The Education of American Girls

The Education of American Girls,
by

Anna Callender Brackett This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere
at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it,
give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg
License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
Title: The Education of American Girls
Author: Anna Callender Brackett
Release Date: November 3, 2007 [EBook #23312]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE
EDUCATION OF AMERICAN GIRLS ***

Produced by Bryan Ness, Marcia Brooks and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced
from scanned images of public domain material from the Google Print
project.)

THE
EDUCATION

OF
AMERICAN GIRLS.
CONSIDERED IN A SERIES OF
ESSAYS.
EDITED BY
ANNA C. BRACKETT.
"The time has arrived, when like huntsmen, we should surround the
cover, and look sharp that justice does not slip away and pass out of
sight and get lost; for there can be no doubt that we are in the right
direction. Only try and get a sight of her, and if you come within view
first, let me know."--PLATO REP. BOOK IV.
[Illustration]
NEW YORK: G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, FOURTH AVENUE AND
TWENTY-THIRD STREET. 1874.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, by G. P.
PUTNAM'S SONS, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at
Washington, D. C.
LANGE, LITTLE & CO., PRINTERS, ELECTROTYPERS AND
STEREOTYPERS, 108 TO 114 WOOSTER STREET, N. Y.

TO THE
SCHOOL-GIRLS AND COLLEGE-GIRLS
OF
AMERICA,

BECAUSE WE BELIEVE THAT THEIR IDEALS ARE HIGH AND
THAT THEY HAVE STRENGTH TO MAKE THEM REAL,
This Book is Dedicated
BY THE
WOMEN WHO, IN THE INTERVALS SNATCHED FROM DAILY
LABOR,
HAVE WRITTEN IT FOR THEIR SAKES.

PREFACE.
The Table of Contents sufficiently indicates the purpose and aim of this
book. The essays are the thoughts of American women, of wide and
varied experience, both professional and otherwise; no one writer being
responsible for the work of another. The connecting link is the common
interest. Some of the names need no introduction. The author of Essay
IV. has had an unusually long and varied experience in the education
and care of Western girls, in schools and colleges. The author of the
essay on English Girls is a graduate of Antioch, has taught for many
years in different sections of this country, and has had unusual
opportunities, for several years, of observing English methods and
results.
The essays on the first four institutions, whose names they bear, come
with the official sanction of the presiding officers of those institutions,
who vouch for the correctness of the statements. Of these, VII. is by a
member of the present Senior Class of the University, who has
instituted very exact personal inquiries among the women-students.
The author of VIII. is the librarian of Mt. Holyoke Seminary. The
writer of the report from Oberlin is a graduate--a teacher of wide
experience, and has been for three or four years the Principal of the
Ladies' Department of the college. The resident physician at Vassar is
too well known as such, to need any introduction.

There are many other institutions whose statistics would be equally
valuable, such, for instance, as the Northwestern University of Illinois,
which has not only opened its doors to girl-students, but has placed
women on the Board of Trustees, and in the Faculty.
From Antioch, which we desired to have fully represented, we have
been disappointed in obtaining statistics, which may, however,
hereafter be embodied in a second edition. In place thereof, we give the
brief statement of facts found under the name of the institution,
supplied by a friend.
With reference to my own part of the volume, if the words on "Physical
Education" far outnumber those on the "Culture of the Intellect," and
the "Culture of the Will," it can only be said that the American nation
are far more liable to overlook the former than the latter two, and that
the number of pages covered is by no means to be taken as an index of
the relative importance of the divisions in themselves. Of the
imperfection of all three, no one can be more conscious than their
author. The subject is too large for any such partial treatment.
To friends, medical, clerical, and unprofessional, who have kindly
given me the benefit of their criticism on different parts of the
introductory essay, my thanks are due. Especially do I recognize my
obligation to Dr. W. Gill Wylie, of this city, whose line of study and
practice has made his criticism of great value.
I cannot refrain from adding that I am fully aware of the one-sided
nature of the training acquired in the profession of teaching.
Civilization,