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Title: Baldwin, James Fosdick, 1871-1950 -- Memorial Minute:
Creator: Griffin, Charles, Miller, John, Campbell, Mildred
Description
Date: [After 1950]
Text: JAMES FOSDICK BALDWIN 1871 - 1950 James Fosdick Baldwin was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, in 1871. He died in Poughkeepsie, New York, on Thurs- day, Qctober the fifth, 1950. During forty-four of the seventy-nine intervening years, he was a member of the Vassar College faculty in the department of history. Hence it is to a fellow gildsman of long service that we now pay respect and honor. As Mr. Baldwin, setting about his most recent task of writing a history of the college in its modern era...
Show moreJAMES FOSDICK BALDWIN 1871 - 1950 James Fosdick Baldwin was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, in 1871. He died in Poughkeepsie, New York, on Thurs- day, Qctober the fifth, 1950. During forty-four of the seventy-nine intervening years, he was a member of the Vassar College faculty in the department of history. Hence it is to a fellow gildsman of long service that we now pay respect and honor. As Mr. Baldwin, setting about his most recent task of writing a history of the college in its modern era, sifted with trained eye and hand the boxes and volumes that constitute the college archives, - Presidents' cor- respondence, faculty minutes, committee reports, reports of departmental chairmen, and old files of the Miscellan News that recounted gala skits of Founder's Day, Ee must often have run across his own name and his own handwriting, for he had a zest for life and was ever an active partic- ipant in all that was going on about him. His courses in English history introduced him to large numbers of stu- dents and his circle of friends and acquaintances among alumnae was wide. His interest in every part of the col- lege was marked, - one could mention for instance certain of our library treasures, rare for a college of this size that are here because of his scholarly discernment and his initiative. Engrossing as was the campus to him, however, Mr. Baldwin did not forget that there were pleasures and obligations outside of it, that he was a resident of the town of Poughkeepsie, a citizen of Dutchess County and of his state and nation. He took a lively interest in public affairs to which his approach was that of a humanitarian and a liberal. Better also than some of us, he was able to transfer the field of his specialized interests to the scene at hand. Hence the student of constitutional origins in a distant age and place found ways of making Dutchess County origins exciting to his friends and fel- low townsmen. He held office repeatedly in the Dutchess C t Hi t ri i t ° l f i oun y s o cal Soc e y, and in 9h2 was o fic ally honored with the title, Dutchess Count Historian. Other community activities enlisted His support. His lifelong interest in music, found expression in his work as an organist in one of Poughkeepsie's churches, a post which he filled for years. After his retirement many of these interests were continued. Indeed, there was true gallantry in the way Jmnes Baldwin set about to explore Q 28 JAMES FOSDICK BALDWIN (Continued) the resources within himself in order to make his retirement a period both useful and happy. And it was a source of pleasure to his friends that neither old_ age nor adversity dulled his salty wit nor dimmed the twinkle in his eye. But beyond these memories left with friends and assoc- iates, James Fosdick Baldwin in his early manhood created a more lasting memorial through his contribu- tion to historical scholarship in a highly selective field, that of the Ehglish Medieval Constitution. His book on the Kin 's Council in En land Durin the Middle A es published §n Uxford In I§I§ was Hailed By scholarly journals on both sides of the Atlantic as charting new ground and superseding previous treatments of the sub- ject. It led to his election at once to membership in the Royal Historical Society, and gave him a place among the best scholars in the field in his own country. Even now after almost forty years it still remains a recognized authority. Hence, as Poughkeepsie notes the passing ofia good citizen and neighbor, and Vassar Col- lege a friend and colleague, medieval historians in both Europe and America record the passing of a respected member of their fraternity, the author of The King's Council. Charles Griffin John Miller Mildred Campbell XIII - 1&3
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Title: Fiske, Christabel Forsyth, 1869-1956 -- Memorial Minute:
Creator: Lockwood, Helen Drusilla, Griffin, Charles, Swain, Barbara
Description
Date: [After 1956]
Text: CHRISTABEL FORSYTH FISKE 1869 - 1956 Every one of us who speaks of Christabel Forsyth Fiske, begins his narrative with, "I shQJ.never forget." She was one of Vassar's great women. Her gallant figure crossed the campus as if under full sail, its course held true by her intense love of learning and her direct sense of life. She wrote a nuber of studies on Old English and German Medieval literatures, English modifications of Teutonic racial concepts, 16th century and romantic...
Show moreCHRISTABEL FORSYTH FISKE 1869 - 1956 Every one of us who speaks of Christabel Forsyth Fiske, begins his narrative with, "I shQJ.never forget." She was one of Vassar's great women. Her gallant figure crossed the campus as if under full sail, its course held true by her intense love of learning and her direct sense of life. She wrote a nuber of studies on Old English and German Medieval literatures, English modifications of Teutonic racial concepts, 16th century and romantic literature. She was cited by scholars for her knowledge of Milton. She was learned in languages and belonged to organiza- tions devoted to their study: the American Dialect Society, the American Folk Lore Society, the Scan- dinavian Society, the Modern Language Association. Two of hr works give the key to her quality. In her essay,_§Qmel%1Realism in Medieval German Literature in Vassar E9 geval §tu§}es of I§2§ sEe says of Her findings, I I This thread of homespun is but a slender one... Or to change the metaphor - the plain, quaint little figure which in true medieval fashion has gradually become for me the personification of this intimate, homely phase of the German mind, has been very inconspicuous, lost con- tinually among the mystical and romantic per~ sonages thronging fantastically or brilliantly the pages I have read. Such as it is, however, it is more in evidence, I think, than in most other medieval European literatures, and therefore not nly intrinsically interesting, but also from the comparative point of view, at least suggestively significant. In her last book, E ic Su estions in the Ima er of the Waverl Novels, puEIIsEed in I§ED, she searcEed out the Heroic element in Sir Walter Scott because, she says, ... it had been neglected in criticism in favor of the romantic... In the case of a man of Scott's caliber, the impact of him on the average intelligent mind should result in a moderately well-rounded.. conception of him as a great English writer. CHRISTABEL FORSYTH FISKE (Continued) To have this "moderately well—r0unded conception" required merely that one be aware of the relation- ships of one person and all society, nature, the traditions of lanuage and literature, the range from the folk to the aristocrats, from the romantic to the heroic. This search for fullness and balance made her a superb editor. To her Vassar owes the publication of Vassar Medieval Studies and the Vassar Journal of Under- graduate Studies, the most cﬁaracteristic and original w »ness 0 our achievement in the liberal arts that has ever been published. Beyond writiq; her own piece for the Vassar Medieval Studies, sheedited the whole volume. 'tE¥hin th6‘quiet, exaet words of her preface one can see her in action. She speaks of many an illuminating talk with various colleagues whose work while primarily in classical or in modern fields, is in certain aspects of it closely connected with the period here dealt with... They have cooperated with us; and we have thus a book somewhat widely representative of outlook upon the Middle Ages. The departments represented in the book were English, French, German, Folk Lore, History, Greek, Latin, Mathematics, Art, Music. For fourteen years, 1926-l9hO, as she read the papers of Vassar's students submitted for the Vassar Journal d h t er of Under raduate Stu ies, er sure judgmen nev flagged. Every meeting of the Committee of the Journal brought out the flashing sharpness of her critical faculties, and she could always put into a few words the gist of the virtues or weaknesses of an essay. She was always a teacher too while she was editing. She took infinite pains with the students who wrote these essays, especially when she felt the student had capacity to do distinguished work. She was more interested in helping them to develop their gifts than in passing judgment on their work. She insisted on the highest possible standards of writing and research, involving not only scholarship but also sensitive imagination. From 1903-l9hO generations of students came to life in her courses on the history of English literature, her seminar on Milton, her seminar on Language. Her classes CHRISTABEL FORSYTH FISKE (Continued) were rich in scholarship, profound and illumined. Even students whose background was barren and whose idea of a college was dim, caught the light on the past and discovered that Old and Middle English told them about life. "She taught me to write a critical paper," says one of her students thirty years later. ‘So gently too. But I've never forgotten. She so quietly showed me that I needn't say ever thin but I must select. She showed me how to select tﬁe essentials."Patiently, without invading the personal dignity of her students she taught them to write by singling out each one's exact difficulty or possibility. "I know exactly who you are," she said to a freshman who in her paper a few days before had tried to tell the elevated feeling about coming to college that had suddenly dawned on her the sumer before. "Your face belongs to this paper." But when the faces were not alight because the students had not read the books, much less thought about them, she was known to slam her book don: on the desk, announce "I don't think I want to see you today," and walk out of the room. The effect on their work was electric. She was a friend and a presence on the campus. She knew who was devoted and who lived on the surface. When she trusted people, her greeting always invited them to enter a world of justice and truth in which she herself dWG 0 "When did you get the meaning of academic integrity?" she would ask a colleague for she was troubled about her students’ slow recognition of plagiarism. "My brain is seething," she would say. "Do you know the difference between Plato and Neo-Platonism?" Or if she had a great tyranny of today on her mind or the sufferings of the war or the injustices of the Great Depression or the bitter fruit of prejudice, she would seize one who, she knew, cared too and with her eyes severe and flashing, would say, "Will you explain clearly to me in a paragraph what is the meaning of this and what is to be done about it?" Only by chance did one know that behind the darting questions and the seething mind was also the long, generous private list of contributions to many pioneering agencies struggling to right wrongs. It worked the other way too. As you saw her coming out of the library daily, you would ask her about what in CHRISTABEL FORSYTH FISKE (Continued) Scott's imagery she had found today, and there would come clear, sparkling discourse about the workings of his poetical imagination and perhaps his whole plan for the aforestation of Scotland. She was always ready to share the freshness of experience._But like all original and poetic spirits amidst the worldly ones, she was a wayfarer.... Nevertheless the fact that she was going somewhere wonderful inspired the whole college. Her memory today renews our faith in the course. Helen Drusilla Lockwood Charles Griffin Barbara Swain XIV - 127-129
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Title: Mason, Mary Gertrude, 1900-1951 -- Memorial Minute:
Creator: Lamson, Genieve, Turner, Susan, Griffin, Charles
Description
Date: [After 1951]
Text: MARY GERTRUDE MASON 1900 — 1951 Mary Gertrude Mason, one of a family of teachers, fulfilled in her career many of the best qualities of the teaching tradition in our country. Dedi- cated to the pursuit of learning, she became an able scholar and a teacher beloved by her students. Her colleagues respected her comand of her field, her intelligence, her disinterestedness, and her devotion to her profession. Born in Kentucky and prepared for college in the schools of her native state, she...
Show moreMARY GERTRUDE MASON 1900 — 1951 Mary Gertrude Mason, one of a family of teachers, fulfilled in her career many of the best qualities of the teaching tradition in our country. Dedi- cated to the pursuit of learning, she became an able scholar and a teacher beloved by her students. Her colleagues respected her comand of her field, her intelligence, her disinterestedness, and her devotion to her profession. Born in Kentucky and prepared for college in the schools of her native state, she attended the University of Chicago, graduating in 1923. For seven years, thereafter, she served as teacher in school and college in Kentucky, except for a year's interlude during which she secured the M.A. degree at Columbia. Desiring, however, to engage in advanced study, she turned to Far-Eastern history, studying first at the University of Michi- gan and later at Columbia University which granted h th d t ' d i hi t i 1939. H er e oc or s egree n s ory n er dissertation dealt with Western Conce ts of China and the Chineseé l8QO-1875. From thigshe was 13¢ on o ur er s u es o e contact of East and West and even during her final illness prepared a review of work on the Chinese in Peru which she did not live to see in print. Mary Mason came to Vassar in l9hh after terms of service at Brooklyn College and Michigan State College. The increasing importance of her field of specialization and the recognition by her departmental colleagues of her broad and sound scholarship led to her reappointment and later to her promotion to the assistant professorship. Throughout her years of service in the department of history no one outdid her in conscientious dedication to teaching, or in the generosity with which she shared departmental tasks. She distinguished her- self by her careful and systematic instruction in the freshman course in European history and communicated enthusiasm to many of her students in Far-Eastern hiStQI'yo Active in research, she was engaged at the time of her death on a bibliographical study in which she had been assisted by Vassar through the award of MARY csarauns mason (Continued) a Faculty Fellowship for the year l9h9-SO. The significance of this work has been attested by a leading specialist who referred to Mary Mason's death as a distinct loss to Far-Eastern studies in the United States as well as to Vas- sar College. Several scholars, also, have since expressed the hope that the study which she had almost cmpleted can be posthumously published. As a teacher, Mary Mason won the respect and affection of her students by her informed pre- sentation of material and her regard for both the lively potentialities and due weaknesses of young minds. with humor and judgment she led them to an awareness of the stringent demands and intellectual rewards of the study of history. As a Resident, she brought her scholarship and qualities as a teacher into her relations with students in the House. With gentle friendliness she established easy companionship. Her amused understanding of the wayward won their confidence. She had great patience and kindliness for the slow, as well as insight into the needs and ambitions of superior students. Those who knew her as counsellor or teacher continued to seek her as a valued friend. This capacity for lasting friendship was one of the touchstones of Mary Mason's character. She was a fountain of good sense. Her friends loved her shy, warm smile and enjoyed her quiet humor. They valued her intellectual integrity and felt in her the gentle firmness that came from a sense of proportion. When illness came to her, they were not gurprised by her clear courage in the face of deat 0 Genieve Lamson Susan Turner Charles Griffin XIII - 274).;-2h5
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Title: Textor, Lucy Elizabeth, 1870-1958 -- Memorial Minute:
Creator: Griffin, Charles, Conklin, Ruth E.
Description
Date: [After 1958]
Text: LUCY ELIZABETH TEXT on 1870 - 1958 Lucy Elizabeth Textor, professor emerita of history at Vassar Colle e, died at Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania, on June 29, 195% in her eighty-eighth year. Upon this occasion Vassar College pays tribute to a loyal friend and to a teacher who served for thirty-six years as an active member of its faculty, and to a historian who, with the encouragement of Lucy Maynard Salmon, then chairman of the Department of History, was respon- sible for the development of...
Show moreLUCY ELIZABETH TEXT on 1870 - 1958 Lucy Elizabeth Textor, professor emerita of history at Vassar Colle e, died at Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania, on June 29, 195% in her eighty-eighth year. Upon this occasion Vassar College pays tribute to a loyal friend and to a teacher who served for thirty-six years as an active member of its faculty, and to a historian who, with the encouragement of Lucy Maynard Salmon, then chairman of the Department of History, was respon- sible for the development of Russian, eastern European, and Far Eastern history at the college in the early years of this century when such studies in the United States were mainly limited to a few large universities. Miss Textor was the daughter of Joseph Conrad and Elizabeth Kuhn Textor. Though born in West Virginia, she spent most of her early life in Chicago and took her first degree of Bachelor of Philosophy at the University of Michigan. Her interest in history and in teaching, awakened at Michigan, led her to Stanford University where she was awarded the Master's Degree in American history. In odd contrast to the field to which she later devoted herself her thesis, which, unlike most master's dissertations, was published, dealt with the relations between the United States government and the Sioux Indians. By teaching in a private school in Palo Alto and later in a high school in New Haven, Connecticut, Miss Textor supported herself while she earned her Ph.D. degree at Yale University. Immediately thereafter she came as an instructor to Vassar College in 1905. A few years ago, long after she had retired, on the occasion of a visit to Vassar Miss Textor told her younger colleagues in the history department of Miss Salmon's encouagement of her ambition to specialize in Russian history and how the older woman insisted on her getting field experience at the earliest opportunity Traveling in Russia alone in 1909 and again in 1911 was an adventurous step for a young American woman. She traveled widely in Russia and much to her surprise and delight found herself the object of hospitality from many Russian families who generously felt that they must instruct, protect, and entertain this young western student of their country. From that day on Miss Textor became a warm-hearted friend of the Slavic peoples and an interpreter of their culture to her students and to the public. LUCY ELIZABETH TEXTOR (Continued) After the First World War Miss Textor's special interests turned to Czechoslovakia, then newly independent. She spent a sabbatical year in that country and published, in London in 1923, a book on A rarian Reform in Qggchoslovakia. In 1928 a number 0% xasrrban educators, including John Dewey, were invited by the Commissar of Education, Lunarchorsky, to visit the Russian schools. At that time many people in this country were still hopeful that some- thing good would result from the great Russian experi- ment. In her talks after her return, Miss Textor reflected this hope, though she was without illusions about the totalitarian and ruthless character of the regime. A longer stay in Russia of over eight months in 1930-31 gave her a closer view. She lived not as a tourist but as the Russians did (in her case with a fourth class food card which only entitled her to a small amount of black bread, dried fish, and tea and sugar upon occasion). She taught English to help support herself. She attended one of the earliest purge trials and saw same of the worst sufferings of the period of forced liquidation of the kulaks and returned highly critical of the Stalinist regime. At Vassar Miss Textor's studies led to the organization of new courses, especially to a senior course in the history of Central and Eastern Europe. She also gave a course from time to time in Far Eastern History in which she did not claim to be a specialist, but to which her interest in Russian Eastern expansion naturally attracted her. She was much in demand as a lecturer to women's organizations and to other groups in the mid-Hudson valley and as far away as Detroit and Chicago. Many present members of the Vassar faculty remember Miss Textor in the later years of her career as a stately but outgoing and warm-hearted woman, friendly to newcomers. She supported ardently the development of the infant Russian Department, which grew to regular status during the 1930's. In those years of Hitlerite expansion Miss Textor was most active in arousing American sympathy for the Czechs and later for the Poles in their suffering under Nazi domination. Her generosity, in the spending of self and substance, knew no bounds. There were many opportunities for her to help refugees from Russia as well as from Poland and Czechoslovakia with friendly hospitality, wise counsel and financial aid. She was able to repay LUCY ELIZABETH TEXTOR (Continued) hospitality granted her in earlier days by helping to resettle in Canada the surviving members of a Russian family. Several scholars from Czechoslovakia were introduced to academic circles in this country through her efforts, and as a result, were able to establish themselves in suitable positions. After her own retirement, Miss Textor's sympathies and energies were largely occupied for some years by the protracted invalidism of her dear friend, Miss Florence White, Emeritus Professor of French. Miss Textor devoted herself whole-heartedly to Miss White, not only going much actual nursing, but providing an atmosphere of serenity and cheerful hospitality. Later, in spite of failing eyesight and the infirmities of advancing years, she continued to demonstrate courage, wit, and good spirits. Now, after the close of this long life of active service to scholarship, to generations of students, to her country, and to the cause of international good will, we salute Lucy Elizabeth Textor to whom Vassar College owes enduring honor, gratitude and affection Charles C. Griffin Ruth E. Conklin XIV - mls-um
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Title: Walker, Helen, 1915-1970 -- Memorial Minute:
Creator: Gregg, Richard, Griffin, Charles, Daniels, Elizabeth A.
Description
Date: [After 1970]
Text: 75 HELEN WALKER 1915 - 1970 Helen Walker, an instructor in Russian at Vassar from 1966 until her death in 1970, died on November 4th that year in Troy, New York after a long illness at the age of 55. Prior to 1966 after coming to this country from China, Mrs. Walker had served as a mainstay assistant in the Russian Department from 1946 to 1949 and as director of an eminently successful evening Russian pro- gram for teachers from 1962 to 1966. Born in Manchuli, Manchuria on June 10, 1915, the...
Show more75 HELEN WALKER 1915 - 1970 Helen Walker, an instructor in Russian at Vassar from 1966 until her death in 1970, died on November 4th that year in Troy, New York after a long illness at the age of 55. Prior to 1966 after coming to this country from China, Mrs. Walker had served as a mainstay assistant in the Russian Department from 1946 to 1949 and as director of an eminently successful evening Russian pro- gram for teachers from 1962 to 1966. Born in Manchuli, Manchuria on June 10, 1915, the daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Alexander P. Bugaer, Helen Walker came to this country in 1946. Although she had forfeited all trace of her previous academic records in China, Mrs. Walker enrolled for the Vassar undergraduate degree, which she received in 1950, followed by the second degree which she took with distinction in 1964. She thereafter enrolled for the Ph.D. in Slavic Studies at New York University. While still in China from 1942 to 1945, Mrs. Walker had served as an editor and translator for Havas Telemondial, the French News Agency in Shanghai. She was an instructor from time to time in the adult education program of the Poughkeepsie Schools, and was an instructor of Russian at Dutchess Community College between 1959 and 1962. During the summer of 1965 Mrs. Walker returned abroad to study at Moscow State University. The success of the Institute for teachers of Russian held on campus for the four years mentioned in the 1960's has been attested to by the rise and popularity of Russian studies in Dutchess County schools. The inauguration of the program in the Arlington High School, for example, is directly attributable to one of her students. Many students, subsequent to their fanned out in to high schools in other states. They found, courses in other institutions of Mrs. Walker's other teacher study in the Vassar institute in surrounding areas, as well as also, that when they enrolled in to pursue further work, Mrs. Walker had given them a rigorous, strong, and rich preparation in a dif- ficult and demanding discipline. Although her central concern was with her students in the class- room, Mrs. Walker constantly opened her expansive Russian heart to those who needed her personal help. In most recent years, under the burden of her increasingly debilitating illness, she HELEN WALKER - continued shared the warm cordiality of her lovely modern house in the woods near Vassar with her colleagues on the faculty and her students. The memorable gourmet delicacies that she created and served introduced those who visited her to Russian food; while the talk and fellowship simultaneously revealed other glimpses of her previous life in a different culture. Soon after Mrs. Walker came to Vassar it was discovered that she had an incurable congenital kidney ailment which threatened her life. Notwithstanding, she courageously accepted her con- dition, and acted to give and gain full measure from her daily professorial comitments. One of her colleagues has sumed up her qualities as a constant thirsting for intellectual activities. "She was a most con- scientious, unselfish, and talented pedagogue, considerate and very thorough and kind." In her quiet and modest way she sus- tained the highest standards of language teaching and criticism Respectfully submitted, Richard Gregg Charles Griffin Elizabeth Daniels, Chairman . ¢_ a< *4 ‘ ' Z ___,_./I’/1,‘: 4~' 5, )/)C$.... ,,,-’,‘;v* ‘.4. ~' * ' " I. ;' I % { .,’ ’ 4;‘ ‘I,/:.’{:»t7‘;l*”€~"$ ‘L ‘ii 5/ /7; if /'
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