RADCLIFFE COLLEGE 317 
sharing in our work and aiding the progress of Rad- 
cliffe by every means in their power. 
On March 24, 1898, Mrs. Agassiz’s diary records: 
“To Radcliffe for Council meeting. Had casting vote on 
the matter of position of new gymnasium with reference to 
Fay House. The casting vote seems to me a great respon- 
sibility but I gave it in favor of retaining the larger space 
at the James Street end of the gymnasium lot.” By the 
following December the building had been erected and its 
formal opening, at which Mrs. Agassiz made a brief ad- 
dress, took place on December 17. This is the last incident 
to be chronicled for 1898. The following letters speak for 
themselves of the most important event that befell Rad- 
cliffe in 1899. 
TO MISS IRWIN 
Castle Hill, Newport, July 31, 1899 
My pear Aanes: My children agree with me that 
the time has come when for their peace of mind 
as well as my own, I must withdraw from my official 
connection with Radcliffe College. 
Looking back upon the last twenty years I feel 
as if my share in the work had been as nothing 
compared with that of the Council, the Academic 
Board and in a more general though not less im- 
portant sense the Faculty of Harvard. They have 
made our college what it is and have turned an ed- 
ucational experiment into an institution of learn- 
ing. My feeling is one of deep gratitude to them and 
I wish I could give it any adequate expression. 
Let me add that your codperation and sympathy 
