- LITTLE, Mrs. Sarah F. COWLES, educator, born in Oberlin,
O., 6th March, 1838. Her father
- was Rev. Henry COWLES, D.D, a professor in Oberlin Theological
Seminary, and an eminent scholar, author and divine. He was born
in Litchfield county, Connecticut, and was descended from an
old New England family of English origin. Her mother, Alice WELCH,
was a woman of superior attainments and character, and for several
years the principal of the ladies' department of Oberlin College.
She was the daughter of Dr. Benjamin WELCH, of Norfolk, Conn.
Her five brothers were physicians and have made the name of "Dr.
WELCH" widely known throughout western New England. Sarah
F. was the second daughter and fourth child of those parents.
As her home was under the very shadow of the college in Oberlin,
her opportunities for education were excellent. She was graduated
in the classical course in 1859, with the degree of R.A., followed
by that of M.A. within a few years. Miss COWLES commenced teaching
at the age of fifteen years in a district school near her home.
She taught during several college vacations, and was also employed
as a teacher in the preparatory department of the college during
the later years of her course. After graduation she taught with
success for two years in the public schools of Columbus, Ohio,
and in the fall of 1861 went to Janesville, Wis., to serve as
principal teacher in the Wisconsin School for the Blind, of which
Thomas H. LITTLE was the superintendent. Mr. LITTLE was a graduate
of Bowdoin College, in Brunswick, Me., and had been a teacher
in the institutions for the blind in Ohio and Louisiana. He had
made a special study of that branch of education and was admirably
fitted for his post of responsibility by natural endowments,
by training and by experience. On 14th July, 1862, Miss COWLES
became the wife of Mr. LITTLE, and thenceforth actively participated
in all his labors for the blind with hearty sympathy and earnest
helpfulness. She continued to teach regularly for a time after
her marriage, and at intervals thereafter, being always ready
to supplement any lack in any department of the school. In Mr.
LITTLE's absence or illness he was in the habit of delegating
his duties to his wife. When Mr. LITTLE's death occurred, 4th
February, 1875, after a week's illness, Mrs. LITTLE was at once
chosen by the board of trustees as his successor. There was no
woman in the United States in charge of so important a public
institution as the Wisconsin School for the Blind, but Mrs. LITTLE's
experience and her executive tact fully justified such an innovation.
She was thoroughly identified with the work and had proved herself
competent for leadership in it. The main building of the institution
had been destroyed by fire in 1874, and to the difficulty of
carrying on the school work in small and inconvenient quarters
was added the supervision of the erection of the enlarged new
building. The work was done upon plans made under Mr. LITTLE's
direction, with which Mrs. LITTLE was already familiar, and no
detail escaped her watchful eye. During the time of her superintendency,
the Wisconsin School for the Blind was one of the best managed
institutions of the kind in the country, and Mrs. LITTLE was
everywhere recognized as a leader in educational circles. She
continued at the head of the school until August, 1891, leaving
it at the close of thirty years of active service, more than
sixteen of them as superintendent. The school had grown from
an enrollment of thirty to one of ninety pupils. All the buildings
were left in good condition and had been improved and enlarged
until little remained to be desired for convenience or durability.
Mrs. LITTLE brought to her work strength of mind such as few
possess, coupled with rare executive ability and a gentle, womanly
sympathy. To those qualities and to her absolute fidelity and
practical wisdom in managing every department of the complex
work entrusted to her is due the fact that no breath of scandal
ever came near the institution, and no difficulties ever arose
requiring the intervention of the advisory board, a thing which
could not be said of any other institution in Wisconsin, or perhaps
in the country. Her care of the blind pupils had in it a large
element of maternal tenderness, and the school was really a large
family, at once a place of careful instruction and thorough discipline,
and yet a real home. Besides her interest in educational lines,
she has always taken an active part in Christian work of all
kinds. Wherever she is, her influence is felt for good. In the
church her loyalty and zeal and her thorough consecration are
a constant inspiration. She is a thorough Bible student, and
has for years been a successful teacher of a large Bible class
for adults, bringing to that work not only a scholarly mind and
a quick insight into spiritual things, but a warm heart stored
with the riches of years of experience. On leaving the school
it was natural that she should turn to some form of Christian
work, and that her mother-heart should seek again the care of
children who must be separated from home and parents. One of
her own four daughters was during missionary work in a distant
land, and thus the way was prepared for her to have a natural
and deep interest in the Oberlin Home for Missionary Children,
from the very beginning of the plans for its establishment, and
at the opening, in 1892, she was ready to take a place at its
head. There are gathered children from distant mission fields,
sent by their parents, that in the home-land they may receive
an education removed from the influences of heathen surroundings.
-
- [Taken from "American Women, Vol. II" edited
by Francis A. Willard and Mary A. Livermore; (c)1897 Mast, Crowell
& Kirkpatrick, New York; Chicago; Springfield, OH; pp. 466-467]
|