Letter from Hattie to Em, July 2, 1874
Dublin Core
Title
Letter from Hattie to Em, July 2, 1874
Subject
University of Wooster; Graduation (School); Women--Education (Higher)
Description
Harriet writes to congratulate Emily on her commencement and being the first woman to graduate from Wooster University. Harriet notes that the Brainard Society (as well as everyone in Wooster) will miss Emily very much and laments that she never wrote anything for the Society herself. Harriet complains about having so many students and responsibiities and says she counts the days until she can visit home. She requests full details/pictures of commencement and hopes that Mary and Clara will also attend Wooster. She sends love to her siblings, including Edward and Frank who she has not written recently.
Creator
Noyes, Harriet Newell
Source
The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection, Box #1
Publisher
Unpublished
Date
1874-07-02
Contributor
Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant
Rights
Format
PDF
Language
eng (English)
Type
Text
Identifier
noyes_c_cor_126
Coverage
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
Canton China
July 2nd 1874.
My dear sister Em
When this reaches you
I suppose you will be at home a
"finished graduate". We all feel very
proud indeed of our educated
sister. I hope we shall soon
hear all about your commencement
exercises. We thought of you
[u]incessantly[/u] on your graduating
day and staid awake until
after midnight on purpose to
continue thinking about you
until the exercises were fairly
commenced and your performance
perhaps over. I did not write to
you then for several reasons but
I did [u]think[/u] about you and
thought how [u]much happiness[/u]
it would have given me to
have been present on the occasion.
I am [u]so glad[/u] that you are the
[u]first[/u] lady graduate from Wooster
University. I do not know as
you care as much for such things
as I do but if I were in your
place this fact would add a
very great deal to my pleasure
in graduating. It has always
been a source of pleasure to
remember that I was the
first one in foreign lands to
send greeting to the Woman's
Foreign Missionary Society.
I expect they will miss you
very much in Wooster in the
Brainard Society and Everywhere
Do you know dear Em it is
a source of real grief to me that
during all these years I have
never written anything for the
Brainard Society. It does not
seem to me as though I should
ever want to do it now but I would
have liked to [u]so much[/u] while
you were there and it would
have given you pleasure .
But ever since I have had
this Boarding School to look after
now more than two years it
does not seem to me that
I have been able to do [u]anything[/u]
that I wished to do and lately
I have almost Entirely given
up writing letters and this is a
real trial to me. This summer
I have with the day school the
charge of over 100 scholars and
two Bible women and one
afternoon in the week I spend
visiting the women in Dr
Kerr's hospital.
I expect you will miss the
dear Old University. I always
feel that a change is sad Even
a change for the better usually
has some sad feautures
about it. But I hope you
will be very happy wherever
you may be. I cannot
tell you how much I [u]long[/u]
to see you and all the rest
of the dears ones at home.
But I am going to try and
not allow myself to think much
about it until the 1st of Jany
1876 and then I think I shall
feel as though my work here [?must?]
let me go for a vacation. There
are only Eighteen months left before
that time I have been counting
the days for a long [u]long[/u] time.
I hope all the different members
of the family will write full accounts
of commencement day so that we
may get the full details . We want
to know just how you looked
and what you said and did
and in short Everything about it
that you can tell us. I do so
hope you can get a picture to
send us. Mattie says she has
written about our bright idea of thus
getting a help for our [?imagination?].
We shall want to hear what
is the family programme for
next year. I hope Clara
and Mary will be able to go
to Wooster if that is what seems
best and desirable. I must
not write more this time for it
is getting late and we have been
up so late for several days that
we must try and get to bed
in better season to-night.
Tell the other girls that I wish
that I could write to them
all but cannot. Edward and Frank
[Note: Letter concludes sideways on page one]
too I have not written to for some time but they must all
take the will for the deed this time and Believe me ever
Your loving
sister
[u]Hattie[/u].
July 2nd 1874.
My dear sister Em
When this reaches you
I suppose you will be at home a
"finished graduate". We all feel very
proud indeed of our educated
sister. I hope we shall soon
hear all about your commencement
exercises. We thought of you
[u]incessantly[/u] on your graduating
day and staid awake until
after midnight on purpose to
continue thinking about you
until the exercises were fairly
commenced and your performance
perhaps over. I did not write to
you then for several reasons but
I did [u]think[/u] about you and
thought how [u]much happiness[/u]
it would have given me to
have been present on the occasion.
I am [u]so glad[/u] that you are the
[u]first[/u] lady graduate from Wooster
University. I do not know as
you care as much for such things
as I do but if I were in your
place this fact would add a
very great deal to my pleasure
in graduating. It has always
been a source of pleasure to
remember that I was the
first one in foreign lands to
send greeting to the Woman's
Foreign Missionary Society.
I expect they will miss you
very much in Wooster in the
Brainard Society and Everywhere
Do you know dear Em it is
a source of real grief to me that
during all these years I have
never written anything for the
Brainard Society. It does not
seem to me as though I should
ever want to do it now but I would
have liked to [u]so much[/u] while
you were there and it would
have given you pleasure .
But ever since I have had
this Boarding School to look after
now more than two years it
does not seem to me that
I have been able to do [u]anything[/u]
that I wished to do and lately
I have almost Entirely given
up writing letters and this is a
real trial to me. This summer
I have with the day school the
charge of over 100 scholars and
two Bible women and one
afternoon in the week I spend
visiting the women in Dr
Kerr's hospital.
I expect you will miss the
dear Old University. I always
feel that a change is sad Even
a change for the better usually
has some sad feautures
about it. But I hope you
will be very happy wherever
you may be. I cannot
tell you how much I [u]long[/u]
to see you and all the rest
of the dears ones at home.
But I am going to try and
not allow myself to think much
about it until the 1st of Jany
1876 and then I think I shall
feel as though my work here [?must?]
let me go for a vacation. There
are only Eighteen months left before
that time I have been counting
the days for a long [u]long[/u] time.
I hope all the different members
of the family will write full accounts
of commencement day so that we
may get the full details . We want
to know just how you looked
and what you said and did
and in short Everything about it
that you can tell us. I do so
hope you can get a picture to
send us. Mattie says she has
written about our bright idea of thus
getting a help for our [?imagination?].
We shall want to hear what
is the family programme for
next year. I hope Clara
and Mary will be able to go
to Wooster if that is what seems
best and desirable. I must
not write more this time for it
is getting late and we have been
up so late for several days that
we must try and get to bed
in better season to-night.
Tell the other girls that I wish
that I could write to them
all but cannot. Edward and Frank
[Note: Letter concludes sideways on page one]
too I have not written to for some time but they must all
take the will for the deed this time and Believe me ever
Your loving
sister
[u]Hattie[/u].
中国广东 1874年7月2日 亲爱的妹妹Em 当这封信到你手里时 我想你已经毕业回家了。 我们对我们受过高等教育的妹妹感觉很骄傲 / 我会很快听说你的毕业典礼彩排。 / 我们一直在想你的毕业日， / 一直有意地醒着到午夜。 / 在想你， 直到你彩排完 并且看到你的表现。 我没有写信的原因有很多 / 但是我心里有你 而且现在会给我带来很大的幸福感。 / / 我很高兴你是第一从Wooster毕业的女生。 / 我不知道 你会不会和我一样在乎这样的事 但是如果我处在你的情况下 会让我的毕业赋予更多快乐。 / 这一直是我记忆里快乐的一部分 / 我是第一个在异国他乡 / 给异国女人传教组织寄信的。 / 我认为在Wooster在Brainard会，在各地的人 都很想你 / 亲爱的Em你知道吗 真的让我很伤心 这些年我从没给Brainard组织写过一封信。 / 对我来说， 不像想象的那样 但是， 当你在这里的时候， 我想得太多了， 而且让你很开心。 但是，当我建起这所寄宿学校 并且经验两年多以后 / 看起来变了 我可以做任何想做的事 / 之后我几乎放弃写信 这也是我的试验。 这个夏天， 我都在照顾走读学校 超过100个学生， 和两位圣经女人， 这周的一个下午， 我去Kerr医生的医院拜访一个女人。 / 我想你很怀念老大学。 / 我总是感觉到 这样的改变是让我难过的，即使是为了更好 通常也有些伤心。 但是，无论如何， 我希望你开心。 我说不上来 我有多久没有看到你和家人们了。 / / 但是我要试试， 并且不让我想太多。 直到1876年1月1日， 然后我的认为 我的工作一定会让我假期走。 / 距离我回家只剩下18个月了 我数日子数了很久了。 / 我希望所有家庭成员 可以记录一下毕业典礼 / 以至于我们可以得到全部的细节。 我们只想知道你看起来怎么样， 还有在短时间内知道所有事， 你说了什么，做了什么，有什么可以跟我们分享。 我希望你能发来一张照片。 Mattie说她给我们写下了很清楚的想法 / 帮助我们想象。 她会想知道明年的家庭流程。 / 我希望Clara和Mary可以去Wooster / 如果他们愿意的话。 / 这次我必须停下来了， 而且我们几天都熬到很晚， / 所以我们必须睡觉了。 / 告诉其她女孩们 我希望写给她们信 但是我做不到。 【信件结尾边缘书写】 Edward和Frank也一样，我没有时间写给他们， 他们必须好好的，并且相信我。 爱你的姐姐 Hattie
Original Format
Letter
Collection
Citation
Noyes, Harriet Newell, “Letter from Hattie to Em, July 2, 1874,” Letters from Harriet Noyes: Missionaries and Women's Education in Nineteenth Century China, accessed May 1, 2024, https://noyesletters.org/items/show/182.