Henrietta Josephine Meeteer (June 1, 1857 – November 18, 1956) was an American classics professor and philologist. She taught Latin and Greek at Swarthmore College, and was a dean of the college from 1906 to 1918.
Henrietta J. Meeteer | |
|---|---|
 Henrietta J. Meeteer, from the 1921 yearbook of Swarthmore College | |
| Born | June 1, 1857 La Porte, Indiana, United States |
| Died | November 18, 1956 (aged 99) Haddonfield, New Jersey, United States |
| Occupation(s) | College dean, professor of Greek and Latin |
Early life and education
editHenrietta "Nettie" Meeteer was born in La Porte, Indiana, the daughter of Joseph Chamberlin Meeteer and Henrietta Churchman Meeteer. She trained as a teacher at the University of Pennsylvania,[1] then earned a bachelor's degree from Indiana University Bloomington in 1901.[2] She held the Frances Sargent Pepper fellowship in classical languages at the University of Pennsylvania from 1901 to 1904.[3] She completed doctoral studies there, in her forties, with a dissertation titled The Artists of Pergamum (1904).[1][4]
Career
editMeeteer taught school as a young woman. She was Dean of Women at the University of Colorado from 1904 to 1906.[5] She joined the faculty of Swarthmore College in 1906, as Dean (later Dean of Women),[6] succeeding Elizabeth Powell Bond.[7] Her Opening Day address to the student body in 1906 included this declaration:
I come here as your friend, your co-worker. Not to look on from the outside, but to stand shoulder to shoulder with you always. If you need a mother, my heart is ready to respond to that call; if you need a sister, a friend, a comrade in pleasure, that is what I want to be — what I am here to be. Everything that concerns you concerns me — your work, your pleasures, your difficulties. Nothing that affects you is too trivial to claim my interest, my sympathy. Whatever the limitations and deficiencies I bring to my work as your dean, I can promise a deep and unfailing sympathy.[8]
She helped to organize the first national conference of deans of women at state universities in 1905,[9] and served on the executive committee for another national conference of deans of women in 1914.[2] She resigned as dean in 1918, but continued at Swarthmore as a professor of Latin and Greek.[1][10][11]
Publications
editPersonal life
editMeeteer died in 1956, at the age of 99, in Haddonfield, New Jersey.[13]
References
edit- ^ a b c "Gifted Scholar Appointed Dean of Women at Swarthmore College". The Indianapolis News. March 17, 1906. p. 27. Retrieved October 12, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Gerda, Janice Joyce. "A history of the conferences of deans of women, 1903–1922" (PhD dissertation, Bowling Green State University 2004): 65, 292-293; via ProQuest
- ^ "Women Win Fellowships". The Philadelphia Times. April 5, 1902. p. 7. Retrieved October 12, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Meeteer, Henrietta Josephine (1904). The Artists of Pergamum. New Era Printing Company.
- ^ Boulder, University of Colorado (1904). Biennial Report of the Regents. p. 5.
- ^ "Swarthmore's New Office". Pittston Gazette. March 12, 1913. p. 10. Retrieved October 12, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Dean Bond's Successor Selected". The Philadelphia Inquirer. March 14, 1906. p. 3. Retrieved October 12, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Opening Day at Swarthmore". Friends' Intelligencer. 63 (39): 608. September 29, 1906 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "Women Deans to Meet Today". Chicago Tribune. December 19, 1905. p. 13. Retrieved October 12, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Acting Dean at Swarthmore". Delaware County Daily Times. March 25, 1916. p. 1. Retrieved October 12, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Resigns as Swarthmore Dean". The Philadelphia Inquirer. March 29, 1918. p. 12. Retrieved October 12, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Meeteer, Henrietta Josephine (January 1908). "The Value of Higher Education in the Home". Journal of Education. 67 (3): 62–64. doi:10.1177/002205740806700303. ISSN 0022-0574. S2CID 169611234.
- ^ "Henrietta Josephine Meeteer (death notice)". Courier-Post. November 20, 1956. p. 26. Retrieved October 12, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
