“PLAIN” GIRLS SHOULD GO TO COLLEGE (1911)
******************************************************************************************************************************** Brownstone Detectives investigates the history of our clients’ homes. The story you are about to read was composed from research conducted in the course of one of those investigations. Do you know the history of YOUR house? ******************************************************************************************************************************** It’s tough being plain. But if you go to college you increase your chances of getting that “MRS” degree. So said Brooklynite Imogene Kelly who, while in her senior year at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, was editor-in-chief of the school’s newspaper, Wellesley College News. The top scribe’s job gave the sensible young lady ample opportunity to place her thoughts before her adoring public. After her piece about the necessity of homely girls attending college to increase their chances of marital bliss, though, Kelly hadn’t much of an audience at all. WHY GIRLS GO TO COLLEGE In an article in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Kelly was showcased for her viewed of the necessity of a college education. “The unattractive girl, in order to equalize her chances for a husband with the less plain girl, must do so by getting an education,” Kelly reported. “The girl who is attractive and good looking need not secure a college training in order to fulfill her marriage destiny.” Kelly’s story, though, earned her an audience far beyond the campus of Wellesley, as it was picked up by a number of news services and printed in many places around the country. “The girls at Wellesley, as a rule, are not beautiful, and for that reason these girls […]
