherit-ij
ance. As we live and work here together, oum
associations, our ways of thought and behavior, area
permanently affected by the essential life of the
college, of which all the rich variety of our indi-
vidual temperaments and endowments in turn be-
comes a part. The college helps create us as wei
renew its creation. }

Continuing Growth !

The continuance of its life rests with us; and I
like to think that it is carried on not just here om
the campus, but in all the places from which the(
alumnae come to us today and in the far comers
of the earth, where our graduates are living parts
of the total life of the college. They have takem
something of Agnes Scott to every state in the'
union and to every continent in the world. And
they pass it on wherever they are, as it will, I feel

12

(Continued on page 35)

THE AGNES SCOTT

W ith the Peace Corps

Philippine
Perspective

By EVE PURDOM INGLE '60

OR over a year my husband,
Clyde, and I have been living
in the Republic of the Philip-
pines as members of the United
States Peace Corps. Clyde has
been teaching English and so-
cial studies in a teacher's college, and I have been
teaching high school mathematics.

We live in Zamboanga City, one of the loveliest
cities in tlie Philippines, and we are the envy of
some of our Peace Corps colleagues wlio are sta-
tioned in less exotic places. Zamboanga City has
every feature of a tropical paradise. Sprays of
bougainvillas and orchids decorate even the most
modest houses. We enjoy swimming in crystal-clear
water at beaches which are lined with coconut
palms. Coral reefs where a variety of shells and
beautifully colored fish abound are only an hour
away by native sailboat. The sunsets over the Sulu
Sea fill the sky with yellows, oranges, purples, and
pinks in contrast to the blue-gray islands across the
straits. Nature is very generous. The market over-
flows every morning with fish, crabs, clams, shrimp,
and occasionally, lobsters and sharks. Fruit trees,
bearing an endless variety of fruits, grow wild.

(Continued )

Eve Purdom Ingle '60 talks with students while other girls
rehearse for a pageant at the high school.

ALUMNAE QUARTERLY / WINTER 1964

13

Philippine Perspective

(Continued)

The soil is rich, and beautiful veg(
tables can be grown with very littl
effort.

Coming from a temperate to
tropical climate demands many phys:
cal adjustments. We have learne
the necessity of preventive warfai
against mold, termites, and dysenter)
We have learned to slow down whei
we walk and to take a siesta ever
day after lunch. In our eyes, ou
cold shower is the height of luxury
We have even developed an apprecia
tion for the durian, the fruit tha
smells like sulfur dioxide.

Psychological Adjustments

The physical adjustments are eas\
to cope with because they can bf
dealt with in physical terms. Bu
the psychological adjustments re
quired for living in a new culture
are hard to make. After four years
conditioning to being regarded witl
indifference as a representative of the
female of the species by Georgia Tech
males, it was confusing when sud
denly I was considered a living,
breathing Marilyn Monroe to the man
on the street in the Philippines. And
the Filipino makes no secret of his
appreciation of blond hair and white
skin. In the stores and public market,
it is necessary to bargain for all
items, and we are never quite sure
whether we are getting the Filipino
price or the American price. We
have a limited knowledge of the dia-
lect spoken here, and so we cannot
always be certain whether the re-
marks made about us are friendly or
insulting. Since we do not know
exactly where we stand in any of
these situations, more than once we
have become rather paranoid in
thinking we are being ridiculed or
cheated.

Agnes Scott, more than most insti-i
tutions of higher learning, attempts
to instill in its students certain ideals.

Neighborhood children gather to talk in front of
Eve and Clyde's house.

14

THE AGNES SCOTT

Jpon graduation from Agnes Scott,

had incorporated these principles
he belief in striving for excellence,

concern for other people, the need
or communication between human
)eings into my set of values. With
he naivete of youth, I believed that

was capable of achieving such
deals. Two years of living and teach-
ng in small communities in the south-
m part of the United States pro-
dded no experiences that shook my
aith in my ability to attain these
deals. Living in a different culture,
lowever. has made me realize how
ar I fall short of this goal.

Soon after our arrival, I discovered
hat 1 did not love humanity, not
even the more lovable portion of
lumanity children. I feel no love
or children who mimic my Ameri-
:an accent to my face or who climb
ip in our orange tree to pick unripe
iranges as soon as we turn our
)acks. There is no common bond of
mmanity, as far as I am concerned,
jetween me and the teen-age boys
vho make abusive remarks about me.
[ find no bond of communication be-
ween myself and the mother who
ihows great affection for her child
ly the loving expression on her face,
out is not at all concerned about the
unning sores all over the child's legs.

Convictions in Practice

Confronting people and situations
iuch as these has made me realize
hat the noble convictions I held are
remendously difficult to put into
Dractice. As a result, both Clyde and
, have become much more realistic
ibout what can actually be accom-
Dlished in the field of human rela-
ionships, and thus we are more ap-
preciative of the small bits of prog-
ress between human beings that we
see around us in the world today.

One of our goals in coming to the
Philippines was to make some lasting
riendships with Filipinos. We have
found that friendship across cultures
is just as difficult to realize as the
deals fostered at Agnes Scott. Our
failure in this area does not stem
From lack of friendliness on the part
)f Filipinos. We have met almost no
lostility. Filipinos are unusually

friendly toward Americans because
of the wise administration of the
Philippines when it was our posses-
sion and the partnership in fighting
during World War II. Certainly
Clyde and I are on friendly terms
with many people, but we have not
been able to develop the type of
friendship we did in the United
States. Friendships such as those
formed at Agnes Scott out of the
sharing of romantic crises, heated dis-
cussions about religion, and frantic
study for exams continue long after
graduation. In the Philippines we
have not been able to find common
experiences that both we and our ac-
quaintances enjoy. Filipinos do not
like swimming or sailing, our favorite
recreational activities. With the Fili-
pino emphasis on smooth interper-
sonal relationships, a Filipino is un-
comfortable in a discussion where
ideas are tossed back and forth; even
a teacher is apt to take personally
an attack upon his ideas. Because
Filipinos and Americans are sensitive
to different things, we have inad-
vertently cut short budding friend-
ships, and we have been offended by
situations which we now understand
were not intended to be insulting. It
is only now. after more than a year
here, that we are beginning to find
friends with whom we can really
communicate. These people certainly
do not share all our views and values,
but there are areas where our in-
terests and values overlap so that
there is some foundation for com-
munication.

Western Influence

When we arrived here, we were
struck by how Western the Philip-
pines appeared. Almost fifty years
under an American government left
a strong American imprint. Most peo-
ple wear Western clothes. Teen-agers
much prefer the twist to any native
dances. The national government con-
sists of a president elected every
four years, a bicameral legislature,
and a supreme court. Zamboanga
City has all the organizations in-
digenous to American small towns
Rotary Club, Jaycees, Red Cross, Boy
and Girl Scouts.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: We wanted words
from a recent graduate to balance wisdom
from older ones, so asked Eve Purdom
Ingle '60 to write an article. Eve, an Eng-
lish major, member of Phi Beta Kappa,
president of student government, taught
school in North Carolina, married another
teacher, Clyde Ingle, in December, 1960,
and they are now serving as Peace Corps
volunteers.

After a few months, we began to
realize that though these American
and Philippine institutions have the
same names, they certainly do not
have the same functions. After being
asked to be a committee chairman
for a Christmas program at the high
school, I was surprised when, a day
before the scheduled meeting of the
committee, a teacher asked me, "Have
you decided yet what the program
will be?" From her remark and the
performance of the conmiittee the
next day. I learned that a committee
chairman does not lead the group to
reach a decision, but instead an-
nounces to the committee what the
program will consist of and what the
responsibility of each member will
be. The decisions of the chairman
are accepted without question.
Though this incident is innocuous in
nature, the concepts of authority and
group action expressed in it have
serious implications for a nation
which is a democracy.

One of the great values of our
experience in the Peace Corps has
come from such incidents which re-
veal so much about Philippine so-
cietv. Because those of us who live in
the southeastern part of the United
States hold basically the same values,
we assume that these values are uni-
versal. Only by living and working
with people who operate under a
different system of values have Clyde
and I come to realize, by contrast,
what our own American culture really
is.

I suspect that the values I call
American are common to all Western
countries or perhaps all industrialized
nations, but since I have lived in
only one Western nation. I will refer
to them as American values. In like
manner, I will call the values I find
here Filipino values, even though
other Oriental or tropical nations
mav share such values.

ALUMNAE QUARTERLY / WINTER 1964

(Continued on next page) 15

Philippine Perspective

(Continued)

Americans, I have learned, have a
religion of work. Perhaps because
our forefathers lived so long in an
agricultural economy whose sole pur-
pose was to prepare for winter, they
unconsciously handed down to us the
feeling that work is necessary. We
feel slightly uncomfortable if we
have no work, and so those of the
leisure class create clubs and com-
munity activities to give themselves
a feeling of accomplishment. Be-
cause of the constant heat and hu-
midity which drain away body
energy, work is rather distasteful in
a tropical country. When it is not
the rice planting or harvesting sea-
son, the Filipino farmer is quite con-
tent to sit under the coconut trees
and gossip, drink coconut wine, or
preen his fighting cocks.

Our view of work is based on the
premise that work has inherent
dignity. We feel that the farmer,
whose work is certainly largely
manual, is the backbone of American
life and represents the best and basic
ideals of America. Filipinos shun any
kind of work that involves getting
oneself dirtv. Because of the low
status associated with farming, a
college graduate, even one with a de-
gree in agriculture, would much pre-
fer a clerical job to farming, in spite
of the fact that he could earn a great
deal more money in agriculture.

Protestant Ethic

I am only now beginning to under-
stand what the Protestant ethic is and
why it is unique. Americans, no mat-
ter what religion or lack of religion
they profess, believe fundamentally
in the relationship between behavior
and the corresponding reward or
punishment. Again, climate may be a
factor. When winter comes, it pre-
sents an inescapable day of reckon-
ing for the work performed during
the growing season. In a tropical
country there has never been such a
day of judgment. Nature has always
provided; there have always been
plenty of fish in the sea and bananas
on the trees.

A basic tenet of the Protestant
ethic is a strong emphasis on individ-
ual responsibility. American society
makes it clear to a young woman
that she alone is responsible for her
physical relationships with men. A
Filipina, on the other hand, never
has to be concerned about her physi
cal behavior with men. In her court
ship, she is constantly chaperoned
Since the system of chaperonage re
moves any element of individua
choice from the situation, the gir
does not have to assume any Individ
ual responsibility for her conduct.

Group Identification

Our stress on individual responsi-
bility stems from the fact that we
think of ourselves as individuals.
Filipinos identify themselves, not as
individuals, but as members of a
group, whether it be the family, class
in school, or a club. On a picnic with
a group of college girls who live in
the same boarding house and are close
friends. I found the dessert delicious
and wanted to compliment the cook.
When I asked who made the dessert,
one of the girls answered, "All of us,
ma'am." I persisted in trying to find
out who the cook was, but I kept get-
ting the same answer. The girls pre-
ferred giving the credit to the group
rather than singling out one individ-
ual for praise.

Americans place great value on
discipline. Though it did not im-
press me as significant at the time, I
recall now that in teaching in ele-
mentary school in the United States,
all of the teachers placed a great deal
of emphasis on the children's ability
to form a line in going to and from
all activities. In the post office in
Zamboanga City whoever can gently
but firmly push his way to the front
of the cluster of people grouped
around the stamp window is the one
who will buy stamps next.

The American emphasis on dis-
cipline is most clearly seen in the
way we raise our children. In the
Philippines mothers are generally
very affectionate and permissive with
their children. As a rule, babies are
breast fed on a demand schedule. I

seldom hear young children crying,
for the mother, an older brother oi
sister, or a servant immediately picks
up and holds the child when he be
gins to whimper. Toilet training be-
gins at the age of five.

Few Guilt Feelings

Because much is demanded of
American children at an early age
our society produces adults who tend
to hold deep guilt feelings because
of an inability to live up to the norms
society has set for them. Tran-
quilizers, alcoholism, and psychia-
trists do not play a minor role in
American life today. Little, however,
is expected of Filipino children, and
as adults they have few guilt feelings.
People on the streets and students in
the classroom display almost none of
the nervous habits that indicate feel-
ings of tension. Mental illness and
suicide are rare.

In addition to deepening our
knowledge of our own American
values, living here has given us an
appreciation of the values of Philip-
pine culture. Though our ideas
about life are too firmly fixed to be
drastically changed at this point, we
hope that some Filipino ways of
thinking will rub off on us.

Personal Touch

Coming from a technological so-
ciety where an abundance of ma-
chines has made some areas of life
rather impersonal, we find great
pleasure in the personal touch that
pervades Filipino life. Transportation
by jeepney offers a striking contrast
to a city bus ride in the United
States, in terms of people. The jeep-
ney driver will stop his gaily colored,
eight-passenger vehicle any place on
his route where I hail him. The seat-
ing arrangement, with six j>assengers
facing each other on parallel benches
in the rear of the jeep, is very con-
ducive to conversation, whether it be
neighborly gossip or national politics.
In the crowded jeepney, with live
chickens and market baskets full of
food at our feet and several children
standing in any remaining empty
spaces, suddenly perfect strangers are

16

THE AGNES SCOTT

not really such strangers after all,
and many people we have never seen
before strike up conversations with
us. Added personal services are the
driver's willingness to stop the jeep
and wait while I go to buy ice and
his co-operation in delivering letters
to people who live along his route.

We appreciate the Filipino's ten-
dency to make relationships between
himself and other people. When I
walk through the fish market, the
fish vendors point to their wares and
call to me, "You like to buy fish.
Nene?" Nene is an affectionate term
meaning "little sister," and these men
have made me their little sister,
rather than placing me in the cate-
gory of a consumer or an American
who will gladly pay outrageous
prices.

Enjoyment of Life

A second aspiect of life here that
we find refreshing is the sheer enjoy-
ment of life itself. As Americans
accustomed to running from one ex-
tremely important task to another
equally significant mission, we take
delight in die attitude that there is
plenty of time to sit down, relax,
and chat with one another. The no-
tions that we as insignificant humans
cannot accomplish great deeds on
earth, that a tally sheet of our daily
works is not being kept in some cor-
ner of the universe, that perhaps one
of the purposes of the gift of life is
our own enjoyment of the living of
it these ideas are very apptealing to
us.

Our contribution to the Philippine
educational system has been very
small. For Clyde and me, the real value
of our living here has been what we
have learned not only about the
Philippines, but also about ourselves.
For living in a society that is new
to us has revealed problems that we
never dreamed existed before and has
made us experience the depths of
loneliness and the height of joy that
somehow combine to give this life so
much meaning.

Children of Peace Corps Representatives in the
Philippines attend the Ayolo primary school.

ALUMNAE QUARTERLY / WINTER 1964

17

i

1

CHOSE
POLITICS

|N May of 195a Chester
Bowles came to Tor-
rington on a swing
around Connecticut in
quest of delegates
favorable to his candidacy for the
nomination as United States Senator.
Although I was not a delegate nor
even remotely interested in active
politics, I attended the open meeting
at a local hotel in order to speak
with this erudite man whose writings
and opinions I had found lucid and
sensible.

Mr. Bowleg did not succeed in
capturing the nomination he sought,
but he did succeed in capturing my
fervor and energies to the extent that
the fascinating art of politics, which
I had hitherto shunned as too "dirty"
for my delicate intellectual constitu-
tion, became vital to me. For the
next five years, politics was the most
important thing in my life. Its on-
slaught was insidious and my thrall-
dom complete. So complete that I
finally decided to take a sabbatical
in order to sit quietly, to think, to
read, to unwind.

It was an exciting time and it was
a time, incidentally, when all I had
gleaned from college courses came
into maximum use: historical facts,
basic philosophies, literary allusions,
creative writing and speech always

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Born in tondon,
Zena says she became a Democrat while at
Agnes Scott where she majored in English
and speech, met and married a dental
student and longed for a career in the
theater. Her three children have helped
her make a career in politics; they accom-
panied her on the hustings of her 1959 suc-
cessful campaign for election to Connecti-
cut's House of Representatives.

speech. One Henry Higgins type said
he voted for me because I was the
only candidate he had ever heard
who pronounced the sibilants prop-
erly!

In November 1958. I won my
first election and became one of
Torrington's two State Representa-
tives to the Connecticut General As-
sembly. Our legislature meets for
the first five months of the odd-
numbered years; the remainder of
the two-year term is spent meeting
in committee, making speeches, at-
tending political functions, and being
a vessel into which constituents pour
all their problems, real and imagi-
nary.

A Democratic Sweep

That first term was wonderful! I
had been elected on a wave of Demo-
cratic support which swept to victory
all our candidates for state office and,
for the first time in 82 years, gave
control of both legislative houses to
the Democratic Party. Our majority
in the House was three votes. Dur-
ing the session, when one of our
members died and was replaced by
a Republican, that majority was re-
duced to one vote.

The Democratic platform for
years had advocated wholesale re-
forms: abolition of county govern-
ment, professional municipal courts,
reorganization of the executive
branch, sweeping changes in welfare,
mental health and labor programs.
We had promised to do all kinds of
things when and if we could. Well
now. to our shock, we could. And we
did. Despite the anguish caused in
many Democratic circles by the loss

of patronage resulting from reforms,
the platform promises were kept.

It was not easy. Day after day we
sat in the Victorian monstrosity
which is the Connecticut Capitol de-
bating, arguing, disputing and voting,
always voting, As winter faded and
spring arrived, and oh! it was a very
warm spring, the atmosphere in the
high-ceilinged House chamber be-
came nigh to impossible hot, airless
and charged with cigar and cigarette
smoke. But. we stayed in session until
all hours disheveled, hungry, and
distraught. We had to stay because
our majority was so slim. To reduce
truancy, food was brought in to us,
and John Bailey, our state Demo-
cratic chairrrian, prowled the cor-
ridors and lounges rousing weary \
legislators and urging them back into
the House, which was rapidly be-
coming a chamber of near-horror.

The worst for me was the day I all
but collapsed from dehydration and
had to be half-carried from my desk
into the office of the Secretary of the
State to recover. All the business of
Connecticut was delayed while a dep-
uty attorney-general dashed to a drug
store to buv me some salt tablets!

After the Session

When t.'ie session ended in June
in a chaotic blaze of glory and ac-
complishment, we all went home to
recuperate and to bask in our own
importance as members of the his-
toric 1959 Legislature.

In December of that year, I was
one of eight politicians chosen by
the state organization to take an
all-New England leadership course
sponsored by the Democratic Na-

18

THE AGNES SCOH

Zena Harris Temkin '44 served as Senator Abe RibicofF's
political agent in his campaign for the Senate. She is pictured
with Senator Ribicoff (left) and former Stamford Mayor
J. Walter Kennedy.

ional Cominittee. Some of the men
from Massachusetts who were stu-
lents at that conference became mem-
Ders of the Praetorian Guard which
surrounded President Kennedy. They
ire part of the "White House staff"
which Lyndon Johnson urged to stay
3n with him when he assumed the
Presidency. They were, and are, a
jool, sharp, articulate, brilliant group.
At the conference we argued for
hours; I usually lost.

The Discussion Group

The two days of intensive work
and discussion were marvelously
stimulating and to this day in all
kinds of situations, not only the polit-
cal ones I am able to utilize some
3f the things taught me at that time.

The following spring was spent in
teaching the same course all over
Connecticut. Our pupils were town
;hairmen, state central committee peo-
ale. Young Dems. and members of
;own committees and Democratic
Women's Clubs.

There was. of course, a reason for
ill this emphasis on leadership. It
was 1960 and there was a presidential
election approaching which we Demo-
crats felt we must win. We hoped that
leadership in the right places would
belp accomplish the goal if we had
the right candidate. But. who was
he? I had attended a dinner in Wash-
ington in January and, sitting be-
tween Dean Acheson and Maurine
Neuberger, had listened to the six or
seven men who aspired to the presi-
dential nomination. I made no mental
commitment at that time, but I
thought maybe just maybe I could
support Senator Kennedy.

Once I was named a delegate to
the National Convention in July
1960. that support was taken for
granted. Our state delegation was
bound by unit (majority I rule and
our Governor, Abe Ribicoff, had
been working for months to bring
delegates into the Kennedy camp.
Certainly, Connecticut's twenty-one
convention votes would be with him.

I had never been in Los Angeles
before the Convention and that par-
ticular week might have occurred on
another planet, so removed from
reality did it seem. The Connecticut
delegation camped around the pool
at the Sheraton-West Hotel and left
there only to go to meetings, restau-
rants or the Convention floor. So im-
portant was Governor Ribicoffs posi-
tion that candidates came to us. But.
the vast majority of delegates was
exposed only to results and apart
from their own caucuses, knew little
of the activities behind the scenes.
I was lucky to have a kind of private
"pipe-line" in the form of Ribicoif's
executive aide. He told me enough
to make me feel I was on the "in-
side" and I was naively pleased.

Among the Greats

I was and still am impressionable.
It impressed me to meet or eat or
swim or speak with the greats, the
near-greats and the famous among
Democrats: Adlai Stevenson, Lyndon
Johnson, Hubert Humphrey. Stuart
Symington, the Roosevelt sons, Sam
Rayburn and the rest. Finding nearly-
forgotten friends in delegations from
other states, dressing to go out to
dinner at 1 a.m., discussing religion
with Ralph McGill at midnight on a

downtown street corner, being inad-
vertently trapped in a phone booth
by a gaggle of Texans and listening
intently to their private caucus these
are only some of the bizarre moments
which contributed to the unreal
quality of the frenzied week in Los
Ajigeles.

The fervor aroused in that week
stretched woefully thin during the
seemingly endless fall campaign. It
was a hard and bitter time. But, when
the exhausting election day and the
irritatingly inconclusive election night
were over. John Kennedy was ap-
parently elected to the Presidency and
I, very incidentally, was re-elected to
the Legislature.

Some Frustrations

L nfortunately. however, the old
Connecticut pattern of Republican
House and Democratic State Senate
prevailed, and the five-month session
was one long frustration of obfuscat-
ing tactics and minor accomplish-
ment. No legislation could pass the
majority party in one house unless
reciprocity on another measure was
agreed to by the majority party in
the other house. The bargaining was
frantic and often futile. But. this is
the way our state government func-
tions most of the time, and in the
long run, the job is done not bril-
liantly but adequately.

In the fall of that year, 1961, I
offered my services to the State Cen-
tral Committee to do what I could
for the Senate candidacy of Abe
Ribicoff, then in the Cabinet as
Secretary of Health. Education and
Welfare. My real reason was a great
desire to see a state-wide campaign

ALUMNAE QUARTERLY / WINTER 1964

(Continued on page 32)

19

Col. George Washington Scott took the far less traveled road of settling
in Decatur and helped found the college in 1889.

The College was named for Col. Scoffs mother,
Agnes Irvine Scott.

ft

I il li

Miss Nanette Hopkins came from
Virginia to be principal of the school.

The school opened under the name Decatur Female Seminary in this rented building later
known as White House.

u

The Road Not Taken

??

By JAMES ROSS McCAIN

NE may hardly think of Agnes
Scott except in terms of the
men and women whose lives
have been so closely woven
into its being. One's belief in

: divine providence is deepened

if we review the ways in which some of these
became connected with our College. In reminding
ourselves of the circumstances involved, I will call
your attention to Robert Frost's poem, "Two
Roads." It was a favorite of his and of ours. Many
of us have heard him read it from our platform
at least twenty times. These excerpts will illustrate
the point:

THE ROAD NOT TAKEN

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood.
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth:

Then took the other, as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim.
Because it was grassy and wanted wear: . . .

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I
I took the one less traveled by.
And that has made all the difference.

This experience is quite true in the relation of
Colonel George Washington Scott and Agnes Scott
College. He was bom in Alexandria, Pennsylvania,
on February 22, 1829, the fourth child of John
and Agnes Scott. When he was twenty-one years
old, he became ill and was thought to have tuber-
culosis. The road of experience and custom in that
day was for tubercular patients to go to the South-

west for a warm and dry climate. Mr. Scott, con-
trary to the advice of friends, decided to take the
less traveled road to health by going to Florida,
then regarded by many as swampy and unhealthy.
He recovered his health.

When the Civil War came, it would have been
logical for him to return to the North, where his
brothers were enrolled in the Union army; but he
decided to stick with his adopted state and fought
so well that he was made a colonel and was in
command of tlie Florida troops.

Later Col. Scott decided to move to Atlanta for
business reasons. The ordinary road for such a
move would be to buy a home in Atlanta. He took
the far less traveled one of settling in Decatur,
which was not easily accessible from Atlanta and
was a very small, sprawling village. This choice
made all the difference, for he was on hand in
Decatur when a new school was to start.

In 1887 The Reverend Frank H. Gaines was the
pastor of a well-established and prosperous Pres-
byterian church in the Valley of Virginia, when
he was called to the Decatur Presbyterian Church
in Georgia. His friends could not imagine his
accepting the call. The church was smaller than
his and far less promising by human measure-
ments; but he took tlie less traveled road, and
again it made all the difference. Just then he con-
tracted a very serious case of typhoid fever, and
his friends felt sure it was a sign that he ought not
to leave Virginia, but he still felt a clear call to
do the unusual. Wlien he saw the need of a school
for girls, he and Col. Scott became partners in the
enterprise that is Agnes Scott.

(Continued on next page) 21

The Road Not Taken

(Continued)

In the autumn of 1889, Miss Nanette Hopkins
was registered to enter Vassar College. She had
graduated from Hollins Institute but did not have
a degree. She felt that the two additional years
at Vassar would equip her for the teaching she
wished to make her life-work. Only a few weeks
before the college was to open. Rev. Gaines from
Georgia came to her Virginia home and invited her
to become the principal of a new school in Decatur.
It was to be called Decatur Female Seminaiy but
had as yet no building, no faculty, and no students.
Its total assets were a subscription list for $.5,000,
which had not been collected. Her family felt it
most unwise for her to make a change in plans,
and the financial inducements were not large; but
Dr. Gaines was very persuasive, and the need of
the school appealed to her. She took the less trav-
eled road, and it again made all the difference.
She accepted "for only a year," but she never pur-
sued her degree, and no one felt she needed it.

In 1891. Miss Louise McKinney was also
seriously thinking of further study. She had grad-
uated from the State Teachers" College in Harrison-
burg, Virginia, and had done successful teaching,
but she wished to have a degree. Again, Dr. Gaines
went to Virginia in search of an English teacher,
and again he was successful. He persuaded Miss
McKinney to come to what was known then as
Agnes Scott Institute. The approved thinking of that
day would have been that she should go on with
her education and then teach in her native state
of Virginia, for Georgia was far away, backward
in many ways, and had not then recovered from
Sherman's march. But Miss McKinney, like Col.
Scott, Dr. Gaines, and Miss Hopkins, took the less
traveled road, and again it made all the differ-
ence. She has been on tlie Agnes Scott campus
for seventy-three very fruitful years; "she is the
only person of my acquaintance who has been the
head of a principal department of a first-class
college without even a bachelor's degree, and no
one need apologize for her.

In 1887 The Rev. Frank Gaines was called to the Decatur
Presbyterian Church and became a partner in the enter-
prise that is Agnes Scott.

Frances Winship Walters, the college's greatest benefac-
tor, was among the first boarding students at Agnes Scott.

22

THE AGNES SCOTT

Thinking of Misses Hopkins and McKinney re-
minds me of many other career women, who, like
them, were pretty and interesting, and who could
have no doubt followed the usual road of marriage
and family and home, but who chose the less-
traveled road of notable careers. Agnes Scott could
not have been the fine college it is without the
dedicated services of such women. I never knew
any of them who seemed to regret the choices or
who seemed to discount husbands as did the novel-
ist, Marie Corelli. The latter is said to have re-

I marked, "I have a dog that growls all morning,
and a parrot that swears all the afternoon, and a
cat that stays out all night: why should I bother
with a husband?"

I would like to follow in detail the contributions
of some of these career women, but I will mention
only one Carrie Scandrett. She graduated from
Agnes Scott in 1924. where she had been President
of Student Government. She assisted in Miss Hop-
kins' office for a period and then went East to take
her M.A. degree in personnel and administration.
It looked to us as if we had made a big mistake
in letting her do that, for Syracuse, Cornell, and
other places wanted to keep her. I was particularly
disturbed by the pressure from Comell. It offered

1 her the freedom of graduate life, more money, and
more comforts than Agnes Scott could provide.
Staying there would have been the normal choice,
but she decided to return to Agnes Scott, much to
our delight and relief. Only two women she and
Miss Hopkins have been Dean of Students during
seventy-five years, and what a difference it has
made!

Unexpected Choice

My own coming to Agnes Scott was the result
of an unexpected choice that made a great deal
of difference to me rather than to the College. In
late 1914 I was elected President of Westminster
College for men in Missouri and had no serious
doubt about accepting the work. I had visited the
college and liked it. It had the support of both
Presbyterians U.S. and U.S.A.; it had a good plant,
no debt, and a very lovely home for the President.
However, before I had given acceptance, a long

distance call from John J. Eagan (chairman of the
Finance Committee of Agnes Scott's Board of Trus-
tees and a personal friend) asked me to come to
Atlanta for a conference with him. Dr. Gaines,
and others. In the meeting that followed, I was
offered the position of Registrar at Agnes Scott.
The College was not then impressive. Its total
assets were only $450,000, and it had a debt of
$6.5,000. The salary' offered was less than I would
get in Missouri, and the house offered was far
from interesting. It was the overwhelming convic-
tion of Dr. Gaines that education for women would
be the most important work in the next fifty years
that changed my plans and led me from handling
boys at Darlington School and from going to West-
minster to teach them there. It has been very won-
derful for me but not along the road I had expected
to travel.

Largest Single Gift

In 1891 Frances Winship of Atlanta was ready
to go away to school. At that time the best known
boarding school for girls in the area was Lucy
Cobb at Athens, Ga. Her older sisters had gone
there. A daughter of Col. Scott had been a student
at Lucy Cobb. The traveled road would certainly
have taken her to Athens. However, she chose to
be among the first boarding students at Agnes Scott
Institute, then only two years old. What a differ-
ence her coming has made! She loved Agnes Scott
and gave generously to it while she lived, and in
her will she more than doubled the endowment of
the College with a gift of $4,500,000!

In 1944 The Reverend Wallace M. Alston was
pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Charles-
ton, W. Va. This was the third largest church in
the Presbyterian General Assembly; it was well-
staffed and doing a great work. The Druid Hills
Presbyterian Church of Atlanta rather timidly
issued a call to him. There seemed no good reason
for him to make the change. The traveled road
would lead him to stay in Charleston, but he
accepted the call to the smaller church with much
less prestige and financial resources and without
an adequate sanctuary. What a difference it made!
Dr. Alston was close to Agnes Scott, was soon

ALUMNAE QUARTERLY / WINTER 1964

(Continued on next page)

23

The Road Not Taken

(Continued)

elected a member of tlie Board of Trustees and was
ready to become Vice-president, then President, as
he probably would never have thought of doing if
he had stayed in West Virginia.

Scores of other individuals have had their lives
linked with that of Agnes Scott in ways that seemed
unlikely, but which have proved to be of great value
in the history of the College.

The life of Agnes Scott is closely knit with those
of individuals, but other contacts and plans have
gone along less traveled paths. One of these has
to do with the relation of the institution to the
Presbyterian Church. Before Decatur Female Semi-
nar}- was organized in 1889. nineteen Presbyterian
schools had died in Georgia, three of them in
Decatur. The founders of what is now Agnes Scott
did not want another funeral, but they did want
the influence of the church. The only traveled path
in this field was to have a school controlled and
supported by a presbytery or a synod. The Agnes
Scott trustees decided to have a school independent
of any church court, and yet to have Presbyterians
on the Board and thus have a tie through individuals.

This was an untraveled road, never tried before.
However, the educational leaders of the General
Assembly liked the idea and set up a category that
only Agnes Scott fitted termed an "affiliated
Presbyterian" school. This has worked well. The
College has rendered a larger service to the church
in providing more full-time Christian women work-
ers than any of the other technicallv "Presbvterian"
colleges, but the denomination as such has never
contributed to its support. It is technically and
legally independent, but reallv in the verv heart
of church work.

Wisconsin Election Influence

One of the most astonishing experiences of
Agnes Scott with the less traveled road was an
election in Wisconsin in 1928. For several years
the LaFolletes and the Progressive Party had dom-
inated the state, but in 1928 the Republicans were

24

victorious, and a man named Kohler was chosen
Governor. He had a large manufacturing plant and
needed a man to operate this while he served in
his new office. He went to New York and invited
Dr. H. J. Thorkelson to accept the job, and the
latter did move to Wisconsin and did a good job
for many years. All that was more than 1,000
miles from Agnes Scott and seemed as unlikely to
affect its history as happenings in Russia or China.
However, the events were most important to us.

General Education Board Grants

Dr. Thorkelson in New York was the chief
executive of the General Education Board (a Rock-
efeller Foundation), and he had a very poor esti-
mate of colleges for women and even of private
colleges of any kind. He had frankly told us at
Agnes Scott not to take the trouble to bring any
applications for Rockefeller money. However,
when the unusual Republican victory in Wisconsin
took him to the state, the General Education Board
chose Trevor Aniett to be its President. He was a
friend of private colleges and of those for women
in particular. He was Chairman of the Board for
our neighbor, Spelman College, and knew Agnes
Scott well. He encouraged an application from us
right away and helped to get the money. After thai
time, Agnes Scott received over $1,500,000 in six
grants from the General Education Board. Hu-
manly speaking, none of this would have come if
the less traveled road of a Republican victory in
Wisconsin had not occurred.

In each of these cases, the individual or group
made its own free choice, a surprising one in many
instances, and that illustrates the Biblical doctrine
of free will. However, when we look back and see
how each decision fitted into the growth and future
of Agnes Scott, we are sure that God had His hand
upon the decisions and the results all the while,
and we call that predestination, which is just as
Biblical as the other doctrine.

Isn't God an interestinn; Heavenly Father, who
gathers the threads of manv lives and weaves them
into the Agnes Scott which is His College
and ours.

President Emeritus James Ross McCain's coming to Agnes Scott
was the result of an unexpected choice.

Miss Louise McKinney, professor emeritus of English, has spent
seventy-three fruitful years at Agnes Scott.

The present Dean of Students, Miss Carrie Scandrett '24, is the
second in the college's history.

The third president in Agnes Scott's history. Dr. Wallace M.
Alston, came to the college as vice-president in 1948.

Wear Your
Education
Becomingly

By JEAN BAILEY OWEN '39

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: A former president of the Alumnae
Association and current president of the Class of 1939 which
holds its 25th Reunion this 75th year, Jean maintains a lovely
home for her two Edwards, husband and son, and holds a
part-time position in the personnel department of Rich's, Inc.,
one of Atlanta's department stores.

[ILL Durant, whom your Agnes
Scott professors may disdain
as an authority, but who has
a memorable way of saying
things about civilizations,
reaches a chilling conclusion
in his volume, The Life of Greece. As he describes
the closing days of the second Atlienian empire
he remarks, "The life of thought endangers every
civilization that it adorns. ... As civilization
develops, as customs, institutions, laws and morals
more and more restrict the operation of natural im-
pulses, action gives way to thought, achievement to
imagination, directness to subtlety, cruelty to sym-
pathy, belief to doubt . . . behavior becomes frag-
mentary and hesitant, conscious and calculating,
the willingness to fight subsides into a disposition
to infinite argument. Few nations have been able
to reach intellectual refinement and esthetic sen-
sitivity without sacrificing so much in virility and
unity that their wealth presents an irresistible
temptation to impecunious barbarians. Around
eveiy Rome hover the Gauls, around every Alliens
some Macedon."

Relax, I shall not debate Durant's conclusion i
about civilization orvdraw parallels with present
world conditions. There are far too many history
majors and history professors, who might be pres-
ent, for me to dare. But I do want to say that
when you are graduated from Agnes Scott and
leave to become a housewife, a technician, a junior
economist, a copywriter, a teacher, or even if you
go on to graduate school, you Athenians are going
to '"meet up with" some Macedonians. You will
not be able to go back, to deny your academic past,
to stop thinking, to avoid doubt, any more than
those ancient Atlienians could. But you could do
something they did not. You could set about learn-
ing from the Macedonians and, building upon that
knowledge, become a leader among the hovering
Gauls. Certainly other graduates have done so.

So why bring up the subject? Students of the
sixties cannot imagine its being a problem, but it
will be for some of you. You will meet unsubtle
types who giggle when you pronounce a French
word correctly, or know what existentialism is.

26

THE AGNES SCOTT

or are even aware that Night of the Iguana is not
a treatise on the nocturnal habits of lizards. You
will have to learn to suffer silently through the
repeated reading of some woman's club creed that
is a rosary of cliches. You may even be compli-
mented by some superior on your "versality."
If you do not "watch out" you will find yourself
trying to deny Athens, purposely using speech and
phrases that do not come naturallv. not mentioning
the book you are reading because the rest of the
group does not have the filthy habit.

Responsibility of Stewardship

But think for a moment if vou are tempted.
You will have spent four years honing this already
excellent intellectual equipment each one of vou
has, and you really cannot afford to let its edges
get dull. God gave you a mind. Your parents or
your teachers recognized this mind, and few of
you can take credit for having given anything
more than willingness-to-accept financial and men-
tal aid in its development. Not until you finish
Agnes Scott will you have an opportunitv to show
what you are going to do with your inheritance.
You must not sit in the scomer's seat and feel
superior, or be frozen into immobilitv bv the
"impecunious barbarian's" shocking behavior, or
let your "life of thought" in college endanger your
active role in whatever segment of society you
enter. You cannot just talk about the inadequacies
of your children's Sundav school teachers. You
cannot just attend lectures and discussion groups
on government or personnel policies. If yoti play
only these spectator roles, your behavior will be-
come "fragmentary and hesitant." You will talk
yourself out of action and achieve only "endless
argument."

You cannot afford to and there is really no

reason why you should let vour intellectual tools
suffer corrosion. And thev will, // you keep them
locked in a mental vault, like the illegal possessor
of a great painting, who dares not admit to the
world that he has it. An automobile needs to be
driven and a mind needs to think; and a person
needs to take action resulting from thought. No
one says it will always be easy to make "intellec-

tual refinement and esthetic sensitivity" mesh with
the stick-shift life of domesticity. Feeding formu-
las, the teething cycle, and making paper mache
masks for the skit at Cub Pack meeting will make
it difficult to remember that your education gave
you a grave responsibility of stewardship, like the
possession of great wealth. You may even forget
to how many you owe a debt, and that your riches
are not yours alone.

Now having talked about you Athenians, let me
say a word in behalf of the Macedonians, not that
they need it because they won, you know! After
college you may well pass through three stages.

First, there will be the awe at having a real job

if it is your first, satisfaction at being paid for the
work you do, delicious release in having no paral-
lel reading, no test to studv for. no papers to write.
Second, there will be surprise and delight over how
much of your college material you are able to put
to use. ^liether you are planning a safety cam-
paign, teaching a leadership course, or nmning
down a money shortage, the research into the back-
ground of the problem, the gathering of concrete
examples to back up your conclusion are all tech-
niques you have been practicing during your col-
lege years and will present no mystery however
different the environment in which you mav be
using them.

Virtue of Humility

But the third stage will last longer and is much
more important to reach as early as possible. Some-
one once asked me if. having met and talked with
various members of a junior executive training
group, I thought there was any subject or phase
of the program that needed adding to or strength-
ening. I said in all sincerity that what they needed
most was a course in humility. You see, starting
salaries in such groups in most businesses today
are higher than those that production-line em-
ployees, for example, with many years experience
are paid because the young people in the execu-
tive training group have great potential. And yet.
when such an inexperienced young person is first
placed in a supervisory capacity, the worker is the
one who teaches and the junior executive needs to

ALUMNAE QUARTERLY / WINTER 1964

(Continued on next page)

27

Wear Your Education Becomingly

(Continued)

listen with humility. The recent college graduate
may be made assistant to a manager who wants
the "Eyetalian" imports checked and the "colyums"
added. Having her ears thus assaulted, the new
assistant just might feel too superior to note that
this same manager operates a large business, main-
tains discipline without friction over many em-
ployees, has a staggering grasp of figures and
detail both past and present, instinctively organizes
and plans, shows originality and initiative, even

sees through the superiority complex, and again

quoting Durant on Macedon "has all the virtues

except those of civilization!" He might not know
whether Sappho, Shakespeare or Shelley came
first, or whether Evtushenko is poet or foreign
minister. He is a Macedonian, and you, the junior
executive, the recent graduate, can learn from him
or snicker at him, depending upon whether you
are staying in the second stage or have reached
the third.

Educational Levels

Possibly no one here today would have so short
sighted an approach as has just been described,
but there have been a few such at Agnes Scott
in years gone by. In fact, on the very first Black
Cat week end after I was graduated, four hundred
years ago, the following incident took place. Within
some three weeks following Commencement, al-
most by accident, I entered an antedilurian ver-
sion of junior executive training at a local retail
establishment, and by fall had been placed to sell
in the book department to prove whether I could
cope with the fundamental job in a selling organi-
zation. Someone invited me back to the college on

that October night and I sat beside a student whom
I had known for many years. She asked about my
present occupation and when told, remarked now

that I recall, in quite an Athenian tone "Well,

of all things, an Agnes Scott graduate selling in a
store!" When my blood pressure came down to
normal, I began to view the Macedonians with
much more respect then and there. There are, you
will find, several kinds of intelligence, not all of
them tied inseparably to I.Q. or formal education.
You must regard the world of business, if that
is where you go after your undergraduate days,
or the world of PTA's and garden clubs, or teach-
ers' meetings and obnoxious parents as another
level of education from which there is fully as
much to learn as there was at Agnes Scott where
you were given matchless means of mastering it.
And the greatest of these tools should be the open
mind which is the aim of a liberal arts course.

Gold Worth Owning

So what have I said? First, that you will be
forever marked by your education. Second, that
you must wear it neither like a family crest nor
a scarlet letter. Third, that it is an inheritance
that must be wisely re-invested to pay future divi-
dends to others. Fourth, that your kind of wealth
is not the only honest coin of the realm. There
are others who have gold worth owning and
you Bachelors-of-Arts-to-be could use some of it.
Finally, when you receive your degree and start
out, you face the dangers of adjusting to life in
Macedonia, but you come down from the Athenian
hills with the finest set of weapons the combined
efforts of you, your parents and your faculty can
forge. If you put them to use rather than stand
them like trophies on the shelf, your life of thought
will not endanger the civilization that it adorns,
only strengthen it.

28

THE AGNES SCOH

Where There's a Will, There s a Way

Who

, , , ai

f in

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Current president of the Alumnae Asso-
ciation, Sarah Frances exemplifies the alumna in the profes-
sions. She is an extremely competent attorney in Decatur, Go.,
known particularly for her work in estate planning, and has
just been appointed to the Governor's Commission on the
Status of Women.

NE of the most ancient rights
for which freedom loving civi-
lizations have fought and even
given tlieir lives is that of the
enjoyment of property. Our
American Constitution guaran-
tees to all life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness and
the protection of property rights. As Americans we
have an amazing histoiy of ambition and accumula-
tion of wealth; yet it is unbelievable how inattentive
and careless we are toward conserving the products
of our lifetime labors for loved ones who may
survive us. Lawyers who are engaged in the field
of estate planning are astounded at tliis paradox
of inconsistency.

The major general proposition is that virtually
everyone should have a valid legal will. Only in
this way can we be assured tliat our property goes
to those we want to have it. If we fail to exercise
this privilege, the law takes over and prescribes
who does inherit, in what proportion, and regulates
the administration of the estate. This often results
in a gross miscarriage of our wishes and in need-
less administrative expense and burdensome detail.
For example, if I were to die intestate, my
legal heirs at law would be my fifty-two first
cousins and six aunts and uncles. An administrator
would have to be appointed; he would be required
to post bond in double tire amount of the estate;
after court orders and legal advertisement my
property would be sold at public sale, undoubtedly
at a loss, and the balance divided in small portions
equally among these fifty-eight people, some of
whom I haven't even seen in years. This is the
penalty that my neglect would impose on those
close to me. (Continued on next page)

ALUMNAE QUARTERLY / WINTER 1964

29

Where There's a Will

(Continued)

While this ludicrous situation would not happen
to a person with a spouse and children, I cannot
emphasize too strongly that anyone with minor
children or grandchildren needs a will. Property
should never be left directly to minors, and we
should not allow chance to decide that they might
inherit through intestacy.

First, who may make a will? In Georgia every
person is entitled to do so unless he is laboring
under some legal disability arising from lack of
mental capacity, from being under the specified
age, or from lack of perfect liberty of action, as
in cases of fraud or undue influence.

Penny Wise, Pound Foolish

It may be of historical interest to Agnes Scott
alumnae that about the time America was being
colonized women were classed in England with
criminals, idiots, and imbeciles as not being ca-
pable of making a will. We have progressed con-
siderably from the time when immediately upon
marriage a woman's property became the property
of her husband, and she had no right to dispose
of it by gift, will, or otherwise. To illustrate these
changes, I quote our famous Chief Justice Bleckley
when he declared in the mid-1880's in the case of
McNaught vs. Anderson, 78 Ga. .50.3, that "the
legal unity of husband and wife has, in Georgia,
for most purposes been dissolved, and a legal
duality established. . . . Legislative chemistry has
analyzed the conjugal unit, and it is no longer
treated as an element, but as a compound. A hus-
band can make a gift to his own wife, although
she lives in the house with him and attends to her
household duties, as easily as he can make a
present to his neighbor's wife. This puts her on
an equality with other ladies, and looks like
progress."

The laws diff'er among the states as to a person's
freedom to leave all of his property to others than
his family members and as to the amount of mental
capacity required to make a valid will. The premise
in Georgia is that every person is entitled to leave

his property to any one he chooses, even to th
exclusion of his wife and children (with an as
ception in large estates) ; and in our state preciou
little mental capacity is required to make a will
If the testator understands the nature of his act ii
making a will, knows what property he has am
who are his family relations, he is generally con
sidered competent. A careful lawyer wants to avoic
a will contest and takes every precaution to assun
himself of the mental competency of the testa toi
before drafting a will.

Each will should be tailored to a person's famil)
situation and property holdings. However, wha
almost everyone wants is the so-called "simple
will." Never have so many been so mistaken aboul
their needs in this important area of their lives
and so penny wise and pound foolish.

The most common family group is a man and
wife with a child or children. The husband and
wife usually wish to leave everything to each other
if one survives; and if not, to the children. So
often they will insist that it is unnecessary to pro-
vide a contingent trust for the children who may
be minors because, they say, if one spouse dies
while the children are under age, the survivor
will take care of the problem then.

It is not wise to leave the vital interests of
children to the future for af least three good
reasons: One, in these days of the great American
traveling public, it can and does happen that hus-
band and wife are killed in a common accident,
and this contingency must be foreseen.

Complementary Wills

Two, as tragic as disasters are which take both
parents at once, what disturbs thoughtful attorneys
is the knowledge gained from experience that
people postpone making a will. Even if one spouse
survives the other, there is no assurance that the
survivor will do anything about making a new
will containing proper provisions for minor chil-
dren or grandchildren. I consider it highly desir-
able that a will be drafted for both husband and
wife at the same time, so that the two instruments
will complement each other. Where there is any
fair possibility that minor children could be bene-

30

THE AGNES SCOn

iciaries, trust or testamentary guardian provisions
or them are extremely important, so that they
an be cared for in nearly the same way as the
)arent would do if living and so that these interests
ire protected in any eventuality.

Three, many people maintain that they have so
ittle property that it doesn't warrant making a
vill. My answer is that the smaller the estate tlie
nore urgent it is to preserve it.

Impact of Taxes

If minor children survive a parent who did not
eave a will or who failed to provide for them
properly in his "simple will." they have good
reason to feel cheated. Should it become necessary
o handle the minors" estates through the courts,
leedless expense and circumscribed legal pro-
'edures often eat up their inheritance and limit
jr make impossible any growth in assets. We can
vouchsafe that this is not what any parent would
A^ant, but this is the result of procrastination or
refusal to spend a small amount more to get a
Droperly drawn will.

The first responsibility of an attorney is to come
o know the family situation so that he can be
ilerted to special problems which require con-
deration in estate planning. The testator may
lave a closely held family business and valued
mployees calling for particular attention; one
hild may have a handicap necessitating special
provisions; another may be endowed with unique
alents making it advisable to provide extraordi-
laiT expenditure from the estate for him; one may
3e a spendthrift, an alcoholic, or have an undesir-
able spouse; a son may be highly successful or a
daughter married to a man with money, whereas
another child has perhaps great need for financial
assistance; or there could be children of a prior
marriage for whom definite provision should be
made. Often it is inadvisable to leave any con-
siderable estate to children upon their reaching the
legal age of twenty-one. Tlirough planning, differ-
ent ages can be set up at which beneficiaries will
receive percentages of their inheritance and thus
minimize the danger of their squandering monev
or property through immaturity.

Husbands or wives feel strongly sometimes that
they do not want a second husband or wife to
enjoy the family treasures. These very human
desires can be carried out if you discuss them with
your attorney.

Taxes are a major factor in the cost of living
today and cannot be ignored in careful estate plan-
ning. Generally the biggest item of cost in trans-
ferring property from one estate to another is the
estate tax. Thus it must be part of the planning
of anyone who has an estate exceeding $60,000
to consider the impact of estate taxes at his death.
The value of the estate, for this tax purpose, in-
cludes all life insurance regardless of the bene-
ficiary to whom it is payable. Most people would
surely prefer to conserve their property for their
beneficiaries rather than to pav out more than is
necessary in taxes. By entering upon a calculated
plan of making lifetime gifts, bv use of the marital
deduction provisions in a will, through trusts, and
charitable bequests, estate taxes can be minimized
or avoided altogether. Here's how the saving in
Federal tax works out in a $200,000 estate owned
bv the husband:

Gross estate
Specific exemption

// trust is
not used

$200,000
60.000

// trust is used

for excess over

Marital Deduction

S200,000
60.000

;t estate

140.000

140,000

ss marital

deduction (l/o)

100,000

100.000

Taxable estate

when husband dies 40,000
Federal estate tax 4.800

40.000
4.800

Taxable estate of

wife on her later

death (received

from husband)

195.200

100,000

Federal tax

HI. 000

4,800

By splitting the husbands estate into the marital
deduction, one-half for the sole benefit of the wife
and the second half for her use during life and
at her death for die children or other beneficiaries,
the same money was not taxed twice, and $26,200
was thus saved for the family.

ALUMNAE QUARTERLY / WINTER 1964

(Continued on next page)

31

Where There's a Will

(Continued)

It is frequently overlooked that phenomenal
savings can be effected through lifetime gifts, or
testamentary bequests to charitable or educational
institutions. Some may prefer to set up a trust
providing lifetime benefits for individual bene-
ficiaries with tlie remainder (at the death of all
beneficiaries) going to a charity or an educational
institution. If this plan is feasible, it has the
advantages of making the estate assets available to
designated beneficiaries for so long as they live,
effecting spectacular tax savings, and making a
great contribution to mankind by ultimate distri-
bution to the education of our future citizens or
to other charitable causes.

During Agnes Scott College's seventy-five years
some magnificent bequests have been made to the

College through the wills of alumnae, faculty mem
bers, and other friends. In planning our estates
both lifetime and testamentary, at this vital mo
ment in Agnes Scott's history we who are alumnat
have a unique opportunity to make contribution
to the College which can be deducted from incomt
taxes now or to employ testamentary provisioni'
which will reduce estate taxes later.

In addition to the methods previously mentioned
other assets which are particularly attractive foi
gifts to our College are stocks which have appre
ciated in value. We cannot sell them because of i
high capital gains tax, but they may be given t(
Agnes Scott College, and we can take a tax deduc
tion for their present higlj value without reducing
cash reserves. Another tax gain may be realizec
by making a gift of insurance palicies to the Col
lege. The revenue code will permit a current in

I CHOSE POLITICS (Commued from page 19)

from the inside. Although I admired
Governor RibicofF for his abilities
and respected him for his integrity,
we had never been particularly
cordial. As a matter of fact, at our
first private meeting he had practi-
cally thrown me out of his office.

32

That happened in February of
1959 when I. a brash, freshman
legislator who didn't know any better,
barged into his office and advised
him that my comer of Connecticut
might as well secede to Massachusetts
for all the good we were deriving

from the way he was governing thf
state. I continued in this vein fo?
quite twenty minutes, throwing in {
few choice appellations along the way
until he had enough. I was no mort
to him than a gnat buzzing arounc
his eyes; but he is a man with a re
markably short temper where gnats
are concerned. He politely and
thoroughly demolished me in about
four sentences and although there
were two exits from his office, in m}
confusion I could find neither. H
pointed out the nearest.

And here I was, a few years later,
offering to help. The offer was even
tually accepted and then I found ou1i
what it means to be consumed by a
job. It soon became evident that 1
would not have time to run for my ow?
reelection. I didn't care. For eighli
months I talked, thought, acted, atf
and drank only in the interest o\
reaching one particular goal. I be
came a crashing bore to everyone

THE AGNES SCOTT

come tax deduction for insurance premiums and
also an estate tax deduction for the face amount
of the policy if it is properly assigned to Agnes
Scott. This arrangement not only makes possible
a substantial gift to the College without changing
your present position but also will result in a
smaller estate tax and a larger net inheritance to
your beneficiaries.

One more point should be considered. There is
a rather common misconception regarding jointly
held property. Without going into the ramifications
on this subject, I will simply point out that many
problems can arise in joint ownership situations.
One fact which is not generally known by the lay-
man is that in the case of joint ownership the
Internal Revenue Service takes the position that
all of the property actually belonged to the first
one to die, and the taxes on the whole property

are levied on his or her estate, except to the extent
that the survivor can prove a contribution to the
property.

I was asked once to make a talk on Estate Plan-
ning and Wills, and an imaginative Program Chair-
man announced in the press that my subject would
be "Solid Gold Securities." The best way to make
secure your "solid gold securities" is to select a
competent lawyer experienced in this field and
prepare your will now. When a matter as impor-
tant as the eventual distribution of your estate is
at stake, do not try to "do it yourself." Bear in
mind that "a little learning is a dangerous tiling,"
and that "he who has himself for a lawyer has a
fool for a client." Consult your lawyer and, if
indicated, he will call in other experts in the field
such as an accountant, a life insurance representa-
tive, and bank trust officers.

P

who was not involved in the cam-
paign. (Fortunately, my husband
was.) But, I loved it!

Governor Ribicoff is an ideal can-
didate who thinks fast, works
assiduously, campaigns at a gallop
and has an almost infallible political
intuition. He expects no less from
his staff. It was vitally necessary that
the three or four of us most intimate-
ly concerned with his campaign be
able to grasp ideas immediately and
solve problems instantly. We had to
be able to pick the salient point, the
vita! information from a plethora of
points and information. We had to
recognize it promptly when the ma-
chinery of the campaign started to
falter. And we had to fix it fast!
One becomes tough and dedicated
under these conditions. There was
ice-water in my veins and wariness
in my mien. In other words, I be-
came a "pro."

My title was "poUtical agent," a

statutory term loose enough to cover
every contingency. And there were
all kinds of contingencies. I had
found it difficult to balance my own
check-book every month, but now I
was responsible for the care and
spending of a quarter of a million
dollars. I had been known for my
irreverent sarcasm, but now I had to
be tactful and diplomatic with all
breeds of political prima donnas. I
had always hated the telephone as a
means of conversation, but now I
had to spend about six hours on the
telephone every single day talking to
delegates, mavericks, trouble-makers,
crack pots, friends, volunteers and
rumor-mongers. I had always avoided
face-to-face combat, but now I had
to be bluntly honest with the candi-
date and tell him the bad as well
as the good even though it usually
meant an uncomfortable few minutes.
All this was part of the job. I was
often harried and occasionally an-

guished. I don't think it showed.

And then it was over success-
fully. Since then I've been hibernat-
ing. Looking back over the past five
years, I know I wouldn't have missed
them for the world. The by-products
are many and varied. I think I may
have done some good as a legislator.
I have learned to listen really
listen when people talk to me. I
have made some wonderful friends
who are good at their jobs and vi-
brating with their interest in life. My
children are very much aware of
their world and the systems that run
it, much more than most young peo-
ple. I have been in every one of the
169 towns of Connecticut and have
seen the beauty of the land and the
problems of governing it. I have met
people from all walks of life, people
I never would have met had I chosen
to lead a typical life as the wife of a
dentist in a small city in Connecticut.
I didn't choose to. I chose politics.

ALUMNAE QUARTERLY / WINTER 1964

33

Atlanta And
Agnes Scott

speak of the progress of Atlanta and Agnes
Scott College is to speak of notable past per-
formances and exciting future potentials. For
three quarters of a century now our city, our metro-
politan area, and Agnes Scott College have been as-
sociates in many areas of progress with widening hori-
zons, always expanding opportunities, and stimulating
challenges.

In the first seventy years of constructive and com-
patible association, both Atlanta and Agnes Scott, to-
gether and separatelv. have achieved amazing records
of advancement. It was onlv twenty-four years after
Atlanta began rising from the destruction of the War
Between the States that two remarkably farsighted and
dedicated men met in Decatur then our small neighbor
city with onlv one thousand inhabitants and founded
the little Decatur Female Seminary which was to be-
come the distinguished, internationally known Agnes
Scott College of today. At that time Atlanta was also a
small city with only some thirty thousand souls within
its city limits.

During the seventv-four years which have passed since
The Reverend Frank H. Gaines and George \^'ashington
Scott founded the small but sturdv forerunner of the
present college, both Agnes Scott College and .Atlanta
have increased astoundinglv in physical size, financial
strength, regional and national significance. For ex-
ample, Agnes Scott this year has an enrollment of 699,

EDITOR'S NOTE: Ivan Allen, Jr. is Mayor of Atlanta and a mem-
ber of Agnes Scott's Board of Trustees. This article is edited from
an address he made to the Atlanta Alumnae Club in January as a
major port of the Club's 75th anniversary year program.

the largest in its history, representing some thirty states
and a number of foreign countries. Its sixty-five acre
campus in the heart of Decatur presents an impressive
array of splendid new buildings, and more are on the
way. Its financial assets now total more than S18 mil-
lion, some Sll million of which is represented by en-
dowment. All in all, Agnes Scott College as an institu-
tion now is as substantial as the faith of its Presbyterian
founding fathers.

By comparison, the city of Atlanta now has a popula-
tion of more than 500.000. Its tax digest has climbed to
an all time high of SI, 203, 52.5. 000. Its position as busi-
ness, industrial, financial, and transportation capital of
the southeastern states is undisputed.

Like Agnes Scott, along with its physical and financial
advancement. Atlanta has maintained a high moral tone,
integrity of spirit, a healthy social attitude capable of
adjusting to the needs and challenges of changing times.
By so doing Atlaiita has been able to foster and preser\'e
a healthv racial climate and avoid the virus of violence
which in the last few vears has infected so many cities
throughout our nation.

Truly the material progress shown by Atlanta and
Agnes Scott in the first seventy-four years of association
is amazing. Agnes Scott has contributed much to the
economy of the Atlanta metropolitan area. But of far
greater value literally beyond price has been Agnes
Scotts contribution to the cultural, artistic, educational,
and spiritual advancement of the Atlanta metropolitan
area and to our region. Beyond our region Agnes Scott
alumnae have spread the light of learning joined with
independence of thought and firnmess of faith through-
out our nation and around the world.

To some extent it might be said that the often all too

34

THE AGNES SCOn

le line from St. Matthew. '"A prophet is not without
iiiiior save in his own country."' might apply to Agnes
5cott. For I doubt if many residents of our Atlanta
netropolitan area, especially those who have moved
lere during the last few years, are aware of how dis-
inguished an educational institution Agnes Scott College
s. Like so many well-established institutions and busi-
lesses it is apt to be largely taken for granted. It carries
an its important work of educating voung women to be-
ome citizens of value wherever they go. quietly and
.vithout fanfare. It has no football team to excite public
nterest. It does not seek the limelight with campus capers
jr academic controversies. But when suneys are made of
he academic excellence of American institutions of
ligher learning Agnes Scott always is rated among the
eaders.

That has been so over many years. For example, as
far back as 1920, Agnes Scott won the distinction of
being put on the approved list of the Association of
American Universities, and that is the blue ribbon award
n higher education in America. Agnes Scott is among
the select sixteen of women's colleges east of the Mis-
sissippi having chapters of Phi Beta Kappa, the scholar-
hip honorary society. Two recent national studies have
ranked Agnes Scott among the top ten colleges for wo-
men in the nation.

I am sure it is comforting to President Alston and mv
fellow trustees that Agnes Scott is also ranked among
die top ten colleges for women in financial strength. By
these and many other yardsticks of excellence Agnes
Scott stands among the foremost colleges for women in
our region and in our nation.

But it is in the value of the lives of those who go out
from their alma mater over our nation and around our
world that Agnes Scott has its highest distinction. Now

as Agnes Scott enters its seventy-fifth year, more than
ten thousand alumnae are engaged Ln many walks of
life. They carry with them in tlie professions, in homes,
in business, in government, in religious work, in educa-
tion that emphasis on excellence, that determination
on efficiency, that outlook of Christian service which
they learned and developed in their years on the campus
in Decatur. Also, they have with them wherever they
may go and live tlie ideal that never can they be satisfied
with mediocrity. They always must look to the stars and
strive with high ideals for excellence in whatever thev
do.

Wherever they go. whatever thev do. they spread the
message of intellectual integrity and set an example of
service on a high level. They take with them the breadth
of vision and the widening of personal horizons the\
learned at Agnes Scott. Their ideals and example are
particularly of value to our own South as it is now
going through an extremely trying and difficult period.
Our problems cannot be solved by issuing proclamations
of protests or exerting pressures of prejudice. It is
through the intelligence, integrity, and high character
of people trained and disciplined to think realistically
and constructively by schools and colleges of high quality
that our challenges will be met and our problems solved.

Agnes Scott is one of the centers of training to develop
such thinking and tlie qualities of understanding and
forbearance that will bring our region and our nation
through the troubles which now beset us.

During tlieir first three quarters of association in
progress. Atlanta and Agnes Scott not only have grown
together, they have grown up together. In the doctrine
of the great Presbyterian founders of Agnes Scott, I am
sure they are predestined to achieve greatness in their
future association.

ONE GREAT SOCIETY

(Continued from page 12)

sure, contiiuie to grow and be passed on here, lor
iwe are all part of a process, a living organism sucli
as Burke was describing when he called society
a contract and said "it becomes a partnership, not
only between those who are living, but between
those who are living, those who are dead, and tliose
wlio are to be born."' In a way. we are celebrating
ourselves when we celebrate our college, not with
arrogance, but with joy at the privilege of being
members one of anotlier.

I liope you will forgive me if I have spoken
today only of the aspects of the college which fill
us with pride and love. I am very conscious that

we have faults which need to be corrected; and
it is part of the honesty of this Agnes Scott char-
acter we cherish to admit them and work to over-
come them. But on birthdays, it seems legitiinate
to speak of what we want to celebrate. And so on
this Founder's Day, I give you the qualities of
Colonel Scott and the other founders, the qualities
of our alma mater, which seem to me most cherish-
able: the largeness of vision, the wisdoin in plan-
ning, the indomitable courage, the loyal devotion,
the willingness to do hard and self-sacrificing work,
the intellectual and moral integrity, the continuing
commitment to high purposes, in the hope that we
may be, as far as in us lies, a worthy part of what
Wordsworth calls "one great society on earth, the
noble living and the noble dead."

ALUMNAE QUARTERLY / WINTER 1964

35

Now We Are Seventy- four

OU may be aware of the Agnes Scott adage
which states: "If we do something once at the
College, it becomes a tradition." Such a tradi-
tion is the Faculty Skit or Faculty Revue which is
produced when the College is engaged in a financial cam-
paign.

In January a campus campaign marked the climax of
the 75th Anniversary Development Program, and the
traditional faculty skit, this time based on ^ innie the
Pooh and other A. A. Milne characters, was titled "Xow
We Are Seventy-five."

This made me think, as I contemplated how I might
celebrate seventy-five years of alumnae in this column,
that we are now seventv-four. And are you aware that
there are a few alumni among us? As President Emeritus
McCain tells the story, a few more students were needed
to open the door of the Decatur Female Seminary in
1889. so six little boys attended that first year.

Certainly from seventy-four years of the experience
of being alumnae we should glean wisdom and insight
about ourselves, our own lives, and our relationships
with Agnes Scott College. One way to reflect this, the
way open to me. is the printed word in this magazine.
So. with the advice and guidance of the Alumnae As-
sociations Publications Committee, we asked several
alumnae to write articles about themselves, the living
of their lives.

We received a veritable wealth of material so much
that we could not publish all the articles in this issue.
Even automation has not vet solved the problem of ex-
panding the printed page. But this just means that we
shall rejoice in more articles bv alumnae in the suc-
ceeding issues during this anniversary year.

Another way of celebrating, open to me in my capac-
ity as editor of the Quarterly, is to look to the future in
the format, the design, of the magazine. It has been an
exciting experience to create, with the astute assistance
of the printer, a whole new concept of the magazine s
form. Do you like the new look? I To reassure those
who miss the Class \ews in this issue: we will publish
this section again and again! i

It is an axiom that a college is judged bv the people

36

it produces, its alumnae. President Alston has expressed
this far better than I can when he said: "The importajice
of Agnes Scott as a college cannot be estimated by
numbering our alumnae; the number, of course, will
always be relatively small. \or can the contribution of
this institution be measured accurately merely by
determining the wealth or renown of our graduates.
The ultimate test is the intrinsic worth of Agnes Scott
students, here and after college days are over, in the
homes they establish the professional and business
careers upon which they enter the church, civic,
educational, and social relationships that they maintain."

I know of no yardstick, no set of statistics, which
would perform the kind of measuring which Dr. Alston
mentions. I only know that during the ten years I've
sened as director of alumnae affairs. I've found cer-
tain characteristics of alumnae to be evident. There is.
thank goodness, no such thing as a "composite alumna."
and I would not put any one of us into such a mold. I
shall simply outline some of our common characteristics.

In the area of pursuing academic excellence, a funda-
mental purpose of this college, alumnae prove them-
selves and the college. For seventy-four years, and at an
increasing rate today, the alumna does graduate study,
and her performance is usually of high order. And
alumnae do teach everything from nurserv school to
psychiatry. Most important to the individual alumna,
perhaps, is the teaching she does, in a different sense,
for her children. The pattern is repeated: children of
alumnae win academic honors in numberless colleges
and universities.

The Agnes Scott alumna is certainly articulate. She
does not hesitate to tell Dr. Alston, for example, how to
run the College often to his despair. But she feels,
quite healthily I think, free to speak her mind on the
College or any other subject and then to act on her
reasoned judgment about a given situation. She takes
the responsibility of being an educated woman in our
society. Best of all. she leads others out of the current
trap of cynicism, defeatism, hopelessness as a way of
life and will. I'm sure, do so for another seventy-four
years.

The 75tk Anniversary Lecture Series

VIKTOR E. FRANKL

Wednesday, Feb. 26

8:15 P.M.

BUDAPEST STRING QUARTET

Friday, March 6

8:15 P.M.

MARGARET MEAD

Wednesday, April 1

8:15 P.M.

CHARLES P. TAFT

Thursday, April 16

8:15 P.M.

C. P. SNOW

Date in May to be

Announced

ALICE J. DOWLING

Friday, April 24

8:15 P.M.

^i

GEORGE M. DOCHERTY

Sunday, June 7

11 A.M.

"*-i

Sa .~^c"

^

MARK VAN DOREN

Tuesday, May 5

8:15 P.M.

LEROY P. COLLINS

Monday, June 8

10 A.M.

RETURN POSTAGE GUARANTEED BY ALUMNAE QUARTERLY, AGNES SCOTT COLLEGE, DECATUR, GE(

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ANNIVERSARY

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Architect's rendering of new plans for the Dana Fine Arts building

now under construction shows the exciting combination

of Gothic and contemporary design.

// .- .^3

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J anef Preston s Poetry / see page 9

ALUMNAE QUARTERLY SPRING 1964

THE ALUMNAE QUARTERLY

VOL. 42, No. 3

SPRING 1964

CONTENTS

4 Bangkok Classroom

Priscilla Slieppard Taylor

7 Pioneering a Program in Mental Health
Mildred Thomson

9 I pon Our Pulses

Janef N. Preston

11 Faculty Skit

15 Class News

Hendrica Baart Schepman

23 Worthy Notes

Ann Worthy Johnson '38, Editor
Mariane Wurst '63, Managing Editor
John Stuart McKenzie, Design Consultant

MEMBER OF AMERICAN ALUMNI COUNCIL

The Agnes Scott Alumnae Quarterly
is published jour times a year (No-
vember, February, April and July) by
the Alumnae Association oj Agnes
Scott College at Decatur, Georgia jor
alumnae and jriends. Entered as second-
class matter at the I'ost Office oj
Decatur, Georgia, under Act oj August
24, 1912. Subscription price, S2.0U per
year.

FRONT COVER

Spring comes to Agnes Scott-
Caryl Pearson '64

PHOTO CREDITS

Cover, frontispiece, back cover,
and photos on pp. 10 and 11 by
Ken Patterson. Photo on p. 16
by Billy Downs. Drawing on
p. 7 by Joe McKibben.

<.(.

ans finite capacity cannot
get hold of the ultimate meaning of life

. . . but the idea of meaning
"must always be ahead
to set the pace of lifeT

VIKTOR FRANKL : Man in Search for Meaning

The Viennese psychiatrist spoke at Agnes Scott in
February as part of the 75th Anniversary Lecture
Series.

Bangkok Classroom

By PRISCILLA SHEPPARD TAYLOR '53

Pris takes time out to study her guidebook during one of her frequent tours of Thailand.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: "Pris" used her Fulbright award to pursue
graduate work at the University of London where she made an envi-
able record. She married John Maxwell Taylor in 1957, and they and
their two daughters have had tours of duty with the State Department
in Korea and Thailand.

I FTER years of never ei
pecting to be in ai
other classroom,
found myself last yea
teaching America
literature and history to eleventh an
twelfth graders in the Internationc
School of Bangkok. This is a privat
school operating under the genera
supervision of the Thai governmen
but run by American administrator
with a predominance of America
teachers and accredited in the Unitei
States. It serves all the foreign corr
munity in Bangkok, which is cor
siderable because of that city's posi
tion as a center for business enter
prises, diplomatic missions, and ou
own aid missions.

Of the 1,200 students about three
quarters were Americans; the res
were a remarkable mixture. Al
though many Thai schools have fin
reputations, the Thai language ha
no application outside Thailand
Hence the American school sen'e(
children of Indian. Japanese, Euro
pean, and other diplomats and busi
nessmen who preferred their childrei
to know English. Children of thi
local Chinese community made u]
another large contingent.

Despite my very limited experi
ence, I shall attempt to give some
thing of a profile of the America:
high school students in such an en
vironment. How do they react to thi
challenges of living and learning ii
a modern, tropical. Asian city? Dc
the advantages outweigh the disad
vantages of transient living for them?
A secondary topic will be the ques
tion of how the teacher must adap'
material to the sophisticated interna
tional young Americans and. simul
taneously. to the assorted Australian
German, Korean, and other students'
in any given class.

A key word in the discussion o;
any topic connected with Bangkok i;
"tropical," for a climate which flue
tuates only between the "hot" and thf
"hottest" season requires a continu
ous effort at adaptation. It is ver)
difficult to arouse or maintain muct
intellectual excitement in such con
tinuously enervating weather, and i'
is unrealistic to expect students tc

THE AGNES SCOTl

pend much time after school in sus-
ained study. Incidentally, it is also
lifficult for them to "identify" with
lescriptions of "Snowy Woods!"

In addition to having to fight the
oporific effects of the heat, many of
he American students who have
raveled abroad much of their young
ives appear to resent having to spend
heir vital senior high school years
iiway from the United States. Those
ivho adjust best to the foreign en-
vironment fall into two opposite cate-
ejories: those for whom life overseas
s a new experience a "dream come
itrue" or those who have always
ived abroad and do not know what
ithey are missing, or could be miss-
ing, at home. Those who seem to
have the haidest adjustment are stu-
dents who have remained out of their
homeland for perhaps five years at a
stretch and who feel out of touch,
sometimes nostalgic, and often cyni-
cal bevond their years.

Although almost all of the Ameri-
cans in the Bangkok high school ex-
pect to go to college when the\ grad-
uate, the distance of Bangkok from
the United Slates combines with the
heat and these other factors to dimin-
ish both intellectual competition
among them and also the feeling of
pressure to win acceptance at the
college of their choice. Many of the
students lack real roots in the L nited
States and hence are less determined
in their own minds on particular col-
leges or geographical areas. Some
also feel they can remain overseas
with their parents and enter college
at a date of their choice.

The generally impermanent atmos-
phere of an overseas post is another
drawback for students caught up in
it. Despite efforts of our government
to shift families in the summer.
lengths of official tours vary, and stu-
dents often leave in mid-term. Ob-
viouslv the preparation of the stu-
dents entering the school varies
tremendously, and some come armed
with book reports or term papers
from their previous schools which
may. they think, come in handv
again. With a teaching staff recruited
locally, and from an almost equally
mobile group, one can expect also

that some students will gamble on
Mrs. Jones' having to leave before
they themselves do.

Compared to schools in the United
States, overseas schools often sponsor
few extracurricular activities, and the
community at large in Bangkok does
not offer many of the recreations to
which Americans are accustomed.
The horseback riding. Thai dancing
lessons, and endless birthday parties
which make Bangkok a delight for
younger foreign residents have less
appeal for teenagers. Instead of the
usual multifarious school sports,
band, and active music program.
Bangkok olTered little for teenagers
beyond the downtown Elvis Presley
movie, bowling, or swimming when
clubs or beaches were available. Al-
most no parents could in good con-
science allow their children to drive
in Bangkok's traffic, and "Gunsmoke"
with Thai dialogue on television soon
ceased to be much of an attraction.

Other drawbacks to living over-
seas during the senior high school
vears are not necessarily endemic to
a foreign situation but occur so fre-
quently they may appear to he. Some
American students in Bangkok echoed
their parents" indifference to their
surroundings and reluctance to ex-
plore the unfamiliar. Many families
abroad are busy with official enter-
taining and have less time to super-
vise their children. Servants can be
a very mixed blessing, especially in
the East where a Western child is
still "master" or "madame" to the
servant. Children abroad also often
miss the friendshi]3s and activities
connected in the Ignited States with
churches because so many families
let church affiliations lapse when thev
are abroad.

In Bangkok as in many other over-
seas posts it is not easy for Ameri-
cans to meet local youngsters. Few
Thais entertain in their homes: the
businessman's lunch at a restaurant
is a common way adults maintain
their contacts. A few American stu-
dents were called upon from time to
time to tutor children of Thai officials
in English, but most others might
never glimpse inside a Thai home.
Thus the only chance many of the

students have to practise their Thai
language, which all are required to
study in the international school, is
in their kitchens at home.

Nevertheless, some of the Ameri-
cans did seize various opportunities
to help with programs at Thai
orphanages or at the School for the
Blind, and many collected and de-
livered toys and food to various

Very typical of Thai architecture is this
twentieth-century marble temple in Bangkok.

charities around the country. Some
of the most adventuresome tried
living as many of the Thais do. on
one of Thailand's many waterways,
on the annual vacation raft trip away
from civilization. A few families
spent each available week-end visit-
ing points of interest within a day's
drive from Bangkok, and joined the
Siam Society's day-trips to places
difficult to reach except by organized
excursions.

In addition, the perceptive young
American could absorb much from

ALUMNAE QUARTERLY / SPRING 1964

Bangkok Classroom

(Continued)

the observance of the numerous local
holidays, the brisk bargaining with
drivers of Bangkok's three-wheel
taxis, or the unusual experience of
riding to school on a canal. Their
observations turned up in poems re-
garding lanes too narrow for Western
cars, meditations on a timeless stone
fragment, ballads on Bangkok bus
riding, plays with scenes laid in
China or themes based on the Bud-
dhist philosophy all alien concepts
to youngsters steeped in "The Little
Engine That Could'' and Log-Cabin-
to-White-House legends.

With respect to the classroom
overseas, one should begin with the
obvious comment that the American
students can hardly fail to benefit
from belonging to classes in which sev-
eral nationalities, religions, and geo-
graphic backgrounds are presented.
One Chinese clarified the "overseas
Chinese" concept when he wrote of
his family's determination that,
despite his travels from north China
to Hong Kong, Taiwan, and finally
Bangkok, he should be so well versed
in his native dialect and customs that
he could return tomorrow to his
original village and be assimilated as
though he had never been awav. The
hostile comments of one Korean stu-
dent on the Oriental exclusion laws
of the 1920's can be more memo-
rable than lectures bv an American
instructor. TTie inability of three
German boys to comprehend how anv
criticism could be leveled against
Theodore Roosevelt for his methods
of seizing the Panama Canal gave
the Americans some insight into Ger-
man politics and habits of mind.

Indeed, these same German stu-
dents in our history class were later
to provide their classmates with a
good example of overly zealous na-
tionalism. The Germans" initiallv pro-
vocative defense of their country's
leaders and policies throughout both
World Wars sparked a great deal of
classroom debate and research anions;
all the students. The result was not
only greater interest in the period

This village elementary school is the complete opposite of the international School in Bangkok.

but also some real comprehension
of the ideologies involved, to say
nothing of the complexities in making
historical judgments.

In an international class the
minorities are not the only ones who
reveal national sensitivities. In some
instances the Americans reflected an
insecurity which is not restricted to
youth. Some sought assurance and
proof that objectionable facts about
America's past were not being hid-
den or slanted by the author of their
major text. The cynical reaction of
the foreign students in the classroom
to President McKinley's moralistic
justification of Americas imperialist
ventures at the turn of the century
worried the young Americans. More-
over, the Americans were inclined to
be timid in criticizing others. Al-
most overly instructed in tolerance,
they tended to give even Naziism the
benefit of the doubt. Communism, on
the other hand, is a sufficiently cur-
rent threat for them to be well in-
doctrinated against it.

The same youngsters who were in-
clined to question seriously the mo-
tives of the authors of their history
texts, considered themselves too
worldly for some of the literature
they were offered. Just as manv urban
elementary teachers in the United
States have found the idealized white
picket-fenced cottage illustrated
primer too far removed from the ex-
perience of their apartment or slum-

dweller students, a teacher in a
foreign environment finds manyi
standard American textbooks too
provincial or out of date for the audi-
ence they must reach. It takes some
effort to persuade jet age students,
generally impatient with anything
written before this century, to ac-
cept Hawthorne's fatalism or Long-
fellow's didactics and sentimentalityl
on any terms. Some had been awayi
from home too long to respond to
Robert Frost, and found him either
too simple or too difficult. Some even'
assumed that Thoreau went to Wal-
den to economize. Remarkably few
recognized or comprehended any
Biblical references. To these veteran
travelers, James' The American
seemed dated and almost ridiculous.
To try to divert the cultivated con-
temptuousness into creative critical
lines, I resorted to occasional im-
promptu writing assignments during
class time on topics of which the stu
dents had no previous knowledge. 1
read to them brief excerpts from Wil
Ham Allen White or e.e. cummings
and required them to produce im
mediate written critiques. Some stu
dents who had never before revealed
any great percptiveness proved ca
pable thinkers and writers wher
caught off guard and given an occa
sional vent for real satire. I woulc
not make any dramatic claims foi
how much my students learned. I
however, learned a lot.

THE AGNES SCOT!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: A spokesman for the
organization said: "We of the National
Association for Retarded Children do not
consider that Miss Mildred Thomson is a
gift from Minnesota; she is a gift from God,
for retarded children everywhere."

Pioneering a Program
in Mental Health

Bv MILDRED THOMSON '10

N 1963, fifty-three years
after graduating from
Agnes Scott College my
first and only book was
published. Prologue, A
Minnesota Story of Mental Retarda-
tion. It is largely the story of the
thirty-five years I worked in a pro-
gram for the mentally retarded, years
embracing an astounding change in
philosophy and attitudes based on
greatly increased knowledge and
understanding.

In 1924 I was employed by the
Minnesota State Board of Control to
work within its Children's Bureau as
Supervisor of the Department for the
Feebleminded and Epileptic. I was to
help county child welfare boards
understand and plan for the "feeble-
minded" now mentally retarded.
This responsibility included acting in
a liaison capacity between these
boards and the state institution for
the feebleminded, which was the main
facility for providing care and train-
ing outside the home.

Other facilities were two small
private institutions and some public
school classes for the brighter chil-
dren, children who could learn to
read and write with varying degrees
of proficiency, occasionally up to that
required for the sixth or seventh
grade.

Many of these brighter children

or adults placed within the institu-

(Continued on next page)

ALUMNAE QUARTERLY / SPRING 1964

Pioneering a Program
in Mental Health

(Continued)

tion had presented problems with
which homes could not cope, espe-
cially when there were also normal
children.

Comniunity Living

In some instances parents of such
children were also retarded. Thus,
the unsocial behavior shown by the
children and parents had been at-
tributed to hereditary factors. Life-
time residence for those in the institu-
tion was therefore the usual recom-
mendation in order to provide pro-
tection. In addition they were to be
made happy with recreational activi-
ties and to be taught to perform tasks
needed in the administration of the
institution.

The Minnesota Board of Control,
believing that self-support was possi-
ble for many of this group, determined
that they should be given a trial of
again living in the community. "Club-
houses'" were established where some
of the girls could live and work in
factories or laundries. Others worked
and lived in private homes. Boys
were usually employed on farms.

Individual Stories

The transition from institution to
community living was not always
easy. There was. for instance, Mary
who wept because the clubhouse ma-
tron had not told her where to find
darning cotton: or Betty who threw
temper tantrums and failed to hold a
job until =he was placed in a private
home where the employer was pa-
tient with her and had faith in her;
or Janice who was kidnapped by her
lover, and when found in poverty
was the mother of twin daughters: or
Billy, who managed to get to an-
other state, visit a house of prostitu-
tion "but a nice one with pretty
furniture" acquire gonorrhea and

then return hungry and cold, asking
to be cared for.

Each individual had his or her
own story, sometimes humorous,
sometimes tragic. Some were success
stories; some were failures.

There were other groups within
the institution walls not capable of
self-support: those completely help-
less, infants even when adult in
years: and those capable, if properlv
taught, of learning self-care, simple
tasks and social adjustment.

These "children" came from all
types of families. Many of them were
desperate because of the effect this
"different" child had on home life.
The unsatisfactory behavior of the
child was often partly due to a lack
of understanding, training, and dis-
cipline. There was also frequently an
added emotional strain caused by
the lack of an answer to the question
of why such a child had been born
into the home.

"Why?"

The devastating effect of not know-
ing the answer to "whv"' was poign-
antly shown when a father came to
me for help in planning for a twenty-
five-year-old son who as an infant
had been placed in a private institu-
tion in another state. The family and
friends were then told the babv had
died at the hospital. Now twentv-five
years later that institution was closing
and sending the son to his father.
One can only imagine the anguish of
parents who must try to hide the
birth of a baby and never see him.
love him, or even speak of him! And
then after those years of restraint and
silence, to have him return as it
were from the dead must have been
almost unbearable.

This was. of course, an extreme
situation, but other parents in vary-
ing degrees, and in spite of love for
their children, suffered disappoint-
ment, frustration, despair, and fear
because often there was no answer to
the question "why." In 1924 there
was discussion of the Mendelian law
as related to human reproduction and
some vague mention of recessive
genes. It was many years, however,

before the laws of heredity were su
ficiently understood for parents ti
assert with confidence: "Anyone ma
have a retarded child."

Change of Attitude

As the years passed there was t
gradual change in the public attitude
toward the retarded, both the brightei
group and those more severely re
tarded. Not only was interest shown,
but there was faith that many could
be acceptable members of society ii
adequately trained and understood.
This change in attitude became dra-
matic in the late forties and the de-
cade of the fifties. It was then that
parents, many of them leaders in
their chosen field but helpless con-
cerning tlieir children, banded to-
gether to work for greater considera-
tion for them. This took place in
Minnesota in 1946. In 1950 such
local groups from all over the United
States joined together to organize
The National Association for Re-
tarded Children. In Minnesota and
nationally, parents now demanded:
research into the causes as a basis
for prevention; better institutions;
more classes in the public schools,
including classes for some of the
severely retarded termed trainable;
and community facilities such as
clinics, day nurseries, activdtv centers,
work shops, recreational facilities,
and spiritual guidance by the
churches. Activity was set in motion
in all these areas, some of it based
on laws and appropriations, and
some on community response. Pro-
fessional interest in all areas was
accelerated.

This activity was beginning to get
into full swing when I retired in
19.59. Minnesota's prologue was by
then ended. The first act of the drama
of providing an adequate program
for the retarded was being enacted,
but the play even now is far from
being ended. Parents, persons from
many professions, state legislators,
congressmen, the federal government,
and the interested public are all par-
ticipating. The climax is still in the
future, but the goal of full oppor-
tunity for all will be reached.

8

THE AGNES SCOH

" Upon Our Pulses"

By JANEF N. PRESTON '21

Here''s a taste from a
forthcoming book
of poems

lanef says that the creation of a poem begins, for
her, in a time of intense emotion. She describes
this as "a state of incandescence, when one is very
much alive to everything."

UPON OUR PULSES

". . . axioms in philosophy are not axioms
until they are proved upon our pulses."

John Keats

THE CLUTCHED KEY

My brother man

Does all he can

To hide himself

From curious guess.

But six steps more

I creep to locked door

My clutched key

Our loneliness.

Witli foot held fast in rock,

My mind girdles the globe Uirough lightning skies.
But my human eyes

Behold no revolving man-flung flame
Only, everywhere on the shriveled earth.
The lame.
In Peru . . .
and Cameroon . . .
in Pakistan . . .
in Quemoy and Matsu . . .
in Iran . . .
in the Hebrides . . .
and Brazil . . .

and in the house beyond my hill
The lame creep or stumble or lie still.
Must I walk blind to touch the granite dark?
Or deaf to know that death devours the lark?

(Continued on page 12)

ALUMNAE QUARTERLY / SPRING 1964

THE FACULTY REVUE

Winnie the Pooh Revisited

Rare candid studies of the hustle, bustle and anxie
that form the fiber of great performances

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"Shellbound" Leyburn (r) consults Edward Ladd (Dr. Unafreud), and
nurse Steele is horrified.

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FACULTY SKIT

(Continued )

12

THE AGNES S

Graces, contemporary dancers, inter-
Pooh in borrowed "leotards."

VNAE QUARTERLY / SPRING 1964

Eleanor Hutchens ruins literary criticism with
"Pooh; Levels of Meaning and Ultimate Sig-
nificance."

Carrie Scandrett pantomimes the voice of
Frances G. Stukes while Dr. Colder plucks his
harp.

''Upon Our Pulses"

(Continued from page 9)

HEIGHTENED HOUR

( Written for Prof essor-EmeritusEmmaMayLaney )

Your class was not mere time from bell to bell:
It was a heightened hour of quick surprise
Our pulses measured as you wove the spell
That gave us ears and that unsealed our eyes.
Chaucer charmed us with a laughing tale,
Milton summoned us with grandeur's call,
Spenser sang and Keats's nightingale,
And Eliot with the hidden waterfall.
Though wonder was about you, you were formed
Of other elements than magic's fire:
With militant delight you daily stormed
Our sleeping wills, commanding our desire
To wake and stir and reach and stemly strive
To be and be entirely alive.

A SUPERIOR WOMAN

She says that sorrow is a cross to bear

And that she will not let herself be sad.

And sighing she assumes the special air

Of owning something others never had.

Just as she prides herself on blue-blood sires.

The soundness of her orthodox belief.

The way she trains the servant that she hires.

So now she is superior in grief.

No tender ghost of love's remembered tale

Companions her when firelight shadows stir,

But a grim figure in a coat of mail

Sits down to every silent meal with her.

And still she preens herself that she may be

Hostess to such imposing company.

WIND IN APRIL

What a wheeling way
White clouds climb sky
Wave-high

And roll to the rim of the blue day!
The air's imperious to-and-fro
Bends the tender leaf and bough.
Flowers too frail for touch of hand
Curve at the wind's command.
What grace to me, stiff with stress,
This unsought suppleness!

TO RESCUE TODAY FROM OBLIVION

As trees print coolness on the heated grass

In clear sharp images, that lie outlined,

So beauty lays cool fingers, as I pass.

Upon the parched places of my mind.

The honeysuckle hedges' breathing bloom

That fills a little lane with fragrant May;

A star that opens in the velvet gloom

That gathers at the closing of the day;

The sudden glowing of a gracious thought,

Akin to wonder, on a lifted face,

These cool imprints of beauty have been wrought

Upon the dullness of the commonplace.

And beautiful as bloom or thought or sky,

A shining name, today, one called me by.

Editor's Note: Published in April by the Golden Quill Press, Fran-
cistown. New Hampshire, Upon Our Pulses by Jonef Preston is
available through the Agnes Scott College Bookstore for $3.34
(including sales tax and postage).

VERB TO BE

This moment has no after, no before:

Wind-washed and morning-fair.

It holds me in its everlastingness.

As I stand here

Barefoot on live grass.

Greenness flows upward through my body's length.

I draw strength

From earth's power to be . . .

And after drought and fire and flooding rain.

To be again.

14

THE AGNES SCOTT

h)

Alumnae Answers to Self- Study Prove riwocatiw

IFTER SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS, how do alumnae judge the
mpact of Agnes Scott upon their lives? Some answers,
hough by no means all. are to be found in the question-
laire completed by alumnae for the College's recent Self
itudy.

Knowing the risk of being redundant. I shall sum-
narize the summary of these questionnaires prepared b\
razer Steele \^ aters 57. an alumna member of one of
he self-study committees. First, the questionnaire itself
ivas unsatisfactory: it proved to be difficult to answer
clearly and conciselv. and alumnae found that attempting
;o put themselves and the Colleges influence on them into
compartments was frustrating.

But aside from scientific validit\. the questionnaire
was good because, as Frazer says, "it caused strong
reactions of some sort in almost all alumnae, it stimu-
lated real probing thought in most cases, and it left
ialumnae free to express any feelings or ideas they might
wish to."

A pattern did emerge in the answers to the question-
naire. This is "noblesse oblige."' or the fundamental idea
that the Agnes Scott education places on an alumna the
responsibility to take an active part in all her fields of
endeavor and to maintain standards of excellence. Agnes
Scott has given the alumna the ability to think in-
dependentlv. clearly, and deeplv. to reach for basic
issues and principals, to undertake deep religious coin-
mitment. to be open-minded and tolerant of other views
and other people, and to possess standards of lasting
value to live by, a sense of purpose.

The underlving thought of those replies indicating an
unfavorable influence was that the College is too pro-
vincial and narrow in its attitude, too church-oriented
in its religious atmosphere, and therefore too stifling in
its effects on individuals. As Frazer indicates, "an im-
portant point here is that manv of these negative replies
came from people who seemed to have picked the wrong
college .... The other negative replies came from
alumnae who seemed to have a genuine desire to be
constructive and to suggest areas in which the college
might improve. '

The reasons alumnae gave for positive influence, in-
tellectually and in other ways, ranged from excellent
faculty, hitrh standards demanded and expected, intel-
ligent student body, small classes, to location in At-

lanta, freedom to discuss and differ, variety and quality
of Courses offered, the honor system, independent stud v.
and the effort to integrate all areas of knowledge into
a whole.

Lacks in the College's program and/ or suggestions to
improve it were both general and specific. Some alumnae
thought that Agnes Scott is too "sheltered" in its out-
look, that students need more confrontation with con-
Iriiversial issues, more freedom of thought and more
freedom to discuss and discover all ideas. The "ixory
tower" complaint was often repeated. The lack of a
genuine search for truth was deplored (several felt that
the College's attitude implied that it had already found
all the important truths, and that this smugness and re-
sulting snobbery were irritating).

So far. I ha\e been reporting and have refrained frnm
injecting mv opinion. As we approach concrete sugges-
tions for improvement. I will say that the word "more"
is the key one alumnae want "more of" most phases
of the Colleges program. Thus, alumnae suggest more
contact with the outside world: more emphasis on the
contemporary in art. music, and literature; more time
for free reading, for inde|iendent and critical work and
research: more "quiet places:" more counseling and
vocational guidance.

Alumnae also want upgrading in the science depart-
ments, emphasis on current affairs and politics, a course
in the relatiimship of the arts, more elective?, more in-
formal contarl between students and facultx'.

There are suggestions that Bible courses are too
church-oriented, that social regulations are too rigid, that
the student body should have more variety (in ])ersonal-
ities. background, and geography), that some faculty
members are too limited to teach advanced courses
and that the student newspaper could be improved!

Agnes Scott has influenced alumnae largeh through
interests stimulated bv certain courses or |ieople. which
have continued since graduation. Difficulties in distin-
guishing the College's influences from that of other en-
vironments were recognized by all alumnae, but all felt
that Agnes Scott had had a major part in hel]nng them
to become better people. One alumna said: "The college
is not much help in giving its students a way to make a
living but instead gives them a way of living."

RETURN POSTAGE GUARANTEED BY ALUMNAE QUARTERLY, AGNES SCOTT COLLEGE, DECATUR, GEORGIA

-fOU^.

Early ipring rains have made Georgia red cloy mud at the site of the Dana Fine Arts Building.

C/^'-/

Women of Conscience * '<ee page lo

ALUMNAE QUARTERLY SUMMER 1964

THE ALUMNAE QUARTERLY VOL. 42, No. 4

SUMMER 1964

CONTENTS

4 Project Concern in Hong Kong
Martha Williamson Tiirpin

10 Women of Conscience in a Changing World
Alice Jernigan Dowling

16 Alumnae Week End

18 Otjr Daily Bread With Indians In Wyoming
Bet Patterson King

22 Executive Board 1964-1965

23 Class News

Hendrica Baart Schepman

31 Worthy Notes

Ann Worthy Johnson '38, Editor
Mariane Wurst '63, Managing Editor
John Stuart McKenzie, Design Consultant

MEMBER OF AMERICAN ALUMNI COUNCIL

The Agnes ScotI Alumnae Quarterly
is published jour limes a year (No-
vember, February, April and July) by
the Alumnae Association of Agnes
Scott College at Decatur, Georgia for
alumnae and friends. Entered as second-
class matter at the Post Office ol
Decatur, Georgia, under Act of August
24, 1912. Subscription price, S2.00 per
year.

FRONT COVER

Alumnae Luncheon 1964

PHOTO CREDITS

Front and back cover, pp. 16,
17, 28 and 31 by Ken Patter-
son. Frontispiece photo by
Cornell Capa, New York.
Pages 4, 6, 8 and 9 by Martha
JVillianison Turpin. Pages 5
and 7 by P. C. Lee, Hong
Kong. Pages 18-21 by Bet Pat-
terson King.

here are a growing number of Americans who
have no idea who to trust on any question on which it
is important to have an opinion . . . . I think we can
rebuild our willingness to trust the kind of evidence on

which this country has been based // is worth

realizing that our capacity to trust is impaired and in
danger and is worth very careful cherishing, nurturing,
and reinvigoration.

Margaret Mead: The Crisis of Trust

Eminent anthropologist, ^vriter, and teacher, Margaret IMead spoke at
\gne9 Scott April 1, 1964 in connection with the 75th Anniversary
Lecture Series.

Dr. Jim Turpiii moves m

Project

By MAR

iAI yeh, Kai yeh, ka
yeh ... As we mov
toward shore in oui
tiny sampan, childrei
pop up from thei
small boat homes waving violently-
sometimes with both hands callin;
out this greeting to Dr. Jim Turpiii
Kai yeh is the Cantonese for "God
father." the name which the little one
of Yaumati typhoon shelter here i:
Hong Kong spontaneously began call
ing him soon after our clinic-jun
was launched in March of 1963. No\
that we also live on the boat, the
call me Kai Ma. The adults smile an<
wave more sedately. But there is n
doubt that all of the patients
"Yauh Oi" (the Chinese name fo
the boat, which means Brotherl
Love) feel loved.

Two and one-half years ago we wer
a perfectly ordinary suburban famil
in Coronado, California. Jim had
busy general practice; we had a nici
home, two cars, and were buried dee
in community life. He was even in loc:
politics as a Coronado City Counci
man. Being near the border
Mexico, one day a week we wei
across into Tijuana to help in a sma
clinic in a canyon squatter area. 1
didn't take long for this to beconi
the highlight of the week, especiall
for Jim, for here he felt really needei
Many days he would leave Tijuan
feeling that if he had failed to
that day some of the seriously i
children might not have lived. Ho
foolish this was, we agreed, to
something you loved for only one d?
a week. So it was that we mapped oi
our plan to do this kind of woi

THE AGNES SCO

aiiis as he develops

Lcern' in Hong Kong

L4MS0N TURPIN

every day. We would write to two
I hundred close friends, hoping to
! get them to support us as a couple
by sending $10 a month and allow us
to work among the refugees in Hong
Kong.

We would ha\e laughed heartily at
anyone who suggested that is one
year our budget would approach
$10,000 per month, our staff number
more than thirty, and our dreams
grow to include plans for Macao and
Bhutan. In fact, those first few-
months it seemed so difficult to reach
even those small initial goals that
there were days eyen those seemed
impossibly high.

Project Concern is our independent
medical relief organization. It was
started to fill our personal desire to
do medical relief work without the
organizational strings of government
or church. This is one of the main
reasons for its rapid growth. People
eyervwhere are tired of help for a
reason, whether it be to sell de-
mocracy or religion. Our personal
lives are dedicated to Christ, and it is
an important motivation to us. If this
can be absorbed by the people with
whom we work, we will be very
pleased. But if they do not absorb it
simply by knowing us, we feel it must
not be worthy of sharing or rather
that our living interpretation of it is
insufficient. Project Concern is now
international both in staff and sup-
port.

We now have three clinics in the
British Crown Colony of Hong Kong.
The first to be opened was inside the
infamous Walled City of Kowloon
where approximatelv 50.000 people

^mmm^^.My t

liliif nih .

shining brightly above Chinese sampans, the floating clinic offers aid to 35,000 boat people.

live in six square blocks of squalor
and deprivation. Here there is no
running water or sanitation. Although
the area is in the center of this
metropolitan area, the Communists
claim ownership as it was omitted
from the lease of 1898. The British
deny this, but there is no police pro-
tection or government within the area
as neither group takes the responsi-
bility. Families of ten or twelve live
in one small cubicle which never sees
the light of day. Many such cubicles
are rented out to three different
groups of sleeping people eight-

hour periods. Our facilities here are
\ery poor and cramped but we hope
to build an adequate clinic during
1964.

The second clinic to be opened was
aboard a 63-foot Chinese junk which
we converted into a modern medical
facility. Here in Yaumati typhoon
shelter among 35.000 boat people we
ha\e a clinic any American com-
munity would be proud of, three ex-
amining rooms, laboratory, pharma-
cy, waiting room. Our living quar-
ters are on the lower floor for the
(Continued on page 6)

ALUMNAE QUARTERLY

SUMMER 1964

'Project Concern' in Hong Kong

(Continued from page 5)

six of us, Jim and I, Keith 13, Pate
11, Scott 6 and Jan 4. Now anchored
alongside is a "twin," an auxiliary
clinic adding X-ray. two modern
dental rooms, eye, ear, nose, and
throat services and storage facilities.
This auxiliary clinic was a gift of
Kowloon Rotary- Club West. Their
interest was one of the most impor-
tant steps along the way, for they
represent a group of Chinese busi-
nessmen who liked the way the clinics
were handled and wanted to be a part
of this effort. Beside this is our tiny
generator boat, and soon to be com-
pleted is a water ambulance given by
the officers and men of the U.S. Car-
rier Hancock during its week in port
here.

'] he third and newest clinic is
among the hillside squatters in Jor-
dan Valley. Now it is being conducted
in a crumbling old cemetery office,
but plaris have been drawn to recon-
struct this small building into an

adequate clinic. Into this area many
of the new refugee families come
with sheets of tin and cardboard to
construct a cheap shelter.

It is very difficult to write about
my personal experiences here, for the
glamor, excitement and achievement
seems to be in the story of Jims day
with the patients who need him, and
with the organization as it grows.
My day is fdling in the gaps where I
can. helping behind the scenes in the
clinic only enough to steal a small
piece of the fun. but most of all with
our children. Much of my time is
spent with visitors, for the ones who
have actually been here and seen the
work are by far the most enthusiastic
helpers when they have returned
home. To be perfectly honest, I feel
that we are living in the best of two
worlds. We still have the pleasures
of stimulating friendships, a full and
exciting social whirl but added to
this a wonderful fellowship with peo-

The Turpin family (from left to right), Pate, Keith (standing), Scott, Jim,
Martha and Jan, has been in Hong Kong for more than two years.

pie who because of chance circur |i
stances are in great need of a hel
we can give. How very, very stranj fcJ
our lives must seem to them as the l
watch us come and go in an evi||i
changing wardrobe, as they peep ii
to our portholes to glimpse the so
cushioned chairs, beds with ma
tresses, stove without a fire, a roo:
for cooking which is larger than the
entire home.

I am writing downstairs in ot
apartment. Here the portholes are tof
high to really watch all that is goin
on around me unless I am standin
at one as when I watch for th
sampan bringing the children horn
from school, or later, watching Sco
and Jan play on the floats with th
children who are "parked" all aroun
waiting for their families who ar
on waiting boats. Some of them ai
seeing the doctors. Others are hopin
to earn a few cents skulling visitoi
back and forth from Yauh Oi.

Upstairs on the clinic deck, it is
different story the windows ar
large and the life of Yaumati presse
in all around us. There is a constar
stream of majestic fishing junks
working cargo junks, walla wall
(water taxis) and tiny sampans, thif
many movable homes of the harboi
along the water "street" in front o
us named Central Avenue. About fiv
times a day one of the tour boat
passes through, loaded with we
dressed tourists snapping pictures on
after anotlier. This is the only glimps
many of our people have of westerr
ers. Of course the clinic floor i
thronged with patients waiting fo
the doctors, for lab work, or med:
cine but if we press through we cai
get to the roof, a lovely fenced opei
space where the staff eats lunch, th'
children play, where parties an
movies are held for the children o
Yaumati and where our dog lives
From this vantage point one cai
watch the life around him easily. Ii
the distance is the skyline of Hon;
Kong itself, at night as magnificen
as San Francisco is from Sausalito

A few nights ago I felt a bit cross
impatient with the routine of bed
time. I called to Jim to do the fina
checking of teeth, faces, etc. and thei

lade my way to the roof. Immedi-
tely my eyes fastened on one of the
lany sampans anchored nearby,
liere was no reason for choosing
lis particular one they are all very
luch alike. This mother was also
usy about the routine of bedtime,
oing many of the same things I do:
leaning faces, putting up the few
ishes, and making room for the
jmily to stretch out on the small
ard floor. One little boy was hunched
ver the lantern doing a few charac-
;rs; a little girl was sitting out over
he water using the "toilet." It did not
ake many minutes for the mood of im-
atience with my own little crew to
ilip completely away, and in its place
come a deep feeling for the throb-
iing aliveness around me. It was an
xhilaration far more exciting than
aat which comes from a new dress,
rom the success of your child in
ompetition or from a new signed
ontract at work.
The two older boys are busy in a
ood British secondary school. King
aeorge V. They leave of course in a

sampan, and on shore take a bus.
They have adjusted well to the
rigorous discipline and hard-hitting
basic instruction in the school. At 13
and 11 they are both taking French,
Latin, physics, chemistry, and biology
as well as English, history and math.
They have good friends from all
over the world, for Hong Kong is
quite a cosmopolitan city of almost
4.000,000. They have soccer rather
than football, cricket rather than
baseball, books rather than television.
My only complaint is that they do
not teach Chinese in the schools
even as an elective, since most of the
families are in the government serv-
ice and do not plan to be in Hong
Kong that long. Keith is extremely
interested in science and has a lab
on the roof. Pate has his own little
sampan and enjoys skulling around
with the nearby children. They are
learning Cantonese in bits and
pieces.

Scott is in a British primary school
which also has a serious strict pro-
gram. He enjoys life aboard the boat

n old women's face shows that neither compassion nor laughter know any language barrier:

Dr. Jim chats with some young friends.

more than any of the children, spend-
ing hours writing the Chinese charac-
ters on the pill envelopes given out
in the pharmacy, stamping cards, and
helping in many ways. Jan is attend-
ing a Cantonese kindergarten, and
will be the only one in the family who
learns the language easily.

Lunchtime on the roof of the boat
is one of the highlights of the day.
An excellent Chinese cook prepares
typical Chinese food, and of course
we use chopsticks. Our staff is
divided into two teams, alternating
days on the boat. One team divides
its time with mornings in the Walled
City and afternoons in Jordan Valley.
Each team has five doctors (one fully
registered and four refugee doctors
who are in the long struggle to ob-
tain licenses in Hong Kong), a nurse,
lab technician, pharmacist and two
registrars. There are also two den-
tists, an X-ray technician and radiol-

'Project Concern' in Hong Kong

(Continued from page 7)

ogist, and ear, nose, and throat spe-
cialist, and two volunteer ophthalmol-
ogists. Any one of these could be
the subject of a complete article. Al-
most every one has left China with
great difficulty. Many have husbands,
wives, parents, brothers and sisters
still in China and unable to leave.
They have lived through Japanese
occupation I many fleeing for years
in front of the army ) , the Communist
take-over, and harrowing escape. Now
they face the fact that their training
is not recognized here. Skilled sur-
geons, specialists in all fields work for
less than $fOO U.S. per month while
they study their medicine again in
English. They must pass rigorous
tests for the privilege of further study
in foreign hospitals. Jim screens them
carefullv. has regular teaching ses-
sions with them, and discusses each
day any questions that arise. When
hiring a new staff member he has
two equally important requirements,
that thev are professionally com-
petent, and that they genuinely care
for the people they serve. And they
do. It is not at all uncommon to see
one of them scoop a dirty little tod-
dler up for a quick squeeze as they
pass down the hall. But here on
the roof at lunch we laugh, tease
and enjoy one another Ameri-
cans, Canadians, British, Australians,
Dutch. Chinese and Malayan, united
by the bond of "concern."

Hong Kong is indeed a fascinating,
heart-breaking city. The refugees con-
tinue to pour in, although one cannot
see them doing so or know an exact
count except perhaps by the general
swelling population. There are still
thousands sleeping in the streets. In
spite of the British government's
vigorous program of resettlement
housing the yearly increase in popu-
lation is still 60,000 more than thev
are able to handle. This means that
instead of being eased by all of the
efforts, the problem continues to
grow. Wages are low, schools are in-
adequate and expensive; so what
hope have the children of today for
somethina; better for their own fam-

ilies in years to come? It is not
honest to blame them for lack of
effort or intelligence.

One of our most surprising dis-
coveries has been that there is as
much anxiety-caused illness among
these unfortunate people as there is
in suburbia. When Jim was touring
the U.S. last winter he made a big
joke about the 1,000 cases of antacid
that had been sent to him, saying
"We have enough antacid for all of
Asia for five years." Already he has
used almost half of it treating the
large numbers of ulcers. Somehow
we rationalize that these people are
hardened to their circumstances.
Many of us feel that because they
are unable to have chairs, beds, toys,
meat that they don't want these
things and don't care that their chil-
dren must work rather than go to
school. This simply is not true. Each
individual one of them is as desper-
ately concerned about the life he and
his family lives as vou and I are.

These are warm feeling, loving
people. Two days before Christmas
one sampan family came down into
our apartment to visit us. This hap-
pened to be a family we like par-
ticularly. They skull us back and
forth to shore regularly, and our
children play with theirs daily. They
brought us cards, fruit, candy and
two live chickens in a paper sack.
These were not something they had
picked up carelessly at a store for a
Christmas gift. These chickens had
been raised in a small box wired to
the back of the sampan. They had
been carefully tended, fed and
watered for months, and represented
this family s opportunity to have two
meals with meat rather than the regu-
lar rice and cabbage with an oc-
casional small fish. I tried to think
of some gift our family might make
which would be an equal sacrifice to
us and could not. No matter what it
might be, we would always find a
way to replace it with what we wanted
rather than do without.

Hong Kong is deeply entrenched
in a struggle to survive a critical water

shortage during this winter. As if tl;
other problems were not enougl
those refugees crowded into the r
settlement areas and squatter are?
must stand in lines one-fourth of
mile long for two buckets of waterH
and have an opportunity to do th:
for only four hours every other da'
Those fortunate enough to have rur
ning water at home find water i
the tap for three hours every fourti
day, and must store all that is needel
for the ensuing four days. This is m
only an additional hardship to th
poorer people, but uses up valuabli
time from home labor and possibl
jobs.

Malnutrition, more specificall!
hypo-vitaminosis is the most prevaler
disease in all three of our clinic area:
Among the other aU-too-common dii
eases are: intestinal parasites, tubei
culosis (Potts disease and spine df
formities caused by tuberculosis an
common ) , skin diseases, especialll
impetigo, pneumonia due to almo;
constant exposure and cholera. Ther
has been no resistance at all to thi
western medicine. The very first da
the doors of Yaun Oi were ope
there were 80 patients, and the ne?
day 171. The new dental clinic ha
been a different story. The care i
badly needed but the people are nc
vet used to the forbidding" equipment

It is thrilling for us to watch th'l
whole program which seemed a
first to be a wild scheme take oi
real soundness and value. I am ver
proud that for an average month!
expenditure of $7,291 a staff whicl
has grown from eight to thirty-fiv
treats an average patient load whicl
has grown from 150 to 350 a da)
This expenditure includes all lal
work, medication, complete record
and referrals, a feeding program o> I
milk and wafers, and a family couni
seling service. I feel that this is aii
amazing return for that amount o
money, since it took half that mucl
to run Jim's thriving general practici
office with a staff of three, no medii
cations (except injections and treat
ments of course) and a daily patien
load of about twenty. A charge of 50
HK is made for each patient, whicl
amounts to less than 9^ U.S.

8

\\ e fully expected the rewards of

a>ure in our work. We expected
aii\ advantages for our children in

li a life as this. But there have

in many unexpected rewards, such

public honors and acclaim.

Ill s award by the Junior Chamber

('omniarce as one of the Ten Out-
aiiding Young Men of 1962 gave a
Ipful boost to the project when it
((led believability. Not the least of
ese rewards to me is being invited

share something of our plan with

The growth of our work has come
irough individuals who care. So far
e have no professional promotion,
nd have counted on our newsletters
ad words of friends to spread the
ews of the work. Rotary. Jaycees
nd Active 20-30 have played a large
art in our support. Committees in
;n cities work hard presenting pro-
rams and conducting campaigns.

It is genuine fun to see individuals
1 different parts of the world "take
re " and accomplish almost impossi-
ile tasks. One woman in San Diego
as sinsle handedlv organized a drug

The Turpins lunch on the roof of their boat with (I to r) the Vice-Presi(dent of the Hong Kong
Jaycees, the PresicJent of the New Zealand Jaycees and the New Zealand Trade Commissioner.

A tiny patient receives attention.

A typical home within the walled city.

collection and sorting operation that
has already sent to us more than
$100,000 worth of drugs. One single
Australian Javcee who became in-
terested while here for the Interna-
tional Convention last year went back
home to sell his own club, then his
entire state, and finallv this fall the
National Convention on adopting
Project Concern. One Atlanta busi-
nessman has adopted the policy of
replacing his many gifts to customers
and salesmen bv gifts to Project
Concern.

All of the plans for the future de-
pend entirely on such people as these.
Project Concern could be proud to
remain as it is in Hong Kong. But
we believe now that it will grow
rapidly and spread widelv, this year
to Macao and the small Himalayan
country of Bhutan, and next year to
other southeastern Asian countries.
We believe this, because the whole
world seems filled with people who
are looking for some way to help
those who need it directly. We are
giving them one avenue they may
choose for this help.

Women

of Conscience

in a Changing

World

By ALICE JERNIGAN BOWLING '30

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Alice was the Alumnae Speaker in the
75th Anniversary Lecture Series. Her husband, Walter Dowling,
has recently retired from a long career in Foreign Service
his last post was Ambassador to West Germany. In Vienna,
in Korea, in Germany, wherever they have been, Alice has
devoted her time to women and children's organizations.

I HOUGH goodness without
knowledge is weak
and feeble; yet knowl-
edge without goodness
is dangerous; both
united form the noblest character and
lay the surest foundation of useful-
ness to mankind."

The words are those of John
Phillips, who founded one of the
great New England schools almost
200 years ago, and I think he would
have been proud to have them used
to define the spirit of this Southern
college whose 7.5th year we are cele-
brating.

I am grateful for your invitation
to return to Agnes Scott as the
Alumna Speaker on this very special

and joyful anniversary, for 1 have
never before been able to participate
in one of the great occasions of the
college. Those of us who live "far
from the reach of the sheltering
arms" feel a greater dependence, I
think, on the lessons we learned at
Agnes Scott than do those who live
at home, in the comfort and security
of familiar ways and a familiar
language. 1 have been thankful for
many years, in many countries, that
ours is a college where goodness and
character and usefulness to mankind
are prized as highly as knowledge.

I share, with most American
women who live and work abroad,
the feeling so spontaneously ex-
pressed by a young friend of mine.

the wife of an Army sergeant, who
was about to join her husband in
Europe. As she and her children
were waiting at their port of em-
barkation to board the ship for
Bremerhaven, she could scarcely con-
trol her excitement. Her neighbor in
the line, who obviously did not share
her enthusiasm for going so far
away from home, looked at her
scornfully and said: "Anybody
would think you were going to
Heaven."' And my friend replied.
"Honey, 1 knoiv I'm going to
Heaven, but I never thought I'd get
to Germany!" In other words, all
this and Heaven too.

Returning to the college after
thirty-four years has made me acutely

10

THE AGNES SCOTT

onscious of the passing of the years
nd the changes they have brought,
ere at Agnes Scott as well as in
be world beyond these gates. At the
ime of my graduation in 1930, we
Americans were living in compara-
ive isolation, preoccupied with the
roblems of the depression, and al-
nost wholly unconcerned with the
ffairs of the rest of the world. Now
n 1964, the simple fact is that there
re no strangers left on earth, and
lur involvement in mankind is total,
icience has annihilated space, opened
ip instant communication, and made
he world a single neighborhood. In
liarbara Wards words, '"Everything
is exploding population, knowledge,
lommunications, resources, cities,
;pace itself."' Thanks to television
ind the press, the ordinarv citizen,
lere and in other lands, is far better
informed about the world scene than
le was thirty years ago about his own
country. In very recent years, more
han fifty new nations have come into
)eing, and despite their diverse
haracter and size, they have one
juality in common the determina-
ion to establish and maintain their
national identities, and to make use
n their own ways of the tools and
echniques and ideas which the
wentieth century provides. The na-
ions of Western Europe, long di-
/ided, as President Kennedy once
said, "by feuds more bitter than any
Afhich existed among our thirteen
colonies, are joining together, seek-
ng as our forefathers sought, to find
freedom in diversity and unity in
strength." Distances have diminished
10 the point where they have little
neaning, and inter-relationships of
3very kind are so steadily and ob-
i^iouslv increasing that no man and
no nation is, or indeed can be. an
island entire of itself. We can no
onger choose whether we shall live
;ogether, but rather how we shall live
;ogether in this world which has so
suddenly become a neighborhood.

No one group has been more af-
fected by this whirlwind of change
;han the women of the world who
stand at the very center of "the revo-
lution of rising expectations." In
countries where for centuries they
lave been held to a subservient role,
hey are emerging to play a larger

part in national life. Girls and women
have new or larger opportunities for
education, and with education has
come not only knowledge but a de-
gree of independence previously de-
nied them. Their changed status in
the field of political rights is phe-
nomenal. Of the 113 nations which
are members of the United Nations,
ninety-seven give women full and
equal rights. In only eight countries
of the world do they have no rights
at all; and even in the most conserva-
tive Moslem nations, the winds of
change are stirring. Women every-
where are now aware that a better
life is possible for them and for their
children; they no longer need think
of themselves as second-class citizens.

Women's Education

Of all the forces working to
change the lives of women around the
world, there is no doubt that educa-
tion is the factor which is making
the greatest difference. Even here at
home, education is a subject of de-
bate, and we are deeply concerned
for its direct bearing on the urgent
problems of juvenile delinquency,
unemployment among the young, and
the need for a new order of skills in
a changing world. One is not sur-
prised, therefore, at the emphasis
now placed on education in the de-
veloping countries. In Saudi Arabia,
for example, where progress, more
than in most countries, must reckon
with the tradition of centuries, girls
may now attend school. This seems
commonplace to us. but in that coun-
try it has only been true since 1961.

In Northern Rhodesia, forty-one
women the fortunate ones out of
500 applicants are taking a six-
months course at the Ecumenical
Center which is supported by the
World Council of Churches. These
women, whose husbands are the new
governmental leaders, come from
their villages to learn the wavs and
skills which will make them helpful
and valuable to their husbands in
their new lives of responsibility
how to set the table, furnish a room,
care for children, make a speech,
draw up a will, learn the principles
of government, discuss problems and
conflicts. By your standards, this

would not be considered education,
but for them it is changing the
world. I know; I have seen them in
Bonn, these women from the Came-
roons and Gabon and Chad, home-
sick for the sunshine and their
families and their familiar foods, per-
plexed by the complicated ways of
Western life and etiquette, troubled
because they feel inadequate, and
fearful that their husbands might be
ashamed of them but always des-
perately anxious to learn.

Three years ago in the once arid
valley of Jericho I visited with my
son a farm school for Arab orphan
boys, which was established by one
of the most remarkable men I ever
knew, Musa el Alami, an Arab refu-
gee himself, who quite literally made
the desert blossom like a rose. He
told me that after the first classes of
boys had left the school and were
established in the new lives he had
made possible for them, they began
to return, one by one, saying that
something was wrong. TTiere were no
girls who were educated as they
were, and therefore they could find
no suitable wives. I imagine you have
guessed the solution; their benefac-
tor somehow found the means to
open a school for girls as well.

When the United States opened a'
legation in Yemen a few years ago,
the only schools were the ones where
boys were taught the Koran. The wife
of our representative there, like so
many American women around the
world, organized classes at home for
her own children and those of her
friends in the diplomatic corps. It
was not long before a Yemini of-
ficial came and begged her to take
his two daughters into the school.
"Unless our children, especially our
girls," he said, "can be assured a
modern education, our country has
no future. We know that the Middle
Eastern countries which have pro-
gressed in the last fifty years are
those where schools have been estab-
lished and where eventually women
have been allowed to learn as well as
men."

Officials from the newly independ-
ent nations who have visited more
developed countries are impressed by
the achievements of the women. They

UUMNAE QUARTERLY / SUMMER 1964

11

Women of
Conscience

(Continued)

are quick to realize that a capable,
educated female population is a
characteristic of development: there-
fore they want it at home. I suppose
one might almost sa\ it is a status
sjrabol.

These changes are taking place
over a vast area, on every continent
and in many countries. The rate of
change varies from one countrv to
another and from one region to
another, depending on history, reli-
gion, tradition, local attitudes: on
whether the area is rural or urban,
isolated or open to outside influences.
But everywhere you will find the
pioneers: the educators, doctors,
social workers, leaders of women's
organizations who ha\e the courage
to go on ahead and open the doors.
These are the women of conscience,
those who. like Eleanor Roosevelt,
would "rather light a candle than
curse the darkness."

In Israel, there is Golda Meir. the
Foreign Minister, the only woman
in the Western world to reach such
political eminence, but so plain, so
strong, so old-fashioned, like a
woman of the Bible. In Egypt. Dr.
Abou Zeid. the United Arab Re-
public's Minister of Social Affairs, is
pressing a vigorous enlightenment
campaign, through new laws and
education, against polygamy, juvenile
delinquency, and primitive supersti-
tion in the field of medicine.

During the sixteen years since
India won its independence, the
country's women have progressed
from second-class citizens to leaders
in the government. There are many
women in the state and federal legis-
lative bodies, and a woman holds the
high post of Deputy Speaker of the
Federal Parliament. A woman is
Chief Minister of the largest Indian
state, and two other states have
women governors. Indian women
never had an organized feminist or
suffragette movement: instead, they
fought beside the men for national
freedom, and found their own liberty
during the struggle. In recognition
of their battle, they automaticallv
came into their own.

In the past generation, Latin
American women in increasing num-
bers have entered the universities
and advanced steadily in such pro-
fessions as the law, teaching, medi-
cine, architecture. social work,
pharmacy and. on the whole, they
encounter less discrimination than do
women in these professions in the
Lnited States. One of these is Sen-
hora Ana Figueroa of Chile, the As-
sistant Director General of the In-
ternational Labour Office in Geneva.
She might have been speaking for
all women of conscience everywhere
when she said not long ago: "I know
it is a difficult task to see this world
as it is and to love it as it is. To help
its people calls for courage and con-
viction. But I would rather live a
short life full of effort and endless
concern than to reach old age with
empty hands."

Dr. Helen Kim

For these women, and the thou-
sands of others like them whose
names we may never hear, con-
science is not a code of denial or a
negative thing. It is a vital and
positive force, guiding them when in
doubt, leading them in the darkness,
forcing their voices to be raised
against injustice and. above all. com-
mitting them to the course which is
right.

It is not easy for American women
to comprehend the difficulties which
women in many other countries face
when they attempt to raise money
for a school, or wage a battle against
corruption, or urge the passage of a
law which will protect their children.
We have been doing these things for
so many jears. with such astonishing
success.

But let me try to tell you what life
has been like, until a few decades
ago. for a woman in Korea. In the
Korean society, the supreme con-
cern is the preservation and develop-
ment of the family, achieved bv pay-
ing tribute to the ancestors, by en-
larging the family property, and
above all, by begetting male heirs.
The patriarch had absolute power
over each and every member of the
family and demanded and received
absolute obedience. Marriages were
arranged, and men and women were

socially isolated from each other.
Even today, in the Presbyterian
Church in Chonju, where Sophie
Montgomery Crane's ('40 1 husband
Paul is an elder, men and women
still enter the church bv separate
doors, and only recently, following
the bold example of the University
president, who was educated in the
United States, have a few husbands
and wives begun to sit together dur-
ing the service. Family relationships
are based not on equality but on the
order of the status of every member
of the family children subordinate
to parents, wife to husband and
parents-in-law, younger children to
the older ones, girl child to male
child. In the Children's Relief Hos-
pital in Seoul we alwavs cared for a
great number of abandoned babies,
but there was seldom a male child
among them, for a Korean mother
would have to be in very dire straits
indeed before she would give up a
son.

Some of these attitudes began to
change under the influence of the
missionaries at the end of the last
century, but progress was slow until
the devastation of the. war brought
social upheaval in its wake. In the
cities life is different now. but in the
rural areas change comes slowly.

But at almost the same time Agnes
Scott was founded, there opened in
Seoul a tiny mission school for girls
a bold venture indeed in Korea
seventy-eight years ago. In three
quarters of a century this school has
grown into a great women's univer-
sity with a student body of 8000.
Much of its financial support has
come from the Methodist Board of
Missions, but otherwise Ewha Uni-
versity is almost entirely the creation
of one great Christian woman, Dr.
Helen Kim.

I wish I could make you see the
tiny determined figure of this young
Korean girl, thirsting for knowledge
and burning with the patriotism and
resentment all Koreans felt early in
this century under the domination of
the Japanese. One of her teachers
wrote: "One could not guide such a
spirit without growing oneself." In
order to enroll at Ewha as a college
student, she was forced to make the

12

THE AGNES SCOTT

painful choice between absolute
obedience to her father, who bitterly
opposed higher education for women,
and the new way of following one's
conscience which the missionaries
had been teaching. Her conscience
won with a great deal of help from
her mother and in 1915 she was the
sole member of the fifth graduating
class of Ewha, confronted by the
very feminine problem of how to buy
a pair of Western shoes to replace
the traditional Korean slippers with
upturned toes which were not con-
sidered appropriate with cap and
gown. She mortgaged a full month's
salary as a teacher to buy a second-
hand pair of high laced boots old
fashioned even for those days, she
remembers wryly. But her most vivid
memory of that graduation day was
her consciousness of new dignity,
and the pride she felt in the status
women were gaining in Korea for
by then she was the fifth woman to
graduate from college in her country.

Her missionary friends were well
aware of her promise, and soon sent
her to the United States, to study at
Ohio Wesleyan. She was impatient
at having to enroll as a sophomore,
because she was driven always by
the thought of the urgent work she
had left at home and by the convic-
tion that every minute was precious
and must count for some gain in
knowledge or experience. I was
amused to hear that when she was
elected to Phi Beta Kappa in her jun-
ior year, she had no idea what it was!

Her whole life has been devoted
to the education and advancement of
Korean women, and from Ewha L ni-
versity have come most of the
women doctors and educators and
social workers and Y.W.C.A. and
Girl Scout leaders in Korea. She has
found time to establish and guide the
Y.W.C.A., to represent her country
for twelve years as an observer at
the United Nations, and to participate
in innumerable international con-
ferences, so that her name is known
and respected throughout Asia, and
indeed, the world.

Now she is writing a column in the
English language newspaper which
she helped establish some years ago.
Sophie Crane has just sent me a
clipping of the column which de-

scribes the opening in Seoul of a
grand new building for a women's
center "something unheard of be-
fore in the history of our nation,"
she writes I realized anew how
truly we have become a single
neighborhood when on the back of
that clipping I saw a news story from
Atlanta. Here at home we have be-
come quite accustomed now to read-
ing in our own headlines about Sai-
gon and Nicosia and Zanzibar, but
we sometimes forget that what hap-
pens in Atlanta may be on the front
page of the Korea Times the next
morning.

German Women

Half the world away from Korea
in another divided country, German
women after the war were confronted
by different but equally perplexing
problems. By the end of the 19th
century a small but vigorous group
of women had already given strong
impetus to the women's movement in
Germany. They had gained access to
the universities, entered the intel-
lectual professions, and in 1918 won
the right to vote. Their influence
soon became evident in the Reichstag,
especially in the area of social policy
and legislation for family welfare
and education. From the very begin-
ning there was a multiplicity of or-
ganizations teachers' associations,
religious and political clubs, labor
union groups, housewives' associa-
tions. Those early years were a
period of great vitality and idealism
and almost revolutionary energy.

All this ended abruptly in 1933,
with the advent of National Social-
ism. Hitler believed that a woman's
place was in the home and not in
public life. Women were sent back to
their household tasks and as a con-
sequence divorced from politics and
constructive action. Thus it came
about that after the defeat of Ger-
many in 1945. the whole structure of
women's activity, like most things in
that utterly devastated country, had
to be painfully rebuilt.

It required what Winston Churchill
called "an act of faith" to reverse
the old attitudes of bitterness and dis-
trust at the end of the war. But some-
how a miracle happened, and slowly,
and sometimes painfully, we dis-

covered that we were no longer
enemies, but nations groping their
way toward a partnership which
would soon be based on common in-
terests, a growing sense of mutual
respect, and an increasing compre-
hension of each other's problems. I
should like to say most emphatically
that we have no stronger partners in
the Atlantic Alliance than the Ger-
man people. "A faithful friend is a
strong defense, and he that hath
found such a friend hath found a
treasure." There is a new Germany
which is our faithful friend and our
strong defense.

In those early postwar years we
were fortunate to have as the wife of
the American High Commissioner in
Germany a woman of great intel-
ligence and character, Mrs. John J.
McClov. German women will always
remember the encouragement she
gave them during those bleak and
bitter years. The women's organiza-
tions, like their individual members,
were impoverished, and there were
no funds for publications or for
participation in international con-
ferences. Even communication was
difficult, because of the artificial divi-
sion of the country into occupation
zones. Most women were bearing ex-
hausting family burdens as bread-
winners, because their husbands had
been killed or disabled or were still
prisoners of war. and they had little
time or strength for anything else,
while the younger women, who since
1933 had been completely cut off
from women's activities, had de-
veloped no feeling of civic respon-
sibility. Yet a compelling sense of
obligation soon brought together
women of divergent political thought
from all walks of life in a common
effort to rebuild the family, the com-
munity, and the state.

One of the great women of that
time was Luise Schroeder, the dedi-
cated Socialist who was the acting
mayor of Berlin from 1947 to 1948.
probably the most difficult time in
the life of that hard-pressed city. The
Berliners adored her. and when she
died in 1957 she was given a state
funeral, the first time such an honor
had been paid to a German woman.

Since World War II Germany has

ALUMNAE QUARTERLY / SUMMER 1964

13

Women of
Conscience

(Continued)

had only two presidents, and both
were married to women of great
compassion and understanding. The
first, Frau Elly Heuss, worked all her
life to further the concept of religious
and civic obligation in which she
believed so deeply, especially where
mothers and children were con-
cerned. Her successor. Frau Wilhel-
mine Luebke, trained as a teacher
and fluent in five languages, has a
deep concern for the welfare of the
aged. She has travelled with her hus-
band through Asia and Africa and
Latin America and has won count-
less friends for her country through
her simplicity of manner and her
warm interest in human beings.

Among the women journalists of
the world, a German woman stands
in the first rank. She is Countess
Marion Doenhoff. the leading col-
umnist of Die Zeit. In the last winter
of the war she rode 500 miles on her
horse over the icy roads from her
home in East Prussia to Hamburg to
escape the Russian occupation. Smith
College gave her an honorary degree
in 1962 in recognition of her profes-
sional excellence, and in German life
she has won her place as a woman of
conscience and conviction. She does
not know the meaning of com-
promise, and for her the two cardinal
sins, either in governments or in-
dividuals, are immobility and dis-
engagement.

It is interesting to me that, while
the average married woman in Ger-
manv has been far less active in
public life than her American coun-
terpart, ten percent of the deputies
in the Bundestag and the Laender
parliaments are women. Here in the
I_ nited States we have a population
of 90 million females, yet only two
women serve in the Senate, and only
nineteen women in the 435 seat
House of Representatives. German
women are proud, too. that one of
their number serves in the Cabinet
as Minister of Health.

I have a German friend who re-
tires next month from public life
after a long career devoted to govern-

ment and to women's work on the
international level. When I asked her
how a woman could accomplish what
she has done, she replied, "She must
have the stresigth to undertake what
is worth changing and the judgment
not to attempt what cannot be
changed, and she must pray for the
wisdom to distinguish between the
two."'

All of these women, it seems to
me, have contributed something very
essential to postwar German life
something which it urgently needs:
respect for the individual, and the
lively conviction that the only pur-
pose of all political activity, from
foreign and defense policy to finan-
cial and budgetary questions, is to
serve the welfare of the individual
citizen.

America's Representatives

I cannot bring this long discussion
to a close without speaking of the
women who represent you abroad. I
believe you would be proud of the
American women in Foreign Service
and military posts around the world.

American women seem determined,
wherever they go, to leave the place
a little better than they found it.
Mrs. Katie Louchheim, the remark-
able woman who is Deputy Assistant
Secretary of State for Community
Advisory Services, puts it in a very
homely way: "Like thoughtful
guests, they help quietly with the
host country's housework, but at the
same time they are careful not to try
to move the national furniture around
unless asked to do so."

Their first task, of course, is to
summon the ingenuity and courage
and imagination which bring home
and family into warm, familiar focus
in a dusty African village or a great
European capital. A little girl I know
explained very carefullv to a friend
soon after her familv arrived at their
new post in Germany: "Oh, we have
a home. We just don't have a house
to put it in yet."

Having a house to put it in is ver}'
important, but almost as soon as the
trunks are unpacked and the children
settled in a new school, the American
woman overseas looks around to see
where and how she can be most use-
ful in her new community. Women's

volunteer service is an idea whichi
for a number of complex economic
and sociological reasons was until
recently little known outside thei
Western world. The spreading of thisi
concept by example is an invaluable
gift which Americans can and do
bring to their sisters overseas.

It was a Frenchman who wrote in
genuine astonishment after a visit to
America more than a century ago
"An American may conceive of some
need that is not being met. What does
he do? He goes across the street and
discusses it with his neighbor. A
committee begins functioning on be
half of that need, and all this is
done by private citizens on their own
initiative." Transplanted abroad,
American women are giving new
meaning to this tradition. In a for-
eign land the urge to do something
which needs doing must be carefully
controlled and exercised with great
tact. Where local organizations like
the Y.W.C.A. and the Red Cross al-
ready exist, women work through
them with their new friends. Where
there is no organized welfare pro-
gram, they find it wise to proceed
very slowly and cautiously, to avoid
giving olfense.

There is scarcely a country in the
world where your compatriots are
not busy in hospitals, orphanages,
schools for the handicapped and
homes for the aged. In many places
they are sharing their strength and
skills. I am thinking of the four
community centers in Ecuador,
staffed almost entirely by American
volunteers who teach home econom-
ics, nursing and child care, home
industry, and civics. There is the
Foreign Service wife in Laos who
happens to be a doctor; she visits
the sick in remote villages and works
in the pediatrics ward of a Vientiane
hospital. One American is doing
volunteer psychiatric work in Liberia
and training local nurses to carry on
after her husband's tour of dutv
comes to an end. A young friend of
mine in Korea taught English com-
position at Ewha in the morning,
read proof on the Korea Times in
the afternoon, and still found time
to learn to speak Korean, one of the
most difficult of languages. During
last year's disastrous floods in Paki-

14

THE AGNES SCOTT

in, two wives from the United
ates Consulate in Dacca set out in

small boat to distribute food,
aeir boat capsized during a sudden
id violent storm, but the women
anaged to get to an island where
ey lived on mangoes for five days
biore being rescued by a helicopter.
s soon as another boat could be
und. they were out distributing
lod again.

Those who have special gifts serve
eir country in a very special way
rough the expression of their
lents. In Seoul an Embassy wife
is taught sculpture for manv vears

one of the universities, and another

playing the French horn in the
;oul Symphony Orchestra. In the
aghdad Symphonv the second
olinist is an American woman,
irginia Pleasants of our Embassy
1 Bonn is known throughout Europe
i a harpsichordist of the first rank,
id Sheila Isham. during her hus-
ind's assignment in Hong Kong, is
aching a class in contemporarv art
ir Chinese students and exhibitins:
;r paintings and lithographs all
ver the Orient. In Greece an Ameri-
m woman is recording Greek folk
.usic and dance for the folklore
chives of the Academv of Athens,
'orking alone or as part of a local
roup, these women of high profes-
onal competence win admiration
id respect wherever they go and
;Ip to erase the impression that
mericans are interested in material
ings onlv.

Artists and musicians seldom need
1 interpreter, and you may be sure
at as they share their gifts these
omen receive a rich return in
iendship and understanding of
joples. I think they would agree
ith the artist who said, "\^Tien I
ok at the starry sky, I find it small,
ither I am growing or else the uni-
;rse is shrinking unless both are
ippening at the same time. '

I have not spoken of the Peace
orps nor of the missionaries. Here
Agnes Scott the story of the mis-
onaries is too well known to need
ly comment from me. No one
lows better than they how much
is world has changed, for they have
;en caught up in the wave of na-
onalism and anti-colonialism which

sweeping over Africa and Asia. I

believe with all my heart in the new
way of preaching Christianity by
practicing it, and I wish you could
visit the Presbyterian Medical Center
in Chonju, in the heart of Korea
perhaps not as a patient there, as I
was and see what Paul and Sophie
Crane are doing to fight poverty and
disease and despair. Until I knew
them, I think I never truly under-
stood what Christianity meant.

Family of Man

For a great many years after I
left Agnes Scott, the verse from
Micah which was the Y.W.C.A.
theme during my senior vear seemed
a very firm foundation upon which
to build a life "What doth the Lord
require of thee but to do justly, to
love mercy, and to walk humbly with
thy God?" But as the earth has
seemed to shrink or as I perhaps
have grow'n that no longer fulfills
my need for a standard, for it leaves
me uncommitted. Justice, mercy,
humility are all very well, but I
know now that one must be deeply
involved in this changing w-orld to
justify being a part of it.

Three years ago the High Holv
Day message of the Jewish Theologi-
cal Seminary of America gave me
the insight which I had been seek-
ing. The Provost of the Seminary told
me. when I wrote to acknowledge my
debt of gratitude, that he had had
hundreds of letters like mine, and the
message had been widely circulated,
so it may be familiar to you. but I
think it bears repeating in fact. I
think it bears repeating every day.

Do you sometimes find yourself saying
"There's nothing / can do about the
problems of the world?'" Nothing?
There isn't a world problem which
doesn't begin where you are, and al-
ways you can diminish or add to it.
Not to be aware of this not knowing
the difference you make is in itself
one of the biggest of world problems.

Consider these three major issues
of our time ignorance, poverty, op-
pression.

We often think the world problem
is ignorance yet the real problem
is our own unwillingness to learn.
Only when we seek to understand the
minds of other men and women can
we diminish ignorance in the world,
risht where we are.

In the opinion of many people, the
greatest world problem is poverty.
Here at home, in the midst of our
abundance, poverty is very real in-
deed. What are you doing in your
community for the poor, the handi-
capped, the aged? Are you and I
doing it in the right way, with un-
derstanding and compassion and
humility, because we ourselves have
been so richly blessed? To share
what we have, and for the right rea-
sons, will reduce poverty, right where
we are.

Many of us think the world prob-
lem is oppression, yet the real prob-
lem is the rejection of our neighbors.
\^ e all belong to the Family of Man,
and we are all alike, in that each of
us is different. Whenever we make
welcome a neighbor, of whatever
race or creed, whenever we reach
out of our tight little communities to
touch the lives of those around us
with respect for their differences, we
reduce oppression and suspicion,
right where we are.

The problems of this changing
world are so complex and over-
whelming that it is all too easy to be
discouraged, but we would do well to
remember that mutual understanding
between peoples is not often ad-
vanced by a single dramatic stroke,
but far more frequently by a thou-
sand different pacts, by a thousand
different people, all working in the
small ways they know best, patiently
trying to enlarge the area of mutual
respect between human beings.

As you go back to your homes in
Atlanta and Birmingham and Chat-
tanooga and Winston-Salem, think
on these things. The world begins
where you are.

.'Author's Note: I owe a debt of
gratitude to many people for their as-
sistance with this speech, but especially
to the Honorable Katie Louchheim and
Mrs. George Morgan of Washington,
D. C; Frau Elisabeth Klee and Frau
Balbine von Diest of Bonn, Germany;
Mr. Chae Jae-Sak, Chungyang Univer-
sity, Seoul, Korea; and to Dr. Helen
Kim, President Emeritus, Ewha Uni-
versity, Seoul, Korea for allowing me
to read the first chapters of her auto-
biography in manuscript.

-UMNAE QUARTERLY / SUMMER 1964

15

m4

"VIP's" at the speakers' table included Dr. McCain and Dr. Alston

The class of 1914 poses prettily after receiving their 50 year pins.

Dr. Hayes entertained alumnae both in and out of class.

More than half the class of 1939 were here for their 25th reunion.

16

Mary Louise Duffee Philips '44, Alice Clements
Shinall '43, Eleanor Hutchens '40 and Sarah
Frances McDonald '36.

New President Mary bet h

Little Weston '48 (left)

talks with Kagle Johnson
'47.

17

An alumna delineates her particular
process of maturing.

Our Daily Bread

with Indians in Wyomini

By BET PATTERSON KING '47

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Bet, her hus-
band. Ware King, an Episcopal clergy-
man, and their four children live on on
Indian reservation. She, with Lorraine
Juliana, has published a book. The Wall
Between Us, an exchange of letters
which is a Protestant-Catholic dialogue.

18

I ere I sit at my Danish
modern desk in a com-
fortable stone house
on a mission circle in
the middle of an In-
dian reservation in the middle of
Wyoming. The air outside, this
December evening, is a mild 38 de-
grees, and I have just returned from
the outdoor swimming pool with our
four children. It seemed strange to-
night: usually most of the swimmers
in the hot springs pool, which be-
longs to the Shoshone and Arapaho
tribes, are Indians, but tonight I
saw only whites. The Indians have
all gone to Fort Washakie to a big
dance. Tomorrow night they W'ill
come here to the mission gym for
the biggest Indian dance of the year.
Every night in Christmas week a
dance is held somewhere on the
reservation, with men in big western
hats sitting around a drum, thump-
ing away and singing weird, high-
pitched songs, while men, women,
boys, and girls in buckskin, beads,
feathers, and jingling bells dance
around the circle of drummers,
watched by their neighbors and kin
sitting in chairs all around the hall.
The men are the chief dancers, but
anyone who wants to. whether in
costume or not, is welcome to take a
turn around the floor.

My husband. Ware, tried to de-
scribe Wyoming to me before we
moved west eight years ago. I could
not picture what he meant by wide
open spaces and sagebrush and big

incredibly blue skies. But I have felt
at home here from the very first day.
When we came we lived in a city for
five years. At least in Wyoming it is
a city. It had 5,000 persons when we
arrived and was one of Wyoming's
major cities. The two largest places
in the state have about 35,000 popu-
lation each. We have so few inhabi-
tants that we elect only one Repre-
sentative to Congress; but, as Ware
says, "Wyoming has more people
per capita than any other state."
Sometimes, in other parts of America,
it becomes hard to see the trees for
the forest. As a suburban friend of
mine wrote to me last summer:

"We lived in Florida in the
thirties, during the depression and
after the collapse of the land boom
down there, with wide paved streets
grown to grass and half-finished
buildings crumbling away in the
sand. It was like living among the
relics of a vanished culture. Only
what had happened was that this
culture hadn't happened at all. But
what I noticed most, and still relish
in memory, was that people were
scarce enough to make each person
individual and valuable. Now we live
in a town where practically every-
body I meet would have seemed to
me then like the find of a lifetime
but there's no space around them,
they're all crammed in here together.
You know, like a forest, in which no
tree can ever develop into a speci-
men. I don't mean that this stunts
the people, merely that it crowds

THE AGNES SCOTT

"Elk" come larger-than-life at Dubois, Wyo. Four
little Kings take a ride on Joe Back's sculpture.

Bell tower at Our Father's House.

inn and David King with Indian friends.

one's enjoyment of them. I should
think that this would be one of the
benefits of living where people are
spread out thin: congenial ones are
rare enough to look just great when
you find them."

Well do I know what she means!
When we lived in New York I
worried because I lost my sense of
the individual worth of the people I
saw all jammed together in subways
and fighting each other in depart-
ment stores. Here, where the density
(of trees and people I is about two
per square mile, one notices and ap-
preciates both persons and trees.

One has more time, too. In a little
city nobody has to leave for work or
church or a meeting downtown more
than five minutes before time to be
there. The airport is less than ten
minutes from anywhere in town. Yet
at the same time we become ac-
customed to going great distances.
We spend all day getting to a state
convention. It is not rare for me
and others to get "cabin fever" and
decide to take off for a movie in
Casper. 1,50 miles away, or to make
the beautiful drive to the Tetons.
about the same distance in the other
direction. The nearest four-year col-
lege ( the only one in the state) is
270 miles away.

Now that we live on the reserva-
tion, we have even more free time.
Church life is less highly organized
than it was in town, and we have
given up the town's organizational
life, which I used to enjoy but find

I can do without. People in town
kept telling us contradictory things
about how it would be to live among
the Indians. One said, "Now you'll
have all the time in the world, Betty,
to read and write." Another warned,
'"You won't have a moment you can
call your own. You'll be on call 24
hours a day." Both were right. We
receive telephone calls at 2 a.m.
both true emergency calls and also
friendly, sociable calls from some-
one in Salt Lake City. say. who may
be a bit tight and wants to say hello
to some kin down the road from us,
and who wants us to go and get the
kin. It seems that a lot of our time
involves people without telephones
telephoning people without tele-
phones, long distance. The southern
part of the Arapaho tribe is in Okla-
homa, and there is much calling back
and forth. Our people live in houses
scattered over the countryside, often
reached only by rutted roads where
it is easy to get stuck in mud or snow.
Although they are not poverty-
stricken, the Indians among whom
we live and work share many of the
problems of Indians throughout the
United States inability to adapt to
white men's culture and consequent
purposelessness leading to social
chaos. Last night at the Indian dance
I was thinking how many young men
and women who were probably at a
similar dance four Christmases ago
have dropped out of sight. Two are
in the state penitentiary for crimes
conmiitted while they were drunk.

lUMNAE QUARTERLY / SUMMER 1964

19

Our Dally Bread

(Continued)

One was burned to death in a cabin
where he and some buddies had gone
to sleep off a drunk. A woman who
had been drinking froze to death in
the snow beside a road where she
had been kicked almost to death by
a drunk companion. Experts tell us
that real alcoholism is not to blame,
but severe problem drinking caused
by acute despair, is. In one family in
the past few months the son-in-law
died at the wheel of a car that, be-
fore it crashed, had been going 90
miles an hour while he was drunk; a
daughter, eleven years old, fell off
the back of a moving truck while
playing with some other children;
and her brother, fourteen, died of
complications from rheumatic fever.
The birth rate is very high, but the
mortality rate for infants ( mostly
between eight and 12 months, from
diarrhea or pneumonia ) and for
young adults, is much too high.

Our own children go to a modern,
well staffed public school about four
miles away. Seven-eighths of their
classmates are Indians. Sarah, our
firstborn New Yorker, almost four-
teen now. says she loves it here and
hopes we never leave. She is a
country kid through and through,
and so are her New York-born sis-
ter. Martha, twelve; her Trenton-
bom sister, Ann, nine; and her
Wyoming-born brother. David, al-
most seven. Martha said wistfullv the
other day, "If I had my choice of
races, I'd be an Arapaho Indian
or maybe a Shoshone."

The Indians are a proud and in-
dependent people. They have never
been slaves. "They're undependable!"
snort some of the white folk around
here. Well, that goes with being in-
dependent. You cannot depend on
them to do what you want them to
do, but that fact does not necessarily
mean they are undependable. They
usually manage to accomplish what
ihey want to do. They have a sense
of decency and order in their com-
munity life. They value bravery,
kindness, good judgment, and gen-
erosity. If one of their number fails

20

to share all he has with whomever
asks him, they say, "He has a white
man's heart." When someone makes
off with the $300 raised to provide
Christmas treats for the old people,
he is disciplined not by lawsuits and
demands for restitution, but by gos-
sip and ostracism.

Intratribal jealousies, rivalries,
and hatreds build up in ways that
are difficult for an outsider to un-
derstand. It is said that if you want
to consider yourself an expert on
Indians, you'd better leave the
reservation before you've been there
a year. Now that we are in our fourth
year here, I am much less an expert
than I was in our first year.

Our church seeks to be a good in-
fluence on the whole community,
working to meet whatever needs exist
or arise. We do not have enough re-
sources, personal or financial, to meet
many needs at once; but we are try-
ing to do the best job we can. Two
social workers have recently come to
help in the mission work, and they
are a constructive influence.

I do not feel adequate as a
minister's wife in this situation. I
like the people, but I have not been
able to develop real rapport with
more than one or two of them. People
said to us when we decided to come
here. "It takes the Indians four or
five years before they begin to trust
you," and also, "They make up their
minds in the first two or three weeks
whether they are going to like you."
We had some highly vocal white op-
position when we first arrived: the
reason Ware volunteered to come in
the first place was to deal with an
unstable situation that had developed.
It was the first time I had been con-
scious of being labeled as one of the
"bad guys." and I found soon that it
is difficult to distinguish between
being persecuted for Christ's sake
and developing a nasty touch of
paranoia. Now, thanks largely to
Ware's patience and tact, the people
are beginning to develop more con-
fidence in us and in the Church we
represent.

I do not think I could have dealt
with our circumstances here ten or
fifteen years ago. I enjoy our life
now as I did not then. I like being
middle-aged. Sometimes I think I

must have been about eighty years old
when I was born, and I am growins
younger all the time. Now that I am
approaching forty I feel more at
home in me.

It simply will not do to go far
with that figure of speech; I'll start
on another. I learned a great deal at
Agnes Scott, but at the time I was
there, I was not enough of a person
to know what I was learning. (Were
all the rest of you that way, too, I
wonder? But I have felt that I was
different. ) A boy said of me in high
school, "Bet is the dumbest smart
girl I ever saw."' I know now just
what he meant. I was amazingly good
at the advanced literature, intellectu-
ally, when I had not even learned
the alphabet emotionally. This ter-
rible deficiency made it hard on the
ones who cared, the friends and pro-
fessors who did not know what to
do for me and hoped somehow it
would come out all right.

My husband has much of the
sanity I lacked, but he was and is
so non-verbal, and I was, and am, so
verbal that I did not understand
most of what he tried to communicate
in the first few years. It was not un-
til we began to have children that I
began to know how spiritual flesh is,
how impossible it is to minister to
an infant's spirit in any other way
than physically, how much rich com-
munication is possible without any
words at all. With all this learning
going on I had a rough time of it for
a few years. I had sometimes been
called "sweet" in high school and
college. Now I discovered depths of
bitterness and hatred that had been
buried all those years. Having to
stay home most of the time and to
be responsible for children twenty-
four hours a day, seven days a week
four or five weeks a month, twelve
months a year, how many years untfl
they grew up! Who, me? It was
fantastic.

I started learning the alphabet
Now the advanced literature glows
with new dimensions. Last fall, when
our youngest started proudly off to
first grade, having through many
trials and errors learned to live with
our children (and at the same time
to understand and appreciate every-
one else better) , I found that I could

THE AGNES SCOTT

The King fomily (l-r) Mariha, Betty, Sarah,
David, Ware, Ann.

Arapaho creation story drawn on
the door of Our Father's House.

A winter view of part of the Mission Circle.

;asily live without them for eight
lours a day. Life's possibilities, for
ne as well as for our first-grader,
lad opened up even further: I was
ree once more to choose where I
vould go and what I would do dur-
ng the day. This may seem like a
imall freedom to those who have al-
vays had it, and all of us know it is
I limited freedom in view of our
nany responsibilities; but it is a
reedom I cherish and enjoy to the
ullest. Again I say, I like being
niddle-aged.
Our first daughter's teen-age re-

bellion has taken the form of an ex-
traordinary neatness, not only about
her person but also about her room,
which she shares' with our second
daughter. When she really gets go-
ing, her industry, in pointed contrast
to my sloth and sloppiness. carried
her into our third daughter's room
to clean it up! Am I hurt by this
repudiation of the example I've al-
ways set her? No, I am not. I am de-
lighted. This is my unexpected, un-
dreamed of, glorious compensation
for the shadows caused by those four
years of hearing. "Your room in-

spection report goes on your per-
manent record."

A year or so ago Miss Emma May
Laney, who was one of the splendid
English professors at Agnes Scott
and whom we like to see when we
go to Denver, asked us, "Are you
committed to the Indian work for
life?" I was interested in knowing
the ansM er, but I did not learn much
factualli when Ware replied. "Yes,
from day to day." But now I have
found one does not need so des-
perately to know where one is going
if one knows where one is.

UUMNAE QUARTERLY / SUMMER 1964

21

I LctGj;*^ . . .

Agnes Scott's 75th Anniversary Year in Retrospect

As THE summer's HEAT and quiet descend all too
quickly on the campus. I am already looking back with
a certain nostalgia to the rush and pleasant noises of the
75th anniversary year at Agnes Scott.

I shall attempt to sort the welter of impressions that
keep running through my consciousness. First comes the
realization that it was a splendid idea to spread the anni-
versary celebration over several months rather than to
jam all events into one month, much less one week.

My own real rejoicing began when I was sure that the
75th Anniversary Campaign would be a resounding suc-
cess. I had been so deeply involved in the "dailies'" of the
campaign that it was a very particular kind of joy to
revel in the knowledge of going over the campaign goal.
This was not just delight in the fact that needed financial
support for my college was assured but was also delight
with alumnae, members of the campus community and
others who joined forces to make this possible.

Next in my reactions to the year was the pleasure of
the 75th Anniversary Lecture Series. Hearty thanks are
here given to Dr. Mary L. Boney. faculty chairman of
Lecture Committee, for bringing these great people to
Agnes Scott. I had thought it might be difficult for me to
make the transition from, for example. Dr. Viktor
Frankl's theory of logotherapy to Sir C. P. Snow's ap-
proach to novel writing. But, of course, no transition was
needed. I found myself easily savoring each lecture ex-
perience. And I just wanted to keep Dr. Mark Van Doren
and his poetry as a permanent part of .Agnes Scott.

Then came Alumnae Week End in this special year.
Again, I had been so close to the myriad details of
planning the week end that I kept having nice surprises
during those three days in April. That Friday morning
in a chapel program some of Janef Preston '21"s poems,
recently published as a long-awaited book. Upon Our
Pulses, were read by Neva Jackson Webb '42 (who
taught speech during Roberta Winter '27's leave of ab-
sence this spring I , Vlartha Trimble Wapensky '44, and a
group of Neva's students. I can find no words which can
create for you the effect that the sounds in Janef's poetry
created for me.

Alice Jemigan Dowling '30, the Alumna Speaker in

the 75th Anniversary Lecture Program, stayed on campus
for several days after her excellent address Friday night
of Alumnae Week End ( see p. 10 I . and I had the chance
to begin to know her rather than just knowing about her.

Prior to Alice's lecture, the College gave a dinner hon-
oring the alunmae who were Area Chairmen in the forty-
five geographic regions of the Campaign. Invited to be
witli the area chairmen and their husbands were the
Colleges Board of Trustees, the Executive Board of the
Alumnae Association, and administrative officers of the
College. Dr. W. Edward McNair. director of public rela-
tions and development, presented the area chairmen with
citations which were modelled on the Agnes Scott di-
ploma.

As I take this quick glance back at the seventy-fifth
year. 1 am amazed and want to reassure you that the
College did go on as usual in the midst of all the celebra-
tions. Betty Brown '65. daughter of Isabel McCain Brown
37 and granddaughter of President-Emeritus James R.
McCain, was awarded the George P. Hayes Debate
Trophy, given annually by Louisa Aichel Mcintosh '47
and Dale Bennett Pedrick '47.

Also among underclassmen. Sarah Timmons '65. daugh-
ter of Mary Ellen Whetsell Timmons '39. received the
Houghton Scholarship, awarded on the basis of future
promise as indicated by character, personality, and scho-
larship: and Grace Walker Winn '67, daughter of Grace
Walker Winn '41, is a Stukes Scholar, so named for
ranking first academically in her class.

The student body voted to change the name of the stu-
dent newspaper from The Agnes Scott News to The
Profile. Elected as editor for 1964-65 was Jere Keenan "65.
daughter of Lucille Dennison Keenan '37. Jere says she
would welcome subscriptions from alumnae. Checks for
S3. 50 should be made payable to Agnes Scott Profile and
mailed to Box 648 at the College.

The Class of 1964's Senior Opera was an hilarious
"Hamlet: or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love
My Mother.'' They graduated June 8, 139 strong, and we
welcome them to alumnae status.

RETURN POSTAGE GUARANTEED BY ALUMNAE QUARTERLY. AGNES SCOTT COLLEGE, DECATUR, GEORGIA

<1

A magnificently tall pierced-brick wall will be the architectural feature of the Dana Fine Arts Building.

^/

103:^50

FOR REFERENCE

Oo Not Take From This Room