1886.] 331 [Hyatt. 



sought to fill her proper sphere, quietly and without publicity, in- 

 different to the fate of her own name, provided certain aims were 

 accomplished and a definable progress in education attained. 



Miss Crocker never gave a scientific communication, was rarely 

 present at the meetings of this society, and therefore remained 

 comparatively unknown to a certain portion of our members, 

 nevertheless, she belonged beyond question to that small class 

 of persons whose memory we shall always especially honor. 



During her ten years of membership and for several years pre- 

 vious to her election, she was a frequent visitor in this building, 

 and the Society's power of doing useful work was sensibly en- 

 larged by her efforts during this time. Immediately after elec- 

 tion to the Board of Education of this city, she took up the natural 

 sciences, believing that through them much might be done for the 

 reformation of the existing systems of education. She became 

 first a pupil and then an earnest friend and indefatigable co-worker 

 in the Teachers' School of Science. The continuance of this school, 

 in 1878-79, was due to her unsolicited intercession with Mrs. Hem- 

 enway and Mrs. Shaw, from whom she obtained the funds to 

 pay for the lessons given during that winter. No permanent re- 

 sults followed however ; no lessons were given during the follow- 

 ing season of 1879-80. The school might have temporarily 

 ceased to exist, but for the united and voluntary exertions of Miss 

 Crocker and Mrs. Hooper. They solicited subscriptions from the 

 ladies of Boston and worked with such success, that one of our most 

 efficient years was perhaps the winter of 1880-81. 



Miss Crocker's connection with this department was not con- 

 fined, however, to the simple office of obtaining means to keep it 

 alive. As supervisor in the public schools of Boston, she became 

 well acquainted with the needs of teachers and used her influence 

 to urge them on to the attainment of a higher culture in natural 

 history. She also used her knowledge to make frequent sug- 

 gestions with regard to the selections of subjects for the courses, 

 and these were almost invariably such as we could approve and 

 follow with advantage. During the last fourteen years she was 

 present every Saturday afternoon, almost without fail, and, when 

 needful, spent the greater part of the day in our lecture rooms. 

 It therefore goes without saying that she looked upon this as a 

 very important part of her work in the public schools, and unfor- 

 tunately it is also easy to perceive, that her death may sensibly 



