"There, do take all the money you want!" The parallel is, that in the beginning the Massachusetts Legislature ridiculed the idea of woman suffrage, then it yielded, and gave a little school committee suffrage. Now, in 1881, it is in the dogged, or "you shan't have it" stage. By and by, when it has been importuned long enough, it will say to the women:

“There, do take all the suffrage you want!"

128

MASSACHUSETTS IN THE

CHAPTER VI.

RESULTS OF THIRTY YEARS OF AGITATION

"The weapons of the whole world must leave me unstained."-INSCRIBED ON THE HERO ROLAND'S HEL

HE improvement in the social or gen

THE

condition of woman has been even grea than that recorded in the chapter on Legal a Legislative History. A few brief statistics w show the changes which thirty years have wroug

Woman as Teacher.-Previous to 1840, wom

were employed only as teachers of summ schools, to "spell the men" during the hayin season; and this only occasionally. They hel no responsible position in any public school i the State. To-day from seven to eight women t one man are employed in all grades of this pro fession, and there are numerous instances where women are head teachers of departments, or principals of high, normal, and grammar schools.

Woman as Student and Professor.-Previous to 1825, girls could attend only the primary schools of Boston. In that year, through the influence of Rev. John Pierpont, the first high school for girls was opened in that city. There was a great outcry against this innovation; and, because of the excitement in the community on the subject, and the great number of girls who applied for admission, the scheme was abandoned.

In the town of Plymouth, where the Pilgrim fathers and mothers first landed, when the question whether girls should receive any public instruction first came up in town meeting, there was great opposition to it. One gentleman objected, saying: "I am opposed to instructing girls. If we teach them-suppose I should be writing, a woman might come in and look over my shoulder and say, 'that word is spelled wrong,' and I should not like that! I am entirely opposed to instructing girls." The town, however, showed a more liberal spirit, and voted to give the girls one hour's instruction daily. This was in 1793.

In 1855, the Girls' High and Normal School

was established in Boston, and without let or hindrance has since continued in successful operation. (It was started in 1853.)

In 1867, the Lowell Institute and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (both of Boston), advertised classes free to both sexes in French, mathematics, and in other advanced studies. Since that time Chauncy Hall School and Boston University have been opened to women, with the equal privileges of male students.

In 1878, the Girls' Latin School in Boston was founded. The establishment of this successful institution was the result of discussions on the subject of the education of girls, first brought before the public by Mrs. Emily Talbot and other ladies of Boston. High schools in almost all the towns and cities of the State have long been established, and in them the boys and girls of this good old Commonwealth are co-educated, and learn to become useful citizens-and voters.

Colleges for women have also been founded. Vassar, in Poughkeepsie, New York, (chartered in 1860), leads the list, and Wellesley and Smith

have long been doing good university work. Thirty years ago, there was probably no college in the country, except Oberlin, to which women students were admitted. To-day 153 collegiate institutions in different parts of the United States invite their attendance.* Even conservative Harvard begins to melt a little under this regenerating influence, and invites women students through the doors of its "annex," to come and enjoy some of the privileges found within its sacred halls of learning. This was a late act of grace from a college whose inception was in the

*Oberlin was the first college in this country in which the co-education of the sexes was attempted. This institution was founded as a school in 1832, but soon afterwards it became an anti-slavery college, and admitted colored men and women as students. Those who did the most to place it on a secure foundation were Arthur Tappan, President Finney, Theodore D. Weld, Henry B. Stanton, and Rev. Charles Avery. In 1868, there were twenty-seven colleges in the United States, of which Oberlin was the noble pioneer. In 1881, in the discussion of General Burnside's "Educational Bill" in Congress, the fact was brought out that there are now one hundred and fifty-three colleges in the United States which admit women to their courses of study.

Among the women students who have done honor to Oberlin as Alma Mater may be mentioned the names of Lucy Stone, Antoinette Brown Blackwell, and Sally Holly.