Letter from Alfred E. Stearns to Faith Bickford, Sea Pines School, Brewster, Mass. June 7, 1926
Dublin Core
Title
Letter from Alfred E. Stearns to Faith Bickford, Sea Pines School, Brewster, Mass. June 7, 1926
Subject
Letter from Alfred E. Stearns to Faith Bickford, Sea Pines School, Brewster, Mass. June 7, 1926
Transcription
June 7, 1926
Miss Faith Bickford
Sea Pines School
Brewster, Mass.
My dear Miss Bickford:
I have just received a note from the Register of Elmira College relating to the admission of Mary Sun. and it reads as follows:
"According to the papers that you sent us in your letter of May twenty-fifth, Miss Sun have 14 1/2 units to offer for entrance. If she can make up one-half unit of intermediate algebra she should have sufficient units and the required subjects for admission.”
This gives us a good idea. I think, of what Mary will have to do in the way of tutoring this summer, but as her school work to date has been more or less broken and not regularly along college preparatory lines, I am sure that she should continue work this summer in English, at least, and possibly in French or History. The stress, it seems to me, should fall on the Algebra first and English second. Possibly this will be enough.
It is never possible for me to tell exactly from Mary’s letters what her inner feelings are. A letter received from her this morning: conveys the news that she is more lonesome than ever before, but whether that is a fact or not, I can’t say. In any case, I am confident that within a few days her tone will change and her reaction be more normal. Further, from a letter I have just recently from her father in which he expresses the earnest hope that Mary can be located for the summer in a Christian home and under Christian influences, I am sure that he would be better satisfied to have Mary stay through the summer with you than to attempt the suggested contact with the Cornell Summer School at Ithaca. For that reason I am very hopeful that you will find a wholesome and friendly reaction on Mary’s part, if indeed such is not already in evidence.
I think I can pretty safely promise you that Mary will stay with you through the summer. The moment I have more definite word from the Chinese Minister at Washington, I will wire you. In the meantime, I appreciate your forbearance and cooperation in this somewhat complicated case.
Mary has written me that she needs a blanket and a jacket of some kind. If this is the case, I shall, of course, be glad to authorize the purchase of these articles and will send a check for the same the moment the bill is received.
Mary has also submitted her proposed correspondence list, a rather long one, and yet perhaps not unnaturally so. In the cases of one or two of the Andover girls named I hardly know what to say. If I decline to include them on the list, I am afraid there will be added cause for talk; on the other hand, they represent sources from which some of my troubles in the past have come. On the whole, I imagine it will probably be better to approve the list tentatively and reserve tire right to reduce it later. I have written to Mary, but if you think my position is not correct, please tell me so very frankly
Very sincerely yours,
Miss Faith Bickford
Sea Pines School
Brewster, Mass.
My dear Miss Bickford:
I have just received a note from the Register of Elmira College relating to the admission of Mary Sun. and it reads as follows:
"According to the papers that you sent us in your letter of May twenty-fifth, Miss Sun have 14 1/2 units to offer for entrance. If she can make up one-half unit of intermediate algebra she should have sufficient units and the required subjects for admission.”
This gives us a good idea. I think, of what Mary will have to do in the way of tutoring this summer, but as her school work to date has been more or less broken and not regularly along college preparatory lines, I am sure that she should continue work this summer in English, at least, and possibly in French or History. The stress, it seems to me, should fall on the Algebra first and English second. Possibly this will be enough.
It is never possible for me to tell exactly from Mary’s letters what her inner feelings are. A letter received from her this morning: conveys the news that she is more lonesome than ever before, but whether that is a fact or not, I can’t say. In any case, I am confident that within a few days her tone will change and her reaction be more normal. Further, from a letter I have just recently from her father in which he expresses the earnest hope that Mary can be located for the summer in a Christian home and under Christian influences, I am sure that he would be better satisfied to have Mary stay through the summer with you than to attempt the suggested contact with the Cornell Summer School at Ithaca. For that reason I am very hopeful that you will find a wholesome and friendly reaction on Mary’s part, if indeed such is not already in evidence.
I think I can pretty safely promise you that Mary will stay with you through the summer. The moment I have more definite word from the Chinese Minister at Washington, I will wire you. In the meantime, I appreciate your forbearance and cooperation in this somewhat complicated case.
Mary has written me that she needs a blanket and a jacket of some kind. If this is the case, I shall, of course, be glad to authorize the purchase of these articles and will send a check for the same the moment the bill is received.
Mary has also submitted her proposed correspondence list, a rather long one, and yet perhaps not unnaturally so. In the cases of one or two of the Andover girls named I hardly know what to say. If I decline to include them on the list, I am afraid there will be added cause for talk; on the other hand, they represent sources from which some of my troubles in the past have come. On the whole, I imagine it will probably be better to approve the list tentatively and reserve tire right to reduce it later. I have written to Mary, but if you think my position is not correct, please tell me so very frankly
Very sincerely yours,
Creator
Alfred E. Stearns
Publisher
Phillips Academy
Date
June 7, 1926
Rights
All Rights Reserved by Phillips Academy
Language
English
Type
Correspondence