|LD 1061 
 
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 11906 
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 FOSS HALL 
 
 THE GIFT OF 
 MRS. ELIZA ADALINE FOSS DEXTER 
 OF WORCESTER, MASS. 
 
 COLBY COLLEGE, WATERVILLE MAINE 
 

MRS. EtIZA ADALINE FOSS DEXTER. 
 
COLBY COLLEGE 
 
 An Account of the Laying of 
 the Corner-stone and of the 
 Dedication of Foss Hall, to- 
 gether with a Description of 
 the Building ::::::: 
 
 WATERVILLE, MAINE, 1906 
 
Ai:ithor 
 
^1 
 
 FOSS HALL— THE GIFT OF 
 MRS. ELIZA ADALINE FOSS DEXTER 
 
 On Tuesday, September sixth, 1904, at one o'clock in the 
 afternoon, ground was broken for Foss Hall, — a dormitory 
 and home for the women of Colby College. The formal exer- 
 cises included a brief speech by President Charles Lincoln 
 White, the turning of a spadeful of earth by Miss Grace Ella 
 Berry, Dean of the Women's Division of Colby College, and 
 prayer by Rev. Edwin Carey Whittemore, D. D., Pastor of 
 the First Baptist Church of Waterville. 
 
 President White spoke as follows : 
 
 " This building is the gift of Mrs. William H. Dexter, of 
 Worcester, Mass., and is to be called Foss Hall. May all who 
 study within these walls learn the lessons of industry which 
 Mrs. Dexter's life so nobly teaches, and attain that high plane 
 of Christian character which their benefactress possesses." 
 
 LAYING OF THE CORNER STONE 
 
 On Thursday afternoon, October sixth, 1904, a large assem- 
 bly, including many delegates to the Baptist State Convention 
 then in session at Waterville, gathered to witness the laying 
 of the corner-stone of Foss Hall. President White presided 
 over the exercises. 
 
 After prayer had been offered by Rev. A. R. Crane, D. D., 
 President White read the following letter from Mr. Dexter: 
 
 WoRCESTEiR, Mass., Sept. 30, 1904. 
 
 My Dear President White: 
 
 Mrs. Dexter and I have received with pleasure your invita- 
 tion to attend the laying of the corner-stone of Foss Hall on 
 
4 FOSS HALL. 
 
 October 6th, and we deeply regret that Mrs. Dexter's health 
 will prevent our presence on that happy occasion. 
 
 My wife has great satisfaction in the gift which she is 
 making to the young women of her native State, for which 
 she has a great affection. Mrs. Dexter would request that 
 Dean Berry, acting in her behalf, lay the corner-stone. We 
 hope to be present in Waterville when the dormitory is dedi- 
 cated. 
 
 Very sincerely yours, 
 
 WILLIAM H. DEXTER. 
 
 After Dean Berry, in accordance with the wish of Mrs. 
 Dexter, had laid the comer-stone of the building, Hon. Per- 
 cival Bonney, LL. D., President of the Board of Trustees of 
 Colby College, delivered the following address: 
 
 The Legislature of Massachusetts on the 27th day 
 JUDGE of February, A. D. 181 3, established the Maine 
 
 BONNEY'S Literary and Theological Institution " for the pur- 
 ADDRESS P^^^ ^^ educating youth," and directed that the 
 income of the funds of the corporation should 
 be appropriated "in such manner as shall most effectually 
 promote virtue and piety, and a knowledge of such of the 
 languages and of the liberal arts and sciences as shall be 
 hereafter directed from time to time by said corporation." 
 Later the name was changed to Waterville College, under 
 which its work was carried on for forty-six years. 
 
 On the 8th day of August, 1859, I came here a lad of 
 sixteen, and with fear and trembling took my examinations 
 before Professors Foster and Hamlin and Tutor H. W. Rich- 
 ardson, all scholarly and impressive instructors who have passed 
 into rest. Those were the days of small things. President 
 Champlin, with four professors and one tutor, constituted the 
 faculty, but the latter for financial reasons was discharged from 
 service before the close of my college course. The buildings 
 consisted of Champlin Hall and North and South College, — 
 three in all. The recitation rooms, with two exceptions, were 
 partly under ground in the basement of what is now Champlin 
 Hall. Prayers were held at six o'clock in the morning, imme- 
 
COLBY COLLEGE. 5 
 
 diately followed by the early recitation. The students, at the 
 sound of the bell, tumbled hastily out of bed, and with equal 
 haste rushed into the chapel, with dishevelled hair, with 
 unwashed faces, without vests and almost literally like 
 
 "Diddle, diddle dumpling, my son John, 
 With one stocking off and one stocking on." 
 
 In such a plight, so conducive to a devotional spirit, they 
 gazed upon the countenance of the venerable Doctor lighted 
 up by the dim blaze of an oil lamp on the desk before him, 
 and listened to his reading from the Book of Life, and joined 
 with him as fervently as the circumstances would permit while 
 he invoked upon us the blessing of Almighty God. But a 
 change has come. Progress has been made in the conduct 
 of chapel exercises, as well as in many other ways. 
 
 The courses of study were simple, and consisted in the main 
 of Greek, Latin and Mathematics, with a smattering toward 
 the end of the course of French, German, Geology, Chemistry, 
 Ethics and Intellectual Philosophy. The college was engaged 
 in the great work of laying foundations; it did not pretend 
 to educate young men for any particular profession or business. 
 It was believed by those in authority here, as elsewhere, that 
 the careful and accurate study of Greek, Latin and Mathe- 
 matics, afforded the best mental discipline to fit young men 
 for any profession or other occupation in life; that the great 
 purpose of the college was to lay the foundation, — not so 
 much that the boys should acquire information or become 
 versed in specialties as that they should form the habit of 
 patient and accurate thought, the power of generalization as 
 well as analysis, and facility, accuracy and conciseness in the 
 expression of their thoughts. It is an interesting question 
 among thoughtful educators today, whether under the present 
 system of multifarious and elective studies, better scholarship 
 or a more useful education is acquired than under the old. 
 One thing is true, the old system produced some of the might- 
 iest men in English and American history, which fact is 
 evidence of the efficiency of the old education. 
 
 But since my college days great changes have occurred not 
 only here in Waterville, but in methods of business, education, 
 and in the world's demands. 
 
6 FOSS HAI.Iv. 
 
 The Kennebec still runs toward the sea; the campus is no 
 more beautiful than on that August day when I first passed 
 along its shaded walks; but the three inexpensive buildings 
 have grown into eight; the library has increased from 9,000 
 volumes to 42,000. In my day the gymnasium consisted of 
 a horizontal bar attached to two perpendicular posts driven 
 into the ground, and a swinging rope tied to a high limb of 
 a tree on the north part of the campus. Football and baseball 
 were games unheard of in my day. But since then the rising 
 demands for physical culture have caused the erection of a 
 well equipped gymnasium ; and three scientific laboratories bear 
 witness to the growing necessity of scientific and technical 
 education. Life's conditions have changed, and the colleges 
 have from time to time revised their courses of study to con- 
 form to the changed conditions. As it is utterly impossible 
 for any man of today to follow the mode of life of his grand- 
 father, so it is impossible for an educational institution to 
 thrive which follows the educational methods of fifty years 
 ago. The college which so conducts its affairs, however bene- 
 ficial those methods were in their day, will soon be compelled 
 to close its doors for want of students, who recognize the 
 demands of the strenuous life we are living, and will seek 
 more enterprising institutions in which to prepare themselves 
 for the duties and responsibilities of life. Accordingly, the 
 courses of study here have been enlarged and enriched, so as 
 to meet the requirements of this new and vigorous age. 
 
 But other changes have taken place. For fifty years after 
 the incorporation of this college, men only were enrolled as 
 students. When I entered college about one hundred students 
 were registered, but when I left in 1863 less than sixty were 
 in attendance. The college continued with decreasing num- 
 bers, notwithstanding the increase of endowment, for nearly 
 ten years. Extraordinary efforts were made to enlarge the 
 register of students, but with little avail. Attention was 
 directed to the fact that wider avenues of employment for 
 women were opening on every side ; that there was increasing 
 need of collegiate education for women ; and that the number 
 of students could be increased by the admission of women ; 
 but the trustees hesitated. The good people of America, 
 
COLBY COLLEGE. 7 
 
 imbued with the medieval notion that the only place for a 
 woman was in the kitchen or the nursery, could see no earthly 
 reason for any woman's desire for a college education. I do 
 not believe in what is sarcastically termed the "new woman," 
 but I do most emphatically favor the uplifting of the old. 
 I never could see any sense in the idea that in any woman, 
 the maternal instinct would be any less sensitive, or that the 
 training of her children would be any less effective, or that 
 she would make any poorer bread, because of the fact that 
 she knew something. 
 
 In the winter of 1859-60 I taught a village school in one 
 of the most thrifty towns in the State. It was the home of 
 one of the brightest young men in the college, whose brilliant 
 sister, about two years younger than himself, had prepared 
 for college with her brother in the schools of the town. She 
 desired to enter upon a college course, but no college for 
 women had yet been established anywhere ; and the doors of 
 every college in New England and in the seaboard states were 
 closed against her. In order to satisfy her ambition for a 
 higher education, in the fall of 1859 she left her native town 
 and entered Oberlin College, the nearest college- which admitted 
 women, seven hundred miles away, and in the State of Ohio; 
 a college famed for its liberality and Christian spirit. So far 
 as I know she was the first woman from Maine to enter any 
 college. Her departure from home was the cause of more 
 talk in the country store of the village than any event which 
 had happened for years. Not a word of encouragement or 
 approval came from any of those wise men who discoursed 
 upon the uselessness and extravagance of such an undertaking. 
 That woman after several years of successful teaching became 
 the wife of a distinguished graduate of this college, and for 
 several years has spent her time in literary work as a maker 
 of books. 
 
 Since then conditions have changed rapidly and extensively. 
 At that time the sphere of woman was circumscribed and 
 limited. Now new doors of employment are open to her. The 
 interests and occupations of women have been multiplied during 
 the last forty years. Gates tliat then were barred against her 
 are now wide open. She is to be found in stores, offices and 
 
O FOSS HAIvIv. 
 
 counting rooms, in medicine and the ministry. Then she taught 
 the small children in the summer primary schools; now she is 
 sought in the higher positions in the seminary, academy, high 
 school, and the winter term in the rural districts. The man- 
 agers of the secondary schools demand college graduates 
 as instructors. The colleges have responded to the popular 
 demand. Four great institutions of learning for girls only 
 have been established, — Vassar, Wellesley, Smith and Mount 
 Holyoke; while in New England, the doors of many of the 
 old colleges have been opened to them. Women in some rela- 
 tion can be found in Bates, Colby, the University of Maine, 
 Harvard, Tufts, Boston University, Brown, Wesley an and 
 Yale, in the latter of which several graduates of Colby have 
 pursued postgraduate studies with honor to themselves and 
 their college. Bates was the first to open its doors in 1863, 
 while Colby responded to the popular demand in 1871. 
 
 New conditions demand new methods. New conditions 
 require new and enlarged courses of study; and new con- 
 ditions have demanded that a broader definition be given to 
 the word "youth" as contained in the original charter of Colby 
 College, than that given by the founders. The young women 
 are flocking to the doors of the higher institutions of learning, 
 and are seeking recognition and an opportunity for the improve- 
 ment of their intellectual powers. More than four thousand 
 of them are now pursuing studies in the colleges of New 
 England. Are we to stifle their aspirations or throw obstacles 
 in the way of their realization? Shall we compel the young 
 women of Maine who have these aspirations, to go to other 
 states at increased expense in order to gratify them? 
 
 I glory in the longings of any person, black or white, bond 
 or free, man or woman, boy or girl, for a better, stronger, more 
 cultured and useful life. I rejoice in every movement which 
 brings those high longings and aspirations to a successful 
 consummation. 
 
 We thank our venerable and philanthropic friend, Mrs. 
 Eliza Adaline Foss Dexter, for the great gift she has made for 
 the comfort and convenience of the young women of Colby, as 
 well as for the cause of education in general. The construction 
 of this building, whose comer stone has just been placed in 
 
COLBY COLLEGE. 9 
 
 position, renders the existence of the woman's college certain, 
 continued and permanent for all time; and is another step in 
 carrying out the plan of the trustees to establish here in Water- 
 ville a separate and independent college for women, as soon 
 as circumstances will permit. And may this,— Eliza S. Foss 
 Hall, — its first educational structure, prove an everlasting bless- 
 ing to the generations of young women who in years to come 
 shall enter its portals and here prepare themselves for the 
 great work of life. 
 
 In order that the design of the trustees may be fully carried 
 out, money is needed for the construction of a recitation hall 
 and other buildings and for the creation of an endowment 
 fund. 
 
 Dr. Ricker of sainted memory was accustomed to say that, 
 if a fund for any object could be once started and its purpose 
 frequently brought to public attention, it would grow. Up to 
 the present time no one has given a dollar for the establishment 
 of such a fund. But I hold in my hand a check for one thou- 
 sand dollars payable to the order of the treasurer, which the 
 donor, a good and noble sister, directs "shall be set aside as 
 the beginning of a fund for the woman's college, the income 
 only to be used for the benefit of said college." She makes 
 this gift not only for the promotion of the higher education 
 of woman but as a challenge to others to make additions 
 thereto. 
 
 DEDICATION OF FOSS HALL 
 
 The formlal presentation of Foss Hall to the Trustees of 
 Colby College, and its dedication to the interests of the higher 
 education of women in the State of Maine, took place on 
 Monday afternoon, June 26, 1905. The exercises were held in 
 the spacious dining-room of Foss Hall. 
 
 After prayer had been offered by Rev. George Bruce Nichol- 
 son, Rector of St. Mark's Episcopal Church of Waterville, Mr. 
 William H. Snyder, A. M., of Worcester, Mass., delivered the 
 following address: 
 
10 I^OSS HAI.I.. 
 
 Eighty-seven years ago the sixth day of next 
 MR. month was established here upon the banks of the 
 
 SNYDER'S Kennebec the Maine Literary and Theological Insti- 
 ADDRESS tution, which through the varied vicissitudes of 
 its growth has developed into Colby College that 
 we know today. That was, indeed, a memorable occasion 
 in the history of this beautiful city, but I believe that hardly 
 less memorable in the years to come will be the occasion for 
 which we are assembled this afternoon. Today we dedicate 
 the first building that has ever been erected in New England 
 north of the boundaries of Massachusetts for the purpose of 
 the higher education of women. A new era in educational 
 progress for northern New England begins today. It is, 
 indeed, true that since 1863 it has been possible for a woman 
 to obtain a college education in this State, but there has been 
 no suitable provision made for her care or comfort. Thanks 
 to the generosity of the noble woman who sits beside me, this 
 will no longer be true. This beautiful and commodious build- 
 ing, equipped with all the conveniences which a young woman 
 ought to desire, cannot fail with its beautifully appointed dining 
 room, light and cheerful halls and cosy rooms, to inspire anew 
 in those who live within its walls a love of the beautiful, the 
 useful, and the homelike. Refinement and culture are things 
 that cannot be imparted by books or lectures. They are the 
 product of imperceptible assimilation from environment, and 
 it will be the function of this inanimate building to enable taste 
 and womanliness to attain under inspiring conditions their full 
 fruition. That this building may be a factor in the develop- 
 ment of the well-bred as well as the well-read woman, has 
 been the inspiration and hope of all those who have been in 
 any way connected with its erection. 
 
 In order to realize the full significance of this occasion, 
 it may be well to trace briefly the progress that has been made 
 in the education of women. Although the founders of New 
 England showed an unprecedented zeal for education by the 
 founding of Harvard College in 1636, almost before the colony 
 could have felt that its own establishment had become secure, 
 yet this zeal for education was entirely directed to the educa- 
 tion of men. The feeling of the colonies in regard to the 
 
COI.BY COLLEGE. II 
 
 education of girls may be inferred from the ruling made in 
 1684, for the Hopkins Grammar School at New Haven, Ct. 
 It was as follows: "And all girls be excluded as improper 
 and inconsistent with such a Grammar school as ye law enjoins 
 and as the Designe of this settlement." Benjamin Mudge 
 writes: "In all my school days, which ended in 1801, I never 
 saw but three females in public schools in my life, and they 
 were only in the afternoon to learn to write." In 1773, David 
 McClure writes in his diary: "Open school, consisting the 
 first day of about thirty misses. Afterward they increased 
 to seventy and eighty ; so that I was obliged to divide the day 
 between them, and one-half came in the forenoon and the 
 other in the afternoon. They were from seven to twenty 
 years of age. * * * I attended to them in reading, writing, 
 arithmetic and geography principally. This is, I believe, the 
 only female school (supported by the town) in New England, 
 and is a wise and useful institution." This school was located 
 in Portsmouth, N. H. 
 
 There were at this time a few private schools where girls 
 could obtain the rudiments of an education and in some even 
 as much as the boys who entered college, but female education 
 was indeed in a rudimentary stage. So recent has been the 
 demand for the education of girls that the great girls' high 
 school of Boston did not until 1878 provide sufficiently 
 advanced courses to prepare girls for college. In 1833, Ober- 
 lin College in Ohio opened its doors to women and inaugu- 
 rated that policy which in succeeding years has been followed 
 by so many colleges of this country that at the present time 
 out of the nearly 500 institutions considered ^ of college or 
 university grade which are under Protestant control, eighty 
 per cent, admit women as candidates for degrees. Mount 
 Holyoke, in many respects the pioneer institution for the higher 
 education of women, was opened as a seminary in 1837, was 
 chartered as a college in 1888, and only twelve years ago was 
 organized into a full college. Vassar, the first institution of 
 full college grade to be established for women, was founded 
 but forty years ago. Since then there have been established 
 thirteen distinct institutions of college grade for women. 
 Although co-education seems to be firmly established in 
 
12 FOSS HALI.. 
 
 some parts of our country, though nowhere else in the world, 
 there are certain sections even here, where its foothold has 
 never been secure. In 1888, women were excluded from 
 undergraduate courses of Western Reserve University, although 
 they had been previously admitted. The university immediately 
 provided for them by establishing a college for women in close 
 proximity to the university and under its charge. Tulane Uni- 
 versity, at New Orleans, had established a somewhat similar 
 affiliated college for women two years earlier. Thus came 
 into existence another method of providing for the higher 
 education of women and one which has since been adopted by 
 Harvard, Columbia and Brown. All three of these methods 
 have their advantages and disadvantages and local conditions 
 must to a large degree determine which is the best. The ques- 
 tion as to whether it is best for women to be educated and 
 whether mentally and physically they are capable of acquiring 
 a college education, has ceased to be a matter of controversy. 
 The question, however, as to the kind of education best suited 
 for the development of the highest ideal of womanhood and 
 as to the best methods to be used, is one, the careful consider- 
 ation of which has but just begun. The development of the 
 higher education of woman is the only great contribution to 
 education that America has made. Our ideals for the higher 
 education of man have come almost intact from the continent 
 of Europe. In the education of women alone we have shown 
 real initiative and are adding something of value to the educa- 
 tional progress of the world. Hamilton Wright Mabie said 
 in a recent address : "This is the day of the trained man and 
 of the trained woman. Recent events have shown that it is 
 the man behind the gun that counts. Germany has proved 
 conclusively that it is training which achieves both in war, in 
 industry and in commerce." She stands first today in the 
 training of men. The highest claim we can possibly make 
 for ourselves is that we are on a par with other countries in 
 this matter. If the pre-eminence of this country is to be 
 maintained after its natural resources have been somewhat 
 exhausted, it will be because the best trained race has been 
 developed here. And this will be developed only when women, 
 the rearers, trainers, comforters and inspirers of generations 
 
COIvBY COLLEGE. 1 3 
 
 past and to come, have here been enabled to develop the highest 
 ideals of womanhood. 
 
 Colby's relation to the education of women can be briefly 
 stated. In 1871, some fifty odd years after its foundation, 
 women were allowed to enter under the same conditions as 
 men. This arrangement continued for nineteen years, until 
 in 1890 the present arrangement of coordination was inaugu- 
 rated. 
 
 In but few localities in New England has co-education 
 flourished. The young women as soon as their numbers began 
 to approach those of the men have been regarded by many 
 of the men as interlopers and the relationship of the men and 
 women student bodies has not been harmonious. This dislike 
 that men manifest to the presence of women in their classes 
 and to their participation in the life of the college, although 
 at first sight it may appear boorish and unmanly, will, I believe, 
 upon closer inspection be found to be due to an inherent and 
 persistent sentiment of mankind. This sentiment is one which, 
 although certain forms of its manifestation may be crude and 
 objectionable, we do well to recognize and give due value to. 
 It is probably true that in our Western states where the country 
 is new and the population more scattered, where life in the 
 open and the exhilaration of mutual achievement that is obvious 
 bind men and women together in common fellowship, the swing 
 of surging external life makes possible a feeling of general 
 kinship and hearty good fellowship between the sexes, which 
 the slower motion and more introspective life of the longer 
 settled communities does not stimulate. The zest for com- 
 radeship between men and women inherent in the desire to 
 develop properly the common interests of growing communi- 
 ties is not present in the older settlements. Here the com- 
 munity of interests between men and women is due to the 
 inspiration of that happy ideal which floats before the eyes 
 of every right-minded young man or woman, and the realiza- 
 tion of which produces that noblest institution outside of 
 Paradise — the Christian home. In this form of fellowship 
 there is no class competition, there are no flunks to be criticized, 
 no forced association even for a few hours of the day with 
 those of the opposite sex who are not agreeable. Rivalry 
 
14 FOSS HALL. 
 
 with women, competition with women, business dealings with 
 women, — these are distasteful to the average young man and 
 these are the things which he often feels make up the relations 
 between the two sexes in the co-education college. The associ- 
 ation of men and women en masse, except for the attainment 
 of some common good in which there is no individual advan- 
 tage to be gained, has never proved attractive. There are 
 few, if any, strong societies or associations composed of both 
 sexes. There has always been an idealization of the relation- 
 ship between the two sexes, the charm of which never fails, 
 provided that when the time of attrition comes they are in 
 such close companionship that what would have once produced 
 friction now but furnishes heat sufficient to melt the two souls 
 into an alloy stronger and more beautiful than either of its 
 constituents. 
 
 The form of education for youths, the limitations of which 
 are entirely different from those of co-education, is that of 
 the separate college for men and women, the monastic idea. 
 This is the educational plan most followed in New England, 
 and on the continent of Europe. Although without consider- 
 ation this might seem to be the ideal method, yet upon con- 
 sideration it must be acknowledged to be artificial in the 
 extreme. Men and women are supplementary to each other 
 and the ideal life is where they can freely mingle without com- 
 petition and learn without artificiality the inherent strength 
 and weakness of each other. Young men when massed by 
 themselves and subjected to little but their own society tend 
 unavoidably to rudeness and a disregard for the proprieties 
 of life. Roughness and uncouthness develop to an extent that 
 the occasional association with the family and the life of the 
 home does not eradicate. The views of and the feelings 
 toward the opposite sex also are very liable to become perverse, 
 morbid and abnormal. What is true of the men is also true 
 in another form of the women. There is likely to be developed 
 in the women of the woman's colleges either prudishness or 
 an entirely frivolous and unwholesome idea in regard to men. 
 Men are associated with only at college functions or on vaca- 
 tions, when sentimentality, inane suavity, with the accompany- 
 ing small talk and superficial observations make up the require- 
 
COI.BY COLIvEGE. 15 
 
 ments of society. There is no purpose in anything. Life is 
 being played, not lived. Neither comes to know in what the 
 real life of the other consists or its underlying strength or 
 purpose. 
 
 The third method in education is the one Colby has marked 
 out for herself. She is endeavoring to establish side by side 
 two independent yet mutually related colleges, where young 
 men and women can be trained independently of each other, 
 where there will be no distasteful competition, no forced associ- 
 ation en masse, no community of interest except such as is 
 mutually desired, and yet where young men and women imbued 
 with the same lofty aims and inspired with the same high 
 motives, may be brought into close relation to each other and 
 learn to know and be known in a normal way — thus mutually 
 supplementing the lives of each other and naturally developing 
 into full and well-rounded characters. 
 
 The statistics gathered by the Association of College Alumnae 
 show pretty conclusively that the health of women students is 
 not materially affected either for good or bad by the acquiring 
 of a college education. The greater strain upon the system 
 and the nervous exhaustion is fully counter-balanced by the 
 more regular hours, simple diet and constant employment which 
 checks that tendency to introspection and its accompanying 
 vagaries. This, however, is not enough. Dr. Weir Mitchell 
 said some years ago: "Today the American woman is, to 
 speak plainly, physically unfit for her duties as a woman and 
 is perhaps of all civilized females the least qualified to under- 
 take those weightier tasks which tax so heavily the nervous 
 system of man. She is not fairly up to what nature asks from 
 her as a wife and mother." The college should not only leave 
 the girl that graduates from it as well as when she entered, 
 but she ought to be physically built up during her course. 
 An educated bunch of nerves is not a woman. The curriculum 
 of a college for women should be planned with special refer- 
 ence to the health of the students. Proper exercise, care and 
 regulation of life should have the first consideration. The 
 bell summoning to recitation should not be more regular and 
 mandatory in its call than that which summons to the out-of- 
 door recreation, the gymnasium or the hour of quiet rest. The 
 
1 6 E'OSS HALL. 
 
 girl who becomes nervous and worn should be prodded and 
 disciplined just as effectively, although in another way, as the 
 girl who is failing in her studies. The college that produces 
 sane, normal, healthy, cultured women has proved its right 
 to exist and none other has. The sort of care needed cannot 
 be readily exercised if men and women are in the same classes. 
 In this age, when combat with the forces of nature is 
 becoming less fierce and apparent, it is necessary that there 
 should be especial ruggedness and forcefulness in instruction. 
 The physical effeminacy of many a young man for whom the 
 necessity of physical labor has been largely eliminated by the 
 so-called conveniences of modern life is liable to become 
 mental effeminacy unless his fibre is stimulated and made sturdy 
 by drastic and ruggedly forceful teaching. He needs sharp, 
 vigorous, compelling instruction, which strikes with the force 
 of a bludgeon and makes his fibre wince and which calls for 
 all the stamina he can summon to stand up against it. The 
 teaching, however, must not be brutal but must be governed 
 by a refined appreciation of the student's needs and a strong 
 inherent sense of justice. The discriminating adjustment of 
 force and kindliness it is next to impossible for a teacher to 
 maintain if all his work requires the same amount of strenu- 
 ousness. He must be able to relax or he will become a mar- 
 tinet. The same forcefulness is not needed with women. They 
 are, as a rule, more conscientious about their work, and much 
 more easily affected by censure. Their perceptions are more 
 acute and the same sledge-hammer blow that would be neces- 
 sary to open the skull of a boy to certain truths, if used with 
 them would cause nervous disintegration. With girls the 
 tendency of the teaching is to become forceless and to supply 
 the spur in the form of exasperating pettiness. Minute exact- 
 ness and fussy nicety are likely to become the tests of efficiency. 
 Society has ever shown a desire to balance those evanescent 
 qualities which are termed manliness and womanliness. When 
 the distinctively manly qualities were harshness, severity, pug- 
 naciousness and sturdy wilfulness, those of the women were 
 submissiveness, gentleness, winsome affection and superficial 
 accomplishments. The times have changed, however. The 
 men of today have become less masterful, less rude. If the 
 
COLBY COLLEGE. 17 
 
 norm is to be maintained, the women must become more 
 forceful, more mentally dominant. The day of the easy-going 
 polishing school is of the past. Mental and muscular fibre, 
 not adipose, must be the present aim in woman's education. 
 It is well, therefore, that our educators should meet both men 
 and women in order that they may not go to extremes in 
 forcefulness or forcelessness, and for men and women to meet 
 the same instructors in order that they may not be over-brow- 
 beaten or under-stimulated, and this is what the affiliated col- 
 lege accomplishes. 
 
 Financially, the affiliated college is more advantageous than 
 the separate institution. The subjects that must be taught, 
 today, are so diversified that every successful college must 
 maintain a large corps of instruction. If the college is of 
 comparatively small size, some of these teachers are not fully 
 employed. Since as a rule men and women are not attracted 
 by the same subjects, the men choosing the sciences and the 
 utilitarian subjects, while the women choose language, litera- 
 ture and the culture subjects, there is in the case of the affiHated 
 colleges an adjustment established between the work of the 
 diflferent instructors which gives to all an equal amount of labor 
 and with a minimum amount of expenditure on the part of 
 the college produces a maximum amount of productivity. 
 Even though the tendency of the age which appears to be to 
 reward those who perform certain kinds of manual labor, 
 higher than the teacher's and preacher's and some of the other 
 so-called learned professions, should force the affiliated college 
 to put in specialized courses so that the educated woman may 
 be fitted to obtain the larger remuneration given to the adept 
 cook or housekeeper, instead of the small salary of a teacher, 
 this will add but little expense and can be readily provided. 
 It is even possible that the tendency toward high wages to the 
 manually employed and low wages to the teacher may cause 
 such a modification of our college curriculum for women that 
 the ideal woman of the future according to every standard will 
 be the college woman, the woman who is physically strong, 
 who is cultured, who knows her race, who is willing to work 
 with her hands, who does not fear to be called domestic, to 
 whom society and clubs are inferior to family, and who will blend 
 
l8 I^OSS HAIvL. 
 
 the beautiful characteristics of the old-fashioned and the new- 
 fashioned woman into one indescribable harmony of feminine 
 loveliness. 
 
 This beautiful building stands not a monument to pampered 
 tastes and idly folded hands, but to persistent, well-directed 
 industry, to conjugal unity of purpose and a long life, through 
 all the vicissitudes of which the ideal seen by the girl in the 
 ardor of youth never became obscure. In this, as in most other 
 cases of large philanthropy, the giver has had an all-absorbing 
 purpose in living, which has dominated the life and crowded 
 into obscurity many of those embellishments which weaker 
 natures make the aim of existence. Life has been full and 
 rich, not on account of the good things that have come into it, 
 but on account of the purpose within, which held it true to its 
 highest vision. The advantages that Mrs. Dexter as a girl 
 could not enjoy she determined that through her the coming 
 generation should be able to enjoy, and nobly has she held 
 to her purpose. Girls now unborn will rise and call her 
 blessed, and the name of her beloved father coupled with her 
 own will descend in loving remembrance throughout the future 
 history of her native State which she so dearly loves. Graceful 
 and tall, perfuming the air with its sweet and health-giving 
 aroma, our glorious pine, emblem of this grand old State, lives 
 from youth to old age, carpeting with fragrant down the rough 
 place of its birth and making a smooth path for those who seek 
 its shade, but asks naught for itself except the soil for its roots 
 and the smile of God's sunshine for its head. Absorbed with- 
 out ostentatious display in giving pleasure to others and 
 accumulating to itself a goodly supply of material, which, when 
 the woodman's axe shall lay it low, may still be of service to 
 humanity, it lives its life of usefulness. So she, whose gen- 
 erosity has brought us here, has grown, lived, and stands today 
 with sound heart, ringed about with the thrifty growth of 
 years of self-forgetting toil, and ready, when the Master's call 
 shall come, to give her life's full measure of devotion. 
 
 May the joy which you today, by the presentation of this 
 noble building, have given to all friends of the higher education 
 of women, well back into your own heart and make it full of 
 peace and happiness and gratitude to God, that He has crowned 
 
COI.BY COLLEGE. IQ 
 
 your life with such great usefulness and has allowed you to 
 live to see the desire of your heart fulfilled. 
 
 At the conclusion of Mr. Snyder's address, Mrs. Eliza Ada- 
 line Foss Dexter, donor of the building, made fonnal presenta- 
 tion of it to the College through the President of the Board of 
 Trustees, Hon, Percival Bonney. Mrs. Dexter then said : 
 
 My Dear Friends : I am very grateful that my 
 MRS. life has been spared to be present here today to wit- 
 
 DEXTER'S ness the dedication of this beautiful dormitory. I 
 SPEECH ^^^ born in the State of Maine, and it is the dearest 
 part of the earth for me. I love every part of it, 
 and especially the town of Wayne where I was bom. It is a 
 source of satisfaction to me that I have been able to erect and 
 give to Colby College this Foss Hall, and that Waterville is so 
 near my early home. My father was a noble man, and I am very 
 grateful to my parents for the loving and careful training that 
 they gave me. 
 
 Every dollar that has been given for the erection of this 
 building has been earned by myself. When I was a girl it was 
 impossible for me to get an education. I left home while very 
 young, and have always intended to provide a home for other 
 girls in Maine, that they might have the education which I could 
 not get when young. I am very happy to have this building 
 called Foss Hall ; and I give it with my love and prayerful 
 interest to Colby College, to help in the education of the girls 
 of my native State. 
 
 Judge Bbnney's speech of acceptance for the College was as 
 follows : 
 
 My Dear Madam: The agreeable duty 
 "' devolves upon me at the present time to receive 
 
 BONNEY'S from its generous donor the keys of this beauti- 
 
 SPEECH ful and useful building. I accept these keys as 
 
 OF the representative of the trustees of Colby 
 
 ACCEPTANCE College who now fully assume its custody and 
 control. I need not assure you that the trustees 
 not only accept the trust, but that they will execute the same for 
 the beneficent purposes which stimulated the gift, while the 
 
20 FOSS HAIvI,. 
 
 sanctity of the trust has been increased by the statement just 
 made by you, that this great gift is the result of your own 
 industry. 
 
 The College and its tributary academies are highly indebted 
 to benevolent women for assistance in the great work com- 
 mitted to them. In 1887 Mrs. Catherine L. Wording, the 
 widow of a distinguished son of the College, erected Word- 
 ing Hall for the Ricker Classical Institute at Houlton and by 
 her will left a legacy of $5,000 to Hebron Academy. In 1900 
 Mrs. Phebe R. Sturtevant built the magnificent home at Hebron, 
 and in her will she provided a legacy of $150,000 which has 
 been paid. And now another great-hearted woman has pro- 
 vided means for the erection of a dormitory for girls' use in 
 Waterville for the promotion of Christian education. 
 
 The trustees of the College desire at this time to extend not 
 only their gratitude for the addition of another structure which 
 will add to the comfort of young women who are pursuing 
 collegiate studies here, but their congratulations to you who 
 saw the need and who now in your life time can enjoy the high 
 pleasure of seeing that need fully met and supplied, and of 
 knowng that your own act will bring benefits and comfort to 
 generations of young women, who in the future will enter the 
 doors of this elegant and convenient home. 
 
 May God continue to bless you, and may others learn the 
 long established but often unappreciated fact that it is more 
 blessed to give than to receive. 
 
 Therefore in behalf of the trustees of the College I accept 
 the gift, and here and now dedicate this building to the two 
 great purposes which in the conduct of man should always move 
 along together, the honor of God and the service of humanity. 
 
 After Judge Bonney's speech of acceptance, Mrs. Dexter's 
 husband, Mr. William H. Dexter, spoke as follows: 
 
 My dear friends, it is with great pleasure that 
 MR. Mrs. Dexter and I have come to your beautiful city 
 
 DEXTER'S to be present during the exercises of Commence- 
 SPEECH "^^"t week and at the dedication of this beautiful 
 building. My wife has always had a great love for 
 her native State and long cherished the hope of making a gift 
 like this. 
 
COLBY COLLEGE. 21 
 
 I have examined with the contractor this building, and am 
 dehghted with the care and foresight with which it has been 
 planned and with its beautiful location. We are fully satisfied 
 with its construction and with the splendid results which have 
 been achieved. 
 
 This is a very happy day for Mrs. Dexter and for myself, and 
 we trust that the blessing of God will rest upon this building 
 and that it will be very helpful to many generations of students. 
 
 Hon. Horace Purinton, Mayor of Waterville, in the follow- 
 ing address voiced the appreciation of the citizens of Water- 
 ville for the generous gift of Mrs. Dexter: 
 
 Mr. President and Friends of Colby College: 
 MAYOR I should not be performing my full official duty, 
 
 PURINTON'S if on this occasion I did not speak a few words of 
 SPEECH appreciation of the gift of the building which we 
 
 dedicate today. It is a gift to the College but it 
 is located in our beautiful city and it is of the benefits coming to 
 the city that I wish to speak. 
 
 From our early history as a town and city, the College has 
 had a large influence in giving to the city its present high regard 
 for the principles which make for good citizenship and high 
 moral purpose. In the early days, the teachers and officers of 
 the College with their families had a large part in shaping the 
 policy of the town in its material affairs as well as in its educa- 
 tional and religious interests. This influence has always been 
 exercised towards a higher standard of citizenship, with a con- 
 stant regard for the moral condition of the city. 
 
 The records of the municipality during its whole history, up 
 to the present time, almost continuously bear the names of those 
 who were the founders of the College and identified with its 
 interests, and our religious, charitable and social organizations 
 have been promoted and largely sustained by the men and 
 women connected with the College and Institute. 
 
 These later years have seen a remarkable growth in the city 
 and an addition to our population of people of many different 
 nationalities who have brought with them customs and habits 
 somewhat different from our New England ideas, and for this 
 
22 FOSS HAIwL. 
 
 reason the atmosphere of refinement and culture which the 
 college element supplies is of special value to the city. 
 
 This gift, as has been said, marks with greater significance 
 the fact that women here at Colby are to receive equal oppor- 
 tunities with men for fitting themselves for the duties to which 
 the present tendencies of our time will lead them. 
 
 Therefore, I want to express to you, Mrs. Dexter, the giver 
 of the building, for and in behalf of the people of the city, our 
 thanks for the honor conferred upon the city in placing in our 
 borders this building dedicated to the use of those who may 
 come here in all the years to come, to gain such knowledge and 
 training as will make them better women and more useful to 
 the world and generations in which they live ; and so far as we 
 may be able, we will make its environment such as to aid in the 
 great purpose for which the building is given. 
 
 The dedicatory exercises closed with prayer by Rev. Edwin 
 Carey Whittemore, D. D., Pastor of the First Baptist Church 
 of Waterville. 
 
 At the conclusion of these exercises, Mr. and Mrs. Dexter 
 held an informal reception. Members of the Board of Trustees, 
 graduates of the College, and many other interested friends of 
 Colby were glad of an opportunity to express their gratitude 
 to Mrs. Dexter for her splendid benefaction. Many Colby 
 alumnae were present, and joined the young women still in 
 college in grateful thanks to Mrs. Dexter for a gift so full of 
 promise for the enrichment of the lives of the women of Colby 
 College. 
 
DESCRIPTION OF THE BUILDING 
 
 Foss Hall, the new women's dormitory given to Colby Col- 
 lege by Mrs. Eliza Adaline Foss Dexter of Worcester, Mass., is 
 located on the western side of College avenue on the site for- 
 merly occupied by the "Dutton House." Foss Hall is a three- 
 story structure built of brick and trimmed with Mt. Holly white 
 brick. Its style is Colonial, with a portico supported by white 
 pillars of the Ionic order. The total cost of the building, com- 
 pletely furnished, is $45,000. 
 
 The main building is 127 feet long and 49 feet wide. The 
 ell which joins the main building on the northern side is 47x34. 
 In the basement is a large room, 34x40, fitted up as a gym- 
 nasium. On the first floor a wide corridor runs north and 
 south through the main building, connecting three staircases 
 to the floors above. Another corridor runs east and west in 
 the ell, connecting with the main corridor and the dining room 
 in the northeastern corner of the building. The dining room 
 is 59 feet long and 33 feet wide, and will seat a maximum 
 number of 200 persons. 
 
 The remainder of the space on the first floor is devoted to 
 the parlor, the library, the office, the private rooms assigned to 
 the Dean, the hospital and three students' rooms. 
 
 The second and third floors are given up to students' rooms, 
 cosily arranged and well lighted. There are baths and toilet 
 rooms on every floor. On the third floor is a society room, 
 for meetings of various kinds, including the weekly meet- 
 ings of the Young Women's Christian Association. This room 
 is 30x30. 
 
 On the first floor in the ell are the kitchen, serving room, 
 pantry, refrigerator, etc. The appointments of this part of the 
 building are excellent. Particular attention was paid to the 
 lighting and ventilation, which is pronounced perfect. A large 
 
24 I^OSS HALL. 
 
 range is installed in the kitchen, together with a broiler and oven, 
 with a capacity to feed 200 persons or as many as may be seated 
 in the dining room. A particular delight to the housekeepers 
 who have visited the new building is the serving room with ali 
 the latest devices for facilitating the work of serving the food 
 in the best possible manner. 
 
 In the basement are commodious storage rooms for vege- 
 tables, canned goods and other supplies. There is a place for 
 everything needed in the economy of the institution. There 
 is a large laundry with set tubs to which runs hot and cold 
 water, and adjoining is an ironing room. There is also a toilet 
 room in the basement. Here is located the steam-heating plant 
 with a sufficient capacity to heat every room in the house on the 
 coldest days. 
 
 There is an elevator for trunks which runs from the base- 
 ment to the third floor. All the rooms and corridors are 
 papered with artistic designed wall hangings, and exposed parts 
 of the woodwork are polished. 
 
 On the wall at the right of the entrance is a bronze tablet 
 with the following inscription: 
 
 THIS BUILDING IS THE GIFT OF 
 
 ELIZA ADALINE FOSS DEXTER 
 
 DAUGHTER OF PHINEAS FOSS 
 
 OF WAYNE HILL, MAINE. 
 
 The building was designed by John Calvin Stevens and his 
 son, John Howard Stevens of Portland, and is pronounced 
 a masterpiece of dormitory construction. The building was 
 erected by Horace Purinton & Co., of Waterville. 
 

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