The Class of 1867

Text from the 1924 Crimson:

Today there is no individual living better able to eulogize Ripon College than is Miss Luthera Adams, the only living graduate of the Class of 1867, the first class to be graduated from this institution. It is to Miss Adams that this annual has been dedicated and to her that the staff is indebted for much of the material which is presented in this section.

"I'm a pretty old lady," Miss Adams smilingly speaks of herself. However, eighty-two years of service have not left the customary marks on Ripon's pioneer student, and, living alone in the homestead which her father built over seventy years ago in the little city of Omro, Miss Adams is still as active mentally and as interested in educational matter, as she was during her several years both as student and instructor in Ripon College. A veritable storehouse of information, she is enthusiastic in her responses regarding herself, Ripon and the general drift of educational matters during the past two generations. It is a source of no little wonder to her how present-day students acquire any knowledge; rather, how they find time for studies in face of the other activities which must attract their attention.

The remarkable memory of Miss Adams is demonstrated by her ability to recall names and faces. She is able to pursue the pages of an old photograph album which she completed during her stay at Ripon and designate the names of every individual, only having to pause casually to recall Christian names. Each face inevitably suggests an anecdote and an hour with Miss Adams is to become acquainted with a new type of student life, characteristic of colleges and universities in general sixty years ago.

Miss Adams was a student at Ripon College for over seven years, her attendance being frequently interrupted by necessary periods of teaching at Waupun and Omro in order to secure money with which to continue. Coming to Wisconsin from New York with her parents, at the age of eight years, she had the advantage of very little early training. Her father first settled at Pickett near relatives, but upon a visit to Oshkosh he heard of the erection of a new mill at Omro and the need of a blacksmith, which was his trade. So he moved his wife and only child and became one of the first settlers in that village. Today the Omro High School and graded school buildings as well as several blocks of residences are on land originally claimed by John Adams.

The first school which Miss Adams attended was conducted by a Yale graduate who happened to spend a winter in Omro and who hired the back part of a vacant store building in which to hold his evening classes. Public schools were unheard of at that time and most children depended on their mothers for their learning. Prior to entering Ripon College, which was then known as Brockway Hall, Miss Adams attended a seminary for girls at Rockford, Illinois, for one year. She remarks that even her scanty schooling surpassed that of most of the members of her class upon entering Brockway. The task of such an institution was at that time, she declares, extremely difficult owing to the lack of preparation of the beginners.

Brockway College was originally more of an academy than a college. What is now a wing of East Hall was the only building; classes for girls were held on the first floor and for boys on the second. There were two teachers, one a man, the other a woman.

It was the coming of the Reverend William E. Merriman that gave Ripon its real beginning, as has been related above.

Several years after graduation Miss Adams returned to Ripon as head of the department of Greek and Latin. One of her most precious treasures today is a silver card tray, a remembrance from her last class in Greek. She was forced to leave Ripon finally because of the death of her mother. For fourteen years she kept house for her father until he also died.

Miss Adams has always, and still is, intensely interested in educational matters. She is a staunch supporter of the theory of discipline for its own sake. At her home in Omro she for many years privately coached boys and girls preparing to enter colleges and has been instrumental in sending many new students to Ripon. "Today," she explains, "I am still as interested as ever in my Latin and Greek, although I have not as much time to devote to them as formerly."

Ripon College is rightly proud to designate such a remarkable woman as among its first graduates. Miss Adams is an example which other generations of Riponites may well attempt to copy. She exemplifies the true Crimson spirit and is still as loyal to her alma mater as upon graduation day. In June, 1921, she attended the commencement exercises at the college, and, if possible, hopes to be present again this year.

And yet, upon her own authority, her feeling is not singular for a Riponite; it is simply the spirit of New Ripon which lives eternal.

Luthera Adams' Classmates: