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Letters from Canandaigua Female Seminary, 1852-1853Reed-Blackmer Family Papers | This set of letters was written by Lizzie Reed while she attended a school in Canandaigua, New York. Only the pages of the letters that pertain to her education have been digitized. The female seminary she attended seems to have been affiliated with the older, all male Canandaigua Academy. The female seminary and men's Academy apparently share some teachers, and sisters and brothers stayed in the same rooming houses. The Clements Library finding aid for the Blackmer-Reed Family Papers states that the Reeds were early settlers in Ontario County, New York, prosperous at the time these letters were written. Many of the Reed family moved to Lenawee County in Michigan, although a brother 'Dudley" settled in the "Cherokee strip" in Oklahoma in 1893 after the Cherokee Nation was dispossessed from this land. The letters are transcribed literally to duplicate punctuation and spelling, except when to do so would obscure the meaning. |
Lizzie Reed (Canandaigua Female Seminary) to Anna Reed, Jan. 23, 1852 | |
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[Reed-Blackmer, Canandaigua, Jan. 23, 1852, page 1] Canandaigua, Jan. 23rd, 1852 I almost want to scold you for not writing more, really. I hardly think it deserves an answer.--But forgive me if I judge you to harshly --It seems very natural to get back to studying again. I am so very contented here. I think I never could be lonesome. -- Marshall seems to be very contented here.
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[Reed-Blackmer, Canandaigua, Jan. 23, 1852, page 4] golden clouds that are fast fading which tells us of the coming darkness. -- [more description of scene] Oh Anna. I wish you were here to night, we would have such good times and then I, instead of bending over this sheet, would be laughing talking and enjoying myself the best way I could. [continues about friends and family; end of page 4]
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Lizzie Reed (Canandaigua, New York) to Anna Reed, Nov. 21, 1852 | |
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[Reed-Blackmer, Canandaigua, Nov. 21, 1852, page 2] [letter began with news about family and homesickness]They have got a new school room at the Seminary which is perfectly beautiful. I wish you could come out some Friday (which is examination day) and hear us recite. Mr. Tyler gave us the praise last Friday of doing exceedingly well. Wasn't that encouraging! They have a new Piano in the school room which cost eight hundred dollars. We also have a musical review once a fortnight, Reading compositions is worst of all! Just imagine what a funny thing it must be to stand up before eight or ten teachers besides nearly a 100 boarders from all parts of the state and read your [end of page 2] |
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[Reed-Blackmer, Canandaigua, Nov. 21, 1852, page 3] own composition. Don't you think your heart would go "pit-a-pat" We have 41 boarders here now which makes nearly 60 in the family. We have to eat-at-table with all the boys. At first I was so frightened I could scarcely eat a mouthful, but I don't care much for them now. We don't eat much here. Sarah only bakes bread four times a week and has only fifteen loaves to a baking. One half a bushel of potatoes is all we eat to a meal! Oh! it is "hotter than Love" in here. Mat has finished her letter to Mrs. Holmes and has gone to sleep on the floor. Carrie has gone to church and I am sitting here in my room at my writing table trying to converse with you but it is rather dull for I am so awful sleepy - nor would you wonder if you knew how little I had slept for a night or two past [end of page 3] |
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Lizzie Reed (Canandaigua, New York) to Anna Reed, Feb. 22, 1853 | |
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[Reed-Blackmer, Canandaigua, Feb. 22, 1853, page 3] [family news]I must tell you something about my studies. I start for school at 1/2 past 8 in the morning. School commences at 1/4 before 9. after prayers the bell rings for the boarders. At 1/2 past 9 I recite in Meterology, there are about 27 in the class. At 11 I recite in Algebra to Miss Semour and at 1/2 past in Chemistry to Mr. Clarke which is duller than " a door nail" and. [end of page 3]
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[Reed-Blackmer, Canandaigua, Feb. 22, 1853, page 4] and "harder than a flint." besides all the rest Mr. Clarke is "crosser than a bear" sometimes and at others he is "good as pie" Well I will not say anything more against Mr. Clarke, for it would make you blush to receive such a compliment from a gentleman as he paid me the other day I reckon I will "keep alert" for he is an Old Bach - recollect! How does Marshall get along. Take good care of him, will you, until I return. [letter continues about family matters] |
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| Reading Between the Lines | |
"Coeducation" at colleges and seminaries was often condemned by college-educated men who alleged that sexual improprieties were inevitable. But coeducational boarding homes were never controversial. Why? Why did Lizzie feel "frightened" to eat at the same table with the boys? Lizzie called her Chemistry professor an "old Bach." Many young professors married their older students in nineteenth century seminaries. Does this suggest that women students may have been exposed to unwanted attentions by male teachers? Does this possibility indicate an additional role that the women preceptresses played at coeducational academies? Could the preceptresses maintain any authority over male professors if she were paid only half of what the professors earned? Are you surprised that the curriculum of this female seminary in 1850s consisted primarily of mathematics and sciences? Was the nutrition at this 19th century seminary [half bushel of potatoes (30#) for 40-60 people] adequate by today's standards? Where could one find other records about the kinds and amounts of food nineteenth century students consumed? |
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