About Harriet Packer
What was she most interested? What did she always observe?
Scenery - buildings, nature, # of columns, ect. She always observed in great detail.
What was the one architectural necessity that was missing in Packer’s new building? Bolded question?
Enough bathrooms
What was Nickerson’s purpose in writing this book?
no right answer
What revealed Harriet Packer’s sense of adventure and stamina on her trip to Europe? How do you think that Harriet Packer’s sense of adventure and resilience manifests itself in her rebuilding the Brooklyn Female Academy?
“Whenever other members of the party gave out or omitted some excursion to rest, or climbed only half way up a mountain, Mrs. Packer always climbed to the very top, went everywhere, and saw everything. Very seldom does she mention being weary and only once being ‘low-spirited,’ though she does not give the reason” (53)
How much money did Harriet Packer give to rebuild the institution? Bolded question?
$65,000
Why do you think this book is called “A Long Way Forward”?
no right answer
Who did Harriet Packer dance with at the Academy of Music ball in 1861? Follow up (so we can see the big picture): What does this reveal about her?
The Prince of Wales (50) → Her friends in high places reveal her influence.
"
The great aim will be to develop the mental and moral powers of the pupil, to educate the mind to habits of thinking with clearness and force; and to discipline the heart to yield to the dictates of reason and conscience and to combine the advantages of a private school with one of a more public character” (63) → Does this remind you of anything at Packer nowadays? How do you think that the school has successfully and unsuccessfully fulfilled Packer’s original goals?
The Packer core values: “Think Deeply, Listen Actively, Speak Courageously, and Act with Purpose and Heart”
What was the name with whom Harriet Packer traveled to Europe? Bolded question?
The Prentice family in 1854 → very rich family in Brooklyn
How much money did Harriet Packer donate to education?
Sixty-five thousand dollars
How was Harriet Packer’s modesty reflected in Packer’s building? Bolded question?
Didn’t want to be recognized as the school’s donor + did not allow portraits of her to be hung (44)
What were the two weaknesses in the school’s educational system? What about society may have caused these two weaknesses?
1) Giving the girls too many different topics to learn → not learning anything really in depth (65)
2) Students were taught to write in many vague words, rather than being concise
Gender roles in society → to be considered as educated as men, women had to work twice more → Harriet Packer’s purpose behind building this school was for women to be as influential as men
According to the text, Packer’s donation to the school was “the largest sum, so far as is known, to have been given up to that time for the higher education of women, and the largest given to any educational institution in the United States up to 1850 except to ––––.” What is the name of the educational institution to whom more money was donated? What is the importance of these donations?
Girard College
Promoting the education of women, which was rare at the time → helped move society forward