 

by David .lorilaii
Prole oriiillistoi-y

The Mary Gl nell Mears Ladies
Cottage opened its doors to 30
women for the winter term of the,
133889 academic year. The college
catalog proudly assertedthat "No
educationalinstitutiun offersbetter
accommodations io young women
than are found in this cottage "

There was some iustiiication ior
that boast. Higher education for
women was still relatively new in
America. and residential housing
of either the dormitory or cottage
variety was newer still. Grinnell
was decidedly pioneering in its
attempt to create ii familial selling
for Its female student just as it
had pioneered, west of the
Mississippi, in admitting its first
women in l85721nd in awarding its
first bachelor's degree to a woman
in l867.

HEARS COTTAGE “his named
for one of the college's beloved
early graduates. Maryi Grinnell,
‘81. the daughter of .18. Grinnell.
Her husband, the Reverend D,O.
Mears. had successfully sollcited
the large donation which resulted
in the cottage's construction

0n the occasion of laying the
cornerstoneJul-ie 19, 1888. speakers

 

_t‘ottagc (In rip the late littli century.

‘From 1884' to present:
Mears history explored

had carefully noted that the word
cottage was "the synonym for
taste, refinement and culture
wrought into the dwelling, and the
appurtenances of holnc."

THE STRUCTURE represented
a shift from the previous practice
oi having all women room in town
and a deliberate rejection of the
new vogue oi large residence
dormitories such as Bowman Hall,
built on the Cornell campus two
years earlier to house 200 young
ladies. Grinnell women were |o
have a more personalized, in-
timate dwelling

Several developments in the
liliitl‘s had prompted this important
shift in houSlng Ior uomcn, Female
enrollment at the college was
copying a substantial increase.
college oliiciais were manifesting
a new concern about the place of
women in the institution. and
finally, destruction from the torn
nado of turn had necessitated a
serious reconsideration oi all
building needs.

IN THE SUMMER OF 1384, the
trustees appointed a committee to
pursue plans ior a Ladies Hall to
be built on the cottage model, and
they initiated a fund ral5lng
campaign. Architects Jossyln and

Taylor of Des Moines submitted a
preliminary plan which the
trustees discussed without action.
The following spring, they did
approve the idea oia cottage of two
stories to be heated by a modern
furnace. Trustee Samuel Merrill
was to secure a detailed plan,

Meanwhile, campus building
focused upon the new library, for
which Edward A. Goodnow of
Worcester. Massachusetts, a
parishioner of Rev. Mears, had
donated $10,000. Goodnow. a
fascinating indiVidual describedvin
1874 as one of the outstanding “self-
made men of our times," was an
ardent abol onist, reformer and
promoter of higher education for
women. He was a major unr
derwriter of buildings and
scholarships ior Mount Holyoke,
Wellesley and Drury College, and
he even paid [or the first college
building constructed for women in
Africa.

RESPONDING T0 Grillnell's
plight aiter the tornado, Goodnow
combined his gift for a library With
the cond on that the college
establish tcn permanent
scholarships ol $60 each for
women Apparently unknown to
him. the trustees soon after cons
verted the scholarships into
repayable loans They also
declined Goodnow's offer of ‘an

'enormous endowment which was

 

The Scarlet & Black. Nov, 17, ls78~page isi

offered on the condition that the
trustees change the school’s name
to Gnodnow College.

Nonetheless the cause of female
education an it way to honor Mrs.
Mears still intrigued the wealthy-
benefactor. In 1888. he donated an
additional $5000. which, combined
with other gifts raised by Martha
Foote Crowe. the lady principal oi
Grinnell. made the cottage a
reality Earlier that year. the
Reverend J.M Chamberlaine of
Grinncll. treasurer of the college
for 20 y irs. had donated land
adjoining the campus on the east
which became lhc site of the new
building,

Thirty young women and
housenlother Ll' ie Scammon
muvcd into Mcars on January 1,
1889. Each room had been |ur-
llished by a local church or private
donor at the cost of approximately
$75. The building had the latest in
fixtures and lurnishlngst ample
closet space, a stationary lavatory.
medicine cabinet. dresser, study
table with attached shelves,
chairs. rug and sanitary cot bcd
Contemporary pictures reflect a
very Victorian setting,

TIIE MODERN furnace
provided the most avant garde
heating, and in 1883, Professor
Frank Almy ot the physics

 

had long been a controversial
subject, College officials had
called Crcwe ”the presiding genius
of the ladies' department" in 1838,
but in 1qu she was to resign in
bitter protest over the college's
treatmentotwomcn in general and
i'lCl‘Sle in particular. She Said the
administration had denied her
professorial status. had
discriminated against her with
respect to pay and had refused to
let her tcach ”main stream"
cou es for which she was fully
qualified Shc accused the trustees
of mishandling funds which she
asserted had been contributed as
an endowment of a Lady Prinr
cipal's Chair

Til 'rltL‘ ignored Iiei-
prote s. and in subsequent years
they moved slowly but steadily to
isolate women students and female
staff within the larger community.
Mixed dating was not even allowed
until the 1920's

Generation alter generation of
women lived in Mears. which was
usually the dormitory for women in
their first year on campus, in-
cremental changes altered
somewhat the appearance oi the
building: removal of the lovely
porch on the southern facade
sometlmc In the 19205: detachment
of an old pulley in the north peak

Mears Cottage, 1978. (Photo by Doug Kelly/J,

department installed electric
lightSVLhe ﬁrst on the campusi
which predated the standardized
Edison base. Some oi the original
fixtures are on display in the
Physics Museum.

For some years Mcars stood
alone on that Section of the cam~
pus. All of the male students and
most of the women still roomed in
town, but a Steady increase in
enrollment soon necessitated more
building. Under the direction of
Martha roote Crowe, a Ph.D.
graduate of Syracuse, Grinnell had
a very successfulprogram for
women, On the strength of her
work and that of her successors,
women constituted 33 per cent of
the student body by 1893, and
almost 60 per centiover zoo
women—by 19m

TRUSTEES APPROVED an
addition to Mears in 1903, the wing
to the north which can be
distinguished by the slightly dif-
ferent color brick, and by 1915
there was a much enlarged
women's quadrangle. 'fhe
quadrangle represented the in»
tention of President John Main to
isolate women within the college
community and to have a separate
but affiliatcd school for Women
along the lines of numerous
eastern institutions.

’ The role of women in the College

 

which had been used to lift trunks
tor storage in the attic; creation of
a new entrance and remodeling
during President Samuel Stevens's
tenure to locate the director of food
services and a women's library on
the filSt floor,

SURELY THE MOST startling
change in the history of this cote
tage was the introduction of male
residents in 1W2»73. The oldest
residence hall on campus, a
building previously associated
exclusively with women. had gone
coed.

But perhaps integration should
not be seen as so dramatic a break.
Mcars Cottage also has a distinct
tradition oi modernity with its
furnace. its lights, its philosophy of
student cooperative housing
which foreshadowed the concept of
off-campus cooperatives in lm.
Mears simply joined the modern
age of coeducational housing. The
first 30 occupants of 1888 would
probably understand and applaud
the change

The question today remains, Will
Mcurs have the opportunity to
continue keeping up with the
times?

(Editor's note: We would like to
lhzlnk .iiuic Kiutiicr and the Ofﬁce
of College Relations for help in
nbluining photographs of Meals
Cottage.) . .

 

