Declining an Invitation from Matthew Vassar

by Jeannette Hopkins, Class of 1944

I write to report a story told to me by my mother, Gladys Hull Hopkins, Class of 1913. It is part of family lore that Matthew Vassar had invited one of our family to join him as a partner in his brewery, and that our ancestor, a Nathaniel Moulthrop, had declined that invitation on the grounds that he did not want his three sons to drink. He was my great-great-great-grandfather.

We have no written records to confirm this story. However, in my extensive work on my family’s genealogy, I have found that stories passed down orally were usually true. We do have a reference to Vassar in a letter from Nathaniel William Moulthrop (born 1840), my mother’s maternal grandfather, the son of Nathaniel Moulthrop Jr. (born 1813), and the grandson of Nathaniel Moulthrop Sr. (born 1778). It was written in February 1909 to my aunt, Ethel Merle Hull, Class of 1912. She was then at Vassar, and the letter referred to a visit Nathaniel William made to the campus to watch the construction of the college. It had to have been in the early 1860s since construction began in 1861.

Nathaniel Moulthrop Sr. was a descendant of Matthew Moulthrop Sr., one of the original settlers of the colony of New Haven in 1639. Nathaniel was the son of Jude Moulthrop, who went up the Connecticut River valley from New Haven to become one of the first settlers of Rutland, Vermont. Nathaniel left home just before or soon after his father’s death in 1800 and went to sea, becoming an ocean-going ship captain out of New York. He moved to Poughkeepsie in 1808, was captured during the War of 1812, and imprisoned until the end of the war. He lived in or near Poughkeepsie for the rest of his life thereafter.

When Nathaniel would have met Matthew Vassar, fourteen years his junior, I do not know. Shipping was closely connected to the brewery business, however, with sloops regularly carrying kegs of beer to the New York metropolis. Matthew’s brewery – successor to his father’s – went through at least two partnerships between 1813 and 1829, when two of his nephews joined the firm.

I originally thought that the man we believed Matthew Vassar invited to join him as a partner in the brewery was my great-great-grandfather, Nathaniel Moulthrop Jr., born in 1813. Nathaniel Jr. had three sons, befitting the family lore. But the dates are too late – they were not born until 1837, 1840 (Nathaniel William), and 1844.

During the likely period when Matthew Vassar would have been looking for partners, Nathaniel Sr. had three sons, born in 1805, 1813 (Nathaniel Jr.), and 1817. (Two others would follow in 1822 and 1827, but would not have been in the picture yet.) Thus I concluded that it was Nathaniel Moulthrop Sr. (1778) who, in order to save his three sons from beer, turned down Matthew Vassar’s proposal. (Evalyn Clark’s history classes guided my hand in my genealogical research!)

Incidentally, Vassar College bought its maple syrup – at least during the 1910s, when my mother and aunt were both at Vassar – from our family farm in Jewett, Greene County, settled in the 1780s by their paternal ancestor, Chester Hull, after his service in the American Revolutionary War.

1950s Fashion

by Alison Church Hyde, Class of 1959

In March 2010 I responded to a survey that came from London via email, from a woman who had recently spent a year at Vassar. Her research title: “The Fight Between Aesthetics and Academics for 1950s Vassar Girls.” I thought it would be fun to take the survey, and the following are my answers, revised:

Standard daily attire in the 1950s: Bermuda shorts, knee socks, loafers, and sweaters. Formal: panty girdle, maybe a little black dress. Codes: skirts were mandatory for dinner in the dining hall, jackets for male visitors. After dinner we could remove the skirt, go back to shorts, for bridge playing on the living room floor. We drank coffee from tiny demitasse cups, filled at a huge samovar. It’s a legend that white gloves were required for tea and a myth that classmate Jane Fonda appeared for tea dressed only in white gloves.

Simplicity patterns helped me select my wardrobe. My mother sent me to a Singer Sewing course when I was in 8th grade. I made all my high school and college clothes, finishing a skirt on the way to Vassar freshman year, just as I had done on hems for proms and high school graduation. My father loved to tell of my sewing the last stitches as a date knocked on the door.

Style/Aesthetic. Anything goes as long as it’s Bermuda shorts. Blind dates from male colleges seemed to wear a charcoal grey uniform. I had no preconceived notions of Vassar attire, but when I picked up my high school senior photos, the photographer’s wife asked where I was going to college. “Vassar,” she exclaimed, “You’ll never be able to keep up with those girls in fur coats!” This struck some apprehension into the heart of a florist’s daughter, but I found that Rockefellers dressed the same as everyone else. I knew one girl, the daughter of Cuban President Batista’s doctor, who reportedly had 50 sweaters, but my three were enough for me.

I always wished I had a long kilt skirt with leather strap buckles on the side. Later when I had one, I wore it everywhere for about 20 years. I didn’t read fashion articles. I am so surprised at the question about the battle between aesthetics of dress and academic ability! The tension was between using your academic ability and learning for careers after college, or being a poised wife of a handsome professional guy. We were told that we could do anything we wanted to do, and we would be well prepared for careers by this fine liberal arts college. Yet, the flashing of engagement rings in the senior dining hall were a sign of another path. Aesthetics had nothing to do with it!

The stereotype of Vassar women that has always bothered me has nothing to do with fashion, but entirely to do with wealth and class. What do you tell people who think Vassar is a finishing school for wealthy debutantes? In the 1950s at least 40 percent of the girls were on scholarship, the college being committed to having a diverse student body. For me Vassar was challenging academics, anything goes fashion-wise, fun, financial aid to make it possible, and lifelong friends!

Vassar: An Unexpected Gift

by Mary Charlene “Charley” Young, Class of 2009

Vassar will always be an important part of my life. After losing my childhood home in a hurricane my senior year of high school, Vassar made its entrance. It became my home. During my time at Vassar I discovered myself and learned who I was as an individual: my interests, my passions, and my goals. The people that I had the opportunity to meet during my time at Vassar, including President Hill, fellow students, professors, security guards, dining hall staff, and others, truly made an impression on me and helped me grow as a person. I feel so lucky and blessed to have had the chance to meet and learn from the fine individuals that Vassar attracts. Every time I pull in through the main gate at Vassar, I feel as if I am returning home, back to the place that helped me find myself. For this reason, I will always be supportive of Vassar and will do my best to help it become a place for others to learn, grow, and find the fire that drives them in their life pursuits.

Remembering Megan Perry

by Brandon Smaglo, Class of 2002

I came to know Megan Perry ’02 during freshmen year at Vassar. We were very different people; had we not been assigned to the same student fellow group, I doubt that we ever would have came to know each other well. In fact, when we were no longer in close proximity housing-wise, we quickly grew apart, so that by senior year, I doubt if we spoke more than a handful of times.

Megan was impulsive and energetic, and threw herself passionately into everything and everyone she encountered. Much to my chagrin, this included a determined effort to expose me to a broader range of experiences. In retrospect, some of these are some of the funniest of my time at Vassar. One time, Megan collected a group of friends to break into my dorm room while I was out. I returned to find that it had been decorated with a wide assortment of pornography. She also dragged me to any number of Philaletheis productions, TH parties, and the Homo-Hop, none I which I would have dreamed of attending of my own volition, and all of which I am deeply grateful for having gone to in retrospect.

After Vassar, Megan brought her passion for life in all that she did. When Hurricane Katrina struck, no one who knew Megan was surprised that she set out to help in whatever way she could. Literally, Megan got a group together in a school bus (which was, incidentally, fueled by vegetable oil), and set out for Louisiana. Sadly, there was a traffic accident in Louisiana, and Megan was killed.

Although I knew her briefly, Megan Perry left a lasting impression on me, as I am sure she did with everyone she encountered. I suspect she accomplished more in her short life than many people will in thrice the time. The great tragedy of her young death is in the people she will not have the opportunity to encounter, to help, to touch. I am grateful that I was fortunate enough to have known her, and I am sure that she is on the list of fond Vassar memories of everyone who knew her at the college.

Memories of Ferry

by Kathy Teyler Jarrett, Class of 1973

Yes, my classroom education was great at Vassar, but perhaps some of the best learning experiences came from living in Ferry Cooperative House. QUITE an education – and some crazy fun!

Knock-down-drag-out meetings about how many eggs one could use in a week or spend on a special meal taught democracy at its most primal. Schlepping grocery carts to find the best deals and flirting with the butcher for a couple extra chops brought budgeting and negotiating skills. Planning weeks of menus and getting all the food served at once at dinner taught terrific time-management. And when the place went co-ed, how THAT added to the human relations training – everything from avoiding huge shoes, to timing trips to the shower, to dealing with failed romances. (Hmm, but a lot of that happened before men came, too. . .)

Not to say all was drudgery. We had great times! Halloween parties with homemade donuts (after calling home for the recipe), wild costumes, and apple cider from the local cider mill (and MAYBE some stronger things to imbibe). An intimate two-duck dinner (a l’orange and Peking) to celebrate the end of thesis writing time. A spaghetti party for invited faculty, with dancing and silliness – whoa, did we learn a lot about our profs that day! Sunning and tossing Frisbees off the top deck on a warm spring day with blossoms bursting on the trees, or shaking snow off the dogs in winter.

Warm memories, and even flinch-inducing ones, all add up to as fine an education as anyone could hope for. Liberal arts? How about domestic-human-relations-finance-and-planning arts? All served up with Hadassah’s lasagna and laughs.