The First Young Lady In The University

Mrs. L. H. Stone, who is now endeavoring to endow a professorship in the University, to be held only bj? wonien, and who secured the passago of a bilí through the legislature exempting such a fund frdni taxation has ivritten a letter to the Detroit Tribune, in -vliich, fater detailing liow the thought of co-education greW in her mind, she tells of how the first woman carne to matricúlate in the Uni versity. That part o fthe letter is as IQUows: "In 1842 my husband, Dr. Stone, was called from Massachusetts to take charge of one of the so-called branches of the Michigan University, of which there were eight, I believc, located in different parts of the state. These were designed to be feeders to the university proper located at Ann ArMFi'and were from the first co-educa' tional. In coming to Kalamazoo, I did not intend to teach, but circumstances iorcod me to take the place of prin rtpal of the ladies' department of tho brnnch of the university, and in iuy Classes, from tho first, there were about an equal number of young men and young women gtudylng bcauUfullj together, the girls always keeping up fully iwth the boys until the boys went to the university and the girls were f-upposed to consider thcir education fini.'hcd, though I gnarded well agains the formation of any such conclusión ís that, for my teaching ivas that their real education, when they left school, was but begun, and the qunstion often pressed itself upon me, why tihould co-education stop here, just at the door of our University? Were not girls, women, mothers, who certainly were to be the educators oftheir sons, !h mueli In nood of higher education as : boys, men, fathers, who were expected to lead a Ufe of business were? II this was a state universlty, I often wonHered il fhore worc anythinsc in the l.i w of its foundation that sliould exelude women, tho dauojhters ' of t!n state, from its privileges. Hut fop a lonr timo I only pondered these thlngq in my hemt. But when. not Ion": after coming to the state, tlies" branches were ent off from all sha re in the state fnnds for thelr support, thcy wert down. and in Kalamazoo, KalamaOQ College, mainly through Dr. Stone's efforts, sprang up in its place. This, too, was co-educational. Of the ladiee departmont also. I was appointed prln eipal and continued so for nearly 20 years. In 1870 a young lady, a d.niiíhter of a former professor in Albion, wlio had pursued her studies n state college, and who on coming to Kalamazoo to live, went on with them in Kalamazoo College, aspired to continue them In the great univer sity at Ann Arbor, and Dr. Stone and mysolf, havin gvery carefully examined ♦he law of the founding of Michigan rniversity and thereby becoming convineod that there was nothiug in tho law to prevent Miss Sktockwell cmnently prepared as she was, from entoring there, proposed to do all in our power to secure this privilege for her. Kov. (leorgo Willard, then rector of the 'Episcopal church here, being also a re gent of the University, we drew him into an oxaminatioti of the law, and lie, like ourselves, being convinced of the justice, right and legality of this step of University extensión, pledged jhimself, aa one of the regenta, to present Miss Madelon Stockwell's request to enter tihe University and pursue a íourae of Btudy there, to the board of regents, and when they too saw tliat, though probably an oversight in the %'ording of tlhe law that neíther Mis8 Stockwell nor any other woman properly preparad, could legally be pac vented írom entering the University, they reluctantly said: 'Go in.' So in 1870 Miss Stockwell, upon a very severe examination, much more severo than ivas given to the young men, entered the sophomore clase of Michigan University. Miss Stockwell had some unpleasant experiences in her lonely Tirst year's course; but she kept on her way and graduated unsurpaesed, if not unequalled, in her standing by anyone 1n her class. In the second year of hen ourse she was joined by two other young women. "Now, there haveteen the past year more than 4()( ladies in tiie varlous departments of t-hP University, next year íhere will probably be more than 500, and the opprobriura of going to college has vanished into thin air and the iprejudice thnt iiuln "' s ' ■ Indios almost to gather up their skirts against contact wlth those of a 'college girl has mostly died out, so that those who were mostly shocked that any modest girl should want to go to college with young men, have íorgotten that they ever cherished such prejuflices.