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This is an amazing piece written by my wife for one of her doctoral classes at the University of Arkansas. It’s a diary entry from her great-great-great grandmother about what it was like to live during an era when women were not permitted to study or receive a college education. The diary entry itself was entirely written by Mandy, but all of the people mentioned are her actual family members, the biographical information is accurate, and the historical events are real. I was especially moved towards the end when she references her “Great-great granddaughter’s granddaughter, “Amanda” (that would be Mandy) and “Perhaps someday, a daughter connected to one of my 14 miracles will be like an Alice Freeman Palmer telling young students or their parents why a college education is so valuable.” (Mandy does this a lot in her job as a university professor). The story moved me, and I hope it moves you as well.

Dear Diary: A Diary Entry Written by My Great-Great-Great Grandmother, Lydia McCune

Lydia McCune from Hancock, Illinois (1856-1917)

By Mandy Moore, MBA

University of Arkansas

May 3, 1893

Dear Diary:

I married when I was 15 years old. I understand that for many women, in circumstances like mine, marriage at that age is all one can hope to obtain. However, now that I am the mother of six daughters and eight sons, I cannot help but wonder if this is the only path for women. As I hear my daughters giggle and ask questions about the world, how do I tell them I want more for them? How do I prepare them to be second-class citizens who cannot vote? How do I tell them society has defined who they will be no matter how badly I want it to be different? When Flora Amanda asks why Edwin is allowed to study, what am I supposed to say? He is better because he is a man. Why does society think man is superior when I am the one who gave my 14 children life, milk, warmth, and affection? Man could not do that. My body gave life. No husband is the source of happiness for a wife, but a mother is a source of love and life for her children, and a mother is a woman. This means that I, as a mere woman, performed 14 miracles. Why then could I not go to college? Ask any mother, and she will tell you there is a silent desperation for something more than what women have been able to achieve. As I hear my son Edwin complain that he does not want to go to college, I want to scream and tell him how Flora Amanda, Lydia Irene, Joene, Nellie Mae, Mary Ellen, and Janie will likely never have the opportunity to choose their destiny because God made them women. Is it a curse to bring a daughter into this world? I want my daughters to dream bigger dreams than I could. We deserve more. What about the “American dream” for my daughters?

Recently, I have heard of a flamboyant man, Dr. William Raney Harper. He is starting a university where boys and girls can study together (Thelin, 2004). After just returning from The Colombian Exposition, I have even more of a burning desire for my daughters to see the world. I saw billboards for this new idea, the University of Chicago, while my husband and I were there. When I smiled at the billboards, Stephen only shook his head. I have even heard from my dear friends that Dr. Harper hired a woman who was the first female President of a college (Wellesley, 2010). This woman, Alice Freeman Palmer, gave words to my silent desperation. She will be the Dean of Women at the University of Chicago.

Alice Freeman Palmer

Months ago, my dear friends and I heard of this Alice Freeman Palmer, and we went to hear her speak about why girls should go to college. I did not tell my husband, Stephen, where I was going. He is worried about my ideas because he heard some people speak about Dr. Edward Clark’s opinion that college would “deteriorate” women (as cited by Studer-Ellis, 1995, p. 1054). Now did Stephen actually read Dr. Edward Clark’s book Sex in Education and make up his own mind? No, but I did! It is ludicrous. If childbirth does not “deteriorate” the body, why would an education? If I can recover from 14 children, reading books and writing papers will not cause harm to women. Yes, the library and books are so dangerous! No, women with knowledge are powerful.

When Alice Freeman Palmer spoke, it was as if someone gave words to a mother’s silent desperation for her daughter. She is educated, articulate, and calm. Her Christian faith helps me see that my idea for my daughters is not unchristian (Wein, 1974). Furthermore, she was just a commoner like me, but she pleaded with her parents for a college education. She represents a new kind of student – not only female, but also one who was not elite. She knows what this struggle is like. She saw that no man could be the source of happiness when her father left her and her mother to raise her (Whittier, 2010). A man is not the answer, but an education is. I will not put my hope in man for my daughters; instead, I put my hope in education. I will pray my daughters marry a loving and dedicated man of course, but I will earnestly beg God to educate my daughters at college.

I became frustrated at the event where Alice Freeman Palmer spoke. Several of the women had good intentions, but they kept asking her to share her opinion of women and voting. It has been fifteen years since the Susan B. Anthony amendment was submitted to Congress (Sorenson, 2007). The amendment embodies so much hope in only 28 words, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex” (as cited by Sorenson, 2007, para. 27). So much opportunity is denied because of sex. Women’s right to vote is important, but I am here to learn about why my daughters, their daughters, and their daughters should go to college. Is becoming educated not a right? If not, what about the chance to be something better? When Alice Freeman Palmer was asked about voting, I sensed she was as frustrated as I. Let us not couple these! Both are important, but if more women are educated, I know that someday they will vote and even run for the Presidency of our country. I sense this is the future. Look at Alice Freeman Palmer! Her education was the foundation of her becoming the first female college President.

Alice Freeman Palmer (1897) encouraged women to be good at what they do and not to abandon the idea of becoming a mother. She said, however, that being college educated would help women be better mothers and wives (Wein, 1974). I cannot help but be jealous of the confidence a college-educated woman must feel when she can answer her daughter’s question about why the sky explodes into a million beautiful colors at sunrise or sunset. Alice Freeman Palmer said a college education only makes everything more beautiful. I can only dream it does. Childbirth was a miracle that made the entire world look different than it did before. I imagine education is much like this. Even when I read about blades of grass in a book, the next time my bare feet touch those blades, the book and the grass become sweeter to me.

I recognize I will never be able to provide a college education for my daughters, but I hope that perhaps their daughters will be the group to change our destiny. I cannot imagine the nerves they will feel the day they walk onto that large college campus with Coliseum-like stadiums and libraries with more books than one could read in a life. Someday, I hope a professor will tell my great-great granddaughter’s granddaughter, “Amanda, you have something important to say, and I cannot wait to read it in your paper or hear it in your debate!” Could you ever imagine if someday, a professor might tell my granddaughter that she is a professor’s dream student? Ha! What a dream realized that would be for me. When she writes those papers, when she shares her thoughts, my prayer is she will recognize that I am part of her words, her thoughts, and her past and in doing so; she will become empowered by the strength and confidence that comes from all of the women before her. With each word on the paper, she shapes the future for our daughters, she represents our dreams, and she shows her daughters that to be a woman means that she gets two miracles – children and education. Men can never experience both of those!

As I listened to Alice Freeman Palmer, a professor and a dean, I cannot help but hope for the future of women in higher education. Perhaps someday, a daughter connected to one of my 14 miracles will be like an Alice Freeman Palmer telling young students or their parents why a college education is so valuable. Perhaps someday, when a young female wants to quit, she will tell them college will make her a stronger woman and a better mother. She will remind them that a husband can die or leave, and a college education will give her a way to provide. To become that educated, to reach that level seems like it would take a miracle. However, I have 14 miracles that remind me miracles happen. I hope for the woman who is a part of me and who graduates from college, that she will realize all of the opportunities she has. My fear is that she will become like Edwin complaining that she does not want to go. Go! Run! Study! Dream! Knock or bang on the doors of a college! Read the books! Hang on to every word your professors say! I know that someday, a part of me will walk onto a college campus and leave there an educated and strong woman. May she have it all, and be able to describe to her children why the sky erupts into a million colors when the sun rises or sets. May she see the world as a more beautiful place than I could as an uneducated woman who could only hope.

Lydia McCune-Rogers