Anna Wolcott Vaile (May 25, 1868 – 1928) was an American educator who established the Wolcott School for Girls and was on the Board of Regents for the University of Colorado.
Anna Wolcott Vaile | |
|---|---|
 Anna Wolcott Vaile, Representative Women of Colorado, 1914 | |
| Born | May 25, 1868 Providence, Rhode Island, U.S. |
| Died | 1928 |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Wellesley College |
| Occupation | Educator |
| Known for | Established Wolcott School |
Early life
editAnna Louise Wolcott was born on May 25, 1868, in Providence, Rhode Island.[1] She was the daughter of Harriet Amanda (Pope) Wolcott and Samuel Wolcott, D.D.[2] Her brother, Edward O. Wolcott, was a United States senator and Henry R. Wolcott was treasurer of the Colorado Smelting and Mining Company.[3] She was educated in private schools and graduated from Wellesley College in 1881.[2][4]
Career
editEarly years
editShe was the principal of Wolfe Hall in Denver from 1892 to 1898.[2]
Wolcott School for Girls
edit
She established Wolcott School in 1898[2] to serve the children of Denver society.[5] Former students include Mamie Eisenhower; Helen Brown, the daughter of RMS Titanic survivor Molly Brown, and Clara Cody, granddaughter of Buffalo Bill Cody.[3] Wolcott was the principal and a teacher. Helen Ring Robinson and other faculty members from Wolfe Hall taught at the school.[4] Its first board of trustees included men, her brother Henry R. Wolcott, Adolph Coors of Coors Brewing Company, mine-owner John F. Campion, and attorney F.O. Vaile. Women trustees were Mrs. Charles Kountze, Mrs. David Moffat, and Mrs. Walter Cheesman.[4]
The school taught all pre-college grades of students and prepared students for advanced colleges and universities. Although it was primarily a girls' school, boys were accepted at the lower grades. It was primarily a boarding school, but it also accepted a limited number of non-residents.[6] Academic courses included English, mathematics, history, art, literature, science, a number of languages, astronomy, psychology, political science, and arithmetic. It also had art, music and gymnastic classes. Lectures were also given by people of national reputation.[7] The school produced a Shakespearean play each spring at Elitch Theatre.[8] The school newspaper was The Spokesman.[9]
The school was located at 14th and Marion Streets in Capitol Hill. Built in 1898, perhaps by Frederick Sterner, it was a Renaissance Revival style building with round arched windows and balconies.[5] The school had large classrooms, a music room with a pipe organ, an auditorium, a swimming pool, a bowling alley, and dormitories.[3] In 1906, a three-story addition was added with an alley bridge from the main building, that looked like a Venetian bridge. There were then a total of three buildings.[5] Then, the trustees added a park and clubhouse by 1910.[7]
After Wolcott's marriage in 1912 and until 1922, Mary Kent Wallace ran the school.[3][5] The school closed in 1924.[3]
Other
editShe became the first female member of the Board of Regents of the University of Colorado in 1910[5] and was vice president of the Colorado chapter of the Congress of Mothers, now the Parent Teacher Association.[2] She was a lifetime member of the Archaeological Institute of America, councilor for the Colorado Society of the Archaeological Institute of America, and a member of the managing committee of the School of American Archaeology.[1][10]
Personal life
edit
While a single woman, she was a member of the Artists Club, Society of Colonial Dames, and the State Forestry Association.[2] She was married in 1912 to Joel F. Vaile,[3] also called Frederick J. Vaile.[5] Joel Vaile was an attorney, prosecuting attorney, and president of the Colorado Bar Association. He was a founding member of the law firm Wolcott, Vaile, and Waterman.[11] He was a law partner of her brother, Edward O. Wolcott.[4] The couple lived at his house, the Flower-Vaile House in North Capitol Hill, Denver. Joel F. Vaile retired in 1915 and died on April 3, 1916, while on vacation in Pasadena, California.[12] Anna Wolcott Vaile died in 1928.[10]
References
edit- ^ a b John William Leonard; Albert Nelson Marquis (1910). Who's who in America. Marquis Who's Who. p. 2120.
- ^ a b c d e f John William Leonard (1914). Woman's Who's who of America: A Biographical Dictionary of Contemporary Women of the United States and Canada, 1914-1915. American Commonwealth Company. p. 897.
- ^ a b c d e f James Bretz (2010). Denver's Early Architecture. Arcadia Publishing. pp. 114, 115. ISBN 978-0-7385-8046-3.
- ^ a b c d Pat Pascoe (November 1, 2011). Helen Ring Robinson. University Press of Colorado. p. multiple PTs. ISBN 978-1-4571-1167-9.
- ^ a b c d e f Thomas J. Noel (May 1, 2016). Denver Landmarks and Historic Districts. University Press of Colorado. p. 238. ISBN 978-1-60732-422-5.
- ^ Jerome Constant Smiley (1901). History of Denver: With Outlines of the Earlier History of the Rocky Mountain Country. J.H. Williamson. p. 764.
- ^ a b "Wolcott School Now in its Thirteenth Year". Denver Municipal Facts. C.M. Stafford. 1910. pp. 20–22.
- ^ "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Ellitch Theatre". National Park Service. March 21, 1978. p. 8. Retrieved July 4, 2018. With accompanying photos
- ^ "Cecile Hughes, Wolcott School Scrapbook Finding Aid" (PDF). History Colorado. June 12, 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 4, 2018. Retrieved July 4, 2018.
- ^ a b History of Colorado's Women for Young People. Vivian Sheldon Epstein. November 1997. p. 39. ISBN 978-1-891424-01-4.
- ^ B. S. White; American Cartoonist Magazine (Firm) (1904). Representative Men of the West in Caricature. American Cartoonist Magazine. p. 145.
- ^ "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Flower-Vaile House". National Park Service. October 21, 1982. Retrieved July 4, 2018. With accompanying photos