208 ELIZABETH GARY AGASSIZ 



Mrs. Agassiz 's position as president of the Society is the 

 better appreciated by an understanding of her relation to 

 her colleagues. All those who had signed the Articles of 

 Association were in varying degrees influential members of 

 the community, and some had a wide and enduring repu- 

 tation, as the mention of their names sufficiently shows. 

 Many of them were already warm personal friends of Mrs. 

 Agassiz, one, indeed, was her son-in-law, Major Higginson, 

 who from these early beginnings throughout a long con- 

 nection with Radcliffe College never failed in rendering it 

 affectionate and incalculable service. Professor and Mrs. 

 Gurney were also zealous fellow-workers of Mrs. Agassiz 

 and always welcomed the students to their house, not 

 only for Professor Gurney J s classes but for social oc- 

 casions as well. "Few who shared the privilege," Mrs. 

 Agassiz said in one of her addresses, "will forget the hours 

 in Mr. Gurney 's library, where all the surroundings height- 

 ened the pleasure of the lesson." Mrs. Gurney was herself 

 a constant student of language and literature, versed in 

 the classics and modern letters, heartily interested in the 

 education of women, and a valued adviser of Mrs. Agassiz. 

 To Mrs. Arthur Gilman, too, Mrs. Agassiz was in the habit 

 of turning for counsel in all matters connected with the 

 students and found her support, as she said, "an unfailing 

 source of satisfaction." Among the other members of the 

 group, who stood in especially close relations to the enter- 

 prise and consequently to Mrs. Agassiz were Professor 

 Greenough, "one of the most hopeful of the professors," 

 as she characterized him, whose presence was always a 

 blessing to the college; Professor Goodwin, who opened his 

 study to his classes, shared with them his books and photo- 



