Representative women of New England/Jessie E. Southwick
JESSIE ELDRIDGE SOUTHWICK, one of the faculty of the Emerson College of Oratory and an interpreter of Shakespeare's plays, is a native of Wilmington, Del. Her father, Issachar Eldridge, descended from the Quaker Eldridges of Philadelphia. Her mother, whose maitlen name was Martha Gause, was from Chester County, Pennsylvania. She was related to a number of leading teachers and writers. Bayard Taylor, the noted traveller and author, being a near kinsman. To her maternal ancestors Mrs. Southwick is probably indebted for her marked literary talents. When Jessie Eldridge was five years old, her parents removed to Van Wert, Ohio, where her childhood days were spent. Her mother was her first teacher, her early lessons being learned at home. She afterward pursued her studies successively at the high school and at Glendale Female College, near Cincinnati, and at the age of fifteen, under a private tutor, completed her preparation for Vassar College. Changing her plans, however, she came to Boston because of the better advantages here afforded for the study of music and elocution, and entered the New England Conservatory of Music. Devoting herself especialiy to oratory, for which she seemed well adapted, she was graduated from that department in 1883. While studying at the Conservatory, she also attended Miss Johnson's private school on Newbury Street, Boston. To further qualify herself for the profession of oratory, she continued her studies at the Monroe Conservatory (now the Emerson College of Oratory). She was graduated there in 1885, and then took a post-graduate course of two years, during which time she assisted in teaching. For a while she was an assistant to Miss Mary A. Currier in the department of oratory at Wellesley College, but that position she was obliged to give up at length on account of the increasing demands on her time for public work. She had made a specialty of Shakespeare's plays, and her intelligent interpretation, with her fine stage presence and well-modulated voice, has since won her a wide-spread reputation, her readings being in demand in various parts of the country.
In 1889 Jessie Eldridge married Henry Lawrence Southwick, a graduate of the college, then teaching in Philadelphia. Mr. Southwick became the following year a partner of Dr. C. W. Emerson in th" Fm^rson Cr^'lo^e, nnd remained there until 1897, Mrs. Southwick, as one of the faculty, having charge of the classes in voice culture, dramatic interpretation, and the rendering of Shakespeare. Mr. and Mrs. Southwick have conducted summer schools at Glens Falls, N.Y., Cottage City, Martha's Vineyard, and at several places in Virginia, as well as in Boston.
In June, 1900, Dean Southwick purchased Dr. Emerson's share in the college and took the full management, Dr. Emerson remaining as President and lecturer in his individual work. Since assuming the management Dean Southwick has made many changes and added numerous courses. The Emerson College of Oratory stands to-day as the largest institution of its kind in the world. Established in 1880 as a private school by Charles Wesley Emerson, in September, 1886, it was formally incorporated under the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as the Monroe College of Oratory, being named in honor of the late Professor Lewis B. Monroe. Upon petition to the Legislature in 1890, a bill was passed authorizing the change of name to Emerson College of Oratory.
This college is a school for personal culture. It aims to awaken in the student of expression, whether he be a creative thinker or an interpreter, a realization of his own potentialities, and to give such direction to his training that he may attain them. While conserving the best traditions of the past, the college aims to stand for thorough investigation, the most advanced educational methods, and the highest professional standards and ideals.
In 1900 the college was moved into elegant quarters at Chickering Hall, one of the handsomest and best appointed of Boston's new buildings. Situated on Huntington Avenue near the corner of Massachusetts Avenue, it is easily accessible from all railroads leading into the city, and cars to all points pass close to its doors. Within five minutes' walk of the Fens, within eight minutes of the Public Library and the Museum of Fine Arts, and close beside the new Symphony Hall and beautiful new hall of the Horticultural Society, the college home is in the artistic and literary centre of Boston.
Mrs. Southwick has been connected with the college as either pupil or teacher almost since its inception, and to her faithful and efficient work in conjunction with her husband is attributed much of its success and growth. As a reader and especially as a Shakespearean exponent, she is well known to literary American audiences as a leading artist. Her dramatic power and personal magnetism hold her audiences almost spellbound. The series of recitals given every season under the direction of Dean and Mrs. Southwick have become a marked feature of literary Boston, as is shown by the large audiences in attendance. Mrs. South- wick is also a power in the social element of the college life, where she takes a personal interest in all the receptions given, and comes in contact with all of the pupils of the school.
Mr. and Mrs. Southwick have three children, namely: Ruth, born September 18, 1893; Mildred, born August 15, 1895; and Jessie, born November 18, 1897—all of whom are now receiving the best educational advantages that can be secured.