This page was created by Christine Liebson. The last update was by Julia Teran.
Flora Stone Mather Alumnae Association Founders
Mather Alumnae Association Founders
Advisory Council President, Isabella Birdsall Morley, was regarded as the force behind the Association, declaring, “The strength of the college is in its alumnae.” At the time, the College had 8 alumnae. In February 1894, 5 of them organized the College for Women Alumnae Association. There are 4 founders listed here. The fifth founder is not identified in Alumnae Association or College records. She was one of these remaining alumnae: Mary Elizabeth Babbitt, B.L., 1893; Helen Hutchinson Cowing, B.L., 1892; Mary Louisa French, A.B. 1891; Mary Almina Johnson, B.L., 1892.
Eleanor Lewin Critchley (1869-1943)
A founding member of the Mather Alumnae Association, Eleanor Lewin Critchley was born August 21, 1869 in Cleveland. She graduated from Central High School and received the Ph.B. in 1893 from the College for Women, taking the Latin English curriculum. She taught for 5 years at Willoughby High School and later, Astoria High School in Oregon. She died in December of 1943.
Three women playing musical instruments
Adelaide Cooke Denison (1871-1952)
In 1893 Adelaide Cooke Denison became the first secretary of the Mather Alumnae Association. She was born August 19, 1871 in Cleveland and graduated from Central High School. Miss Denison received the B. L. degree from the College for Women in 1893, taking the Modern Language curriculum. She also attended Normal School in 1895-1896. She taught at Central High School and other Cleveland public high schools. She died March 10, 1952.
Emilie Christiana Monck (1872–1956)
Miss Monck served as the Alumnae Association’s first president in 1894. She graduated from the College for Women in 1893 and also received her M.A. from Western Reserve University in 1894. Her college preparation was at Cleveland’s Central High School, where she later taught English. Both her parents were from Wexford County, Ireland, where her mother attended the Young Ladies Seminary. They emigrated to Guelph, Ontario, Canada, where Emilie was born July 14, 1872. She died in December 1956.
Ida Blanche Sanders (1871- ?)
A founding member of the Alumnae Association, Ida Sanders was born in Washington, D.C. April 1, 1871. She received her college preparation at Cleveland’s Central High School. She attended Wellesley College for two years, before returning to Cleveland to attend the College for Women. In 1893 she received the B.L. degree. The following year she attended Normal School and taught in the Cleveland schools from 1894 to 1898. In 1899 she married Adam H. Graham.
Information was compiled by staff of the Case Western Reserve University Archives, May 2008.
