December 17, 2014 - 21:20
Selena Martinez
ESEM
Revision of Paper #9
Paper #13
12/17/14
Revised: Bryn Mawr Civilization
There was a certain connotation of melancholy and ghosts that I associated with the idea of visiting Morris Woods. My feet paused behind a fallen tree as my eyes took in the scenery and within seconds I fled back towards Bryn Mawr civilization. But today I returned. The man made paths, buildings and flower beds on campus allows for a spacious feel and sense of organization, but Morris Woods surrounds a person engulfing them closer towards nature with hidden surprises around every corner such as the Harriton Family Cemetery. The fear that was invading me derived from my perspective of what civilization meant. While I originally found comfort in the current advancements on campus I began to question if this comfort was also man made and if comfort was a concern for the inhabitants of Bryn Mawr, where did this become an importance to make others feel included?
The creation of Bryn Mawr was intentionally to promote the educational advancement of women, but what is not often boasted about this successful college is the history in how it arrived to the prestigious name it carries today. Horowitz writes in A Certain Style of “Quaker Lady” Dress ,“ Taylor envisioned his college as a small one "for the advanced education and care of young women and girls of the higher and more refined classes of Society. . . created exclusively by those who are prepared for its culture.” What the author captures within this quote is a vision that expects certain criteria from its future students. Its reference to social class distinguishes the idea of not only the ideal community, but the superiority they hold in comparison to others. Bryn Mawr’s motives in the beginning only embraced the advancement of those with affluence and was willing to endorse the end of an educational oppression for the women that fell into that category. Essentially the design of the buildings and campus described in this text, “Smith's cottages, re-creating the "refined home," secured the "desirable moral and social influences.” Small scale dwellings gave students "greater comfort and less nervous excitement”, was directed towards only those specific women. Nowhere were students like me of color and of a low class society originally kept in mind. And yet the history of this establishment has not produced any discomfort for me. Instead I prefer to be on campus than anywhere near a creepy graveyard, but this may have to do with the college’s lack of advertising on the original Bryn Mawr vision.
The addition of Morris Woods in 1958 brought an interesting piece of history into the conversation. If one is not prone to explore past the winding woods and clutter of fallen leaves and trees, you may never come across the Harriton Family Cemetery. And yet like the history Bryn Mawr forgets to mention, it is there hidden behind a beautiful array of nature. In Morris Woods: Living History Rachel Ohrenschall writes, “The family cemetery portrays the cultural mores of the time, containing the remains of family members, friends of the family and, most startlingly different from our time, the remains of Harrison’s house slaves.” The purchase of this land provokes further conversation about the history Bryn Mawr town has with racial oppression. But the fact that it is well hidden until one reaches the center of Morris Woods may suggest the inability of the college to fully disclose a tragic history.
After conducting more research and reading about the original vision Bryn Mawr had, it made me wonder if I was entitled to the comfort that I received from this educational institution. In A Certain Style of “Quaker Lady” Dress Horowitz also states, “She insisted that only growth could sustain the standard Bryn Mawr had set and that identification with contemporary thought and life--not adherence to Quaker traditions made the college a powerful force in the higher education of women.” Even though Bryn Mawr always seemed to promote growth through not adhering to the traditional ways, their closed mindset literally shaped the identity of the institution. Now by being more conscious about the development of the education I am receiving today allows a different perception of where my comfort truly derives from. Perhaps in this case the comfort came from not being fully informed.
Works Cited
Horowitz, Helen. “A Certain Style of ‘Quaker Lady’ Dress” and “Behold They Are Women!” Alma Mater: Design and Experience in the Women’s Colleges From their Nineteenth-Century Beginnings to the 1930s. Knopf, 1984. 105-133.
"Morris Woods: Living History – The Bi-College News." Morris Woods: Living History – The Bi-College News. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2014.