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Title: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin) -- to mother, Jan. 20, 1896:
Creator: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin)
Description: VC 1897
Date: January 20, 1896
Text: Vassar College. Jan. 20. 1896. My dear Mother,-— I sit down at the close of this day to write to you, and wish of rest is very welcome. Closing up the term's work is no easy task - especially when we have two or three special topics to do. I have spent more than twelve hours during the past week working on my special topic in Greek, and I am not near through. I think Miss Leach expectedus to spend five or six hours on it, but we always find that on special topics we have to spend about...
Show moreVassar College. Jan. 20. 1896. My dear Mother,-— I sit down at the close of this day to write to you, and wish of rest is very welcome. Closing up the term's work is no easy task - especially when we have two or three special topics to do. I have spent more than twelve hours during the past week working on my special topic in Greek, and I am not near through. I think Miss Leach expectedus to spend five or six hours on it, but we always find that on special topics we have to spend about three times as much labor as the teacher expects. I also have a special topic in Latin to do, which I have not yet touched - that and my Greek topic must both be finished by the end of this week, in addition to getting the usual lessons of the week- You know our exam- inations are the week after this - beginning a week from tomorrow. I have six to take and they extend through four days. This time my subjects are the kind that need "cramming"-, especially History, Art History, Astron- omy and Biology - so you may be sure I will be thankful when a week from Thursday evening comes- Today we have had the privilege of three fine services- This manning Dr. Samuel Elliott of Brooklyn, preached. He is a Unitarian, but he didn't seem to have very Unitarian views. He spoke about Christ and quoted his life and teachings in apparently the same spirit that an orthodox minister would. I thought his sermon was very good, and I liked him personally very much because he was so earnest and enthusiastic and so anxious to help people. This after Dr. Thomson, a New York physician, son of the Dr. Thomson who was amissionary to Syria and wrote "Land and the Book"- spoke to us about the Armenian question, to show how such cruelties could be perpetrated in this enlightened age. His talk was not very much about recent affairs, but chiefly historical, - a sketch of the Mohammedans from their earliest history and their subsequent history, showing how all through they have been characterised by blood- thirstiness, how it has been born and bred and drilled into them, all through their history, to think that it is the greatest virtue to kill Christians. It was taught repeatedly by Mohammad himself in the Koran as well as in his own life,and it has been zealously lived up to by all his followers. Dr. Thomson said that one day in Arabia he was going along a street with an Englishman, when some Mohammedan boys followed them shouting something. The Englishman thought the boys were saluting them and felt very much flattered, till Dr. Thomson, who understands Arabic very well, Informed him that they were saying this: "How sweet, how sweet it is to cut the throats of Christians, how sweet." That was many years ago. Dr. Thomson was educated as a physician in order to be a missionary physician In Syria, but Just as he was on the point of going, someterrible massacres broke out In Syria, and his father wrote to him that they might have to flee at any hour, and that he had better stay in New York- He was very much disappointed, as he had been born and brought up In Syria and did not know a soul in New York. Dr. Thomson said that England, disappointed In her hopes of the cooperation of European powers In behalf of the Armenians, was just about to go ahead and do something with only the United States to back her, when "like a bombshell came the President's message about the Vene- zuelan Commission," which diverted the attention of England to a war scare and withdrew the backing and sympathy of the United States for England. Our next T. and M. debate Is on the question 1'Should England interfere In behalf of the Armenians? " This comes next Saturday. Prof. Ix>uis Dyer, formerly of Oxford, England, but now of Cornell, has been lecturing to us this week on Greek subjects. Friday night his talk was on the "Religion of Athena". This was not so Interest- ing as his lectures on Saturday. Saturday morning he read a metrical translation of his own of Euripides' Medea, -ft-Just girls who take Greek could go to this, so of course it was In a smaller room. Prof. Dyer's voice is much better suited to a small room- it is low andbeautifully modulated - one of the most beautiful readers he is, that I ever heard. We had Greek texts of the Medea to follow, so that we could see how well he translated it, especially in bringing the figures of speech over into the English- We all enjoyed it so much. Miss Franklin, one of the Latin teachers, who sat next to me, remarked that she had not been so happy for years.1 Saturday afternoon Prof. Dyer gave personal reminiscences of Dr. Jowett, Master of Baliol College, Oxford- but I could not spare the time from my special topic to go to this. Every one said it was very interesting. After the lecture Friday night, Prof. Leach gave the Greek girls a reception in the Seniorparlor, to meet Prof. Dyer. I think he is what you would call a "charming conversationalist." He talked so easily and pleasantly, and told interesting stories, for instance about the children Harvard of Prof. James - who teaches Psychology at Oxford One of Prof. James1 little boys, when he came home from the circus, was asked by his grand- mother what he saw there. He replied, "I saw a lion, and a giraffe, and a rhinoceros, but no conscious personality." Saturday night our table had a 'Waffle supper"- the first one we girls have been to since we have been in college. Immediately after chapel we went over to Mrs. Eidel*s - wholives in one of the cottages near here, and there we had a supper of waffles, chocolate, chocolate cake, and buttered toast. After we had all the waffles we wanted, we played "It"- whlch 1s the most fun of any game I know- Dr. Blair and Miss Epler were the ones who did not know the joke- Then we had short toasts, Miss Epler acting as toast-mistress, and all of us responding to a toast, in about two sentences. We walked to the cottage and back through "the pines a dark and lonesome path- safe enough on account of our numbers, but rather spooky. I have not time now to tell in detail about our "dissection". Monday afternoon we had a"clinic", with Dr. Blair as the instructor, and a little mouse, which Carrie had caught in her mousetrap the night before, as the victim. It was in my room, where Ray and Carrie and two or three other girls had gathered, and here we watched Dr. Blair dissect the poor mouse, just for the sake of seeing how the organs of the mouse were put together. It was purely voluntary. Carrie asked Dr. Blair to do it for us. None of the girls showed any signs of the proverbial "faint- ness" except Ray, who began to feel queer and left the room very abruptly. After she came back she tried to be very brave and insisted on pinning down the rat's skin and holding its tail out of the way, or anything else necessary.W e teased her about it very much. I got the handkerchiefs all right the other day. I find I have one of Edith's, which I will send back next week after it is washed. I just received Lou's postal about the Horace notes. I forgot all about them, and was sorry she did not remind me sooner. I hope it will not be too late cow. I will send them by the next mail. And I think I will put in with them, the napkins which I brought in September - now that I have the new ones. You wrote about the death of Mrs. Prentiss. Papa wrote me in November about the death of Mrs. Prentiss on Russell Ave. Do you mean this time Mrs. Perry Prentiss? You have all been so good about writing since Christmas. I have just revelled in letters. Love to all, Adelaide. jClaflin,
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Title: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin) -- to mother, Jan. 21, 1894:
Creator: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin)
Description: VC 1897
Date: January 21, 1894
Text: Vassar College. Jan. 21, 1894. My dear Mamma, — Several unusual and pleasant things have happened this week. First of all, as we were at dinner Friday night a card was brought in to Ray and she jumped up and rushed from the room like a streak of lightning. We found that her father had come. I let her talk with him while we finished dinner then I went and found them in the little reception room. I was £o gladto see him. It was almost like seeing one of my own family. We talked together until...
Show moreVassar College. Jan. 21, 1894. My dear Mamma, — Several unusual and pleasant things have happened this week. First of all, as we were at dinner Friday night a card was brought in to Ray and she jumped up and rushed from the room like a streak of lightning. We found that her father had come. I let her talk with him while we finished dinner then I went and found them in the little reception room. I was £o gladto see him. It was almost like seeing one of my own family. We talked together until Chapel, then went over to chapel and sat in the gallery. We had to come out before it was over so that Dr. Schauffler could catch the car for his train. So you see he was here a half an hour only. That was very little, but it was a great deal better than nothing. He was on an eastern trip and stopped unexpectedly. There was a fine concert here Friday night, a piano recital by Josef Slivinski, a Pole. Some people think he plays almost as well as Padarewski. It was a fine classical programme, Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt etc. and they say it was the finest concert that they have had here for years. I took Miss Macurdy, our Greek teacher.ou see, there being no gentlemen here, the girls have to act in that capacity, both with other girls and with teachers. This concert was the "swellest" public entertainment they have had this year, so the girls were more dressed up than usual, and Ray Is afraid that her father will have rather a strange idea of how the girls dress here, for he would not realise that they dress very plainly all the rest of the week except Friday night, and that they were more dressed on that night than usual for Friday night even. Monday afternoon. I left this letter to go and read to Maud Warner who has been sick for a week. She was no nice to us when we first came and took such good care of Raywhen she had the poison ivy, that we have been glad to do all we could for her, although that was not much beside attend- ing to her meals and reading to her. There has been very good skating for the last week. I went out Thursday, for the first time this winter, because before that I never had time when it was good, or else it was never good when I had time. I went out again Saturday afternoon, and learned a little more, and now I intend to go whenever there is a chance, so that I can learn to do it well. Blanche Campbell went with me Saturday. She has just begun to learn, too, so we each took a long piece of lath and went out on the lath pond, because the rink was being flooded. Holding the -s4*k-horizontally in our hands helps to steady us. While we were going around that way President Taylor came skatingalong and asked me what I was doing. (which was extremely evident) "Oh, 1 said, "I was Just learning how."A "Learning how to do what? " he said. And I said "Learning how to hold a stick straight." Then he stood and watched me sit down suddenly. He skates a great deal, and Mrs. Taylor is out quite often too. Several members of the Faculty skate, and Miss Richardson, our Mathematics teacher, is the best and most graceful skater here. Miss Richardson has been so nice since Christmas vacation that it repents me of what I said about her before that. I guess she needed the rest. We have examinations every day next week in the morning- They are only two hours long- Thursday evening was the time for the monthly missionary meeting, and they had for the subject "The Life of Dr. Schauffler - Ray's grandfather. It was very interesting- and was told by some Seniors- Yesterday afternoon Raytalked at the meeting of the Volunteer Band. The appointed leader was sick, so they asked Ray to read some of her sister's letters- from Persia- I had told them before that she would some time. So she read three or four that she happened to have (for she sends most of them on to relatives) and told what was in the rest. I think the girls were very much interested. There were fewer girls there than usual - only about twenty. We were told in English Friday to analyze yesterday's sermon for tomorrow's lesson. That is to go to church Sunday and listen care- fully to the sermon and think of its analysis, and then write it out today. They have done that here for several years but it struck us as a rather questionable proceeding, something like studying on Sun- day. What do you think of it? We are going to ask Miss Nettleton about it tonight. I just found out yesterday from a sophomore that we have toave a book of logarithms for algebra next semester. I know we have one at home that I believe no one is using, so that I wish you would send it some time when It is convenient - we have not yet been told to get it. Papa's letter containing some money came this morning, and please tell him I am very much obliged. I am going to enclose a profile which one of the girls cut out while she sat and looked at me. See if you can recognize it. I have not gotten many letters since Christmas. I owe nearly everybody one. Ray heard last week that her brother W ill in Syria is engaged to be married to a young lady who has been living there - an American. You know his wife died two years ago, when he had been married only a year, leaving a little boy- Ray's sister saw a good deal of the young Jan. 21* 1894 - 5 lady when she was in Syria and thought her very lovely-Give my love to the neighbors and friends, and keep lots for your- self, mother dear- Your loving daughter Adelaide. ^Cleflinj
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Title: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin) -- to mother, Jan. 30, 1897:
Creator: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin)
Description: VC 1897
Date: January 30, 1897
Text: Vassar College. Poughkeepsie, N.Y. January 30f 1897. My dear Mother,— Exams, are over, and a new semester is about to begin. I am so glad to begin all over again, and not have back work and special topics piled up over me. I am going to try to keep my work right up to date the rest of the year. I had to cram more than usual for my exams, this time; the kind of subject makes so much difference with the exam, and all my things needed reviewing. We had our Ethics exam, the first thing Monday...
Show moreVassar College. Poughkeepsie, N.Y. January 30f 1897. My dear Mother,— Exams, are over, and a new semester is about to begin. I am so glad to begin all over again, and not have back work and special topics piled up over me. I am going to try to keep my work right up to date the rest of the year. I had to cram more than usual for my exams, this time; the kind of subject makes so much difference with the exam, and all my things needed reviewing. We had our Ethics exam, the first thing Monday morning, and we were all glad to have that off our minds early, for there is so much memorizing in it, that it took up a great deal of room in our brains. After the ethics exam, is over, every year, it is customary for the class to give some yells to Prex - as a sort of fare- well to him as a teacher. So when we leftthe gym - where we had our exam, and came out into the hall we lined up in two rows, by the lockers, leaving room enough for Prexy to walk out between the rows. But when he appeared, he looked rather embarrassed, and instead of running the gauntlet be bowed and remained standing where he was- W e gave first "Rah, rah, rah.' Rah, rah, rah.1 the customary yell of^V-A-S-S-A-R,- Prexy!" Then we recited in concert four favorite maxims of philosophers we have studied - maxims which we have had again and again in class and had joked about with Prexy. The first was Jeremy Bentham's - "The quantity of pleasure being equal, push-bin is as good as poetry." Then Aristotle's "We become good by doing good" and John Stuart Mill's "Better be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied"- We ended with the one which we thought most appro- priate to the examination season and our state of mind - the famous saying of the sceptics: "We affirm nothing,- no, not even that we affirm nothing." Prex had laughed at us in class because we remembered these epigrams always, even when we could not remember another thing about the philosophy to which they belonged.When we paused from our yelling, Prex said he hoped that our papers - which he had under his arm - would be as eloquent: then we yelled our other old yell, "Goodbye, Prex, Goodbye Prex, Vassar, Vassar, Vassar's Rex"— which we used when he started for Europe last year. We are quite sorry to be through with Ethics; we had quite Jovial times with Prexy sometimes- He told us such a good Joke in class the last week - He had heard it given by Thomas Wentworth Hlgginson at a Vassar Alumnae Reunion in Boston recently. Mr. Hlgginson said that Emerson used to describe the typical college student as "a meek young man, who lived in a library". Mr. Higginson said that a good many people thought this description no longer applied, but, for his part, he thought it still held true, for when he watched the Harvard men strut across the campus, he was sure they looked as though they had already inherited the earth.1 Perhaps you will wonder what connection this has with Ethics; it comes under the head of Practical Morality- Prex was giving us a lecture about our attitude and duties, as college graduates, toward the rest of the world. He told us, on the one hand, notto be so stupid that people would say they "never would have guessed that we had seen the inside of a college" and on the other hand not to answer to the description of the Harvard men above-referred-to; but whatever we did, if it was only washing dishes, we ought to do it the better for having been through college. On Monday, in addition to ethics, I had an exam, in English,- which was not so hard as Z had expected. Tuesday I had no exam, so I spent the day on my special topic in History- Wednesday we had Greek, which was easy for a Greek one, though I did less than two questions out of the five. Our history, on the contrary, was harder than we had expected- Most people were through with their exams, by Thursday, but I still had German - for Friday morxdag. Ray and Winifred and Gertrude Smith and Carrie all went down to Brooklyn or New York, Friday morning right after breakfast. Gertrude is back now, but the rest will not be here till tomorrow night. So I have had the rooms all to myself - in quiet. It seemed very queer not to have studying to do on Friday afternoon and Saturday, but I found plenty to do, with Vassar ion work and mending- The sleevewas half torn out of my nightgown, so I spent some time patching that, and also in hemming up the binding and facing of my red fern dress. Edie asked about ideas for a Eton waist. Most of the new ones here have some kind of a littleAjacket effect, either all the way around or else just in front, like this and the back perfectly plain, and broad belts or girdles. I have also had the pleasure of reading a large part of "Senti- mental Tommy"—a thing which I have been anxious to do for some time. There was no church here this morning, and I did not go to town either, but stayed at home and read- Prof. Burton finished his course of Bible lectures last Sunday, and the man who was to have given us a course we of four or five now, cannot come, so^will have none for a few Sundays. It has been very cold here for about two weeks - as it seems to have been all over the country - We are glad to get around the regis- ters all the time. I keep thinking of you without a furnace. Give my love to the neighbors and friends, and lots to the family- JLovingly your daughter Adelaide. (Claflin, Some dresses have rows of braid around instead of the girdle- If that would be easier, I would like it just as well.
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Title: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin) -- to mother, Mar. 10, 1895:
Creator: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin)
Description: VC 1897
Date: March 10, 1895
Text: Vassar College. March 10. 1895. My dear Mamma, — Here I am sitting on my bed in my pink flannel nightgown and bed-slippers- just as I study every evening. It is just time for the total eclipse of the moon to begin, so I suppose I shall be leaving this letter often to go and look at it. It is so clear that it can be seen beauti- fully. We are glad that the moon is on our side of the house, or rather, that we live on the side of the house where themoon is. This morning Dr. Twitchell of Hartford...
Show moreVassar College. March 10. 1895. My dear Mamma, — Here I am sitting on my bed in my pink flannel nightgown and bed-slippers- just as I study every evening. It is just time for the total eclipse of the moon to begin, so I suppose I shall be leaving this letter often to go and look at it. It is so clear that it can be seen beauti- fully. We are glad that the moon is on our side of the house, or rather, that we live on the side of the house where themoon is. This morning Dr. Twitchell of Hartford preached - a Congre- gationalism I believe. I think I have read articles of his in the religious newspapers. Dr. Taylor has had the grippe, was kept in his rooms for several days. On this account they could not have the Faculty meeting to name the honor girls. This will be done tomorrow. A number of the teachers have had the grippe- Miss Gentry was almost dangerously ill with it, and is still in the Infirrnary- We had quite a time in our room yesterday - which was Ray's birthday- Only nineteen, not so old as Lou,Carrie and Belle and I tried to think up something new for a celebration, and we decided on having a supper in our room, of things made entirely by ourselves, instead of going down to dinner. A good many girls heard of it and seemed to think it was a very strange and daring thing to do, but it was quite easily done. Of course everything had to be done in the evening, for the gas is not turned on in the day time. So we got Ellen Hailey, who lives at one of the cottages, to invite her over to spend the night Friday- Friday evening we cooked some of the things, and the rest we did at supper time yesterday- and hadquite a sumptuous repast. First course- poached eggs on toast, creamed fried potatoes, (which means milked ones) bread and butter and chocolate. Second course, potato salad with mayonnaise dressing. Third course, Floating Island. Carrie does not know anything about cooking, but Belle is a splendid cook. She knows everything about housekeeping and sewing and so on. You ought to have seen us Friday evening, Carrie sewing on her gingham chemistry apron, Belle beating eggs with a fork, and me paring potatoes- Rather a domestic scene for a Vassar College room, you might say. It was lots of fun- We had a good deal of difficulty in keeping Ray fromseeing things, for It was all a surprise for her. We had to store the things in other girls' rooms- Such a supper is not very expensive, as we can have all the bread and butter and milk free, that we want, and potatoes are cheap. The man in the store looked somewhat surprised when I asked him for a quart of potatoes. Ray's friends were very good about remembering her birthday- Her bundle from home did not come yesterday, but she got word that it was on its way- Her brother Fritz and her cousin Rob in New York sent her a box of Huyler's candy- all done up in numerous layers of paper etc. Belle says it costs a dollar a pound. Ithink it is dreadful to eat up candy at a dollar a pound. The moon is almost entirely eclipsed now, which means that it is ten o'clock, and time to go to bed. The weeks are going by very fast now, less than three weeks to spring vacation - which begins March 29, and lasts ten days. I think I is told you that Ray's cousin Mrs. Ellison was-going to take her to North Carolina for spring vacation, where Harry is, in Turnpike, near Asheville. Carrie's sister in Rye Seminary has her spring vacation commence on the day that ours closes* so that they cannot go to Boston together. So probably Carrie will stay here with me, and we will enjoy it. Love to all - Adelaide. (Claflin)
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Title: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin) -- to mother, Mar. 2, 1897:
Creator: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin)
Description: VC 1897
Date: March 2, 1897
Text: Vassar College. Poughkeepsie. N.Y. My- dear Mother,*** I am glad papa is better and can go back to work. He must have had grippe. Everybody has been having it here. — I mean, a few people have. Before I forget it, I must tell for Bess*s benefit that our room is number 117. Room 68 is in the double alley way on the second south, whereas our room is the single alleyway on the third south — the Senior corridor. This week we had considerable excitement** The Washington's Birthday Celebration...
Show moreVassar College. Poughkeepsie. N.Y. My- dear Mother,*** I am glad papa is better and can go back to work. He must have had grippe. Everybody has been having it here. — I mean, a few people have. Before I forget it, I must tell for Bess*s benefit that our room is number 117. Room 68 is in the double alley way on the second south, whereas our room is the single alleyway on the third south — the Senior corridor. This week we had considerable excitement** The Washington's Birthday Celebration on Monday* We celebrated the day a good deal more thanif we had had a holiday. U it had been a holiday we should have spent all the time in studying and doing extra work, but since it wasn't we cele- brated all day long. Before breakfast we got up and marched around the corridors and past Proxy's house, singing patriotic songs. The girls had decorated the dining room with red white and blue bunting, and put a little flag at each place at the tables. The noticeable thing was that the Faculty table was not decorated at all * because they took the holiday away from us, you know. During the day the girls sang America in each class, before the lesson was begun. In addition to this a committee has put up posters in various classrooms,which were intended to voice the feelings of the students. They were made out in the form of lessons, like this, for example: Algebra for February 22. Problem: if a Faculty should take from some students a national Holi- day, how much Patriotism would be left? Let F (known quantity) — Faculty. Let P (unknown quantity) - Patriotism. " s (aggravated " ) - Students. Take Patriotism from Faculty. (impossible since P > F. Add Patriotism to Students. (impossible since S contains P). Answer: Since S contains P and P is greater than F it is unreasonable for a Faculty to take a national Holiday from some Students.The English one was printed, for distribution, and I will enclose it. Friday night our class had a delightful time in celebrating the birthday of our president, Mary Chambers. All the Senior tables were put together into one long table and they were decorated in pink, with smilax. The girls all wore light evening dresses, and we had icecream aad cake for dessert. We sang all together a class song, the words of which Mary Chambers had written at the first of the year, and then we sang at?©-song to her composed for the occasion. Besides these we sang some of our Trig Ceremonies songs and Alma Mater. The rest of the people in the dining room clapped us after each one and we marched out two by two singing - and we felt like a bridal procession. The bell has rung for the first recitation so love to all, from your lo v jing , Adelaide. ^Claflin, March 2. 1897.Distributed in English Class - Feb. 22, 1897 A Revised Edition of Shakespeare’s Tragedy. GEORGE WASHINGTON. Edited for the delectation of the Faculty of Vassar College by its devoted admirers-- THE STUDENTS. To show the genera! tenor of the alterations we give the following extractsr ACT I. SCENE 1——Vassar, a Corridor. Enter Faculty and a rabble of students. Fae. Hence, hence you idle creatures, get you to the library. Is this a Holiday ‘Q What! know you not Being Academical you ought not to walk Upon a laboring day without the sign Of your profession Z —- Speak. what course art thou? And wherefore art not in thy den to-day ? VVhy dost thou lead these girls about the halls? 1st Stu. Indeed, sir, we make holiday to commemorate George Wash- - ington and to rejoice in our country. Fae. Wherefore rejoice '6 We care not for the cause, Its spirit long ago is dead and gone ! Stu. You blocks, you stones, you. worse than senseless things ! Oh you hard hearts, you cruel men of books, Knew you not Georgie? Fae. Indeed we knew him ; but so long ago His memory cannot draw us from our books. And do you now cull out a holiday? And do you now put on your best attire? And would you now cast books and work away For Georgie ? Stu. We surely have and surely will do so i Until your books have crumbled into dust. Our Country’s Father best deserves our love, We’lI give it him in spite of all you do.
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Title: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin) -- to mother, Mar. 21, 1897:
Creator: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin)
Description: VC 1897
Date: March 21, 1897
Text: Vassar College. Poughkeepsie. (Marc. 21. 1897, My dear Mother,— I have just finished writing to Ed, I had not written to him for some time, so 1 wrote to him before you, in order to be sure that it would be done. Because I am sure to write home anyway. I have written very few letters this year, except home. I owe one to almost everyb ody I know. And nowjust as I am about through with the Vassar ion work and was expecting to have a little time to write letters and mend my clothes (which need...
Show moreVassar College. Poughkeepsie. (Marc. 21. 1897, My dear Mother,— I have just finished writing to Ed, I had not written to him for some time, so 1 wrote to him before you, in order to be sure that it would be done. Because I am sure to write home anyway. I have written very few letters this year, except home. I owe one to almost everyb ody I know. And nowjust as I am about through with the Vassar ion work and was expecting to have a little time to write letters and mend my clothes (which need it sadly) and a few other things like that,- then here comes this old Commencement Essay, to be on my mind, even when it is not taking up my time. I am so disgusted about it. I only wish I were one of those lucky people who simply got an honor, without having the added bother of a Commencement speech re tacked on,- especially when everybodyhear- keeps saying that they are extremely tiresome, and that they don't expect to listen.1 We all think they are stupid, and I have never paid much attention to them myself- But they are a great deal of work, because so much more is made of them here than when I had It to do at High School. Here the professors and the English teachers and everybody have to be consulted so much, and so much elocution drill has to be gone through with. As for this last, however, X think it will be quite an advantage to get so muchtraining in elocution gratis. I have n't any Idea yet what I shall take for my subject. Ray has about decided to take one in the line of Economics. Everybody pities Winifred, for having to room with two people who will be tearing their hair from now till June. I think I will give you the list of Honor girls, in case someone might inquire about them. They are: Frances Beckwith Flora Bemkopf Elizabeth Bishop * A. Claflin Martha Clark Eloise Ellery * Grace Landfield.* Nancy McClelland. Anne Rlchey Alice Sawyer. * Rachel Schauffler. Beatrice Shaw * Marion Schibsby. Jessie Thain. Maidee Traver. * Alice Whiton. » means Commencement speaker. As I said before, everybody is very much surprised that Gertrude Smith did not get one. Winifred is awfully bright, but she did not get one because she entered Sophomore, and because she has been sick ever since shehas been in college. I had hoped that Miss Adams would come here to Commencement, as her class is going to have a reunion - its twentieth anniversary - but now I am not axudbus to have her, except that I would like very much to show her around and take her to Class Day. I do wish Edie would come for that reason,*- so that I could show her around the place where I have spent four years; I am sure she would enjoy it, and she will never have another chance probably. I am gladthat you are making arrangements for it, so that I shall have my mother here at any rate. Nina Roberts thinks she can come here to visit us during their Easter vacation, after ours is over. Ours begins this Friday and closes April 6. Nina may have to go to New York, and if so she will stop here, but she thinks she can come here anyway - on a pass. I shall be so glad to have her, for she was so anxious to come here to college, aad has always been crazy to visit here. Edith and I have not yet made definite arrangements about goingto Carrie's. But we shall go down Friday or the Saturday of this-week after this, and stay over Sunday- I expect to spend the day with Ed on my way home, but I have not made final plans yet. this week I may send home by RayAthe waist of my white dress to have the sleeves altered, for the new style is so different. Of course I would not bother about it if I were not going to speak at Com. but the dress will be rather conspicuous then, so that it might be just as well to have the sleeves in style. But don't fix it If you are too busy at home then. Lots of love to all the family, from your loving daughter Adelaide. (Claflin, March 21, 1897.
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Title: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin) -- to mother, Mar. 24, 1895:
Creator: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin)
Description: VC 1897
Date: March 24, 1895
Text: Vassar College. March 24. 1895. Dear Mother, - I feel as if I had heard a good deal from home this week- it seemed so nice to get so many letters. Nobody else but my immediate family ever writes to me any more, so I don't get as many letters as I did last year. Still I hardly ever write to any one but my family, so I suppose I ought not to expect to hear from people. I can write but a short letter tonight, but I dare not omit that, for fear you will think something is the matter. Anna...
Show moreVassar College. March 24. 1895. Dear Mother, - I feel as if I had heard a good deal from home this week- it seemed so nice to get so many letters. Nobody else but my immediate family ever writes to me any more, so I don't get as many letters as I did last year. Still I hardly ever write to any one but my family, so I suppose I ought not to expect to hear from people. I can write but a short letter tonight, but I dare not omit that, for fear you will think something is the matter. Anna Burchard's mother is here visiting and they came up to our room this eveningand stayed during the time that I had intended to devote to writing. Anna's mother is real nice- I should think Anna would have had her here sometime not so near to a vacation, for they will see each other again Friday, after parting tomorrow. Tonight Prof. Benjamin Wheeler, of Cornell University spoke to us, in the interests of Y.M.C.A. work in colleges- He lectured to us last been year on Philology. He has^appointed head of the American School at Athens and is going there in June. Thursday evening we were addressed by Mr. Sherwood Eddy, one of the Secretaries of the Student Volunteer Band. He was a very interesting and earnest speaker. Friday afternoon there was a match game in "battle-ball": That is a new game which is beingintroduced into this country. We have been taught how to play it in the gymnasium, and teams have been formed in all the classes- three or four in a class. There are eleven on a team- This contest was between a class team in '97 and one in '96: the latter won. Dr. Taylor and Mrs. Taylor were over in the gym. to see it. We girls are on another team, and I am on a team in "basket-ball" too- that is another game- When it is warm weather we are going to play these games outdoors- where courts will be fixed. They are just orga- nizing all the different athletic teams and clubs into an Athletic Associa- tion, which shall include all students interested in athletics & who play any of the games- The Association then will attend to the courts, etc. and arrange for a Field Day.Yesterday I spent all day working on my special topic in Greek, which I handed in as an Essay in English, and so had to have it done by six oclock yesterday. The English Department very kindly allows us to substitute other literary work which we may have to do, as Essays- I finally succeeded in finding Miss Leach at home Friday evening- I have tried a number of times to call on her, but she has always been engaged or out. She inquired about Miss Adams, and said that she was going to write to her- The ten oclock bell has struck, so I must stop and Jump into bed. Lovingly, Adelaide. (Claflin) Is Etta well yet? Give her my love.
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Title: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin) -- to mother, Mar. 25, 1894:
Creator: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin)
Description: VC 1897
Date: March 25, 1894
Text: Vassar College. Oct. 21. (1894, Easter. March 25. ,1894, My dear Mamma,-— This has not been a beautiful Easter day, so far as the weather goes, for it has been raining steadily since noon. We walked into town to church, as there are no services here during vacation. I enjoyed the service very much, a simple, practical sermon, and beautiful music. It seems so much more like civiliza- tion to go into town to church, than to have it over in the chapel, with nothing but girls. It seems strange,...
Show moreVassar College. Oct. 21. (1894, Easter. March 25. ,1894, My dear Mamma,-— This has not been a beautiful Easter day, so far as the weather goes, for it has been raining steadily since noon. We walked into town to church, as there are no services here during vacation. I enjoyed the service very much, a simple, practical sermon, and beautiful music. It seems so much more like civiliza- tion to go into town to church, than to have it over in the chapel, with nothing but girls. It seems strange, now, towear a hat and gloves in church. After church was out, since the service was longer than usual, we thought it was too late for a car to come out to the college. So Hope Traver and I walked out, but the rest waited, and in the course of half an hour or so got a car, but we reached the college before they did, and we were no wetter either. Now that the winter snow has melted and the ground has once dried, there is no more such dreadful walking, and when it rains there is only an ordinary amount of mud, so that we shall not be obliged to squander ten cents on the railroad company any more. Yesterday afternoon we went up in the gymnasium building where there is a tennis court, and played tennis. That is, we tried to, for two knew how to play a little, and the other three of us did not know how at all. It was lots of fun, but it mademy right arm sore a little. I conclude that it has not had enough exercise. I shall have to have some practice with it at sweeping, when I get home. Did I tell you that I had my second physical examination in the gymnasium? My back and legs are quite a little stronger, and every thing else has improved except my right hand, which has decreased. The director told me I came when^that my back was my weakest part. Strength tests are no indica- tion of health, for the second strongest girl in our class is sick a good deal, and does not look strong. We have to go over to the college for our meals now. Some of the girls think it is nice to see the rest of the people then. This morn- ing for the first time this year I slept until the breakfast bell. I woke up as usual about six, but as I had a little headache I dropped to sleep again, and when the breakfast bell woke me ateight (the hour for breakfast Sunday) I Jumped up and dressed in five minutes. Tonight after tea Miss McCaleb asked some of us to come to the Senior Parlor and sing hymns and we had quite a homelike time there. About a dozen of the Faculty are staying here during the vacation. They give us nicer things to eat during vacation, and cream quite often. The mall is not distributed now, so we have to stand in a line and wait for it twice a day. Each girl generally gets the mail for eight or ten others too. I am much obliged for the letters you sent, and will send them on to Uncle Charles. There is a girl here who lives in Waverley, and knows Uncle Edward Tracy very well. She is a great friend of the Fishes who live next door to him. The girl is a Freshman and I know her pretty well. I am not lonesome, not so much so as I am sometimes when everybody is here, and I find I can get lots of things done. My love to all, Your Loving daughter Adelaide. (Claflin,
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Title: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin) -- to mother, Mar. 27, 1894:
Creator: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin)
Description: VC 1897
Date: March 27, 1894
Text: Vassar College. Oct. 21. (1894, May 27, 1894. My dear Mamma,— Your letter came this week by the Saturday night mail, as it has two or three times lately, though I never used to get anything by that mail. I am so sorry to hear that Mr. Adams is still very sick. It is too bad that one family should have so much sickness. It is strange, too, that Dr. Mears1 family are sick so much. I wonder what the reason is. You say that Miss Bushnell, I mean Mrs. Abbott, as I learn from your last letter that...
Show moreVassar College. Oct. 21. (1894, May 27, 1894. My dear Mamma,— Your letter came this week by the Saturday night mail, as it has two or three times lately, though I never used to get anything by that mail. I am so sorry to hear that Mr. Adams is still very sick. It is too bad that one family should have so much sickness. It is strange, too, that Dr. Mears1 family are sick so much. I wonder what the reason is. You say that Miss Bushnell, I mean Mrs. Abbott, as I learn from your last letter that that is her name, is going to live in Hendersonville. Where in the world is that? How soon she is going there? The weather is perfect today. We appreciate it so much becauseit poured day and night for a week. It just cleared off yester- day afternoon and today the sky is entirely blue, and the sun shining brightly. It is much warmer too so that we can leave off the winter dresses we have been wearing for a week. There are more flowers in the garden now, and in some places the grass is thick with butter- cups. The daisies have just come, but they say that pretty soon they will be as plenty as grass. It seems so queer to have such an abun- dance of flowers. I keep wishing you could have some of them at home, especially for Edie's sake. Today's was the last college church service I shall go to for some time* Next Sunday is the first Sunday in the month, so that we shall go to town to church. Dr. Holmes, a Presbyterian minister of Buffalo preached today. Gertrude Smith and I finished reading "Paradise Lost" today. I am very glad I have read it. We began after Spring Vacation and haveread a Book or two of it every week since. I have not done very much reading this year outside of what we have had to do for English, though I have spent all the time I could spare, in the Reading Room, reading the magazines- It is a great thing to have them all within your reach at any time. By the way if Ed has the other college maga- zines within his reach, tell him to read an article in the Nassau Literary Monthly (the Princeton paper) by J. Mcready Sykes on the "Reasons for the Further and Complete Subjugation of Women". It has been the laughing-stock here lately. The flaws in some of his arguments are really ridiculous. We had lemon ice for dessert today- It was remarkable for wehave been having peanuts and maple sugar for dessert on Sunday for some time. But as every vacation draws near, they give us extra good things to eat, I suppose so that the girls will not complain about the food when they go home. The day before Commencement they are going to have a regular banquet for everybody that is here, and the alumnae too. At that time they are going to have strawberries and cream, as a great luxury, for they never have them except then. This week Tuesday is the beginning of the Senior vacation, which lasts until Baccalaureate Sunday. Yesterday afternoon the Senior Class had its picture taken on the steps of this building, just where we had ours. It is right under our window so we had the full benefit. Last night the Sophomore class chose its Class Tree, beneath which they will bury their records when they graduate. They had a great celebration over it. All dressed as country people, inthe oldest clothes they could get, and some of them with their gingham chemistry aprons, and all of them with big green hats just alike. They went around the yard giving their yell, and had a sort of country sociable in the gymnasium afterwards with old fashioned country dances- They said they had the most fun of any time since they have been here. Bedtime now. With lots of love Adelaide. gClaflin,
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Title: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin) -- to mother, Mar. 31, 1895:
Creator: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin)
Description: VC 1897
Date: March 31, 1895
Text: Vassar College. March 24. 1895. My dear Mother,— Vacation is here, and so nice it is. It is so quiet and restful. Ray went Thursday morning and was to get to Turnpike, Saturday morning. That is three miles from Asheville- They were to spend Friday night at Asheville. Belle went Friday afternoon- She was working on her special topic in Greek up to the last minute so that we packed her satchel and sewed on her shoebuttons for her and she had just time to catch the train. Her mother has been...
Show moreVassar College. March 24. 1895. My dear Mother,— Vacation is here, and so nice it is. It is so quiet and restful. Ray went Thursday morning and was to get to Turnpike, Saturday morning. That is three miles from Asheville- They were to spend Friday night at Asheville. Belle went Friday afternoon- She was working on her special topic in Greek up to the last minute so that we packed her satchel and sewed on her shoebuttons for her and she had just time to catch the train. Her mother has been sick since before Thanksgiving, a good deal of the time in bed. Carrie has stayed here as she thought she would, and I am veryglad to have her company. Ellen Hailey is staying in Belle's room, which is pleas ante r than living over at one of the cottages where she is the only college girl. Carrie is going to have her sister in Rye Seminary, up here to spend two or three days at Easter - since she is not going to see her during our vacation. Carrie's aunt in Boston invited her to come there alone, and also her aunt in Brooklyn, but she thought she would rather stay here, so she declined their invitations. It has been perfect weather the last few days- the sun so bright and warm. But there are still patches of snow in the shadow- it is so slow to disappear here. If the weather keeps beautiful, it will add a good deal to our pleasure. Yesterday afternoon we went over to the gym. to play battle-ball. I forget whether I have told you about ourathletics. There are two new games, battle-ball, and basketball, which have been introduced here just lately, which the girls are much interested in, and talk about a good deal - The games are played by teams of eleven, and three or four teams of each game have been formed in each class. I am on a team in each. If we just played by ourselves, that would not be so exciting, but the fun comes in in having match games between the different teams, and usually in dif- ferent classes- On such occasions a number of the members of each class get together to watch and cheer each good move made by their class team, and it is lots of fun to watch match games. Basket ball is rougher than battle-ball, and tires you more. Some girls like one game better, some the other, but I think -me- battle ballis a little more popular. When spring comes and the ground can be fixed, we are going to play golf- You know that is an English game. I have joined the golf club that has been formed, but it will be some little time before we can play it. As many can play in that as want to. Last week all the athletic teams and clubs were formed into an Athletic Association, which will oversee all the games and attend to the grounds - and keep them in order. The girls have been so anxious for spring to come that they thought they could hasten it by wearing shirtwaists, and a few have appeared here and there for some time. So Dr. Thelberg talked to us the other night after chapel, altogether, and informed us that the hour- season for shirtwaists has not yet arrived, nor the season for low shoes either.Also that we should wear rubbers until the middle of May. She gave us some more advice too, and told us that she wanted to see us all go away from college with pure healthy souls In pure healthy bodies. A good many girls are making themselves shirtwaists this vacation. A number have asked me to join them in it, but I declined. I prefer to make my clothes at home with my slater and a sewing machine—both great helps I Three girls here are each making themselves a wool spring dress. They have established themselves in one room, and rented a sewing machine and sewing table and flatiron- They ripped up old waists to get a pattern, and are getting along in fine style. They work pretty test. One of them, Dora Roberts, makes most all of her clothes. There are lots of girls here who make all or nearly all, oftheir clothes. They make me feel like an ignoramus. I must learn a lot more about sewing this summer. I am glad drapery is not coming into style after all. The new skirts are all made perfectly plain, though flaring and four or five yards wide. Carrie has just had her spring dress made- They put crinoline or ever haircloth in the skirts part way up the front and all the way up the beck. Sleeves will certainly have to be smaller next year, for it is impossible for them to be bigger than they are now- and they stand out with crinoline too. I do hope you can get a new sewing-machine - I should be so glad to say goodbye to that other poor rickety thing. Edie has sewed on it enough to wear it out three or four times. I believe my challi is wearing out at last, for ittears so easily- I have made three or four tears in it lately. When Is Lou's vacation, and how much does she have? Gertrude Bronson did not go home after all, for I saw her tonight. Katharine is here, too, and we have sat at the same table several times. The Strong Hall girls have to come over here for their meals in vacation. I was going to ask you to send back some books by her, some books that we have to use for English. I think I had better ask you to send them by express if you will, for it would be cheaper than buying them. I can not find any girls who have them to rent, for they have not had to use them before this year. They are the works of Milton, Dryden, and Pope, and the Essays of Addison, Swift, and Samuel Johnson. I am not sure how many of those youhave, but I shall have to buy the ones you haven't, unless you want to borrow them. Perhaps you will need them at home, but if you don't, and if you can spare them, I would like to have you send them, and I will bring them back in June. If you do send them you might send a corset cover along with them. Is Etta well again, and has she had her party? I have not heard at all how Clarence gets along with his kindergarten. Does he like it, and does he like to play- with the other children? Have the Wheelers any one to board with them yet? I should think they would have a good deal more leisure time than they used to. Give my love to them and the rest of the neighbors— With love to all the family — As ever Adelaide (Claflin)
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Title: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin) -- to mother, Mar. 4, 1894:
Creator: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin)
Description: VC 1897
Date: March 4, 1894
Text: Vassar College. Oct. 21. (1894, March 4, 1894. My dear Mamma,-- Grover has been In just a year, and we have to have him for three years more. It seems such a long time since he was elected. So many of the Eastern and almost all of the Southern girls are Democrats, that I can't talk as freely as I could at home. At our table the only Democrats are the teacher. Miss Epler, and one other girl. We can't discuss politics with Miss Epler, so that there is not much talk on that subject at...
Show moreVassar College. Oct. 21. (1894, March 4, 1894. My dear Mamma,-- Grover has been In just a year, and we have to have him for three years more. It seems such a long time since he was elected. So many of the Eastern and almost all of the Southern girls are Democrats, that I can't talk as freely as I could at home. At our table the only Democrats are the teacher. Miss Epler, and one other girl. We can't discuss politics with Miss Epler, so that there is not much talk on that subject at our table.very- body was seized with the desire to write to me, at the same time this week, for I got three letters on Monday, and I have not had one since. You are so good to write, and the rest of the family are pretty good too, especially considering how seldom I write to them indi- vidually. It is rather expensive to write many letters. I find that postage stamps count up. It is dreadful the way we keep having to get books here, one after another, it just empties your pocketbook in no time. I rent and buy second hand all I can, but even then it is been very expensive, and there are a good many books that have notAused here before, so that we <e«uhave to get them new, clubbing together when we can. The latest one that we have to get is a fifty cent one for elocution, and three or four of us are going to club together and have one between us. The Elocution teacher is from Boston and she attacked me on my r's last week. I find it extremely hard to drop them, but I suppose I shall haveto in elocution class, though I shall not do it anywhere else. We had a fine concert Friday night, by the Beethoven String Quartette of New York City. The Beethoven String Quartette of Boston happened to be in Poughkeepsie the same night. I suppose they do not happen to have so much talent in the town at once very often. Friday afternoon I went to town, and of all one- horse pos toff ices J The largest bill they had was a ten-dollar one, and they only had one of them, so that I had to get all the rest of my money in fives. I got a birthday present for Pvay, too, a small pitcher,- which it will be convenient for us to have. It cost 35 cents. Her birthday is next Friday- While I was down town I made my party call on on the Gardners, which I should have done before Christmas- That was the first time I have been down town except on Sunday, since Christmas. Today is Arlie Raymond's birthday, so she invited us over there last night to make fudges. That is to have herroom mate make them, for she never does it, on account of her being lame. Her roommate, Gertrude Smith, is such a good old-fashioned sensible girl, I like her ever so much. She is very homely, and has a homely shade of red hair. She was telling us about her family last night. She is one of eight children. Ray and I went in to town to church this morning, and it was dreadful walking, but we walked both ways because we couldn't afford to ride. I grudge so to pay ten cents to ride in that bobtail, when we can walk Just about as fast as it goes. I never saw such dreadful walking as it has been on the road to town most of this winter. But we had a very pleasant time this morning, and we could take our choice between deep snow, deep water, and deep mud, and we could walk on the car track too, if we wanted to, and in front of the college grounds we could walk the stone fence. But it was good walking in town on the stone sidewalks, and we did not get a bit wet. We went to the Dutch ReformedChurch, where we went last time - as we like the minister there better than any other we have heard. They had the communion service, not very different from ours. This afternoon a flock of crows were flying past our window, over toward the Catskills. There were hundreds of them, in a steady stream, so that it took ten or fifteen minutes for them to pass. I never saw anything like it. They kept cawing all the time too. They fly in such a queer way, that, seen against a clear sky, they looked like a crowd of magnified mosquitoes. There are ever so many birds around here. They say Dutchess County (this county) is noted for its variety of birds. Yesterday morning I darned two pairs of stockings, and washed four pairs. I hung them over the foot board of my bed to dry, so that Ray said it looked like "the night before Christmas." I enjoy Saturday, when I can do things like that. It is pleasant for a change. Some girls send their stockings home to be darned, every week.1 Friday evening before the concertRay and I went up to the Fifth Floor Tower to call on Miss McCaleb. It was the sixth time that we have gone way up there to see her, but we never before found her at home. We were so glad to succeed at last. She is very nice indeed, and has so much interest in the girls* good. She has been here since 1873. She was telling us about how it was here when she first came. They had no elevator then, and did not have one till 1876. Ray is going to take music lessons after this, and will have to practice an hour a day. I don't see how she can spare the time, but she will do it someway. She has missed her music a good deal. The sun is so bright every day now, and it seems like spring outdoors. They say the spring is perfectly beautiful here. I hope papa's arm is getting better. You don't say whether he is able to go to the shop, or not. With ever so much love to all. Your daughter Adelaide Claflin.
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Title: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin) -- to mother, Mar. 8, 1896:
Creator: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin)
Description: VC 1897
Date: March 8, 1896
Text: Vassar College. March 8* 1896. My dear Mother,— I have put off writing today, till nearly bedtime, for 1 have been reading aloud this afternoon and evening to Winifred and Gertrude. You know Winifred has been In Brooklyn for a week, resting, and Just got back here Friday night. When she works too hard, she gets pains in her head and has to stop studying. Ray went down to Brooklyn yesterday; her brother Charlie was there and telegraphed for her to come dowa. She will come back tomorrow morning...
Show moreVassar College. March 8* 1896. My dear Mother,— I have put off writing today, till nearly bedtime, for 1 have been reading aloud this afternoon and evening to Winifred and Gertrude. You know Winifred has been In Brooklyn for a week, resting, and Just got back here Friday night. When she works too hard, she gets pains in her head and has to stop studying. Ray went down to Brooklyn yesterday; her brother Charlie was there and telegraphed for her to come dowa. She will come back tomorrow morning-She has been down to Brooklyn quite often this year. Mr.Capen came here Friday night aad stayed till Saturday noon. Tomorrow is Ray's birthday, and Mr. Capen's mother has sent her a box of things to eat. It is now reposing down in Ray's bedroom, for she made us promise not to open it, till she got back. We are afraid there Is something In it that will spoil, but we have to wait in patience till tomorrow. It will be a welcome relief to have a little of something different to eat, for the food has been rather limited and monotonous lately. I don't blame the girls who are well-off for going to Smith's to dinner frequently. Ray will be only twenty tomorrow.It seems as If she ought to be two or three years older. Gertrude, Winifred, Cariie and I chipped in together and bought her a pair of silver embroidery scissors for a dollar and a half. We went to all the jewelry stores in town; the stock at some consisted of one pair, at others of two, and finally at the place where we made our purchase, we found three pairs, and the pair that we bought waa the only one in town that we liked. Kate Dunham and I have written to the Margaret Louisa to reserve ^ rooms for April 3. That is Good Friday. Kate wants to stay till the following Tuesday evening. I have not decided whether to stay so long, but of course I can simply take the train and comehome whenever I feel like it. We have to engage the rooms so far ahead, for last week they wrote that they had no vacancies tUl after March 21, but we do not have to tell till we get there how long we are going to stay. The time that we spend there will be the last part of vacation, which lasts from March 27 to April 8. You see we will be in New York on Easter Sunday. Ed. does not yet know when his vacation Is going to be, but I could not wait any longer for him to find out. Ray is going to spend her Easter vacation partly with her grand- mother, in Springfield, and partly with the Capens in Jamaica Plain. Carrie did intend to go down to New York with me, but her mother has written her that themoney is getting reduced, and that she must be aa economical as possible, so she will stay here all the vacation. Friday evening we were to have had a lecture by Prof. Wheeler of Cornell, on "Athenian Sepulchral Monuments and Epitaphs", but at dinner time came word that Prof. Wheeler had the measles, and there- fore could not come. Miss Leach had arranged a reception for him, to which she had invited all the faculty, and for which she had provided ice-cream. She had her party all the same, so as not to waste the ice- cream. I have been working so hard on special topics. They always take just about three times as much time as the teacher allows. We have to have one in Biology ready for today. We each havea certain subject to look up, and then when we come to class, Miss 0*Grady calls on certain girls to deliver theirs. And each girl has to go up on the platform and give it just as if she were the teacher, without looking at her notes, and doing experiments or drawing pictures on the blackboard to ilUistrate. No one knows beforehand who is to be called on. My sub- ject is seeds of plants: how they are protected and preserved, and how they are scattered and carried through the air, and how different seeds are adapted to different surroundings- It is an extremely interesting subject. We have been having a number of special topics in history. We are working on one this week too. I have to look through twelve volumes, and take down allthe things which either prove or disprove that the wars between England and France during the Eighteenth Centaury were due to the expansion of England in America and India. I feel like Samuel Weller, when he said, "But whether it*s worth while go in* through so much to learn so little, is a matter o•taste". We are all impatient to have next week come, for a week from tonight the Honors will be announced. We cant guess so well about this class - who will get them - as we could about the class last year. Prudence Sherwin is coming here to visit Kate Dunham and Irene Easter Lawrence, just beforeAvacation.- in about two weeks. Kate says her Aunt Belle has not decided whether to come home in time to see Kate graduate, or to stay over all summer. But she will probably stay over, as Kat&'a Uncle Cal sailed the other day. Lovingly Adelaide. jClaflin j
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Title: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin) -- to mother, May 19, 1895:
Creator: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin)
Description: VC 1897
Date: May 19, 1895
Text: Vassar College, f/ay 19. My dear Mother,— 1895. I hope you are having as beautiful weather as we, it has been cool, just cool enough to be pleasant, all the week- very good weather for studying, and I hope we will continue to have it cool for two or three weeks, for that reason, because we have a good deal of studying before us- The last two weeks are always filled with "extra work" such as reading up about things, and doing all sorts of things out of the ordinary - which is harder...
Show moreVassar College, f/ay 19. My dear Mother,— 1895. I hope you are having as beautiful weather as we, it has been cool, just cool enough to be pleasant, all the week- very good weather for studying, and I hope we will continue to have it cool for two or three weeks, for that reason, because we have a good deal of studying before us- The last two weeks are always filled with "extra work" such as reading up about things, and doing all sorts of things out of the ordinary - which is harder than the usual routine. Tomorrow we finish up our lab- oratory work in chemistry, and have review and written lessons the rest of the time. We are having writtenlessons In almost everything. Miss Macurdy told us to learn the names and subjects of Plato's thirty-six dialogues, for next lesson,- a sample of the craay things she has us do. This morning Dr. Huns tone of Brooklyn preached. We have only one more church service in the chapel here, beside the Baccalaureate sermon. I suppose you will have Children's Day the Sunday before I get home. By the way, we have had some more discussion this week about how we shall get home. The Nickel Plate and the B and O are both anxious to have us travel on their lines - The Nickel Plate offer a ticket for about nine dollars, with a stop-over at Niagara Falls- A number of the Western girls are going that way and going to stop at the Falls. X could not find out the particulars about thisticket yesterday because the girl who knows about it was not at home when I went to ask her. To take the B and O we would go to New York first, and from there we would take the B and O and the fare from New York to Cleveland would be about nine dollars. This goes by way of Washington, and allows a stop-over at Washington, for the day, leaving there in the evening. This, you see, gives a chance to see the "capitol of the Nation", though it is round-about. But it would cost less, or at any rate not more, than the regular fare on the New York Central, counting in the cost of being at Washington during the day. The girl who is advertizing for this way, will get the circulars and time tables in a few days, so that we will know more about it. I don't knowwhether or not you could find out about these ways at home, but I should think you could. Fares must be getting cheaper, for the Nickel Plate gives fare from New York to Chicago for thirteen dollars. Maude Warner went home yesterday- She lias been sick a great deal this year, and so thought she might as well go now. She will have to make up all her examinations the first part of next year. You know she is the girl who lives in Cincinnati. Yesterday we did an extravagant thing. We went to see "Buffalo Bill", who is in town. We were talking about him at the table at lunch yesterday and some of the girls were describing the glories of his exhibi- tion to Miss Macurdy. She listened with a great deal of contempt at first. She has nevereven been to a circus in her life, her taste running chiefly to Latin and Greek plays and Boston lectures. But she really became interested in Buffalo Bill's career, and said she really believed she would like to go. I think she was most induced by the fact that Buffalo Bill is the brother of Mrs. Irvine, the President of Wellesley College. Still she was not sure whether it was proper to go. But she agreed with us that she would go and take us if Mrs. Kendrick thought it was proper. So we went. We all enjoyed it very much. I have always heard that Buffalo Bill was worth seeing, and so it was, but, like the circus, I think I should not care to see It more than once. I think Buffalo Bill's was better than the circus. Ray told Miss Macurdy that all the best peoplein Chicago went to see Buffalo Bill, but this did not do much to raise it in Miss Macurdy's estima- tion, for her knowledge of Chicago people was limited, she said, to what she had learned from a Boston friend of hers. This lady told her about meeting a wealthy Chicago man, and the only sentence of his conversation which she reported was this: ' Then up I gits and jumps on my horse." But that was enough for Miss Macurdy. Since then she has looked on Chicago people with abhorrence. Miss Macurdy amuses us so much some- times- I used to read jokes about Boston people in the newspapers, and thought them all very much exaggerated, of course. But Miss Macurdy certainly goes far ahead of anything I ever read about Boston intellectuality. The great event of this week wasour Tree celebration. The Sophomore class chose a tree and put on it their class crest in bronze, with appropriate ceremonies, and then when they are Seniors, they bury their class records beneath this tree. We dressed up last night as darkies, and such a sight as we were! We wore the gayest striped underskirts we had, and the oldest and brightest waists. Belle wore my dressing sack - that tight flannel one, but as she is much thinner than I, there was room for two sofa pillows - We also wore red and orange sashes. £ made use of that big hat of Aunt Allie's, trimmed with red and blue ribbons and yellow and purple flowers of Ray's. We blacked our faces and hands in great style and ran out through the corridors, spied only by our next-door neighbors - The Freshmen cameout to bother us - and also some Juniors - because we are supposed to have our fun with no other classmen around. The Freshmen were waiting outside the gymnasium, where we were assembled, ready to march to our tree. They grew quite impatient waiting for us, for every once in a while they clapped and told us to hurry up. At last we silently departed out of the back door, leaving the Freshmen in front. But they soon came after us, and in the midst of our program joined hands and ran around us in a circle. But after this they subsided - especially since Ray yelled to them to make their circle into an eclipse. At the tree we all gathered close around and the President of our class "called the meetin' to order", and said that the "minutes ofde last ten meetin's would be omitted." This raised a shout, because in our last class-meeting some one remarked that all our minutes had to be read and approved before our Senior year - and they have almost always been omitted, in fact I have only had to read them once since I have been Secretary. So some one moved that we spend a few minutes reading back minutes, and I read all the minutes for the last ten meetings or so. Then Ray made the Tree Oration, which I need not describe, as it is printed on the programme, though when she gave it, she added several more jokes- Jessie Thain made a short "Chain Oration" putting the chain which held the bronze crest, around the tree. These orations were interspersed with singing - Nancy McClellandalways makes up some songs for us to sing on every occasion - Then we went two by two, singing, to the gymnasium, where we were entertained by a "minstrel show" - The colored orchestra - Ray and fifteen or twenty other girls dressed as colored men - sat up on the platform, and enlivened the proceedings with occasional jokes and conundrums. Then there were "living pictures" - The Heavenly Twins - were the largest and the smallest girls in the class. "Two little girls in blue" were two of the tallest girls in the class, dressed in hideous shades of blue which would not harmonize. A "prima donna" also made her appearance, rigged out in stunning finery - and sang Home, Sweet Home, with all the affectation and languishing that could be put into it, and the tune only near enough to be recog-
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Title: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin) -- to mother, Nov. 15, 1896:
Creator: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin)
Description: VC 1897
Date: November 15, 1896
Text: Vassar College. Poughkeepsie. N.Y. Nov. 15. 1896. My dear Mother,— I am so sorry you are not going to Uncle Charles' for Thanksgiving - it would be such a beautiful plan, and especially for papa, who has not been thereifor so long. I am very much obliged for the little organdie corners - they are unusually pretty ones- This week I have been spending all my odd minutes from Monday to Saturday in disposing of dolls. You know every year the Y.W.C.A. buys about three hundred dolls,- that is...
Show moreVassar College. Poughkeepsie. N.Y. Nov. 15. 1896. My dear Mother,— I am so sorry you are not going to Uncle Charles' for Thanksgiving - it would be such a beautiful plan, and especially for papa, who has not been thereifor so long. I am very much obliged for the little organdie corners - they are unusually pretty ones- This week I have been spending all my odd minutes from Monday to Saturday in disposing of dolls. You know every year the Y.W.C.A. buys about three hundred dolls,- that is the chairman of the General Work committee does, which happens to be myself this year— and we distribute them to the girls who are willing to dress them, and then we have to collect them all again, and send them to College Settle- ments and Hospitals and home missionary schools. Before we send them off we exhibit them all - and it is a pretty sight. I have had several letters from Miss Goodrich, in connection with the box of old clothes that I sent her. We were very much disappointed that the arrangement for her to speak here could not be carried out. These last two or three days there has been a State Convention of the Y.W.C.A. in Poughkeepsie—the same thing that I went to in Syracuse last fall, you know. I was very glad to meet again some of the people whom I saw and heard in Syracuse. The delegates came out to the college yesterday afternoon, when about a dozen of us received them in the parlors and showed them the buildings and our rooms etc* Today we expect to have an honored guest in our room— Dr. William Dorpfeld, the greatest living Greek archaeologist. He is in this country for only a few weeks and Dr. Taylor considers himself very fortunate to have gotten Dr. Dorpfeld here to lecture to us- While he is here Miss Leach wants to show him some of the students* rooms, and so she is going to bring him to ours. He lectured last night in the German language - he has been learning English only for the last six weeks, so that he does not yet feel enough at home in it to lecture in our language, though he speaks it very well in conversation. His German is remarkably simple, and he speaks remarkably slowly and distinctly, so that I understood much more of hislecture than I expected - with only six weeks study of German. He seems like a very interesting man- younger than I had expected, too, for one so famous. Dr. Taylor had a reception to the Faculty in Dr. Dorpf eld's honor - over in his new house; the first time that he has entertained in his new house. Ray is still In Brooklyn - she went down there to her cousin's about two weeks ago, because she had been working too hard, over the campaign and everything, and had to have a rest. I don't know whether she will be back this week or wait till after Thanksgiving. Her father was to be in Brooklyn Friday, but I havenot heard from her since then. Winifred came out of the Infirmary last Sunday night, but she has been in bed with a cold for the last two days. This room seems to be rather ill-fated. I am sorry for the Richardson girls - those two young girls left to take care of themselves- Poor Mrs. Richardson was sick so long. I shall write Anna Leigh and Bertha a note, I think. P.M. I have Just come from such a delightful walk over the field s- from the top of the hills we watched the sun set. We did not meet Dr. Dorpfeld after all, for Prexy took care of him all the time, and Miss Leach did not have a
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Title: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin) -- to mother, Nov. 17, 1895:
Creator: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin)
Description: VC 1897
Date: November 17, 1895
Text: Vassar College. Nor. 17. 1895. My dear Mother, — I have bean blessed with a good supply of letters this week - for which I wish to thank the writers. I imagine that Ed has learned to appreciate letters by this time - I don't see how any one can be away home from^ery long without learning it. Today is Carrie's birthday - She is twenty years old, aad feels as though she were taking a big jump in getting out of her teens* Ray and I made a little celebration for her by fixing supper for...
Show moreVassar College. Nor. 17. 1895. My dear Mother, — I have bean blessed with a good supply of letters this week - for which I wish to thank the writers. I imagine that Ed has learned to appreciate letters by this time - I don't see how any one can be away home from^ery long without learning it. Today is Carrie's birthday - She is twenty years old, aad feels as though she were taking a big jump in getting out of her teens* Ray and I made a little celebration for her by fixing supper for us three in their room last night. - We had poached eggs on toast, butteredtoast besides, strawberry preserves, which Ray's cousin in Brooklyn gave her when she went down there two weeks ago, - and some little puffs filled with whipped cream, which cost tha sum of one cent apiece. Don't you think that waa an elaborate birthday spread? Carrie appreciated very much tha little trouble we took for her, for she said this is tha first time In a number of years that aha has had her birthday celebrated, or has had birth* day came last year. Ray gave her a little spoon, which is very pretty. Gertrude Smith gave her a cup aad saucer, and Winifred Kirkland gave her a little dish for odds and ends, aad I gave her a pair of bed-slippers - which Ihad great difficulty to gat done, on account of the lack of extra time. Carrie has been wanting a pair very much, so of course I was glad to make them for her - as she has bean busy making a pair for her sister. We had a very hard time to keep things secret from Carrie; she is worse than a dozen little boys about asking questions at Christmas-time. The most fun we have had this week was last night, when some girls in our class carried out an idea of their own- You see the Sopho- more Party for the Freshmen was arranged for Inst night, and so all the members of those classes were to be over in the gym, but there was nothing to which the Seniors and Juniors had to go. Now a few girls in ourclass carried out an idea of their own- You see the Sopho- more Party for the Freshmen was arranged for Inst night, and so all the members of those classes were to be over in the gym, but there was nothing to which the Seniors and Juniors had to go. Now a few girls in our class were considering on Thursday even- ing about how they would spend Saturday evening, when one of them sug- gested that they have a take-off of the Marlborough-VanderbUt wedding! This was readily agreed to, and so they looked up the accounts of it which have filled the papers lately, and tried to arrange everything as nearly like the way it really was as circumstances would allow- Of course the preparations were very hasty - n>Mbt there was no time to spend tUl Saturday- Any Juniors or Sexfers who wanted to come were invited, but the whole thing was so extempore that ever so many did not hear about it- Well, I went a little before half past eight, down to thedining-room In this building- which the girls very fortunately were allowed to use- The tables were pushed over to one side and screens placed In front of them, while the chairs were arranged as in a church, with a center aisle- Seven hand- white gloves fc buttonhole bouquet, some ushers 'with Immaculate shirtfronts" and stiff collars met the guests at the door, aad offered them their arms and conducted them to seats In swell fashion- Most of the seniors had been bright enough to dress up as swell English or New York personages - and carried off their parts wdl— the costumes of course being extremely impromptu aad laugh- Mrs, William K. Vanderbilt able. The Duchess sf Marlboeeugh was represented by the largest girlin our class, aad was accompanied by her young son, who behaved In a conscious and top-loftical manner. As guests of honor their appeared the Prince of Wales aad Queen Victoria.' Queen Victoria was decidedly successful - a senior who looks a good deal like the Queen when she pulls down the corners of her mouth, aad who has somewhat the same height and figure. She had thought of taking that character only half an hour before It was time to go- But she scraped up some clothes that would do, made a crown which was quite imposing* from the blotter on her desk, and for a train took a portiere, which trailed way behind and was held up by Lord Dunraven. A lorgnette added much to her dignity aad to the effectiveness of her stare- As the royalparty swept up the aisle, the audience rose aad said "Long live the Queen," "God save the Queen.'" Soon after this strains of Lohengrlns Wedding March floated through the air, and pretty soon we saw a lot of choir-boys march in two by two, singing some ridiculous words to the tune of Lohengrin - Ray was one of the choir-hoys - they wore white skirts around their necks for surplices - Then while the singing kept on, the bridal party entered - the bridesmaids with blue trimmings - their hats large straw ones which the f96 girls had bought for their Hallowe'en party in their Freshmen year and which they have lent for various and sundry purposes ever since- The bride was really very pretty - covered by a veil of that dotted lacy material —I don't know its name — which ordinarily serves as Helen Peters9 bed-canopy! The groom, you know, wore a blue and white checked shirt (shirt waist in this case) and a grey and white checked coat (of Grace JLandfield's.). There were eight officiating clergymen, with surplices made of black petticoats etc., and a bishop, who had the purple bands in addition. The bishop performed the cere- mony - using a service written by two of the girls * beginning "We are here assembled to Join this title and this filthy lucre in the bonds of matrimony etc. The phrases were well adapted to the circumstances - for Instance, there was a noticeable omission after the words "for richer", and Instead of "until death do us part" were inserted the words "as long as we can"-When the time for the response came the groom drawled out "I fahncy yes", while the bride replied "X don't know but I will, don't ye know." As the procession marched out the choir boys struck up a dif- ferent tune, with words, written by one of the girls, making fun of marrying for wealth and trying to appear swell, and so on. Almost as much as the ceremony itself I enjoyed watching Mr* John Fox, the Southern writer, who had lectured to the college on the previous evening- He had come with Prof. Wentworth (only two teachers were there because the rest were at the Sophomore Party) and he did not know what to make of it* He appeared very much embarrassed at first and continued to appear very much surprised. He was heardafterwards to say that he was very much astonished, because he had had the idea that Vassar girls were very aristocratic aad would not think of such a thing as ridiculing the swell aristocracy. That myth about Vassar girls being aristocratic and proud seems to be spread abroad through the country, for I have heard ever so many girls say that their friends had that idea. I am sure nothing is further from the truth. Yesterday afternoon we had a treat in the way of a violin and piano recital, given by Mr. Marsick aad Mr. Brockway — both very celebrated, they say — Mr. Marsick certainly looks celebrated: he has almost as much hair as Fadarewski- Mr. Brockway looks like aa American and appears to be very young- He played twoof his owa com- positions on the piano- Monday afternoon Mr. Joseph Jefferson, the great actor, spoke, at the invitation of the Philalethean Society- He is an old man - more than eighty, they say- His voice sounded as though he had no teeth- like Mr. James Huntington's, but as a matter of fact he has a good- looking set of false teeth- He was a very interesting speaker - most of what he said being in the line of reminiscence. He played Rip Van Winkle in Poughkeepsie in the evening, and of course a great many of the girls went - as it is not more than once or twice a year that they get a good actor in this town. We felt quite deserted during the evening - it was so quiet here. Did I tell you about Mrs. Chant, of London, who spoke tous last Sunday evening about philanthropic work in London? She was one of the most charming English speakers I have heard- This morning Dr. Gordon of the Old South Church in Boston preached for us. He was very fine- He preached again this afternoon, at five o'clock, at his own request, X suppose, for I never knew of any one doing it here before- I think we have better preaching this year than we did last year. Our work In Biology Laboratory has been so interesting this week- Can you guess what we have been doing? Dissecting angle-worms! A few of the girls hesitated a little about It, but most of us took them right up In our fingers the first thing- They had been preserved in alcohol. We could see, when we had cut the worm open, the pharynx, aesophagus, crop, gizzard and everything so nicely- I never dreamed there was all that inside of a worm. Miss O'Grady told me my dissection was a ' beautiful" one!Lots of love to all the family- Adelaide. jClaflinj I know how Edie enjoyed hearing Miss Strong lecture, for she lectured, or rather, spoke informally, to our Hellenic society last year, and I was very much pleased with her-
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Title: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin) -- to mother, Nov. 18, 1894:
Creator: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin)
Description: VC 1897
Date: November, 18, 1894
Text: Vassar College. Nov. 18. c1894, My dear Mamma,— W e have just come from Bible Lecture, and I am going to write to you and then go right to bed. We are all so sleepy, even though none of us woke up this morning till after the breakfast-bell. We did not get to sleep last night very early, for we went to the Sophomore party. Every year the Sophomores give a party for the Freshmen. Each Freshman and teacher is taken care of by a sophomore, but as there are more than enough to go around, a good...
Show moreVassar College. Nov. 18. c1894, My dear Mamma,— W e have just come from Bible Lecture, and I am going to write to you and then go right to bed. We are all so sleepy, even though none of us woke up this morning till after the breakfast-bell. We did not get to sleep last night very early, for we went to the Sophomore party. Every year the Sophomores give a party for the Freshmen. Each Freshman and teacher is taken care of by a sophomore, but as there are more than enough to go around, a good many of us had to take two. I took two Freshmen, Ray took Miss Macurdy and a friend who is visiting her.ary has had a girl from New York city visiting her since Friday, and so she took her and a Freshman, and Belle took a teacher and a Freshman. There were twelve dances, so it was a good deal of work to make out the programs. You see we did that beforehand, and had to arrange for our two people and ourselves. All the Sophomores went around asking each other, "Have you all your dances taken? " Won't you give me one for my Freshman? " We all had a very good time, though we got pretty tired. The dances were very short, so that we had to hurry between each one, first to give up-the our partner to her hostess, then to find each of our Freshmen and each of their next partners, and then find our own partners.I sat down during most of the dances, but when we could not find a seat, we walked around. There are a good many girls who do not dance. I had several promenades with teachers, Prof. Salmon, Prof. French—the new teacher of Psychology- a little bit of a man who is awfully bashful - the only unmarried man on the Faculty. Miss Whitman, the President of the Freshman class, who helped to receive, is a sister of Prof. Whitman of Adalbert. One of the girls took me to call on her several weeks ago. She is a remark- able girl, very bright and interesting and pleasant. It is strange that she is so animated when her brother is just the opposite. Refreshments were served about the middle of the evening. I helped to serve them and wehad to go way down into the gymnasium each time, and carry up two or three plates, with no hands left to hold up our dresses- But we got along all right. Then they had shadowX pictures, which were splendid. They were for the benefit of the Fresh- men and were illustrative of Geometry and Latin etc. There was a girl who went insane over geometry, waving parallelopipeds etc. wildly in the air - A cute poem was read at the same time. Then they illustrated the first page or two of Livy, reading the Latin at the same time. They had the women come out and wail and tear their hair, then a battle - girls rushing at each other and clashing sticks etc. Then they had the elpphants — girls walking across with their heads bent way over, and their hands turned upfor trunks. You would not think they would look much like elephants but they did-and were greatly applauded. Then they represented the trip to Mohunk, when it poured, you know. They got one of Baby Taylor's^ rocking horses, and a small girl in the class rode across the stage behind it, holding an umbrella- I gave the description of Livy for Lou's benefit. She would have enjoyed it. I wore my white silk, but did not wear gloves. A good many of the girls did not wear gloves, and it was a great saving. There are only two other occasions this year when I will wear my white silk. We had some special work to do Saturday, so that we did not have time to do any of our regular work, and I don't see exactly how we are going to get through this week,- though for that matter I have wonderedbout that every Saturday night so far. I thought I had to study hard last year, and so I did, but it wasn't a circumstance to this year. We Just work like dogs this semester. I keep thinking I will get a little ahead, and so keep comparatively comfortable, but I can't keep up with my lessons, much less get ahead. There is always a lot of extra work for us to do, too. Then we come down to dinner Saturday evening and have the Juniors tell us that they have almost all their lessons for the next week finished. I think I shall write my next essay during the Thanksgiving vacation. Ray got a box from Harry this week, with some of his sofa* pillows, and a comforter, and table-cover, and a few other little things, which added a good deal to the room. I would write more if i did not feel so much like going to bed, so goodnight. Give my love to the neighbors. Your loving daughter Adelaide. jCldflin,
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Title: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin) -- to mother, Nov. 22, 1896:
Creator: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin)
Description: VC 1897
Date: November 22, 1896
Text: Vassar College. Nov. ZZ. 1896. My dear Mother,—- As Ed remarked In one of his letters, I address most of my letters to you, so that you won't have to wait around all day for them to be opened. I appreciate so much reading Ed's letters home. I am very much obliged to you for sending them. Here it is Thanksgiving week already — it is simply alarming, how fast my last year is going by. It seems scarcely two days from one Sunday to the next.I had fully expected to spend Thanksgiving...
Show moreVassar College. Nov. ZZ. 1896. My dear Mother,—- As Ed remarked In one of his letters, I address most of my letters to you, so that you won't have to wait around all day for them to be opened. I appreciate so much reading Ed's letters home. I am very much obliged to you for sending them. Here it is Thanksgiving week already — it is simply alarming, how fast my last year is going by. It seems scarcely two days from one Sunday to the next.I had fully expected to spend Thanksgiving vacation here, but now I am thinking that perhaps I shall go down to New York. For Marion Lockhart came up to college yesterday, and this afternoon she invited me to spend Thanksgiving at her house- She lives in Mount Vernon - the same place where Hortense Lewis lives, you know. There are other places where I would prefer to spend a day if I had my choice, but I am thinking that it would be convenient to go down there for Thanks- giving Day and spend the night, and then go in to New York the next morn- ing and spend the day with Ed- So I shall write to Ed about it, and perhaps decide to go down.It is rather late now to do much communication on the subject. Winifred is down in Brooklyn now - where she went Thursday, partly on her own account and partly to see her mother and sister- Her sister has just had an operation, and is getting along very nicely- Of course Winifred has been very anxious to see her. If I go down to New York, I shall try to see her mother and sister. Every one who knows them speaks of them so highly that I have been anxious to meet them. This sister is younger than Winifred, but she has been a great invalid for several years - and is just like the story-book invalids - so very sweet and attractive to everybody.Ray came back from Brooklyn Monday morning— My roommates are like "ships that pass in the night" and speak each other in passing "- Ray is better - her rest in Brooklyn did her a great deal of good. There is nothing like having relatives well-off and convenient. I am glad Winifred has them too. Yesterday the New York and Brooklyn Vassar Students' Aid Society had their annual meeting here. That is I think it was the general V.S. Aid Society, but the delegates were mostly from New York and Brooklyn. I was asked to help receive them, and go to their meeting and the tea afterward— all this on account of my having had that scholarship. There were about a half a dozen girls helping - all of whom had had scholarships, (but of course there are a great many more scholar-ship girls too)- As it was raining when they came, and there were only a few minutes before luncheon, we did not show them around the buildings, but simply talked to them in the parlor till it was time for luncheon. It was very interesting to meet these Alumnae. I looked around at them till I picked out one that I thought looked nice, and then went up and spoke to her, and I found her so pleasant that I talked with her till luncheon time- She was Mrs. Rossiter, of Brooklyn. She graduated in the Class of *80, so that she was here while both Miss Fannie and Miss Mary Adams were, but she did not seem to remember who they were. She reminded me very much of Miss Mary Adams both in her looks and in her conversation, but a little more quiet. I would like to know her. Mrs. Backus, the wife of the President of Packer Institute, Y\ presided at the meeting in the afternoon. Miss Wylie introduced me to her- I have heard a great deal about her from Winifred- The most distinguished guests seemed to be Mr. and Mrs. Babbott- Mrs. Peat* Babbott is the daughter of Mr. Pratt of Pratt Institute, who isworth millions- They hope that Mr. Babbott will leave some money to the college some day. Mrs. Babbott - with whom Mrs. Rossiter came - was also of the class of '80. The Society held a business meeting In the afternoon, and after that a more general meeting, to which we went. Mrs. Backus presided very graciously. Dr. Taylor made the first speech, all about scholarships and helping stu- dents by loan and gift and so on - He thinks girls should not go in debt too heavily for their college education, and after they have borrowed up to a certain point, the college should then make gifts to them, not loans.He said that last year sixty two girls received help from the college either as loan or gift - mostly gift. About a hundred girls before enter- ing college, ask aid for their Freshman year- each year- but the college very rarely gives money till the sophomore year, when it has had time to see what a girl is like. I was very much interested in all that Dr. Taylor said, and I wish I had time to tell you the rest of it. Miss Wagar has the Cleveland scholarship this year- she is the sister of a girl who graduated here in '94. This morning Bishop Doane of Albany preached. He had such a funny way of wiggling his nose to throw his glasses off, instead of putting up his hand and taking them off. Please excuse the admixture of red ink in the first part of this letter. I have lost my fountain pen, and I am using a tin one that I used to have for red ink. Love to all. Adelaide.
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Title: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin) -- to mother, Nov. 25, 1894:
Creator: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin)
Description: VC 1897
Date: November 25, 1894
Text: assar College. Nov. 25. [1894, My dear Mamma,— I have had such a nice time this afternoon reading. It is so nice to have a chance to read once in a while though the chances are few and far between. We do appreciate our Sundays here, they are like a little breathing-spell, and they go only too fast. This morning Dr. Thos. McLeod of Brooklyn, preached for us, and we liked him very much. This evening Dr. Greer, of St. Bartholomew's church, in Brooklyn, is going to talk to us on "Work...
Show moreassar College. Nov. 25. [1894, My dear Mamma,— I have had such a nice time this afternoon reading. It is so nice to have a chance to read once in a while though the chances are few and far between. We do appreciate our Sundays here, they are like a little breathing-spell, and they go only too fast. This morning Dr. Thos. McLeod of Brooklyn, preached for us, and we liked him very much. This evening Dr. Greer, of St. Bartholomew's church, in Brooklyn, is going to talk to us on "Work for the Poor in New York City - Dr. Taylor spoke of him and his work very highly. Every Sunday evening we have Bible Lectures, by Dr. Patterson of Rochester - They areon the History of the Bible, its growth, translations, etc. and are very interesting. I take notes on them, so I will have them all in a notebook convenient for future reference. It is a dark, chilly day today, and it has been trying to snow but has not succeeded very well. The snow that came a few weeks ago entirely disappeared, but it looks as if the ground would be covered again pretty soon. Tell Lou that I have neither Millers Latin Prose Composition nor Tighe's Development of Roman Constitution. They don't use them here at all, so I could not get one from her. Dr. Taylor came home last night. Yfe walked in to Phil. Hall where they were having a hall play, and the girls clapped him like everything - lor a welcome. Did you all go to the reception atProf. Olney's, and meet him? Did he stay at Mrs. Adams's while he was in Cleveland? The hall play was pretty good, but it was very long, so I came home when it was about half over. They had some good jokes on the programmes, grinds, X mean. One of them was about Prof. Wentworth, a new Prof, of English, whom we have for Rhetoric. He went down town one day not long ago, and asked a clerk in the drygoods store for some muslin- The clerk asked him what kind he wanted* and he said he didn't know,* He didn't know whether he wanted it wide or narrow, or thick or thin, or dotted or plain, but at any rate he wanted it for sheets. One day last week Prof. Ely did not make her appearance in her class in Higher Mathematics, the first hour. Theywaited a few minutes, then some of them went to find her. They hunted everywhere, in her room, the library, reading-room, and finally found her - in the dining room, still calmly eating her breakfast- She had forgotten that she had a class- We have her for Trigonometry, and she is better than a picnic. She says such funny things, in such a funny, matter-of-fact way- Several times she has spent the whole hour in just reading the roll-call, and talking to us about taking care of our health- She talks to us about everything under the sun, but her favorite topic is colds. She says that too many girls have colds, and that most all of them could be prevented if we would never wear slippers, nor low-necked short-sleeved dresses - which areher abomination. She said "HI should put on a low-necked dress In the evening, after wearing a high- necked dress all day, I should catch my death," I am sure I don't know what preserves you. And a girl who wears thin slippers around In these corridors has not sense enough to succeed in mathematics. I wouldn't allow a girl who wore slippers to be in my Elective Mathe- matics class." We just sit and laugh and enjoy everything she says. She tells us too, not to study too hard, and not to think we have to do all the examples every day, and not to feel badly if-we-other people are \ smarter than we, for, she said, "if we wanted nobody to be smarter than we, every body would have to come down to our level, and what about those inferior to us? We would have to go down to their level, till everybody in the worldwould be reduced to the level of idiots J We ought to be glad thai somebody else can do things that we cant.*" I am so glad 1 was fortunate enough to have Prof. Ely, for half the class have a new teacher, Miss Gentry, whom they do not like, and who makes them work like everything. They have just changed the curriculum somewhat - putting Trigonometry In with the Algebra of the Freshman year. I will pot in n piece cut from a paper, telling about the changes- I wrote to Mrs. Sheldon, yesterday morning, after reading your letter. I did not know ahe was so seriously HI- I am so sorry to hear it. Abbie Vaillant is up here visiting- She came Friday and is going back tomorrow morning. She greeted me very cordially indeed, and asked me to call in andsee her before ahe went. I have been looking forward to the Thanksgiving vacation. It begins at 11:20 oa Wednesday, and lasts till Saturday night. Ray is going down to Brooklyn, and perhaps Belle Is going home, then Mary and I will be left here together. Even if we do a good deal of work, it will be a rest, aad a change from the ordinary routine. And we shall enjoy it. Mary and Belle are both going home at Christmas, and Ray will either go home, or to some ol her relatives, so I shall be alone here at Christmas. Ray has not decided yet whether she will go home, or rather, her father has not. She will go if her father thinks she can afford it. Please give my love to the neighbors, aad to the girls I know. I have not written to anybody, hardly- Lovingly- Adelaide. ^Claflin,
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Title: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin) -- to mother, Nov. 26, 1893:
Creator: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin)
Description: VC 1897
Date: November 26, 1893
Text: Vassar College. Nov. 26, 1893. Dear mamma, - The package of flannels came all right, on Thursday. I am much obliged for them, especially the mittens. They are just what I wanted. This is a very economical place for some things, especially gloves. But girls can easily find things to spend money on, if they want to. Last night I was talking with some girls, and one of them was telling about her finances. She gets an allowance of $15 a month and at present she is $ 18.50 in debt. She had...
Show moreVassar College. Nov. 26, 1893. Dear mamma, - The package of flannels came all right, on Thursday. I am much obliged for them, especially the mittens. They are just what I wanted. This is a very economical place for some things, especially gloves. But girls can easily find things to spend money on, if they want to. Last night I was talking with some girls, and one of them was telling about her finances. She gets an allowance of $15 a month and at present she is $ 18.50 in debt. She had borrowed some from Mr. Deane, the Treasurer. That is the way some girls do, when they get out of money. There are some girls here who dont know any thing at all about money; at home when- ever they wanted anything,they simply went and bought it, and charged it to their fathers, without even inquiring the price. Of course there is the opposite extreme here, too,-girls, and plenty of them, who haven't a cent to spare. We have to have some shoes for gymnasium, like tennis shoes. I am going to buy a pair from Alice Raymond, that are just new and cost 80 cents. Then I will have about $ 2 left. I dont know yet what I shall do about Christmas presents. I suppose that if I expect to make any, I shall have to have some more money then. The gymnasium opened this week. I have been just once. The girls look so funny in their suits. Mine is not full enough in the waist to be pretty. They look better on small thin girls, if I had only known about them, I could have had mine made at home, and it would have been ever so much cheaper. But when I asked the people at home about them, they said the girls had to have them made here so as to have them all made alike. Wednesday night there was a Seidl concert in town, and about ahundred and seventy five people from the college went, and they said it was very fine. Seats were from 75 cents to $1.50, so I take in only the things at the college, which are always free. Friday night Prof. Herbert E. Smyth of Bryn Mawr, lectured on Greek P^o mantle is m, but most people did not think it was very interesting, and while I was listening, I had come to the conclusion that I did not know enough to appreciate it. There was a reception for him, afterwards, to the teachers, and they said he was much more interesting there than in the lecture. Mrs. Dwight's mother is visiting her now, a very nice old lady. She was for a good while, a missionary in Turkey. She spoke of being at Marsovan, and I found that she knew Mr. Tracy very well indeed. She said he always called her "Mother Snyder". Mrs. Snyder is her name. At first, when we went to see her, she addressed all her conver- sation to Ray, and talked about Ray's grandfather, and all her missionary relations, but after I mentioned Mr. Tracy, she seemed to think thatI was quite intimately acquainted and connected with missionaries. So then she talked a long while to me. Mr. and Mrs. Tracy, she said, went back to Turkey last June or July. Tonight the Y.W.C.A. are going to have Mrs. Ballington Booth speak, on the Salvation Army. Once a month, instead of the Sunday evening prayer-meeting, they have some sort of a missionary address. I believe Mrs. Booth is considered to be a very interesting speaker. Everybody is crazy now about Thanksgiving. Ray is going to Brooklyn, after all. She had quite an "embarrassment of riches" in the way of invitations. Her cousin Mrs. Ellison, invited her first to Brooklyn. Then she had an invitation from her grandmother in Springfield, and an aunt near New York. A great many girls are going down to New York. Vacation begins Wednesday noon, and everybody has to be back by Saturday night, unless they come on the Sunday evening train from New York, as some do. Trains do not run in Connecticut on Sunday - and very few of them do aroundhere. A great many girls are going to stay here. They say we shall probably have to have our meals over in the other building though, which will not be nearly so pleasant as having them here. The dining room here is so pleasant, and it is much smaller than the old building one. I have to have my examination in American History on Dec. 9, so that I shall have to study it during the Thanksgiving vacation. Then Nan McClelland, whose home is in Poughkeepsie, has invited me to spend whatever leisure time I may have, in vacation, in helping her dress two dolls for the Y.W.C.A. The Y.W.C.A. invites the girls to dress dolls for Christmas presents for poor children, in the College Settlements, I think. A while ago they were making scrap- books for the children's Hospitals. What became of the letter from Aunt Allie that you said you were going to send me? I have been waiting to get it before I write to her. I wrote to May Holmes last week and got an answer from her right away. She said her mother was verywell, and of course, very busy. May is going to Normal School, taking two studies, and teaching half a day. She has D primary children, and thinks they are so cute. She seems to enjoy teaching them, very much. She was eighteen, two weeks ago. She said that you need not wait for them to write. Her father wrote to that Prof. Gardner and asked him to call on me. Uncle Edgar put a few lines in May's letter, and told me that Prof. Gardner was a "very nice gentleman". They did not say anything about the "Signal". 9:30 P.M. I have just come from hearing Mrs. Ballington Booth. She was perfectly splendid. She is very young looking, and wore a plain black costume. She has a very sweet face, and is what you would call fascinating, in speaking. She told of the work of the Salvation Army in all its departments, its aims and the reasons for its methods of work, and answered the objections made by people who are prejudiced against it. She told about the slum work etc. too. She is intelligent and educated and refined, herself- and awfully in earnest. The chapel was crowded, all the college and a good many from town. The bell has rung and so goodnight. Lovingly Adelaide,
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Title: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin) -- to mother, Nov. 4, 1894:
Creator: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin)
Description: VC 1897
Date: November 4, 1894
Text: Vassar College. Nov. 4. 1894 My dear Mamma, - I am rather behind with my letter-writing. I have just been telling Clarence about how we went to Mrs. Piatt's to dinner after church, and we did not get home till about three oclock- and then two girls came in to see us and stayed pretty long. All the Sophomores are tired today. We had an essay due yesterday at six oclock, and they have given us no extra time to write it in, and we have so much to do all the time that we don't have...
Show moreVassar College. Nov. 4. 1894 My dear Mamma, - I am rather behind with my letter-writing. I have just been telling Clarence about how we went to Mrs. Piatt's to dinner after church, and we did not get home till about three oclock- and then two girls came in to see us and stayed pretty long. All the Sophomores are tired today. We had an essay due yesterday at six oclock, and they have given us no extra time to write it in, and we have so much to do all the time that we don't have sparetime to use for essays. We were supposed to begin writing it four or five weeks ago, but a large part of the class did not begin till yesterday. Mary and Belle and I being among the out number. W e came up from breakfast and putAour engaged sign as soon as we had made our beds. We each settled ourselves in a dif- ferent room and began to grind out an essay, and every once in a while one went around to see how the other two were getting along. We had to think out our subject and make our analysis, so that by lunchtime we had not accomplished much. We all spent about an hour and a half on our first two sentences: but after lunchtime, we had gotten beyond the start, and could gon more easily. W e buckled down desperately and said not a word to each other till about five oclock, when I finished mine. Then we copied just as fast as we could, and I finished copying mine exactly at six oclock. Mary and Belle had to spend part of the evening copying theirs, they did not go down to dinner. When we handed them in, we did not know which was greater, our relief or our weariness. We have to go through this ordeal once every six weeks, just as we did last year. The subjects given us this time were not very goOd, Belle and I wrote on "The Dangers of Work"- Reflections of a Lazy Man," and we chose it, just as a good many other girls did, because weouldn't write on any of the others. I have had a good deal of communication from Aunt Allie this week. Friday the box came, with the red jacket. It is quite flaring, and I don't like very well to wear a thing so conspicuous- still it is not so conspicuous here as it would be at home, for in this clean place they wear lighter colors than they do at home, and besides it doesn't matter so much what we wear here, for there are not many people who see us when we are out walking- So I think I shall make some use of the jacket. Besides that. Aunt Allie put in two lovely handkerchiefs, one pink silk crepe, with a fancy edge, and the other black chiffon with yellowflowers worked in it. They will be very pretty to wear pinned at my neck, the way the girls do. Then there was a Windsor tie to wear with shirt-waists—white with blue figures, and a red fan, and two photographs of Aunt Allie, taken in Pueblo. The photographer did not know how to manage the light, for he had it fall on her face so as to make ber look rather ghostly, especially in one- That one is a miserable picture, and the other looks pretty well, but Aunt Allie has her neck low and her hair fixed up so that she looks like a young girl. It makes rather a pretty picture but not a good likeness. By mail yesterday she sent a picture of Uncle Henry, which is very good, looks just about the same as the one at homeexcept that he is not smiling at all in this one. A letter came from Aunt Allie Friday- telling about the things, etc. I am going to write to her right away. The girls all had to get out their felt hats to v/ear into town today- We keep on all our summer things as long as possible. Around the grounds the girls still wear their summer hats, though they are beginning to bring out their ' tarns". Shirt-waists are still common, I wear mine occasionally- and with warm underclothes they are per- fectly comfortable, here in this building, though I could not v/ear them late last year, when I had to run back and forth to Strong Hall. Yester- day five Juniors went down town and had theirpictures taken, all sitting in a row and wearing shirt-waists and sailor hats. I suppose Miss Sutliffe is at home by this time, and has told Miss Cornell you how we are fixed here. Katharine's roommate^is a girl who is very nice in herself, but who went with a girl last year whose reputation is not enviable, a rude and forward girl, in a higher class. This year Miss Cornell does not go with this girl at all, and by means of Katharine, has a chance to go with some of the nicest girls in her class, and it is doing a very good thing for her, since she is really a very nice girl. Several girls in her class told me this, and said that Katharine was really doing missionary work for Miss Cornell. Katharine seems to begetting acquainted with the nicest girls, and is very well fixed. Did I tell you that R.ay has been asked to sing in the College Glee Club? It will be some work to attend the rehearsals, but still it is considered a very nice thing to be a member of the Glee Club. They will probably be invited down to New York to sing at the Alumnae Banquet there, and they have some other social privileges. Ray sings in the choir now, too. Well, I cannot write longer tonight, for I am very sleepy and rather tired. I forgot to tell you that I have not had the headache any more since that time I wrote you about it, though I have taken cuts since then. Lovingly Adelaide. (Claflin,
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Title: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin) -- to mother, Nov. 5, 1893:
Creator: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin)
Description: VC 1897
Date: November 5, 1893
Text: Vassar College. Nov. 5, 1893. My dear Mother, — I have just used up all my writing paper, so I am forced to resort to my tablet. It is almost time for the half past nine bell, so my letter can not be long. Just as I was gcftig to write It a while ago, a girl who rooms near us, came In and stayed till now. We had just taken down our "Engaged" sign. These "engaged" signs are a great institution. Whenever you don't want to be disturbed, piece of just pin a^paper on the...
Show moreVassar College. Nov. 5, 1893. My dear Mother, — I have just used up all my writing paper, so I am forced to resort to my tablet. It is almost time for the half past nine bell, so my letter can not be long. Just as I was gcftig to write It a while ago, a girl who rooms near us, came In and stayed till now. We had just taken down our "Engaged" sign. These "engaged" signs are a great institution. Whenever you don't want to be disturbed, piece of just pin a^paper on the outside of your door, with a great big ENGAGED on it, and It is considered the height of rudeness to knock, under such circumstances, and If any one does knock, you are not supposed to answer. Some people just write "engaged" with a pencil on the back of a visiting card, and so, if it is rather dark, you don't notice it, or you think it is merely the visiting card which every one has pasted outside their door. We were calling last Saturday night, and went to see Miss Richardson, our Geometry teacher. She had this kind of a sign on her Ray door, and didn't notice it, and knocked. (It was in a dark "alley way".) Miss R. opened the door, and looked inquiringly, first at the "engaged" and then at us. We begged her pardon about ten times and retreated, and we have not eoneee tried to call on her since, though that was our third attempt. She is always engaged. Every body found out about our doing that, right away, and made lots of fun of us- The Sophomores said Nov. 5, 1893 -2 they were going to have in their "Trig, ceremonies" when they make fun of the Freshmen. They say some girls did that same thing last year. I suppose, now that Ed will vote, that Gov. McKinley will surely be elected. I am anxious to hear whether he is- I shall have to give up a letter now, since I only have a few minutes more to get undressed and put my light out, so I will write the rest of this letter tomorrow afternoon, and please excuse this- Your loving Adelaide. (Adelaide Claflin, <97,
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Title: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin) -- to mother, Oct. 14, 1893:
Creator: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin)
Description: VC 1897
Date: October 14, 1893
Text: LAKE MOHONK MOUNTAIN HOUSE, Mohonk Lake, Ulster Co., New York. A.K. Smiley, Proprietor. Saturday Oct. 14, 1893. My dear mamma, -- I began a letter to you yesterday, but have not yet had time to finish it. You see by the heading that we are not at College, but at Lake Mohonk, twenty, miles from Vassar. We are here on an excursion, that is, the Seniors and Freshmen are. Mr. Thompson, of New York City pays for the College girls to come here every year. It is a perfectly lovely place, up in the...
Show moreLAKE MOHONK MOUNTAIN HOUSE, Mohonk Lake, Ulster Co., New York. A.K. Smiley, Proprietor. Saturday Oct. 14, 1893. My dear mamma, -- I began a letter to you yesterday, but have not yet had time to finish it. You see by the heading that we are not at College, but at Lake Mohonk, twenty, miles from Vassar. We are here on an excursion, that is, the Seniors and Freshmen are. Mr. Thompson, of New York City pays for the College girls to come here every year. It is a perfectly lovely place, up in the Shangankunk (or some- thing like that) Mts. We all rode in carryalls, holding about fifteen apiece. We started from College about half past six this morning, and got here at quarter to twelve. The drive was beautiful. W e wound up the mts. by a very curved road, and when we got almost here, we could look back and see all the country around: hills rising up with their sides covered thick with trees of all colors. I never saw so many colors on trees in all my life, and they were all mixed in together like the colors of that little square patchwork in the front part of our church. It has rained most of the day, but we enjoy it all the same. I will write more particulars about this later. Your loving Adelaide. Adelaide Claflin, '97,Freshman year 1893-4 Roomed in 4C [?] Strong Hall with Rachel C. Schauffler
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Title: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin) -- to mother, Oct. 22, 1893:
Creator: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin)
Description: VC 1897
Date: October 22, 1893
Text: pet. 1893 , Dear mamma, — I have just written to Lou, but I will put in a few words to you. This is the warmest weather for October. We sit with our windows wide open, and walk outdoors with nothing around us. It does not seem as if I would need flannels very soon. Those two sets of white flannel that were bought just before I came, are to be worn next my skin, aren't they? And they can be put in the wash? I know the gray flannel one is not to be worn next my skin. The clothes from the...
Show morepet. 1893 , Dear mamma, — I have just written to Lou, but I will put in a few words to you. This is the warmest weather for October. We sit with our windows wide open, and walk outdoors with nothing around us. It does not seem as if I would need flannels very soon. Those two sets of white flannel that were bought just before I came, are to be worn next my skin, aren't they? And they can be put in the wash? I know the gray flannel one is not to be worn next my skin. The clothes from the wash always look clean, and are ironed very nicely. I wash out my own stockings. I made so many holes in one pair, that it took me nearly all day yesterday to darn them. Mamma, you have to write a note to Mrs. Kendrick, telling her or not whether^I can see any callers that may come to the College to see me, and if there are any persons whom you would not wish me to see, you must give their names to Mrs. Kendrick and she will not allow me to see them. Of course this last provision is for girls who woi\ld receive callers that their parents objected to. Whenever any callers come, their cards are sent first to Mrs. Kendrick so that she can see whether their names are on her list as objectionable. (Adelaide Claflin, '97,
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Title: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin) -- to mother, Oct. 28, 1894:
Creator: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin)
Description: VC 1897
Date: October 28, 1894
Text: Vassar College. Oct. 28, 1894. My dear Mother,- Well, I have had a piece of home this week,* in seeing Ed. and now that the family have started at traveling, perhaps they will keep it up, so that I shall see something of home again before June. I was very glad you wrote to me beforehand about Ed's coming, so that I was not away somewhere when he got here, and also so that I could arrange about my studying. It did seem so good to see him, even though it wasonly for an hour and a half. I...
Show moreVassar College. Oct. 28, 1894. My dear Mother,- Well, I have had a piece of home this week,* in seeing Ed. and now that the family have started at traveling, perhaps they will keep it up, so that I shall see something of home again before June. I was very glad you wrote to me beforehand about Ed's coming, so that I was not away somewhere when he got here, and also so that I could arrange about my studying. It did seem so good to see him, even though it wasonly for an hour and a half. I took him around the immediate grounds, but I was sorry that he could not stay long enough to go up to the top of one of the hills back of the college, where he could get a good view of the grounds and buildings and the country round, all at once. But I guess he saw enough to get an idea of what I talk about. I want to know whether he caught the train down to New York, the electric car started five minutes before the time it ought to have, so that he just missed it. It was so nice for him to have a chance to go down and see New York city too - as well as to come to Schenectady.Here it is nearly four oclock, and all I have done this afternoon is to x write one letter. The time goes like lightning here, especially on Sunday. We had Dr. Stone of Hartford, preach for us this morning. Tonight after Dr. Patterson's Bible Lecture, Miss Sybil Carter, who has worked among the Indians, is going to speak to us about that work. Dr. Patterson is very interesting, at least his lecture last Sunday, his first one, was- He told us about the growth and preserva- tion of the Bible. Our History work for this last week was on the Founding and Rise of the Christian Church, and was especially interest- ing- We will have agood deal more about the History of the Church in our History work. We had a very good concert Friday night. I will put in the program. The great event socially this week wss the Opening of the Senior Parlor. The Seniors have a Parlor for their class, where they can go at any time, and make themselves at home. They can meet there for their class affairs, and they often have music, those in their class who can play or sing often do it- Every year the Senior class furnishes the Parlor to suit itself, and then has an Opening, to which the Sophomore Class is invited- The Faculty are invited later, and everybody else goes when she getsa chance. We were invited there from half past four till six yesterday afternoon. Miss McCauley, one of the girls who visited Gertrude Bronson in the summer, took me. We all marched in in a row, each Senior with her Sophomore, and looked around, coming out another door. The Senior Class Glee Club they served lemon and coffee ice, and cake- The Parlor was enlarged in the summer, to twice its former size, and is very pretty indeed, more "dainty" than it was last year, and it shows more originality in the furnishing. It is customary for our class to make a present to the Senior Class for their Parlor, so we gave them a little clock. One more thing happened yesterday, and that was a spread, which Katharine Dunham gave, to which we were invited. Her aunt is still in Lockport, so they fixed up a box and sent it to Katharine. There was some delicious angel-cake just like Edie's, and some other kinds of cake and cookies, a lot of Niagara grapes, and some candy. Lillian Bayliss and Jean Ranney and two or three other girls were there. Ray and Belle and I went, but Mary had to go to a ghost-party, soKatharine gave us a plateful of good things to bring home to her. Katharine intended to bring her cups and plates at Christmas, so she came over and borrowed ours for this occasion, and I made some chocolate for her too, because she did not know how to make It, though she intended to learn at Christmas. I am so glad to get your picture at last. I don't think it looks quite so much like you as the proof did, but still I like it pretty well. You said in your last letter that Aunt Allie had sent me her picture, but X have not seen anything of it. There is something queer about photographs reachingme, I think. How long ago did Aunt Allie send hers? Ed gave me the under clothing all right. I will send the ether home by Katharine D. at Christrnas- X am taking great comfort out of my wrappers. I especially need them this semester, for while I have this room I have my ward- robe out in the hall, and have to put on my wrapper to go out and get a dress, whenever I want to put on something different from what X took off the night before. I have worn my new challi on several occasions already. My supply of clothes is plenty large, and everything was in such good order that I have had almost no mending at all to do. Lovingly Adelaide. (Claflin,
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Title: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin) -- to mother, Oct. 31, 1893:
Creator: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin)
Description: VC 1897
Date: October 31, 1893
Text: Vassar College. Oct. 31 (1893, My dear Mother, — I must not fail to wrtie to you on Sunday after this, for something is sue to happen on Monday so that I cant. L&st night we heard a lecture by Dr. Haweis, of London, on "Tennyson, the Poet of the Age." He is the same man who preached for us on Sunday, but I like him much better as a lecturer than as a preacher. He has so many peculiar mannerisms that are funny and interesting in a lecturer, but seem out of place during a sermon....
Show moreVassar College. Oct. 31 (1893, My dear Mother, — I must not fail to wrtie to you on Sunday after this, for something is sue to happen on Monday so that I cant. L&st night we heard a lecture by Dr. Haweis, of London, on "Tennyson, the Poet of the Age." He is the same man who preached for us on Sunday, but I like him much better as a lecturer than as a preacher. He has so many peculiar mannerisms that are funny and interesting in a lecturer, but seem out of place during a sermon. This man had had several interviews with Tennyson, and his lecture was very interesting. The teachers all gave us shorter lessons, on that account, which is a privilege that you don't get at home. We had such fun Saturday night. The Seniors gave us a party, and it was a fancy dress affair, that is, everyone was supposed to dress in costume, to represent some particular time or country. They did not invite us till Thursday evening, so of course we were not expected to get up elegant costumes. Ray and I had not the slightest idea what we would wear, until Saturday noon. In fact every one seemed to be rather dismayed at first, but the result was fine. Saturday morning Ray went over to see Carrie Hardin, and they concocted the idea of our going as a Syrian family. Carrie Hardin is the daughter of missionaries in Syria, who are well acquainted with Ray's Oct. 31, 1893 - 2 brother there. Carrie's mother is in this country now. She was up here last week and we met her, but she is going to start for Syria next week. Well, Carrie has some Syrian scarfs and jewelry, and Ray has some Syrian and Persian scarfs and sashes. So Ray was to be a man, I her bride, and Carrie my mother. Ray wore her gymnasium suit, with a short skirt, and a sash round her waist, another across the front and back, and another wound round her head for a turban. Her belt was adorned with paper knives and gilt pasteboard daggers. She blackened her eyebrows and made quite a fierce looking man. I had a loose cheesecloth dress which one of the Sophs lent me, and tied it in at the waist with a gaudy sash. I made a wreath of chry- santhemums (they were beautiful white ones which Mrs. Dwight had given us, and we still have them.) Over the wreath hung a tulle veil, but notso it would cover my face. Then my hair was streaming down my back, and I wore a whole lot of jewelry—necklaces and bracelets, among them a real Syrian necklace of Carrie's. Carrie herself did not have to take long to dress. Over her face she wore a blue figured veil, that she b rought from Syria. She could see through it plainly, but no one else could see her. Then she wrapped a sheet around her in a certain way, so as to cover everything except her face that was covered by the veil. So of course no one could tell who she was. There were ever so many good costumes there - several men. Oct. 31, 1893 - 3 long who wore coats and collars and neckties, witheskirts - There were Quakers and Puritans, ladies with old-fashioned dresses and powdered hair, babies, in white dresses and little bonnets, and curls, little Sailor boys, an old farmer and his wife, etc. etc. even policemen and mail carriers. During the evening they had pantomimes that were awfully funny. A great big white sheet was stretched across the end of the room, and a light behind it, so that when girls were just behind the curtain their shadows were cast on the sheet. One girl read "The Courtin'" and one or two other poems like that, while other girls acted them out in pantomime behind the sheet, bobbing about in the most exaggerated and ridiculous fashion. It was awfully funny. While one girl was reading, her hair caught fire in the candle beside her, and she just squeezed it in her hand, and went on reading, without saying a word. We got our gym. suits Saturday. They cost seven dollars, which I think is a good deal. They are full trousers and a blouse waist, with underclothes. The stuff is dark blue flannel, trimmed with black braid. They are pretty well made, I thin, - the buttons all sewed on tight, and buttonholes well made, and the braid is sewed on straight enough to suit Edie. I don't know when the work in the gym. will begin. It is pretty cold weather now. We had some snow on Monday, just a little bit, of course. There are such heavy frosts every morning. The leaves Oct. 31, 1893 - 4 have almost all dropped off the maple trees, but almost all the trees that I can see from my window are evergreens, so that it will not look so forlorn in winter. Today is Hallowe'en, when the Sophomores always play a joke upon the Freshmen. So we are on the lookout all day. We expect that they will do something while we are at chapel tonight. This morning when we got up, we found a small tack hammered into the out- our side of^door. We gently but firmly removed it. We found that all the Freshmen around us had small tacks in their doors, too. Mamma, X notice you always spell my name Adelaide instead of Adelaide - Your loving daughter Adelaide. (Adelaide Claflin, '97,
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Title: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin) -- to mother, Oct. 7, 1894:
Creator: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin)
Description: VC 1897
Date: October 7, 1894
Text: Vassar College. Oct. 21. (1894, Oct. 7. 1894. My dear Mamma,— I am supposing that you are all safe in Ypsilanti now, so I will address this to you there, and write the news to the rest at home too. I am so glad you decided to go to Ypsi, for you did need a change, and there was no use denying it. And it will be so nice for Aunt Lizzie. She must be lonesome with- out "Marion", as I see they call her now, andI do think "Marion" is lots prettier. I can't think of Anne...
Show moreVassar College. Oct. 21. (1894, Oct. 7. 1894. My dear Mamma,— I am supposing that you are all safe in Ypsilanti now, so I will address this to you there, and write the news to the rest at home too. I am so glad you decided to go to Ypsi, for you did need a change, and there was no use denying it. And it will be so nice for Aunt Lizzie. She must be lonesome with- out "Marion", as I see they call her now, andI do think "Marion" is lots prettier. I can't think of Anne and Emma as making cakes, and churning butter, for I always think of them as they were when I was there---little children. I should -be-like to be with you now so much, and see all of you at Aunt Lizzie's. Julia Gardner is out here at the college now. She rooms over at Strong Hall. We called on her last week, and she has been up to our room several times. I took her to the Young Women's Christian Association reception Friday night. It is the first "event" of thesXyear, and all the girls who belong to the Y.W.C.A. take a new student to the reception, and act as an escort for her. In that way the new girls are introduced to a good many of the older ones. I was going to take Katharine Dunham, but Ida McKean, (a Cleveland girl) wanted her too, and as Ida is in her class, I thought perhaps Katharine would meet more of her own class by going with Ida, so I let Ida have her, and I invited Julia Gardner. I was very glad to take Julia, for she is a nice little girl. Julia hasa very nice room-mate, a girl whom Carrie Hardin roomed with in preparatory school. At the reception. Miss Hoagland, the president of the Y.W.C.A. received, together with Dr. and Mrs. Taylor and Mrs. Kendrick. The Glee Club sang a number of times, some old songs and some new ones. One of them was mado up by one of the girls this week, and was full of funny things that have hap- pened within the last few days. We had icecream and cake afterwards- Everybody seemed to enjoy the reception. There is a Freshman this year who is a regular doctor, an M.D. She takes everything in the course except Hygiene. There is also a Freshman named Miss Vassar, a grand-niece or a great-granddaughter of Matthew Vassar, I am not certain which. I have not yet found out how many new students there are this year. This morning we went into town to church, and took some Freshmen with us to show them the way- Ray took one, and I knew took two, to the Dutch Reformed Church, where they had communion service. Their service is a good deal different from ours at communion, but I like the minister very much. They have not got the electriccars running out to the college yet. They have them running for a little distance down town, and are the cars fixing the rails near here now, so I suppose 4hey will be all settled before the year is over. Ray is feeling very badly about her brother Harry, because he has had trouble with his throat so much that the doctor has told him now that he must not go to the Hartford Seminary this year, but he must lead an active out-door life. He is to have his tonsils taken out right away, in New York.Fritz is in New York now looking for a job. I have been having a job for two weeks, helping a girl who had to take a re-examination in Algebra. I gave her lessons at 50 cents an hour, which will put four dollars in my pocket. I shall feel quite proud to think I earned it. It was hard to find the time, because I had to spend some time getting ready for the lesson, as well as teaching it, and the girl did not know beans. I am thinking of buying a two- dollar edition of Shakspere, like ne that I have seen, with part of the money, especially as we have to use Shakspere this year in English work. We are all keeping a cash account this year, and as we have been buying a good many books and things together, we had to spend half the morning yesterday in straightening out our finanees- I wrote to the Postmaster yesterday about your picture, and if he does not find it in a day or two, I will write home for another. It is too bad to have one lost. Carrie Hardin gave me a picture of her- self that she has just had taken. I wish you could see her for she is such a nice girl- Give my love to Uncle Edgar and Aunt Lizzie and the rest of the family- I amgoing to write to May tonight. Lovingly Adelaide. (Clafiin,
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Title: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin) -- to mother, Sep. 21, 1896:
Creator: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin)
Description: VC 1897
Date: September 21, 1896
Text: Vassar College. Sep. 21. 1896 My dear Mother,— I must write now as fast as I can to get this in before the nine o'clock mail. I have been so engaged with Freshmen that Z have not had time to write before, but I knew papa could tell you that Z arrived safe. The rest of the girls came on Tuesday, but there was not so much to be done that day so that it was all rightfor me not to get here till Wed. There were ten of us- Seniors Z mean, and our duty was to meet aew new comers and parents at...
Show moreVassar College. Sep. 21. 1896 My dear Mother,— I must write now as fast as I can to get this in before the nine o'clock mail. I have been so engaged with Freshmen that Z have not had time to write before, but I knew papa could tell you that Z arrived safe. The rest of the girls came on Tuesday, but there was not so much to be done that day so that it was all rightfor me not to get here till Wed. There were ten of us- Seniors Z mean, and our duty was to meet aew new comers and parents at the front door, find out what they wanted and take them wherever they ought to go- to Miss McCaleb's office, to Mr. Dean's office and to Mrs. Kendrick1 s office - all «*on dif- ferent floors, so that we were running up and down all the time. Zt has been very interesting work indeed, and Z am glad Z came to do it. All the time that Z have not been taking people somewhere Z have been stand-ing around talking to them, here and there, answering their questions etc. A chief part of the conversational efforts, has been to get hold of people who had to go to the Windsor and praise up the Windsor to them before so that they would be willing to go there and not take up a lot of Mrs. Kendrick's time in objecting to the Windsor. We have tried to save her time as much as possible for fche has had to be talking to people from morning till night since Tuesday morning.The parents are a great deal more talkative than the girls usually, and so Z have listened to a great many parents telling me their daughter's history, present and past. There were a number of girls whom I had heard about before- hand, one of them, Julia Tar box, a sister of the girl who roomed with Edith Penfield in Oberlin. She was a special proteglfor the first day or two, because she felt so badly— I had her sleep up here in Ray's bed room, and she wept on my shoulder most of the evening. But she was soon happily settled, for she has been put in a very nice room with two very pleasant sophomores for room mates. But since then we have had a worse case on hand - a girl by the nameof Miss Newborg - a wealthy German Jewess from New York City. She was so very home sick Satur- day noon that she went to Mrs. Kendrick and told her she must go home immediately and would never come back. Mrs. Kendrick tried to per- suade her to stay, but she could not seem to succeed, so she sent for me and asked me if we would be willing to keep her in our room over Sunday and tide her over the homesick period- The girl consented to come with me and we havehad her till just now- For the first hour or two in our room she would not say a word, but just nodded her head yes or no. - then finally she-said replied "Yes" to one question. The next step was when she volunteered a question, and by bed time she had progressed so far as to say that she thought she could be contented to stay if she could be in this building. Sunday morning she had X gone back a little and wept some- what, but the rest of the day shesteadily grew more cheerful and at bed- time said she was nearly cured. So this morning she has gone over to the Windsor! The class seems to me to be a very fine class- Libbie Poppleton is here as a member of it- I met her in the hall - and Florence Dowling too - One of the other Freshmen told me about her aad said her mother was here. As soon as I could findout where her room was I went there but she had just taken her mother to the train. I have not seen Florence yet. This other Freshman said that Mr. Dowling had just had a call to Toledo, and they are now moving there. We have not finished fixing our room, because Ray and Winifred did not get here till Friday night, and I had no time to spend till-yes* Saturday afternoon. I think we shsll have quite a pretty room. \ And it is very conveniently situated. Most of the girls in our class are back, but about thirty have dropped out of the Sophomore class- Ethel Chapman is here visiting Carrie Abbott - came Saturday night and will stay till this noon. X have not had time to see her much because Miss Newborg has been clinging to me- I was so glad papa could stop though he did not stay very long. I showed him most of the buildingsbut not much of the grounds- Ray says to tell him she wishes he had come while she was here- Ed says he and Wiers will stop off for two hours Tuesday afternoon. X have a Greek recitation then but Miss Leach said she would excuse me from it. I found the things I left here all right, and no moths. I have a time to find room for my clothes. X suppose Lou 1s settled at home by this time and will soon be started in college* Has GraceThum paid the three dollars yet? I lent her two books too, algebras - which I suppose she has returned by this time. We have our picture of McKinley on the outside of our door - where it looks very fine. It is time for the mail now, so farewell — Ray sends her love — and so do I - Lovingly Adelaide. jClaflin}Senior year 1896-7 Roomed in 117, Single Alley Way, Main 3rd South, with R.C. Schauffler & W. Kirkland
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Title: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin) -- to mother, Sep. 22, 1895:
Creator: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin)
Description: VC 1897
Date: September 22, 1895
Text: Vassar College. Sept. 22/95. My dear Mother,— Here it Is my first Saaday afternoon at college this year, aad of coarse my first thought Is to write to you. I am pretty well settled considering the short length of time I have been here. I thing less fewer girls came on Saturday this year for almost everybody was here when I got here. We were so surprised to find our room changed, for Mrs. Kendrick had told us there was almost aolikelihood of it, aad we had not the least expectation of it. So...
Show moreVassar College. Sept. 22/95. My dear Mother,— Here it Is my first Saaday afternoon at college this year, aad of coarse my first thought Is to write to you. I am pretty well settled considering the short length of time I have been here. I thing less fewer girls came on Saturday this year for almost everybody was here when I got here. We were so surprised to find our room changed, for Mrs. Kendrick had told us there was almost aolikelihood of it, aad we had not the least expectation of it. So we each, as we arrived, proceeded directly to the room we had chosen- Ray opened the door and yelled "Where's Ad? " and X looked around, when I walked in, and aaw strange furniture, and yelled "Who's in this room", like the Big Bear. Some Freshmen have it. We are pleased about it now that we have gotten over being surprised,- and think It will be very well lor all concerned. When three g the same girls room together for three years they are not apt to make enough new friends, and that was oae of the chiefreasons why we tried last spring to get a single and a double, so that we would not be a Kathy and Minnie set. The rooms over here ^Strong Hall, are so very much pleasanter and more homelike, and the dining room here is lovely, and the things to eat are nicer partly because they are cooked In smaller quantity. My windows — two together they are — look toward the East - the same view X have had ever since X have been here- The morning sun shines in to make the day begin grayish drab, so that pictures are not so necessaryas ia the other building where many of the walla are glaring white. We had enough curtains between us so that I can hare a pair - and Carrie has a screen which they doaH need, and I am to use it to put In front of my washstand. The rugs here are always outlandish colors which swear with everything In a room - (I think they mast bay them up cheap on that account)- and my rug unfortunately Is no exception, so that I cannot expect anything to go well with It. You know my bureau ornaments are mostly yellow...lessons for tomorrow. X have no conflicts so that ray course will not be changed at all. One thing is nice. I have no recitation the first hour, so that I will not have to rush right after breakfast, and I think I will have time enough to get up from New York Monday morning so that X can epend Sunday there some time. It is so nice to see all the girls again, even nieer than I realized beforehand. I was particularly glad to see Mary Mac Coll. She Is Just as lovely as she can be. She has such an originalway of saying things - I was Messed at her account of her visit to Prof. Ely, whom she went to consult In regard to her course- Mary started to tell her name and situation. but just as soon ss Miss Ely knew she was out part of last year she said in her short decisive way, "Well, where have you been? " "Home," Mary replied. "What have you been doing? " Miss Ely asked, and Mary said, "Well I have been waiting for curvature of the spine, but I got tired of waiting so I came back to college." Miss Ely asked hor what she was doing while she was waiting, and Mary told her she was keeping house-Mary and Belle room together in a double over in the main building. Mary Ifi^Vc real well— I saw Katharine Dunham Saturday evening. She had been to town all afternoon and came home with her arms full of bundles. She has a cosy little room, and is making it very pretty. Miss Macurdy is not coming for a week or so because her mother is very sick, not expected to live. A number of girls have dropped out of our class, so that I think it will be a small class by the time we come to graduate. Dr. Taylor looks very well-I understand he is going to Europe just as soon as he gets things started here, in a week or so. Carrie Abbot was the first girl I saw when I came- She and Louise fngeraoll and Miss Hamburger (one of Miss Mittelberger's boarders, and a very nice girl apparently) are rooming together on the first floor in the main building. They were very glad not to be over at the Windsor- It is now time for the mail, so goodbye- This letter is very rambling- 1 just wrote as each thing occurred to me. With lots of love to all - and remember me to the neighbors and other friends— Lovingly Adelaide. ^Clsflin,Junior year 1895-6 Roomed in 42 Strong Hall - single
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Title: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin) -- to mother, Sep. 27, 1896:
Creator: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin)
Description: VC 1897
Date: September 27, 1896
Text: Vassar College. Sept. 27. 1896. My dear Mother,— Now while I am alone I think it would be well to begin my letter, for I very seldom am alone. Winifred has gone to spend Satur- day and Sunday with some friends of hers who live ten miles from here. Ray has gone for a little walk with Marion Schibsby. Did I tell you last week about our Freshman, DaisyNewborg? She has been a good deal of a care this week- We thought last Sunday she was about cured of her homesickness, but Monday, after being...
Show moreVassar College. Sept. 27. 1896. My dear Mother,— Now while I am alone I think it would be well to begin my letter, for I very seldom am alone. Winifred has gone to spend Satur- day and Sunday with some friends of hers who live ten miles from here. Ray has gone for a little walk with Marion Schibsby. Did I tell you last week about our Freshman, DaisyNewborg? She has been a good deal of a care this week- We thought last Sunday she was about cured of her homesickness, but Monday, after being over at the Windsor for part of the day she came back to us and said she wanted to ask Mrs. Kendrick to let her go home to New York, to stay, and if Mrs. Kendrick would not give her permission she would go anyhow. I left her with Mrs. Kendrick, but pretty soon Mrs. K. sent for us end asked If we were willing to take her in again- Of course we were, and so she has been here off andon ever since. She has slept in our room all except two nights, but lately she has been spending most of the day in recitations or else at the Windsor, then she comes to us at regular intervals to be cheered up- We have decided now, however, that she has been coddled enough, and now we are going to be more severe with her. She is extremely grateful to us, and has twice bought us candy, and also a picture of St. Cecilia like the one Ed brought home last year. But wetell her now that she ought not to be with us so much, because if she doesn't hurry up and make friends with her own class at the start, she will find herself left out. We are plunged deep in lessons now, and from this time on we will always have more on hand than we can do. I wanted to change my course, you know, and they let me, so now I haveGreek, German, English, History and Ethics. The English is going to be the hardest for me; I took that Just because people are always talking about how important English is, and because Miss Wylle is such a very good teacher - but she expects so much from us that I shall always have a great deal of work on hand. The German is going to be fun, I think, though Winifred,who had it last year, says the course is a hard oae. For Ethics we have Dr. Taylor, aad in this we are very fortunate, for the last class had to have Prof. Freach, and Prexy is much more interesting than Prof. French. That is such a large class, all of '97 are in one division. We have now finished the furnishing of our rooms (that sounds as though the process -we-had beea quite elaborate.1). The trouble is we had to leave it in aa unfinished state from one Saturday to the next, for lack of time. But Ray aad X spent theafternoon yesterday on the bedrooms, which needed to be cleared up. Ed and Mr. Wiers came Tuesday afternoon aa X expected, but unfortunately it rained quite hard part of the time that they were here. X am so glad the weather did not treat papa in the same way. I showed them around most of the buildings and about as much of the grounds as I did papa. It waa just time for me to go to Greek class when they came. but Miss Leach said I used not come to class. Ed brought me my money all right, alsoBess's letter and the handkerchief, for all of which I am much obliged. Ray and I too were glad to see the home papers, and to read about Margaret Wright's wedding. This morning we listened to a sermon by Dr. Marvin R. Vincent, of Union Seminary. You know he gave us Bible lectures in our Freshman year. You know Ed doesn't care much for him, because he thinks he looks as ifhe had a good deal of wine. But this morning Dr. Vincent did not look so to me, aad I liked him very much indeed. We are to take the Freshmen to town to church next Sunday. We have been busy seeing to it that each oae is personally invited to go to church, and to come to the first prayer meeting, and to join the Christian Association. A great deal of system is used with theFreshmen. I hope Edie is taking a rest now that the rush of sewing for the summer is over. She has beea slaving over it so all summer. For her benefit I will say that the girls think the things she made are "very superior" (as Carrie says). A girl told me tonight that my redfern is "the nicest-looking dress I ever had", and as for that red cape which Edie labored over, Ray and Winifred are green with envy for it! I do hope she will sew something for herself when she begins again. Give my love to Mrs. Hendersonand Mrs. Sheldon and the Misses Wheeler, to t&y nothing of ell my own femily. I hope you will all hare as happy a year ae I am going to hare. "Being a Senior" makes a great deal more difference than I thought It would. The teachers and everybody are so very much nicer to us, just because we are Seniors, and they invite us more to come to see them. I went with Ray last night to see Dr. Grace Kimball. Tou know she is going to help Dr. Thelberg here. She has just come over from Turkey recently, fromher industrial relief work In Van. She Is a very fine woman, no one can look at her without admiring her, and she will be a great addition to the College. Florence Dowling has already established a reputation for being very fresh, and If she keeps It up, she will not be very much liked. I have spoken with her, but she was not at home when I called on her. I often see Libbie Poppleton in the halls, for she rooms in this building. Lovingly Adelaide. ^Claflin,
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Title: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin) -- to sister, Dec. 26, 1894:
Creator: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin)
Description: VC 1897
Date: December 26, 1894
Text: Vassar College. Dec. 26. 1894. My dear sister, * How I wished you were here yesterday afternoon when your box came. I would have hugged the breath out of you. I was sitting alone in my room when the expressman knocked at my door and handed in the box. You ought to have seen me cut the string in a dozen places, though the girls have always declared that if I ever had a box, I would sit down and untie every knot. Everything in the box was in beautiful order,and perfectly lovely. That good...
Show moreVassar College. Dec. 26. 1894. My dear sister, * How I wished you were here yesterday afternoon when your box came. I would have hugged the breath out of you. I was sitting alone in my room when the expressman knocked at my door and handed in the box. You ought to have seen me cut the string in a dozen places, though the girls have always declared that if I ever had a box, I would sit down and untie every knot. Everything in the box was in beautiful order,and perfectly lovely. That good peanut candy that I have wished for so often - all that is bought always has the skins on the peanuts- and those popcorn balls that I used to help make, and oranges to eat when I am tired of sweet things. Mamma's picture frame is pretty enough, I am sure. How she did fool me about returning the other photograph.' I thought she was making fine distinctions. I am so glad to have her picture in a suitable frame. The tea-cloth is handsome. I am very proud of it. The only trouble is that I am afraid it is too nice to use, but I shall try to take good care of it. The rest of the girls will take pride in it, too, for it will be a great addition to our parlor. I am going to put it on the tea- have table just before the girls get back- I^tried it on already and it looks scrumptious. That little cup and saucer is a beauty, it is the best one we have now. I was ao pleased that Mrs. Benbow remembered me- I was just wondering the day before, what I should do when when Jan. 1 came, and my little calendar would be "ho of no use any more. My new one is prettier than my old one, and I like the veraes on it. I think perhaps Alice Page's gift surprised me the most, for X had ao idea she could paint or print like that. I think it Is a beautiful little souvenir, and such an original idea- X thbk ever ao much of it. The ahoe bag is just what X wanted- only more spacious than I had thought of, so it will hold soiled handkerchiefs, or something like that, besides all my shoes. Denim is just the thing for that, isn't it? It will not show dirt and is easily brushed clean.I always think it is rather suggestive to get writing paper for Christmas- From the way Bess speaks about my writing to her, I should suspect that it was she who put it in. But of course it is a very nice thing to get, for there will always be use for it. in Clarence's letter and the fountain pen came^yeaterday morning's mail. It is the best kind of a fountain pen, and with good care ought to last me a long time. I am glad the pen is finer. Of course I will send Liou my old one, and am glad to have her have the use of it. It is a pretty good pen, if the cap is cracked. Bessie Metlin sent me Ruskin's "Sesame and Lilies," a very gave pretty edition. Ray, Mary and Belle-#eafr»me a bunch of violets, had them sent out from the floristi's on Christmas morning. Gertrude Smith gave me a little bit of a round bowl, just big enough to hold a few violets or something like that. Ellen Hailey gave me a real pretty bag for fancy work, blue silk outside and white inside, with pockets all around. Everybody has been so good to me. Yesterday X went to the Episcopal church with Ellen Hailey and Gertrude Smith, who are Episcopalians. They had a very long service - it lasted two hours and We spent the day very quietly - in the evening ice-cream was served in the parlors downstairs- Very few of the Faculty are left now. Mrs. Kendrick has not been here since college closed, and she is not coming back till it opens- Christmas vacationis the only time when she can take a rest. Dr. Taylor has some relatives visiting him, His son Hunt and a nephew sat with the Seniors at dinner last night- a rare privilege. I don't know what to do about New York now. We got word that all the rooms at the Margaret Louisa Home are engaged except for just the last part of vacation. So of course we cannot hear the Messiah, for that is given only this week. Ellen and X do not know whether we want to go at the very end of vacation and when we cannot hear the Messiah, more than we may want to go some other time. At least we will not be able to decide till we hear from the Margaret Louisa Home again.I am crocheting a pair of bed-slippers for May Holmes. If I get them done in time I may send them to her for New Year's, other- wise I shall wait till next Christmas. The time is going all too fast, and I am afraid vacation will be over before X know it. The letters from the whole family came this morning and were a great treat. It is seldom indeed that I get letters from all the family in so short a time. But you are all awfully good about writing to me, and we do appre- ciate letters here. Tell Lou I got her catalogue but first I had to send two cents to Cleveland for it. It seems that it takes for a catalogue. Papa's letter with the money in it came all right this noon, so Iwould have had it if I had been going to N.Y. tomorrow. It came the quickest of any letter yet that I know of. Letters written Sunday reach me Tuesday if they are mailed down town early Monday morning, -e*» but when they are mailed at the station I don't get them till Wednesday noon. It is not very cold weather now, so that there has been no ice yet, strong enough for skating. I was in hopes that there would be plenty of skating. I saw Dr. Thwing's book, "The Coliege Woman" in a girl's room the other day, and borrowed it, bat I have read only a little ot it. He seems to do a great deal of writing for books and magazines. Give my love to the neighbors, and the girls. I must write now to Mrs. Benbow and Bessie Mitlin and Alice Page. Lovingly your sister Adelaide. jClaflin,
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Title: Mansfield, Adelaide -- to mother, Jan. 2, 1895:
Creator: Mansfield, Adelaide (Claflin)
Description: VC 1897
Date: January 2, 1895
Text: Vassar College. J an. 2. 1895. My dear Mother, — That Is the first time I have written 1895. How queer It seems/ I am just going to write you a few lines this morning, to go on the nine oclock mail, if possible. I got a letter from Mary MacColl yesterday, telling me that she cannot come back to college for the rest of this year. She was not well all summer aad really was not strong enough to come in September, but she prevailed upon them to let her. She is very nervous, and has something the...
Show moreVassar College. J an. 2. 1895. My dear Mother, — That Is the first time I have written 1895. How queer It seems/ I am just going to write you a few lines this morning, to go on the nine oclock mail, if possible. I got a letter from Mary MacColl yesterday, telling me that she cannot come back to college for the rest of this year. She was not well all summer aad really was not strong enough to come in September, but she prevailed upon them to let her. She is very nervous, and has something the matter with her back* they were afraid of curvature of the spine. We are very, very sorry that she cannot come back, for she is a splendidgirl, and we will miss her very much. Poor girl, it such a disappointment to her, for she worked so hard to get to college. She has been to school only at district school, and all that we took in High School, she studied by herself, without a teacher except when her brother helped her. She has the Scotch persistency in with her Scotch blood. Mary may possibly come back next September, but I doubt it. She asked me to pack the rest of her clothes and things and send to her, and that I am going to do today. Time is flying so, I do wish we had two or three weeks more. There is so much that I should like to do. I have spent most of the vacation in being lazy- I sent those flannels home because I did not need them. They are the ones I left here last year. The smaller one I have notworn at all, because I have plenty of others of the same thickness, and I have a new one like the larger one, which I think will not need to be washed for I wear it over another one, and so I don't need any more to take its place. You know I brought a stack of flannels, as Edie said, enough to furnish an army. H you send Horace's Satires I will be very glad. Does Lou want Cicero's De Senectute before the end of January? I will be using one till then, but if she wants it before, I will send it to her, and use Mary's for the rest of the time. The trigonometry that I sent they do not use here, so I could not sell it. I sent Lou my old fountain pen Monday. I hope she will get it all right. If she cannot make it write at first tell her to screw off the piece that the pen is in, and pour water throughit. It worked very well for me. I have made a pair of bedroom slippers which I intend to give you for your birthday, but I have concluded to send them now so that you will have the benefit of them during this winter. You so often walk around the house early in the morning, or at night, that I thought you might make a good deal of use of a pair. And you can wear them to bed on very cold nights, to keep your feet warm. When you wear these out, I will make you another pair. I will send these today. We watched the Old Year out on Clarence's birthday.- four girls and myself. Then as it was too late to go over to Strong they all came up and slept here. There is going to be a candy pull tonight, for all the girls here - and I suppose it will be lots of fun. With love to all, Adelaide. £laflin,
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