Project Gutenberg's Why go to College? an Address, by Alice Freeman Palmer

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net

Title: Why go to College? an Address

Author: Alice Freeman Palmer

Posting Date: November 5, 2008 [EBook #2361]
Release Date: October, 2000

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHY GO TO COLLEGE? AN ADDRESS ***

Produced by Stephanie L. Johnson. HTML version by Al Haines.

WHY GO TO COLLEGE? an Address

BY

ALICE FREEMAN PALMER

Formerly President of Wellesley College

To a largely increasing number of young girls college doors are opening
every year. Every year adds to the number of men who feel as a friend
of mine, a successful lawyer in a great city, felt when in talking of
the future of his four little children he said, "For the two boys it is
not so serious, but I lie down at night afraid to die and leave my
daughters only a bank account." Year by year, too, the experiences of
life are teaching mothers that happiness does not necessarily come to
their daughters when accounts are large and banks are sound, but that
on the contrary they take grave risks when they trust everything to
accumulated wealth and the chance of a happy marriage. Our American
girls themselves are becoming aware that they need the stimulus, the
discipline, the knowledge, the interests of the college in addition to
the school, if they are to prepare themselves for the most serviceable
lives.

But there are still parents who say, "There is no need that my daughter
should teach; then why should she go to college?" I will not reply
that college training is a life insurance for a girl, a pledge that she
possesses the disciplined ability to earn a living for herself and
others in case of need, for I prefer to insist on the importance of
giving every girl, no matter what her present circumstances, a special
training in some one thing by which she can render society service, not
amateur but of an expert sort, and service too for which it will be
willing to pay a price. The number of families will surely increase who
will follow the example of an eminent banker whose daughters have been
given each her specialty. One has ch